Talls the story for SABy Paul Daffey
Wed 14 July, 2010TO SAY that South Australia had an outstanding group of talls at this year's NAB AFL Under-18 Championships is like saying Aaron Sandilands has big feet. Seven players from the SA line-up that lost the Division 1 title to Vic Country by percentage should be drafted, either in the national or rookie drafts, at the end of this year.
The most outstanding pair, Sam Day and Daniel Gorringe, were selected in the All-Australian team after the carnival. Rangy defender Patrick McCarthy also made the All-Australian team. The tallest of the group, 202cm Scott Lycett, was unlucky to miss out.
Zak Fitzgerald and Jamie Solly played key roles at either end of the ground, while Darcy Armfield was a stand-and-deliver key forward, with the ability to take a strong mark and fire the ball through the goals from distance.
Brenton Phillips, South Australia's high-performance coach and the coach of the under-18s during the national carnival, said he was pleased with the performances of all seven of his tall players.
"They were all good in the roles they performed for their team," he said.
Gorringe was the standout in terms of performance across the carnival. He showed himself to be a thinking ruckman, able to overcome his marginal lack of height (198cm) by leaping high and early and working on angles, and he slotted the ball down a teammate's throat more often than any other big man.
Gorringe's clean hands at ground level and his agility were also first-class, as shown by his snaps around his body to kick goals against Western Australia and Vic Country. He's a possible top-five pick.
Day is almost certain to go in the top three, which is likely to mean a move to the Gold Coast. At 195cm, with an extraordinary leap and the ability to cover ground and take a mark, it's difficult not to be bowled over by your first sighting of him.
During the carnival, Day played in the ruck and every position down the spine except full-back. In several games he even played as a ruck-rover, standing alongside Gorringe at the bounce.
"We just wanted a big body in there at certain times," Phillips said.
The only mark against Day was consistency. Day started the match against Tasmania slowly up forward before being moved to centre half-back in the third quarter as a means of getting him into the game. His ability to roam across the defence and take soaring marks was breathtaking.
Early in the last quarter Day was moved to full-forward and continued to take marks. He kicked goals as well. While he had little influence in the first half there was a temptation to name him best on ground.
A student at Adelaide's Prince Alfred College, Day continues to play basketball at school, and he also remains keen on the family sport of baseball. His father Chris was a handy baseball prospect before doing his knee and his uncle Tim Day played baseball for Australia.
"I don't think he's ever been committed to footy," Phillips said. "When he does, it will be scary."
McCarthy was playing in the ruck at Adelaide’s famous Sacred Heart College and the Glenelg under-18s when Phillips took him aside to tell him he wasn’t really a ruckman but a running defender.
McCarthy shone in that role during the under-18 championships, striding downfield and proving clean with his hands and feet. He also showed leadership ability when organising the back six. While emerging from the rooms after half-time against Tasmania, it was McCarthy who yelled out for the players at the front to wait up and those at the back to hurry up.
Fitzgerald comes from the hot and dusty town of Kyancutta on South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula. During his mid-teenage years, he struggled to get to Adelaide to be considered for state representative matches. Last year he moved to Adelaide to board at Rostrevor College but his footy development was curtailed by his school cricket commitments.
Now out of school, Fitzgerald had his first pre-season at a senior club, Woodville-West Torrens. Phillips saw him play at centre half-back in the Woodville-West Torrens reserves and was impressed. He thought it was worth including him in the carnival squad using the overage player rule (Fitzgerald is 19) to enhance his development.
Phillips used Fitzgerald in the key defence post in the first game, against Western Australia.
“He was rock solid,” the coach said.
In the match against Vic Metro, Fitzgerald was moved to centre half-forward. Even against Vic Metro’s Matt Watson, who was considered the premier centre half-back of the carnival, Fitzgerald was a constant avenue to goal in a match in which his fellow forwards floundered. He kicked four goals and was the Croweaters’ best player. Watson ended up in the All-Australian team.
Solly played at centre half-back on occasions but it was as a leading full-forward that he shone, kicking match-high goal tallies against WA and Northern Territory. He and Armfield are probably the least heralded of the seven SA talls but they’re likely to earn plenty of attention at draft time.
Armfield is built low to the ground. His inability to stand firm and use his rump to position himself to take strong marks was evident throughout the championships. His ability to kick long and accurately was never in doubt.
“He can kick a footy nice and straight,” Phillips said.
At 190cm, however, Armfield is slightly too short to play as a key forward in the AFL. Rather than park himself near the goal square, as he’s been able to do throughout his junior footy days, he knows he has to improve his fitness and learn to play as a leading half-forward.
The most interesting story among the seven talls belongs to Lycett. The strapping prospect is from Thevenard, near Ceduna on the Great Australian Bight, about eight hours’ drive from Adelaide. His original senior footy club is the Thevenard Magpies.
Lycett played a season of senior footy with Thevenard when he was 15. The Magpies played in the Far West league, which has only four teams. They lost every game during the home-and-away rounds but won in the first week of the finals after Lycett kicked seven at full-forward.
“I loved playing there,” Lycett said. “You build a special kind of bond in country clubs.”
Last year, at 16, Lycett moved to Adelaide with fellow Far West prospect Sam Gray (who shone for South Australia during this under-18 carnival as a rover). The pair play with the Port Adelaide Magpies. Lycett has played senior footy this season and is a strong chance to be drafted in the first round. His main quality, beside his ability to get his hands on the ball, is his competitive drive.
The most outstanding aspect of Lycett’s carnival had its origins in tragic circumstances. His best friend died in a car accident. Lycett played against Tasmania at Visy Park in Melbourne on a Saturday, flew back to Adelaide and drove to the Riverland town of Barmera, about three hours away, to speak at his friend’s funeral on the Monday.
Then he drove back to Adelaide, flew back to Melbourne and lined up with South Australia in the final match of the under-18 carnival on the Wednesday. It was against Vic Country at Geelong’s Skilled Stadium. Phillips took a gamble by starting Lycett in the ruck, whereas Lycett had played second ruck behind Gorringe for most of the carnival.
Lycett leapt at the challenge and was a key player in the Croweaters’ four-point win over the eventual champions despite the duress over his friend’s death.
“I thought he showed outstanding maturity,” Phillips said.
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