Pre-draft news articles:SA captain Jack Graham chasing the respect his Larke Medal deservesANDREW CAPEL,
The Advertiser
November 11, 2016 6:30pmJACK Graham feels disrespected and “confused’’.
SA’s first Larke Medallist since 2002 and just the state’s fourth ever, Graham has read the early national draft predictions and is disappointed that most don’t view him as a top-20 pick this year.
This is despite the Larke Medal — awarded to the best division one player at the AFL under-18 championships — traditionally making its winner a sky-high selection.
Since 2005, the Larke Medallist has eight times been drafted with either the first or second pick. Examples include Carlton captain Marc Murphy, Melbourne pair Jack Watts and Christian Petracca and Giants duo Stephen Coniglio and Lachie Whitfield.
“It is a bit confusing and I guess you do question whether you are good enough,’’ said North Adelaide’s Graham, who captained SA at this year’s championships and earned All-Australian selection.
“I’ve done some research on where Larke Medallists have been drafted before and seeing that and then where I’ve been rated has been a bit disappointing.
“But I try not to think about it too much because my goal is just to get on an AFL list, whether it’s at pick one or pick 100.’’
SA high performance manager Brenton Phillips also is at a loss to understand why Graham doesn’t appear to be on clubs’ radar as a high-end pick.
He likens the 18-year-old big-bodied midfielder, the son of former West Torrens and Woodville-West Torrens utility Jeff Graham, who played 77 games between 1987-92, to four-times Hawthorn premiership star Luke Hodge.
Phillips is convinced natural leader Graham will have a stellar AFL career.
“He’s a Luke Hodge-type, a really hard, inside, contested-ball winner who probably spreads a bit harder than Hodge,’’ Phillips said.
“He’s a terrific competitor who once the ball is bounced imposes himself on the contest and just finds a way to get the footy.’’
Strong ... Jack Graham gets his handball away dor South Australia against Vic Country. Picture: Mark Stewart
The knock on Graham, it appears, is that he already is physically well developed at 183cm and 83kg and might not be able to bully men as he has players of his own age group.
But the same was said of just-retired Fremantle champion Matthew Pavlich when he was coming through the under-age ranks at Woodville-West Torrens.
Both Adelaide and Port Adelaide infamously overlooked Pavlich when he was draft-eligible as a 17-year-old in 1998 before he was grabbed by the Dockers at pick four the following year.
He went on to become a champion, setting club records in games (353) and goals (700) for Fremantle.
Graham also has had some durability issues and missed the AFL draft combine with a strained quad muscle.
“Given he’s already got that big body I guess some AFL clubs are uncertain how he will translate to the AFL,’’ said Phillips.
“But he’ll be fine. He’s a competitor, a great young man and he’ll find a way to compete at that level, don’t worry about that.’’
Graham, who this year became the first Croweater to win the Larke Medal since West Adelaide’s Byron Schammer in 2002 — Schammer was selected by the Dockers at pick 13 in that year’s draft — also was voted as SA’s MVP, illustrating his leadership values in a side that finished second.
Physically he is ready to step straight into AFL ranks next year.
“It’s just made me more hungry; I want to prove a few people wrong,’’ Graham said of not getting the recognition his medal should dictate.
He has cut his teeth as an inside midfielder but has worked hard on his outside game and two-way running to become a more complete player.
“I like winning the hard ball but I’ve improved my running and outside game a lot so that I feel comfortable to also play at halfback and on the wing,’’ he said.
“You have to be versatile in modern footy and I think I’ve got to the stage now where I can play in various positions.’’
FLYING HIGHSince 2005 the winner of the Larke Medal has been drafted inside the top-four nine times, including four No. 1 selections and four No. 2 picks, illustrating the value placed on a dominant championships campaign.
Year Player Team Draft No. Club
2005 Marc Murphy Vic Metro 1 Carlton
2006 Tom Hawkins Vic Metro 41* Geelong
2007 Cale Morton 14.0 4 Melbourne
2008 Jack Watts Vic Metro 1 Melbourne
2009 ** David Swallow WA 1 Gold Coast
Andrew Hooper Vic Country 35# W. Bulldogs
2010 Harley Bennell WA 2 Gold Coast
2011 Stephen Coniglio WA 2 GWS
2012 Lachie Whitfield Vic Country 1 GWS
2013 Dom Sheed WA 11 West Coast
2014 Christian Petracca Vic Metro 2 Melbourne
2015 Josh Schache Vic Country 2 Brisbane
2016 Jack Graham SA ?
** Joint winners
* Father-son pick
# Rookie draft
http://www.townsvillebulletin.com.au/sport/sa-captain-jack-graham-chasing-the-respect-his-larke-medal-deserves/news-story/804a262fed1f3cfabcbff20ad9c355a2
