If this year’s AFL draft can be defined by anything, it is the priority clubs placed on speed and the sudden plethora of players over two metres tall.
Nine of the 64 players drafted were over 200 centimetres, the tallest of them 207cm Taylor Goad, who was taken by North.
Tew Jiath has landed at the Pies, who like his speed.Credit: Getty Images
In part that speaks to the fact that it is the trend of the game – and of athletes getting bigger. Now key position players, not just ruckmen, are ideally hitting that two-metre mark. But it also reflects that next year’s draft is not known for many high quality talls, so clubs are getting in early.
But in this draft, nothing beat speed.
The constants in football are players who can get the ball, players who can run and footballers who can kick. As the game evolves – and the best teams change characteristics – there are swings between the top teams being those whose games emphasise ball use over the contest, or those who favour skill over pressure. Some games prioritise ball smarts over athleticism.
But players with run and speed are always valuable, and this year’s draft reflected that.
Collingwood, Melbourne, Carlton and St Kilda all said they plainly targeted speed as a priority in the draft.
The new premiers reinforced the importance of speed to their game on grand final day and were open about the importance they place on runners when it came to the draft.
“If players can’t run in our system they can’t play, and the two boys we have brought in [Harry DeMattia and Tew Jiath] certainly can do that. Both boys are impeccable characters [and] display leadership traits, which was a consideration as well,” Magpies list manager Derek Hine said.
The factor that united Blues, Pies, Saints and Demons in this year’s draft
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21.11.2023
If this year’s AFL draft can be defined by anything, it is the priority clubs placed on speed and the sudden plethora of players over two metres tall.
Nine of the 64 players drafted were over 200 centimetres, the tallest of them 207cm Taylor Goad, who was taken by North.
Tew Jiath has landed at the Pies, who like his speed.Credit: Getty Images
In part that speaks to the fact that it is the trend of the game – and of........
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