AFL Draft 2019

[one-eyed]

After breaking his leg, this gun AFL draftee got seriously ripped

November 26, 2019
Matt Balmer
FOX SPORTS

There is no draft prospect arguably more ready to hit an AFL pre-season at full swing than Victorian Cooper Stephens.

And his gruelling training efforts with Geelong Falcons high performance manager Matt Critchley certainly has kept him on his toes ahead of the national draft later this week.

Stephens had his season ended early after a broken leg in April kept him out of sights of AFL club recruiters on the field, with the inside midfielder likened to Fremantle star Nat Fyfe out on the ground.

“The pain was pretty excruciating,” Stephens revealed to foxfooty.com.au at the draft combine.

“It kind of died down and in the hospital room I was kind of optimistic that it might’ve been just a sprain, but when I got my X-ray back and with the Australia game coming up a couple of weeks later and then the championships, that was the main thing I was really disappointed about.”

The 18-year-old praised his recovery program put in place by Critchley, declaring it “awesome” as the midfielder returned to running 10 weeks before his impressive efforts at the draft combine in October.

Stephens blitzed the combine, showing off his impressive endurance capabilities to score a combine-high 21.8 on the Yo-Yo test then run an outstanding time of six minutes and 17 seconds in the 2km time trial.

Despite the injury stopping Stephens from contending for top-10 selection, he remained positive and passionate around his peers, still recognised as a vice-captain by the Vic Country players.

“It was pretty difficult at the start just getting over that initial devastation, things didn’t go to plan. The support crew around me with the high performance and medical were really good,” Stephens said.

“I got over it really quickly and especially with some of the boys at Vic Country with Flynn Perez and Tanner Bruhn, you can’t be too devastated and we grouped up and it was pretty good.

“I was pretty lucky, I kept involved with Vic Country and the academy stuff, I was still lucky enough to... have the headsets and be up in the box and all that sort of stuff.”

Stephens is among the players pushing to be selected inside the top 20, with Richmond among the clubs considering drafting the tall midfielder.


Cooper Stephens also worked closely with Geelong Falcons coaches while sidelined. Picture: Stephen HarmanSource: News Corp Australia


Geelong Falcons prospect Cooper Stephens training with Matt Critchley at Highton Reserve. Picture: Stephen Harman Source: News Corp Australia

https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/afl-draft-2019-cooper-stephens-ripped-abs-photos-geelong-falcons/news-story/04a31dcb5dee39b69470f95dd57ea7ad

[one-eyed]

The final draft order has us with 5 picks: 19, 38, 39, 41, 56.

So we'll be finished by the end of the 3rd round.

https://www.afl.com.au/news/2019-11-25/final-draft-order-check-out-your-clubs-picks

[pmac21]

The 3 blokes on the draft show on the AFL website look like the original Ghostbusters minus Bill Murray but add in Rick Moranis
I wonder if any of them have ever played a game of footy in their lives. 

 
 

[one-eyed]

All the main footy media sites going into the big day have us taking Cooper Stephens with our first pick tonight.


Firstly, Callum Twomey on the AFL website.

LATE MAIL TOP 30

Pick 1 – Gold Coast – Matt Rowell
Pick 2 – Gold Coast – Noah Anderson
Pick 3 – Melbourne – Luke Jackson
Pick 4 – Greater Western Sydney – Lachie Ash
Pick 5 – Sydney – Sam Flanders
Pick 6 – Adelaide – Fischer McAsey
Pick 7 – Fremantle – Hayden Young
Pick 8 – Fremantle – Caleb Serong
Pick 9 – Carlton – Dylan Stephens
Pick 10 – Greater Western Sydney (matching Melbourne's bid) – Tom Green
Pick 11 – Melbourne – Kysaiah Pickett
Pick 12 – Hawthorn – Will Day
Pick 13 – Port Adelaide – Miles Bergman
Pick 14 – Western Bulldogs – Cody Weightman
Pick 15 – Geelong – Deven Robertson
Pick 16 – Gold Coast – Brodie Kemp
Pick 17 – Port Adelaide – Sam De Koning
Pick 18 – Fremantle (matching Geelong's bid) – Liam Henry
Pick 19 – Geelong – Josh Worrell
Pick 20 – Port Adelaide – Harrison Jones
Pick 21 – Richmond – Cooper Stephens
Pick 22 – Gold Coast – Will Gould
Pick 23 – Brisbane – Trent Rivers
Pick 24 – Adelaide – Jay Rantall
Pick 25 – Adelaide – Harry Schoenberg
Pick 26 – Hawthorn (matching Geelong's bid) – Finn Maginness
Pick 27 – Geelong – Trent Bianco
Pick 28 – Sydney – Elijah Taylor
Pick 29 – North Melbourne – Hugo Ralphsmith
Pick 30 – North Melbourne – Charlie Comben

https://www.afl.com.au/news/2019-11-26/cal-twomeys-late-mail-mcasey-the-wildcard-in-top-10

[one-eyed]

Secondly, The Age:

Pick 1 – Gold Coast – Matt Rowell
Pick 2 – Gold Coast – Noah Anderson
Pick 3 – Melbourne – Luke Jackson
Pick 4 – Greater Western Sydney – Lachie Ash
Pick 5 – Sydney – Sam Flanders
Pick 6 – Adelaide – Fischer McAsey
Pick 7 – Fremantle – Hayden Young
Pick 8 – Fremantle – Caleb Serong
Pick 9 – Carlton – Dylan Stephens
Pick 10 – Greater Western Sydney (matching Melbourne's bid) – Tom Green
Pick 11 – Melbourne – Kysaiah Pickett
Pick 12 – Hawthorn – Will Day
Pick 13 – Port Adelaide – Miles Bergman
Pick 14 – Fremantle (matching Western Bulldogs's bid) – Liam Henry
Pick 15 – Western Bulldogs – Cody Weightman
Pick 16 – Geelong – Brodie Kemp
Pick 17 – Gold Coast – Deven Robertson
Pick 18 – Port Adelaide – Sam De Koning
Pick 19 – Geelong – Harrison Jones
Pick 20 – Port Adelaide – Trent Bianco
Pick 21 – Hawthorn (matching Richmond's bid) – Finn Maginness

22. RICHMOND
Cooper Stephens (medium midfielder)

Geelong Falcons/Colac 188cm, 83kg

Who to pick when your list looks to have it all, as is the case at Richmond? Midfielder Stephens’ season was ended by a broken leg but worked tirelessly back to elite fitness, to the point he was a star at October’s draft combine. Bianco is also around the mark here, while the Tigers could conceivably nab a tall as well if one of De Koning, Jones or Worrell are still on the board. Unless they trade it, Gold Coast should have the first pick of Thursday night’s second round, at which point industry sources expect them to land WA medium defender Trent Rivers. Worrell could be available on Thursday night too.

https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/afl-draft-2019-first-round-predictions-20191126-p53ecr.html

[one-eyed]

And Thirdly, Matt Balmer from Foxsports:

Pick 1 – Gold Coast – Matt Rowell
Pick 2 – Gold Coast – Noah Anderson
Pick 3 – Melbourne – Luke Jackson
Pick 4 – Greater Western Sydney – Lachie Ash
Pick 5 – Sydney – Sam Flanders
Pick 6 – Adelaide – Fischer McAsey
Pick 7 – Greater Western Sydney (matching Fremantle's bid) – Tom Green
Pick 8 – Fremantle – Dylan Stephens
Pick 9 – Fremantle – Hayden Young
Pick 10 – Carlton – Caleb Serong
Pick 11 – Melbourne – Kysaiah Pickett
Pick 12 – Fremantle (matching Hawthorn's bid) – Liam Henry
Pick 13 – Hawthorn – Will Day
Pick 14 – Port Adelaide – Miles Bergman
Pick 15 – Western Bulldogs – Cody Weightman
Pick 16 – Geelong – Brodie Kemp
Pick 17 – Gold Coast – Deven Robertson
Pick 18 – Port Adelaide – Josh Worrell 
Pick 19 – Geelong – Sam De Koning
Pick 20 – Port Adelaide – Trent Bianco
Pick 21 – Hawthorn (matching Richmond's bid) – Finn Maginness

PICK 22: RICHMOND – COOPER STEPHENS

Clubs: Geelong Falcons/Vic Country

Position: Inside Midfielder

Size: 188cm, 83kg

Bio: We always see players who suffer season-ending injuries in their draft year bounce back at AFL level to prove doubters wrong. Stephens might just do that. A broken leg ended his season after just three NAB League appearances for the Geelong Falcons, meaning he didn’t take part in the Under 18 Championships. But the midfielder showed his wares when he did play, averaging 26 disposals and 4.0 clearances. His 60 per cent contested possession percentage to start the year shows you the exact type of midfielder he is. He was impressive at the draft combine, showing off his strong endurance base.

In the mix: Without a pressing need, Richmond seems likely to take the best available. Stephens has long been linked to the Tigers, while Hugo Ralphsmith and Jay Rantall are others who have been floated. Richmond is among those clubs attempting to flick its 2020 first-round selection into the top 25 of this year’s draft.

https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/afl-phantom-draft-2019-afl-draft-2019-afl-mock-draft-matt-balmer-phantom-draft-fox-footy/news-story/9c58ba34cde9b396d9fb9d8ce400aa40

[pmac21]

Listening to Matt Clarke just now we are keen to move up the draft order in either the first round or third round. 
I would say our first pick next year is on the table for sure.

[Diocletian]

Be happy with Rivers or Stephens - hope we get another pick high enough to get De Koning as well (or put a contract out on the Purple Parrot if we don't ) 

Few Phantom drafts (yeah whatever) have us taking Ben Kelly with a rookie pick - which would be the steal of all steals...

[one-eyed]

Richmond’s National Recruiting Manager Matthew Clarke's overview of what he expects from the 2019 AFL Draft to be held at Marvel Stadium on Wednesday and Thursday.

What are your thoughts on the talent available in this year’s draft crop?

"We think it’s a pretty even group and there’s some players at the top end that are really talented. Just beyond that, there’s a really even group there, so we’re pretty comfortable where we’re selecting that there’ll be a good player or two that will come in to bolster our list both on and off the field."

Do you expect a quality player to still be available at pick 19?

"We do, we’ve got a number of players that are rated around that pick. We may be able to move that pick, obviously with the new rules you can trade on the night and before the second night starts as well. We’ll look to see what happens on the night but it’s pretty fluid at the moment."

Will you looking to select the best player available or do you have specific needs in mind?

"We definitely have specific traits in mind…We’ll have a look at the draft and see what’s there on the night. It’s really hard to tell what might fall through, so there might be some players that we rate there which will get through to our pick, and there might be some other ones taken a bit earlier, so we’ll have a look at it on the night."

Do you expect to fill most of Richmond's available spots at the draft?

"We’ve got some spots available... (We have) our first pick and then we’ve got three picks in the late thirties into the fourties and another pick in the fifties. So, we’ll probably fill most of those spots on the night."

Do you think the strategies of clubs such as Geelong and Port Adelaide, who have multiple picks before our first pick, will have an impact on the type of player still available when it is our turn to select?

"Definitely, there are clubs that have got multiple picks (before Richmond in the first round), Geelong, Port Adelaide, Melbourne, Fremantle, and Gold Coast with the first two. They may not necessarily pick what they rate as the best player, they might be looking at combination of types of players. It just depends on what we would like at our pick. But there’s a chance there’ll be some good players that we rate a bit earlier fall through to us as well. It’s pretty fluid on the night, we’ll wait and see what gets through, but we’re pretty confident there’ll be a good player there for us."

Across the second and third rounds, we have three selections in four picks. I can imagine that gives you great flexibility from a pool of players to select from over those three picks, but also the potential of packaging them to other clubs?

"That is a possibility. We think the group is very even around those picks as well. So, we’re pretty confident there’ll be a couple of players there that we like. But there's also a chance on the night, and on Thursday night as well, that we might be able to move those picks and get a bit higher in the draft, but we’ll have to wait and see."

https://www.richmondfc.com.au/news/2019-11-27/tigers-draft-preview

[WilliamPowell]

 Am I allowed to say that with it going over 2 days I'm not really interested

Outside of Gil and SHocking's obsession with Americanising the game why is it over 2 days 

[wayne]

Am I allowed to say that with it going over 2 days I'm not really interested

Outside of Gil and SHocking's obsession with Americanising the game why is it over 2 days 

I think it's stupid too and I'm not overly interested either, mainly because we won the flag and we're not after a kid to pin our hopes on.

The NFL draft goes for a few nights IIRC but that is because they have hundreds of picks.

[Diocletian]

2 day draft is utter seppo bollocks. Only good thing now is that they at least do the PSD & rookie drafts the day after instead of a fortnight later or whatever it used to be...

[mightytiges]

It's all about filling the news cycle during the off-season. Two primetime nights gives the AFL two days of maximum attention.

[pmac21]

Yeah 2 days is utter crap and pointless. 
Bit of a snooze fest. 
Good for the footy noobs to get their head on camera. 

[one-eyed]

Matt Balmer (foxsports) on SEN said he doesn't expect any late bolters tonight. The top 20 names mentioned in the media over the last few days should be the top 20 in the actual draft.