The AFL’s best-ever No. 170 recruitMichelangelo Rucci,
Sports Editor At Large,
The Advertiser
1 May 2019EVERY year there is a player who defies - if not makes a mockery - of the notion the best prospects in the AFL draft are called early.
Port Adelaide defender Dan Houston is now a first-choice player at Alberton. He was claimed by the Power at No. 45 in the 2016 rookie draft - among the last 21 offered a place in the AFL that year.
The rookie draft has for some time proven the dream of every AFL recruiting manager - that 10-year, 200-game veteran - need not be a first-round or second-round national draftee. Adelaide’s honour board has three rookie draftees in the 200 Club - Michael Doughty (231 matches), Ben Rutten (229) and Nathan Bassett (210, after being rookie listed by Melbourne). And there is club champion and two-time All-Australian Rory Laird (127) to come to this parade.
But for all the great success stories outside the AFL national draft there is one “diamond from the rough” this season that goes beyond even the rookie draft.
Sydney Stack at Richmond.
The West Australian teenager was not called in the AFL national draft that closed at call No. 78 (with the Western Bulldogs signing Will Hayes).
He was not claimed in the pre-season draft (in which all clubs were idle).
He was not wanted in the rookie draft that filled another 65 spots on AFL lists.
After 163 places were filled across the 18 team lists by Christmas - 78 in the national draft, 15 with rookie-list elevations, 65 with rookie draft calls and five with special-assistance picks for Gold Coast and Carlton - Stack remained on the outer.
It was not until February 11 that Stack had his AFL dream fulfilled by being added to Richmond’s rookie list with the new pre-season supplementary recruiting rules. And even then he was the Tigers’ second pick in this system after former Gold Coast and St Kilda midfielder-forward Maverick Weller was given a lifeline at Punt Road.
After just four AFL games, Stack is a cult hero at Richmond with Tigers premiership coach Damien Hardwick noting his club’s fans are ready to build a statue to honour the teenager.
And he surely, on form, will become a Rising Star contender. Quite impressive for the 170th pick to enter the AFL this season.
In the lead-up to the AFL national draft in November, Stack’s under-18 state coach, West Coast premiership hero Peter Sumich, told AFL recruiting managers they would regret ignoring Stack’s undeniable talent when sorting their options.
They were “spooked” - and now they are haunted by opportunity missed.
“The recruiters had a lot of question marks on his off-field demeanour,” Sumich recalls.
“It wasn’t so much going out drinking or anything like that, it was more rocking up to training.
“The kid’s done it hard, really hard. I felt for him throughout his younger age - no parents, he lived in probably four or five different homes over the last two or three years because he never had a settled home, he struggled to get to training a lot of the time.”
When Stacked missed training before a national championship match before SA, Sumich banned him.
“The kid nearly got down on his knees and was begging me to play him; he was crying,” Sumich said. “I didn’t play Sydney so he would realise that you’ve got to do the right thing ... or the AFL system will eat you up.”
Stack did take note, correcting his way to become an All-Australian under-18 ... but not a national draftee nor a rookie draftee. He certainly will be the best player ever taken at No. 170.
https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/sport/afl/expert-opinion/michelangelo-rucci/sydney-stack-is-a-richmond-cult-hero-perhaps-a-rising-star-contender-and-certainly-a-reminder-to-never-ignore-talent-in-afl-recruiting/news-story/298278f474dd6f90af4e87ba9beb9775
