‘Wanted to prove him wrong’: Inside 198cm bolter’s rapid rise… and his curious draft range

Arguably the two biggest bolters off the back of the national championships ultimately turned into the two highest-rated key-position prospects in this year’s AFL draft class.

Top-10 certainty Harry Dean, who starred down back for Vic Country, is the best tall defender.

And then there’s Aidan Schubert, who roared into first-round calculations after earning the title as the best key forward during a brilliant campaign for South Australia.

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While Dean is locked in to join Carlton early in the first round, Schubert’s landing spot remains somewhat unclear.

Essendon (Picks 5 and 6) is likely where his draft range starts, with the Bombers putting a fair bit of work into the South Australian, who’s also been linked to Melbourne (Picks 7 and 8). But both clubs, according to rivals, are also keen to bolster their midfield stocks at this point in the draft.

So if Schubert is overlooked there, could Adelaide – looking at life after Taylor Walker – pounce? There’s a chance Schubert could still be on the board at the Crows’ natural first-rounder (Pick 16), but they have been eyeing off one of Carlton’s first-round picks and could get him if they traded up.

For what it’s worth, Gawler Central product Schubert isn’t a Crows fan.

“I go for Port Adelaide,” he told foxfooty.com.au with a laugh.

“Mum and Dad, they went for Crows and Hawks and they always wanted me to go for their teams. But I couldn’t choose one, so I went for my own in Port.”

There’s also a scenario, according to sources, where Schubert is still on the board by the time Essendon picks again .

No matter how proceedings pan out, the club that lands Schubert will be acquiring a 198cm young gun with big upside at AFL level.

“I think it was after the national champs where I thought: ‘Yeah, I’m actually a real chance to live out the childhood dream.’ Ever since then and now coming to the combine, it’s really starting to kick in that (I’m a) big chance now,” he said.

Schubert said he’d only spoken “to two or three clubs” prior to this year’s Under 18s carnival. He said he “probably wasn’t rated anywhere high … I was just on the edge, maybe, of I could get drafted”.

Then he produced four quality matches on the national stage that changed everything.

Schubert was a constant forward-half presence, kicking 10 goals for the carnival — ranked second behind teammate Mitch Marsh. He also racked up 21 and 19 disposals respectively in his final two SA games, showing off his ability to win the ball around the ground as a second ruck.

He finished fourth in the Larke Medal voting and earned All Australian honours.

Schubert said he put his improved fortunes down to two significant off-field moves.

He credited ex-Crows and Kangaroos assistant coach Heath Younie – the SANFL’s Head of Development and Under 18s assistant coach – for guiding him through a thorough review process. The paid, according to Schubert, “had clear focus of what I had to do each week and what I could focus on”.

Secondly, Schubert reached out to a sports psychologist prior to champs, to help him “focus mentally and not overthink too much”.

The moves paid dividends.

“I always thought: ‘My opportunity will come. I’ve only got four games to show, but my opportunities are going to come.’ So it was just waiting for the opportunities and, when they come, making sure I’m taking the most of them,” he said.

“I had a consistent four games, I left everything out there and then when I got All-Australian, that also changed my thinking.”

It also set Schubert up for a strong finish to his draft year.

He was a powerful presence at SANFL Under 18s level, kicking 28 goals and averaging 19.2 disposals, 7.5 marks and 4.4 clearances from 13 matches to win the comp MVP Award.

But Schubert’s big goal was to get a taste of league footy.

Schubert approached Central District league coach Paul Thomas six weeks out from finals, asking him if he had a chance to play at top state level. The initial response wasn’t what Schubert wanted to hear.

“He said I had a few things to work on and wasn’t ready for the level yet,” Schubert said.

“A little bit with my leading patterns, just needed fine tuning a bit was the major one.

“With the six weeks I had, I wanted to try and prove him wrong. I feel like I played some good footy after that and played with a bit of freedom. I wanted to have fun with my footy for the last few weeks junior footy.”

Five stunning matches for the club’s Under 18s team led to an impressive reserves debut where he booted 3.1 from 14 disposals, six marks and 14 hit-outs against Glenelg.

Coach Thomas had seen enough.

Schubert as picked to make his league debut for Central District … in a final.

“When he (Thomas) rang me Monday, it was a great, great feeling. It felt really cool,” Schubert said.

“To go out there and, I wouldn’t say I performed – kicked a nice goal – but I was led by some like pretty good leaders like Kyle Presbury, as well as Aiden Grace in the forward line who helped me a lot and directed me where to go because I was a little unsure at times.”

Schubert is a key forward-second ruck who should suit the AFL system with his excellent mobility, aerobic capacity, competitiveness and ground-level cleanliness.

“I feel I have a good work rate, so when I’m in the ruck I like to really work my opposition ruck around the ground and win some of my own footy. I feel like I’m a good contested mark, kick goals,” he said.

“When I watch games of footy, I like to take a bit off every key forward because they’re all different. But mainly, I like watching Shannon Neale. I feel like at the next level, I have some similarities to him, so I like watching a lot of how he plays.”

Schubert was mightily impressive in the 2km time trial at the national combine last month, covering the distance in 6:21 – ranked equal-eighth.

The foundation for his excellent aerobic base was set 12 months ago when he embarked on a relentless running program.

“I’ve always been, I’d say, average to good at running. I’ve competed in school cross country events and stuff like that, but at the start of this year I really wanted to make it something where I could stand out from the rest of the key forwards in the crop,” he said.

“I really put a lot of time into it. In the pre-season, that’s something you can really control and you can really own. So I wanted to really make that elite, which I think I’ve done.

“I was really focusing on doing everything to the best of my ability and getting everything out of every session, leaving everything out on the park.

“I always did 5km runs – because the 2km (time trials), they can be a lot mentally. So if I’ve gone into a 2km knowing I’ve done lots of 5ks, that helped mentally.”

Schubert said he knows he must hit the gym to become stronger to be a force at AFL level. But with patience and a natural fortitude, he can have an impact.

“I feel like mentally, I’ve been able to take a couple strides this year and gotten better at that,” he said.

“Physically, I think I’ll just take time. I’m prepared to put in the work, I’m prepared to work hard. I’ll get bigger as time goes on.

“I’m prepared to enter the AFL environment if I get the opportunity.”