Draft holds promise for old friends
Emma Quayle | July 6, 2008
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http://www.realfooty.com.au/ffximage/2008/07/05/majnaitanui_narrowweb__300x463,0.jpgNICK NAITANUI hasn't always had very long legs, a giant leap, even longer dreadlocks and a reputation as perhaps the most promising young footballer in the country.
"He was the skinniest little kid, but he was always taller than everyone," remembered Chris Yarran, his teammate in the West Australian under-18 team, yesterday. Another teammate, Michael Walters, went further. "He had no idea about footy," he said. "But he had a really big afro."
Those two should know. The AFL draft takes teenagers from cities and towns all over Australia and turns them into instant teammates at the club that picks them. But sometimes, it finds more than one in the same spot.
Naitanui was born in Penrith, moving to Perth with his mother and twin brother Mark after the boys turned two. He has lived in many homes, in several streets and in a handful of suburbs. But when he was four or five, he moved to Bushby Street in the eastern Perth suburb of Midvale, and found some new friends to hang out with.
One of them was Yarran, a sharp, smart and highly dangerous forward who can kick goals from anywhere and will be a top-five or 10 pick at this November's draft. After starting this season in the Swan Districts seniors, Yarran injured his ankle a few rounds in and worried about getting back in time for the under-18 series.
He played his best game for the championships yesterday, creating opportunities for himself through tackling and chasing, then kicking the goals to go with it and feeling relieved he had found a little form. "I was feeling like there was a bit of pressure for me this year," he said.
"I played last year, but coming back as one of the older players there's the expectation that you're going to play well all the time. I feel like people expect things of me, but at the same time you've got to put that aside and play footy how you know and do all the things you love to do."
A little over a year ago, when he was chosen in the AIS-AFL Academy squad, there was different pressure. The squad's coach, Alan McConnell, remembers Yarran saying very little at his first couple of training camps, and thinking hard when he was forced to talk up.
His confidence is growing. "All those three boys come from an environment where things aren't all laid at their feet, and Chris has had to work hard to achieve what he's got and to develop his own self-confidence," McConnell said.
"When we first met him, you couldn't get two words out of him. You'd ask a question and he'd be reluctant to answer, to the point where he'd be trying to guess what the answer was that you wanted and then parrot that. It was so acute that at times he could give no answer at all. His growth in that area has been amazing, he's becoming more comfortable with himself, and happy, and it's really pleasing to see."
Naitanui has confronted different pressures in the past six months. When he started seeing his face on the TV, and hearing himself touted as the No. 1 draft pick, he thought it was all pretty good. Lately, though, the attention has felt like too much. Ironically, the teenager has this year started a journalism degree, although he plans to "travel the world and learn about all sorts of cultures" before becoming a football writer and grilling potential draftees.
In the meantime, he has been working hard on his kicking, and figuring out where he needs to be to get a kick; Naitanui can jump over the top of anybody and will compete to the end, but it's his game sense that might see him dip to No. 2 or No. 3 in the draft.
"Most of his possessions at the moment are coming around stoppages in the form of clearances, so if the ball's in his space, he's very effective," said McConnell. "The key for Nick is to put himself in that space more often, to read the play, and it's improving.
"When I first saw him, the game used to go past him or go around him. He doesn't necessarily get where he needs to be to take the number of marks you'd like, but he's certainly joining in the game for longer periods now. It doesn't really go past him, any more. He doesn't tolerate being pushed around any more."
Naitanui's other neighbour, way back then, was Walters, a small, slippery forward who can kick lots of goals, and may one day grow into a midfielder. If he isn't chosen in the first round of the draft, he probably won't have to wait long.
Walters is happy to claim credit for his now bigger, now dreadlocked friend. "If we weren't always out playing footy," he said, "Nicko might never have heard of it." A touch younger than Yarran and Naitanui, he has enjoyed following them, first into the AIS-AFL Academy and now into the state team.
"It's been good, just to follow along and see what those boys have done," he said. "We can still remember being little kids and I think maybe it's helped us all.
"It's good to have Nicko around because he always tells you what to do, he's always pushing you up and making you work hard. And Chris is the opposite, he just relaxes and goes with it. We're good for each other, I think. We just try and make each other be better."
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