Five NEAFL youngsters to be drafted

By Sam Canavan

Bidding for players linked to the four northern market AFL Academies – Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sydney, and GWS – was finalised on Monday, and the results were record-breaking.

The clubs committed to taking seven players between them, the highest total number of Academy products confirmed to be drafted at once, with the SUNS the only side not to opt for an Academy selection.

Five of the seven are from New South Wales or the ACT: Isaac Heeney, Jack Hiscox, and Abe Davis will head to the Swans, while Jack Steele and Jeremy Finlayson will wear orange and charcoal next year.

Finlayson and Heeney received NEAFL Rising Star nominations throughout the course of the 2014 season, but all five players returned some brilliant individual displays this year.

NEAFL PERFORMANCES

After a highly successful NSW/ACT RAMS U18 campaign, Isaac Heeney was widely touted as arguably the best midfielder of this year’s entire crop, and he underlined why when he returned to the NEAFL with the Swans in the season’s closing stages.

Heeney played a pivotal part in the Swans’ surge to the NEAFL decider, kicking two goals, and averaging 19 disposals and almost five tackles, in the closing four matches of the year.

Fellow Swan Abe Davis, who interestingly made his NEAFL debut on the same day as Heeney in 2013, notched ten NEAFL matches in 2014, and performed admirably, often playing as a forward target against bigger bodied men.

Davis kicked five majors for the year, highlighted by a double in the Swans’ big win over a powerhouse NT Thunder side at Drummoyne in Round 10, where he also amassed 16 touches, four marks, and a clearance.

It would have come as little surprise to anyone who saw his powerhouse final quarter running in the Swans’ Round 20 cliffhanger against UWS, that Jack Hiscox smashed the 3km time trial record at this year’s National Draft Combine.

The Sydney University product, a former national junior middle distance champion, was immense on that Saturday morning at the SCG, charging up and down the wing leaving opponents in his wake, and spearheading Sydney to a stirring one-point win.

Hiscox bagged three majors that day, though he could have kicked as many as six, one of four occasions he finished with three goals in a game in 2014, a year where he played 12 NEAFL matches and returned 16 goals.

Canberra’s Jack Steele featured in five games for his long-time local club Belconnen this year, and topped up in a further two matches with UWS GIANTS.

Steele’s standout showing came in his team’s Round 16 rout of Eastlake, when he delivered some of the most impressive statistics ever recorded by a teenager at second-tier level.

Steele amassed a remarkable 39 disposals, extracted 11 clearances, took seven marks, laid eight tackles, and kicked a goal.

The GIANTS’ other Academy selection, Jeremy Finlayson, played 10 NEAFL matches this year, after racking up nine in 2013.

At 195cm and 82kg, Finlayson isn’t a typical wingman, but that’s where he produced his best game of the year, collecting 27 disposals, plucking 13 marks, and kicking two goals, the only non-listed UWS player named in the sides’ best in its 37-point win over Queanbeyan in Round 19.

ACADEMY BIDDING SUMMARY

Sydney Swans

Isaac Heeney (Sydney Swans Academy / NSW TAC Cup) – Sydney Swans, Round One (currently number 17). Melbourne bid its Round One selection (currently number two) and this was matched by the Sydney Swans with its next selection in Round One (currently number 17). The Sydney Swans are now bound to select Heeney at the 2014 NAB AFL Draft with its round one selection.

Jack Hiscox (Sydney Swans Academy / Sydney University) – Sydney Swans, Round Two (currently number 37 when allowing for compensation picks). Fremantle bid its Round Two selection (currently number 33 when allowing for compensation picks) and this was matched by the Sydney Swans with its next selection in Round Two (currently number 37 when allowing for compensation picks), The Sydney Swans are now bound to select Hiscox at the 2014 NAB AFL Draft with its round two selection.

Abaina Davis (Sydney Swans Academy / NSW TAC Cup) – Sydney Swans, Round Four (currently number 74 when allowing for compensation picks). The Geelong Cats bid their Round Four selection (currently number 71 when allowing for compensation picks) and this was matched by the Sydney Swans with its next selection in Round Four (currently number 74 when allowing for compensation picks). The Sydney Swans are now bound to select Davis at the 2014 NAB AFL Draft with its round four selection.

GWS Giants

Jack Steele (GWS Giants Academy / Belconnen Magpies) – GWS Giants, Round Two (currently number 23). North Melbourne bid its Round One selection (currently number 15) and this was matched by the GWS Giants with its next selection in Round Two (currently number 23). The GWS Giants are now bound to select Steele at the 2014 NAB AFL Draft with its round two selection.

Jeremy Finlayson (GWS Giants Academy / Sydney Hills Eagles) – GWS Giants. No bids were received. The GWS Giants are now bound to selection Finlayson with their last active selection at the 2014 NAB AFL Draft.

Image courtesy of sydneyswans.com.au