Fab five NSW/ACT players rookie listed
NSW/ACT RAM Jock Cornell has been rookie listed by Geelong (Photo by Michael Dodge/AFL Media)
After eight NSW/ACT players were taken in Tuesday’s National Draft, a further five local products have been added in today’s rookie Draft.
Kyle Galloway and Sam Murray went to the Sydney Swans, GWS GIANTS committed to Daniel Lloyd, Wagga’s Jock Cornell will head to Geelong, and Albury’s Nick Coughlan was picked up by St. Kilda.
The rookie draft result caps a remarkable week for talent in NSW/ACT, with the region producing four of the top 16 National Draft picks on Tuesday – Callum Mills, Jacob Hopper, Matthew Kennedy, and Harrison Himmelberg – having spawned 13 total top 20 picks in 29 years previous.
Standing 209cm and weighing 105kg, Galloway is a developing ruck prospect who hails from Deniliquin in southern NSW.
The 19-year-old is relatively new to AFL having only picked up the game as a late teen. He played up forward and in the ruck for the Shepparton Bears in the Goulburn Valley Football League this year after commencing the year with the Murray Bushrangers in the TAC Cup.
Galloway also represented the NSW/ACT RAMS, coached by former Swan Tadhg Kennelly, as an over-age player in the Under-18 Championships.
Like Galloway, Murray grew up in southern NSW in the small town of Henty.
The 18-year-old is a quick left-footed half-forward/wingman who finished third in the Ovens and Murray League’s Morris Medal this year playing for the Wodonga Raiders. Murray’s best game was against Corowa-Rutherglen when he kicked five goals in a half. He also represented the Ovens and Murray under-19 squad in the VCFL Country Championships this season.
The GIANTS selected forward Daniel Lloyd from the Central Coast of NSW who has been training with the club since pre-season began three weeks ago.
He was spotted by GIANTS Assistant Coach Mark McVeigh playing for the Killarney Vale Bombers in the Black Diamond Football League and invited to train at the club.
A former scholarship holder with the Western Bulldogs, the 23-year-old is a powerful mid-sized forward who stands at 186cm and 88kg.
He kicked nine goals in a semi-final for Killarney Vale this season and also won their 2015 Best and Fairest award.
Lloyd works as a landscape gardener and was given leave by his employer to pursue his AFL dream.
Cornell is an 18-year-old forward/midfielder from Riverina club Mangoplah Cookardinia United Eastlakes, where he has played senior football the past four seasons.
He has tallied 47 games and kicked 29 goals in the strong Riverina league. Cornell played in the last two grand finals, kicking three goals in the 2015 decider.
Cornell was a member if the GWS Giants academy and the NAB AFL academy, and he played in the NEAFL with the Giants reserves, playing 9 games and kicking 11 goals.
Cornell booted five against Eastlake this season. He represented NWS/ACT at the under 18 national championships this year. Cornell is 187 cm and weighs in at 82 kg.
Coughlan is a key position player originally from Albury who can play at either end of the ground.
He spent 2015 as a 19-year-old with TAC Cup team Murray Bushrangers after spending time in the GWS Academy and with Footscray’s VFL team.
NSW/ACT 2015 rookies
Kyle Galloway – Sydney Swans-Murray Bushrangers/Deniliquin
Sam Murray – Sydney Swans-Henty/Wodonga Raiders
Daniel Lloyd – GWS Giants-Killarney Vale
Jock Cornell – Geelong/Mangoplah-CUE
Nick Coughlan – St Kilda/Albury
