WA tall good thing for first roundafl.com.au
By Nathan Schmook | Fri 20 November, 2009
A BOLD decision to turn his back on two American basketball scholarships is about to pay off for Aaron Black, with the talented West Australian rocketing into first round prominence ahead of next week's NAB AFL Draft.
Black, a versatile tall from Eaton in south-west WA, has juggled football and basketball ever since he started playing both sports as an 11-year-old, but success in each kept him from choosing a clear direction until the 2008 season.
Ironically, it was a US basketball tour late in 2007 that, while presenting the sporting all-rounder with the unique opportunity to play college hoops, ultimately pushed him towards football.
"He toured America in the Christmas of 2007 and from the coach's point of view he acquitted himself very well and was [offered] a couple of scholarships," Black's father, Doug, explains. "But when he came back he decided football was the way he wanted to go."
It is now expected Black, who turns 19 three days after the draft, will be recruited by Melbourne (pick No.11) or Carlton (No.12).
But for the player regarded as the bolter of this year's pool his past two seasons still remain shrouded in mystery.
His low profile rise from country junior to possibly the best tall draft prospect in the land began when he decided not to play in the WAFL colts competition in 2008.
Peel Thunder coach Michael Pratt had just crossed from Victorian TAC Cup side the Western Jets and identified the apprentice carpet-layer as a player he wanted in his development side.
He couldn't convince Black, who was working full-time under his dad in Eaton, to commit to the constant travel required to play in the state competition that year.
However, he tracked the youngster in the country through 2008 and witnessed a few "spectacular things".
"He kicked 10 goals in the final of the Landmark WA Country Championships and he actually played in three successful grand finals in 2008," Pratt said.
Doug Black remembers his son's 10-goal Landmark performance well and marks it as the point AFL clubs first showed interest.
"There were a few people talking at that stage and we thought, 'Hang on we've got an opportunity here'," he said.
"Then he played in the Eaton 17s grand final, got best on ground in that one, and then he played in the Eaton colts grand final and got best on ground in that one. At that colts grand final there was a Richmond scout."
Recruiters were all aware of Black from halfway through the 2008 country season, but it was his move to play WAFL colts with Peel in 2009 that would launch him into draft calculations.
Black had never been a part of the state development programs, but Pratt remembers assembling his colts squad for pre-season training and immediately seeing a potential AFL player.
"We were pretty excited when he said he'd come up for the 2009 season," Pratt said.
"He's just a terrifically talented kid. Pre-season I thought he had the skills of an AFL player."
For all his promise, things didn’t go to plan early in 2009 for Black. He missed three early games and continued to break down with niggling injuries.
"He was showing some really good flashes but we just couldn't keep him on the park," Pratt said. "I put a lot of that down to it being his first formalised pre-season."
After riding the early bumps, Black was able to get his body right. Then, late in June, came the breakout game his father had been waiting for.
Against Subiaco, Black had 29 possessions, 14 marks and booted 6.4 in rain and wind.
"You could just see his confidence growing throughout that game and from there he really started to take the competition by the scruff of the neck," Pratt said.
North Melbourne had already made contact with Black before that game, and the Sydney Swans, Brisbane Lions, Collingwood and West Coast would all make the trip down to Eaton shortly after.
Every AFL club has now met with Black, and Pratt is not surprised after watching his former colt excel at league level for the final three games of 2009.
"When he went up to play senior footy, his last two games were outstanding," Pratt said.
"You look at the votes from our fairest and best night and out of the maximum 36 votes for the last two games, he's picked up 35. It was just an unbelievable performance."
Black excelled at October's NAB AFL Draft Camp, finishing second in the new kicking test, and he suddenly finds himself on par with other WA first-round hopefuls Anthony Morabito, Lewis Jetta and Kane Lucas.
"Aaron does a few things that other players can't do," Pratt said. "His ability to gather the ball below his knees for a 193cm player is just outstanding - other players can't do that.
"His hands and his marking ability are really exceptional and he's just a beautiful kick of the footy."
For Doug Black, it is his son's understanding of space - a skill picked up before football was his priority - that is most impressive.
"I think with basketball that definitely helps - if you don't know where to go in basketball you just don't get the ball," he said.
"On the footy field he just knows where to run."
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