Profile:
Age: 18
Height: 176cm
Weight: 70kg
Position: Midfielder
Draft bio:
Medium midfielder who is a prolific ball winner with the ability to step through traffic with his elite agility. He is courageous and clean overhead with a long, penetrating kick. He averaged 22.2 disposals (74 per cent efficiency) and 5.5 marks playing for the Allies in the 2019 NAB AFL Under-18 Championships to win 2019 NAB AFL Under-18 All-Australian honours for the second time. A consistent performer for the Tasmanian Devils in the NAB League earlier in the year, he averaged 20.2 disposals including his season high of 37 disposals against the Northern Territory. A knee injury curtailed his year post the 2019 NAB AFL Under-18 Championships but is expecting a full recovery.
2019 Under 18 Championship stats:
Games: 4
Total disposals: 81
Kicks: 10.5 (average)
Handballs: 9.8 (handballs)
Contested possessions: 7.5 (average)
Clearances: 2.5
What he said:
“I was actually preparing for the worst. I was with my family and my coach came over, Matthew Armstrong, and was talking about the future about whether I would continue playing for the (Tasmania) Devils and then I got a call from West Coast saying they’d recruited me. I was pretty happy.”
“The folks were really excited and happy for me. A few people, even my coach, had a little cry. It was a very special moment that I’ll always remember. It was great.”
“I’m not too worried about the move. I’m just grateful to get an opportunity. I wouldn’t have cared where it was. I just want to get over there, start training hard and earn the respect of my teammates and play the best I can.”
“I think my strengths, agility and field kicking. The thing I need to work on is my contested ball work. I’m probably more of an outside player at this stage – I like to play on the wing – but I want to develop that inside aspect of my game too.”
“I’m really excited to learn off Andrew Gaff. He’s plays a similar game to me. I’ve always watched him growing up because he’s a similar player to me. I’m looking forward to seeing how he trains and how he prepares for games.”
“The club has so many good midfielders: Tim Kelly, Dom Sheed, Elliot Yeo and Luke Shuey. They have so much experience. To learn off them, and the other guys who helped win the premiership in 2018, to learn off them will be exciting. I’ll be looking to take a lot of knowledge in and get better.”
“I had a grade two MCL injury after the under 18 Championships and missed the back end of the year and the draft combines, but I’m back training now. I trained with the Devils on Monday and I’m fully back into it. I won’t need any rehab moving forward. I’m excited to start training with the club.”
