The pick of the bunch
Emma Quayle | May 31, 2009
THIS time last year, Tom Scully played for Vic Metro in the AFL under-18 championships. He darted through the midfield with enough authority to be named in the All-Australian side, despite being too young for the draft. Yet at 17, playing with and against boys bigger, older and, at that point, probably better than him, Scully took a long while to feel like he should have been among them.
"I probably didn't believe that I belonged, at the start. I thought I was there to make up the numbers, and my first game was a shocker. I was really nervous … I just felt a bit intimidated by it all," said the 18-year-old, who was then left out of Metro's second-round team and returned to his Haileybury College school side not knowing if another opportunity would come.
"I understood why I was left out and I just went back to school footy and kept working, so that if I did get another chance, I was in good form when it came. I was lucky to get back in for the third game in South Australia and, for some reason, I found my feet over there and was able to get into the game a lot more. A lot of the older guys got around me and made sure I was comfortable. I felt a lot better just from training a bit more with them, from getting to know the guys more and learning how they all played. It was a whole different experience, and I felt a lot better after that match."
Today, Scully will wear his Metro jumper again in his team's opening game of this year's national carnival. But circumstances have changed. He will captain Metro and is not only eligible for the draft, but is considered the strongest current contender for the No. 1 pick.
Scully is not sure how much opposition attention he will attract as the five-match series unfolds but hopes his experiences playing for Haileybury, where he is regularly tagged, have prepared him for anything that might come his way. "As frustrating as it can be, getting that attention, I think it should help you," he said.
"Ultimately, it should make you a better player when that's happening, because the footy you're winning is all contested footy. It's been a challenge for me but, when you're getting tagged, you have to work hard to get your hands on the ball, and that should only be a positive."
Having played in 2008, Scully understands exactly what he's preparing for this year, although Nathan Buckley, his mentor in the AIS-AFL Academy last year, is interested in how such a devoted team player will handle the hype he will inevitably attract in the coming weeks and months — and, in fact, has already drawn.
"In the junior ranks, you want to do all the team things and be seen like everyone else, and that's fair enough," says Buckley. "You want to do that in an AFL environment too, but the best players in the AFL attract attention and it's something they have to deal with every single week.
"When Tom starts performing, he's got to be comfortable being seen in a different light, just because he's so good. He's got to get used to actually welcoming that pressure, being able to handle it and still performing for the team. It will be an interesting challenge for him."
For the moment, Scully — who has learnt there is such a thing as working too hard after dealing with osteitis pubis last year — is concentrating solely on Metro. "To me, this whole thing is about playing for my state and representing Victoria, and that's all I'm worried about," he said. "If you do the right thing for your team, that's going to make you a better player and I'm not sure exactly what the recruiters are looking for, but I'm pretty sure that high on their priority list would be someone who does things for their team.
"If you get sucked into thinking about yourself, you're probably not going to get the outcome you were after in the first place."
Scully completed his AIS scholarship this time last year, graduating alongside Jack Watts, Nick Suban, Steele Sidebottom, Jack Ziebell and Michael Hurley — all AFL players already. Scully and Ziebell met as 12-year-olds, playing in a combined Victorian side; their fathers have since become close friends and there is a photograph of that carnival on the Scullys' living room wall, Ziebell laying a strong block for his little mate. At times, watching those players on TV has made Scully wish it had been his turn this year, too; in other moments, it has given him confidence that he could be doing exactly the same thing in a mere 12 months.
Where some of the academy's bottom-aged graduates tend to float through their final under-18 season — not falling behind, but perhaps not progressing — Scully wanted to make sure he became a better footballer this year. Already an exceptional runner, he chipped further seconds off his three-kilometre time trial.
He signed with Velocity Sports before the season started, so that choosing a manager didn't become a distraction, and he sat with the Dandenong Stingrays' fitness staff, mapping out plans to add size to his small frame (182 centimetres, 74 kilograms).
"I think a big part of the AIS program is to give you some guidelines for what you should be doing to become a professional player," he said. "And I think the next part is to challenge yourself, if you are a bottom-aged player, to do those things in your top-age year and not become complacent. It probably comes back to that saying: what are you doing when no one's watching?
"I just thought that if I get an opportunity to be at a club next year, I want to be able to get there and not have my size count against me."
Scully's academy coach, Alan McConnell, likes how Scully works hard, prepares, reads the game and wins the ball both inside and outside a contest. Buckley likes his run and carry, how he always looks to move the ball forward and how he is not afraid, in a training session, to put himself in situations where he might make a mistake. "He runs around practising his wrong foot, and he strikes me as a guy who's not afraid to make an error at training," Buckley said. "He sees training as a learning experience, and that's what you tell all the kids to do, but a lot of them seem afraid to make mistakes. Tom keeps working on what might be termed his deficiencies, and he's very driven."
He'll face a challenge of a different sort today. The Metro and Country zones were recently altered and Scully's Dandenong side now sits in the Country region. Having played for Metro last year, he was given the choice to stay there and he opted to do that, given he has played for so many years with so many of his teammates there. But playing Country means coming up against Ryan Bastinac, his co-captain at the Stingrays, and one or two other teammates.
"It will definitely be interesting," Scully smiled. "Hopefully, once we're out there it will feel like just another game. I might cop a bit of lip, but that's OK."
Comments by former North Melbourne recruiter Neville Stibbard:
JOHN BUTCHER (17, Vic Country, 197cm key forward/back, 84kg)
"You'd want to see him come out hard on the lead, take contested marks and kick goals. You'd want to see if he's made significant improvement beneath his knees … But there's no question about his natural talent. He's going to be a really good player."
JESSE CRICHTON (17, Tasmania, 183cm midfielder, 66kg)
"He's a natural runner. I don't know if he's quite in the top 10, but he gets across the ground well. You'd like to see how he goes against the division-one teams."
JACK FITZPATRICK (17, Vic Metro, 201cm ruck or key forward/back, 85kg)
"He's a tall, developing forward who needs to be more consistent … He can drop away quickly, so that's his challenge, but he has a lot going for him."
JORDAN GYSBERTS (17, Vic Metro, 188cm midfielder, 83kg)
"You'd want to see whether he's improved his endurance and speed and ability to get across the ground. He's got terrific hands and is a great size for a midfielder."
KANE LUCAS (17, Western Australia, 188cm midfielder, 79kg)
"He hasn't had quite as good a year as last year, he hasn't been as effective, so this is a chance for him to step up. He's certainly very talented."
JAKE MELKSHAM (17, Vic Metro, 184cm midfielder, 73kg)
"He's a great size, nice courage. His ball use with his feet could be a touch better, so that's the area he'll be looking to improve."
ANTHONY MORABITO (17, Western Australia, 190cm forward, 90kg)
"No one doubts his talent, but I think there's a question mark over his physical presence. He's a silky, skilful player who can do good things in space."
TOM SCULLY (18, Vic Metro, 182cm midfielder, 74kg)
"He'll be tagged, so how does he handle that? We all know he's highly skilled and highly efficient with the footy, so I suppose we're going to find out if he can gut-run."
KOBY STEVENS (17, Vic Country, 187cm midfielder, 82kg)
"He has some X-factor, but he needs to learn to be a genuine midfielder. Can he take his turn on the ball? That's the question."
JACK TRENGOVE (17, South Australia, 185cm midfielder, 82kg)
"He uses the ball really well and is a great size for a midfielder. Keep an eye on his work ethic, he works really hard."
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