AFL Academy captain and strong-bodied midfielder George Stevens (58) and Swan Districts midfielder Lawson Humphries (63) rounded out the club’s haul.
The Cats will hope Wiltshire can become the next Tom Stewart,and they actually learned from the five-time All-Australian’s stunning rise by drafting the 21-year-old before even bringing him into their VFL outfit.
“Ollie’s never done anything like an AFL pre-season,so it’s going to be really interesting to see how he develops,” Wells said.
“Ollie’s a smaller player,but he’s got a great spring,is a terrific endurance athlete,and can just do something that’s a bit uncanny,I suppose. We’d all go and watch the footy and say,‘Gee whiz,look at what Ollie’s doing’. He can kick a brilliant goal,take a high mark,and we think,of course,there’s a lot of upside,given he’s coming from where he is.”
Mannagh was linked to Fremantle ahead of the draft,and while the Dockers traded up to make an early pick on the second night they instead snapped up Dandenong Stingrays co-captain Cooper Simpson one selection earlier.
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Ex-Docker and Sun Michael Barlow coached Mannagh at Werribee and was a big rap for the late bloomer,while the man himself credited Brownlow medallist Jason Akermanis,with whom he played one season under at North Albury,as a major influence on his rise.
Fremantle could have matched any bid on Edwards if their Next Generation Academy prospect made it beyond pick 40,but Geelong probably had to pick him where they did,given St Kilda – who had the next selection – also expressed interest in him.
The big man,whose athleticism and skills have seen him likened to All-Australian ruckman Tim English,was considered a top-10 chance entering the season,but was unable to live up to the hype. One of the knocks on Edwards is his running ability,but he slashed about a minute off his two-kilometre time at the draft combine,in a sign he has further development and upside in him.
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“I’m over the moon,” he told Fox Footy. “They are the team I support,so it’s really a dream come true.”
Edwards worked closely with Dockers ruckmen Sean Darcy and Luke Darcy via his academy connection,but they will be rivals going forward. He was not the only academy prospect to narrowly miss out on joining the club he had ties to,with new Magpie Tew Jiath (No.37) and Bomber Luamon Lual (No.39) not able to make it to Hawthorn and the Western Bulldogs,respectively.
Jiath is a defensive speedster and interceptor like his brother,Hawk Changkuoth,and recruiters rate him as more advanced than his sibling at the same age. He burst onto the scene in the second half of this year.
“I think once I got used to the level of footy[at Coates Talent League level],that’s when it started to click for me,” Jiath said. “It came down to just getting games under my belt.”
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Forward-ruck Archer Reid,brother of Essendon’s Zach,was the first player taken on night two,after West Coast selected his namesake,Harley Reid – no relation – with the top pick on Monday.
The biggest sliders were Sandringham Dragons pair Ollie Murphy (Fremantle at pick 41). Archie Roberts (Essendon at 54) and Tasmanian Arie Schoenmaker,who feared he would not be drafted before St Kilda finally called out his name at No.62.
Schoenmaker was the Saints’ fifth and final pick,joining midfielder-forward Darcy Wilson (18),mercurial goalsneak Lance Collard (28),defender Angus Hastie (33) and pressure forward Hugo Garcia (50) in heading to Moorabbin.
Carlton added more speed with the selection of Dandenong Stingray Billy Wilson,while Richmond selected South Australian midfield enforcer Kane McAuliffe before adding key forward Liam Fawcett.