AFL DRAFT day always has a big uncertain element to it, even for all the expert analysis.
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Only now we are facing a draft on the back of little-to-no football nationwide and smaller AFL list sizes. For clubs, the stakes are higher and for young talent there is a vaster unknown.
Greater Western Victoria Rebels have consistently worked for years to manage hopes in the process - a tricky balance in the somewhat ruthless AFL world with hard-work from players to make childhood dreams a reality.
As a talent program, the Rebels have long focused on developing its male and female players as more than footballers. Building good leaders ultimately helps strengthen grassroots football across Rebels territory from Ballarat to Ararat, Horsham and the south-west. It also prepares players to take their games to the highest levels possible, should they choose, and this is not always AFL.
The AFL dream is never truly over for those who miss out on being drafted this Wednesday, or rookie drafted on Thursday. But these chances are rare.
All the Rebels could do, as they always do, is prepare players.
AFL recruiters, hit hard by the league's own stand-downs, could likely look to last season's match vision.
The Rebels also had recorded boys and girls' trial games and sent this vision, with testing results and as much detail as possible, to clubs.
Six players - four girls and two boys were called up to the AFL Combine and worked together on strength and fitness under Ballarat experts Warren Young and Brock Freeman. Three Rebels girls were drafted to AFLW ranks in early October.
East Point duo Harry Sharp and Nick Stevens were put under clubs' close watch at the Combine. Other players have had interviews via video conferencing.
Rebels talent manager Phil Partington says usually the AFL Draft starts with the top 15 to 20 best emerging players in the nation, then clubs move into a needs-based phase.
Only what needs might be this year, with smaller lists and negligible match time is incredibly hard to gauge.
Partington says there is the conundrum for clubs: do you go with a delisted young player like Rebel Flynn Appleby, who has had a year of so in the AFL system; or, do you invest a couple of years into a largely unseen NAB League player?
This is not to mention the exposure of AFL Academy players in areas like Sydney and Queensland, who had a chance to play a bit of football this season.
IN OTHER NEWS
You never know how a player is going to develop once they land in an AFL environment either - it is one thing to be drafted, but a whole new ball game to keep a spot on the list. All we can do is wait and see how much this will factor into club decisions this week.
It is a complete understatement to say this year has been tough for all Victorian footballers, especially in the early stages when there was still hope for leagues to bounce into some action.
Those who graduate the Rebels program, boys and girls, do so with the foundations to keep pushing their games and this includes the chance to make an impact and keep learning in our community leagues. This is what makes the Rebels' program so vital.
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