As always, the AFL Draft produced plenty of surprises – both good, and bad.
That includes the highly-rated prospects who slid well down the order, to the little-known names who went earlier than anyone expected.
Foxfooty.com.au runs through the 2023 Draft bolters and sliders.
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BOLTER: Phoenix Gothard (Pick 12, GWS Giants)… and SLIDER: James Leake (Pick 17, GWS Giants)
The weird thing is, had the Giants just flipped these picks, it would’ve made a lot more sense for where experts had these two players ranked.
Tasmanian medium defender/forward Leake was one of the 2023’s big risers, tipped by some to go inside the top 10 – Foxfooty.com.au’s Phantom Draft had him going to the Giants if they decided to keep their No.8 pick.
In contrast Murray Bushrangers small forward Gothard wasn’t expected to be considered until outside the top 20 at best, and was ranked No.30 in Fox Lab’s rankings. In fact, even he didn’t think he’d be drafted on night one – he wasn’t wearing a Murray Bushranger polo, having come to the draft as teammate Connor O’Sullivan’s plus-one, having to borrow O’Sullivan’s to accept his Giants guernsey from Phil Davis on-stage.
“He invited himself down – I said look, you’re a chance, you may in fact go, so his mum has come down with his sister at the last minute,” AFL draft doyen Kevin Sheehan explained on Fox Footy.
But all of that begs the question – why did the Giants take him so early? Were they scared a rival club was about to leapfrog them?
The cost of that fear was a future second-round pick, because the Giants traded back up to Pick 17 to nab Leake, sending Pick 18 and the future selection to St Kilda – knowing the Saints were heavily considering taking Leake themselves.
Saints great Leigh Montagna explained: “There were certainly some clubs that rated Gothard highly … he’ll have low possessions but maximum damage.”
Chaos erupts as Giants stun Gothard | 00:55
SLIDER: Darcy Wilson (Pick 18, St Kilda)
The feeling at Marvel Stadium after night one was the Saints had done particularly well, nabbing Murray Bushrangers medium forward/midfielder Wilson plus WA small forward Lance Collard with Pick 28.
The hard-running Wilson – whose athletic ability should suit a Ross Lyon side nicely, as he can also play on a wing – was considered an option as high as No.10 coming into the draft, with Adelaide and Geelong known to have some level of interest.
In the end, a few surprises ahead of him ensured Wilson slid to the Saints, and he wasn’t going to fall any further than that.
“He reminds me a bit of Elliot Yeo in the way he plays – he does the simple things very well,” AFL draft expert Mick Ablett said on Fox Footy.
Saints great Leigh Montagna added: “He’s a freak athlete, he’s a smooth mover, and I know Ross Lyon loves blokes who can run. It’s the modern game.
“Now you can have Brad Hill on one wing/half-forward, and Darcy Wilson on the other, they’re both line-breakers, outside players who can use the ball really well and get up and back.
“He’s the prototype of the modern wing/half-forward, a little bit like Isaac Smith as well.”
It’s official! Reid joins West Coast | 03:55
BOLTER: Oscar Ryan (Pick 27, Adelaide Crows)
Phoenix Gothard wasn’t the only Murray Bushrangers player who rocked up to the first night of the draft not expecting to be picked.
Ryan, a rebounding defender, had to quickly get changed into a Bushrangers polo after being snapped up by the Crows at the end of the first round.
Ranked just 56th in Fox Lab’s rankings, Ryan was still clearly stunned minutes later when speaking to Ben Dixon on Fox Footy’s coverage.
“It’s a massive shock to me – so grateful for the club putting their trust in me,” he said on Fox Footy.
“Didn’t make Vic Country last year and just worked my ass off all last pre-season, and it’s finally worked out.”
Ryan going so early makes a bit more sense when you consider Adelaide didn’t have another pick left in the draft, so at best they could’ve tried to trade down to add more picks.
But realistically, knowing they only wanted to take three players (having already landed Daniel Curtin and Charlie Edwards), it was easier to just go for their next option immediately.
‘He is a steal’ Adelaide trade up | 02:40
SLIDER: Archie Roberts (Pick 54, Essendon)
One of the major sliders of the draft — and one the Bombers identified, then pounced on.
Ranked 23 by the Fox Footy lab, Essendon traded up to get Roberts with Pick 54, moving a future fourth-rounder to Richmond.
Success seems to follows this kid, who was part of Sandringham’s back-to-back flags and helped Haileybury take out the APS title — where he was mentored by Bombers legend Matthew Lloyd.
A medium-sized defender who some believe has the tools to eventually move into the midfield, the Bombers might’ve struck gold late in what’d been a strong draft from Adrian Dodoro and co.
“That’s not a bargain buy, that’s daylight robbery getting Archie Roberts at Pick 54. He’s surgical by foot, his ball use is outstanding,” Fox Footy draft expert Mick Ablett said.
“He’s real one wood is his use on the outside by foot and I think that’s a very intelligent pick. We’ve seen the Essendon footy club and Adrian Dodoro do that twice now across this draft.
“They’ve targeted someone, it was Nate Caddy last night and Archie Roberts tonight. I think that’s very shrewd recruiting.”
SLIDER: George Stevens (Pick 58, Geelong Cats)… AND TWO BOLTERS: Oliver Wiltshire (Pick 61, Geelong Cats) and Lawson Humphries (Pick 63, Geelong Cats)
The Cats did Cats things. As they always do.
Along with taking 26-year-old VFL gun Shaun Mannagh, the 2022 premiers pulled a series of late surprises, first jumping on one of the big sliders in Stevens.
Another one of the major sliders on the night saw Stevens fall all the way to Pick 58.
The 189cm midfielder was a standout for Vic Country across the carnival and starred for the Rebels in the Coates Talent League, averaging a whopping 29 disposals, five tackles and five inside 50. He also finished third in the Morrish medal voting and was named captain of the league’s team of the year.
The concern that dropped him down the order was his running ability – but it was still a surprise to see the prospect ranked No.27 by the Fox Sports Lab nearly missing out entirely.
“I’m just amazed he’s still here to be quite honest. I think he’s an inspired choice, this boy makes great decisions when he gets the ball in hand and he can win his own football as well,” Fox Footy draft guru Kevin Sheehan said.
“That’s a great pickup for the Cats.”
Stevens also played a handful of games for Geelong’s VFL side including picking up 28 disposals and 10 contested possessions against Collingwood.
“Spoke about Archie Roberts, throw (Stevens) in the same category, that’s just thieving now! Incredible. I saw some of his games for Geelong in the VFL, particularly against Collingwood, he looked like an AFL player,” Mick Ablett added.
“I liken him a bit to Ollie Wines, he just loves it, he gets in and he’s got the weight to throw around. I think he’ll get a little bit leaner, so he can cover the ground at AFL level.
“He’s a leader in captaining Australia and has unbelievable work ethic. A team of the year player at Coates League level in the engine room … someone I think will have a long future and someone we’ll look back on in amazement as to how he slipped that far.”
After Stevens, the Cats went the other way, pulling two trademark Stephen Wells surprises.
The first was 21-year-old local footy talent Oliver Wiltshire, a former Geelong Falcons prospect who ended up plying his trade at Barwon Heads, now bringing his goalkicking midfield prowess to the local AFL club.
But at least Wiltshire had been briefly spoken about in the lead-up to the draft – very few had heard of Lawson Humphries, a 20-year-old midfielder from Swan Districts who played across the WAFL and WAFL reserves levels in 2023.
Knowing the Cats’ track record, one of them will be an All-Australian in two years’ time.
SLIDER: Arie Schoenmaker (Pick 62, St Kilda)
Night two went on and on, and Schoenmaker’s name stayed on the board.
It came despite the dynamic Launceston prospect being one of the highest-rated key defenders in the crop who was ranked 24 by the Fox Sports Lab and one foxfooty.com.au’s Ben Waterworth had going at Pick 26 in his Phantom Draft.
So when it got to Pick 60-plus and every club had passed on a selection, it was plain bizarre that Schoenmaker was still available, though there had been some behavioural concerns around him following a 10-game suspension during his draft year.
That was until St Kilda swooped in at Pick 62 — and he and his mates erupted in celebration appropriately from Schoenmaker’s family home via Zoom vision — in what was ultimately the third-last pick across the two nights.
“Finally Arie has been picked up! We’ve been waiting for this,” Fox Footy’s Sarah Jones said.
Even Schoenmaker himself admitted he’d all but given up on finding an AFL home on Tuesday night.
“I was just out there with my mum having a bit of a hug, I thought it was just about done then,” he told Fox Footy.
“But really thankful … emotions ae pretty high, I don’t know how to feel. All the boys got pretty rowdy, but super excited.”
Kevin Sheehan said of Schoenmaker: “He’s a super boot, he can kick 60-65 metres. I am shocked he’s still here — the information was he was a chance to go in the late 20s and early 30s — and he slipped right through.
“He played some wonderful footy for the Tassie Devils this year at U18 level, that left foot is booming … magnificent user of the ball and he averaged 27 disposals. And he’s 194cm — he can play on the wing and half back.
“It’s been a great draft for Launceston … this boy has got the talent to really be sensational at the AFL level.”
Mick Ablett labelled Schoenmaker his “genuine swingman” of this year’s draft for being able to play at both ends of the ground with elite tools.
“Averaged six intercept possessions … it’s getting into positions to come off your opponent at the right time to win the ball back and provide counter attack,” he said.
“He’s one of those guys, to be taken at Pick 62, again, really smart recruiting by Stephen Silagni and his team at the Saints … looks to be a player of the future.”
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