Latest news with #midseasondraft
ABC News
28-05-2025
- Business
- ABC News
AFL mid-season draft: Essendon pick two talls as West Coast takes Tom McCarthy with first pick
Essendon has picked two towering talls in a bid for a mid-season draft cure to their injury woes. The injury-hit Bombers were the busiest club with four selections at Wednesday night's mid-season rookie draft. While 10 clubs with no vacant list spot didn't have a pick, the Bombers went hard to address a concerning injury list featuring 10 players who are 190cm or taller. Essendon picked Archie May, a 198cm-tall forward from WAFL club Subiaco, with its first selection and pick six overall. The Bombers followed by taking 203cm ruckman Lachlan Blakiston from East Fremantle (pick 13). Essendon then promoted small goalsneak Oscar Smart from their VFL outfit and plucked forward Liam McMahon, who was Carlton's VFL captain. West Coast, with the first pick of the draft, signed Tom McCarthy from Richmond's VFL ranks. Just two years ago, the 24-year-old was playing division two amateurs in Victoria's Southern League. "I've definitely come from kind of nowhere," McCarthy said. "I feel so privileged that I'll get to live my dream … I'm super pumped to get started." North Melbourne used pick two on Werribee small forward Zac Banch, who in round six equalled the all-time VFL record for score assists with eight. "He gets up the ground and then he's a bit of a handful when he's streaming back to goal," North's recruiting manager Will Thursfield said. "He's very clean, he's very crafty, he doesn't need much time to make his decisions and he's a very nice kick of the footy." Port selected towering 202cm defender Harrison Ramm from reigning SANFL premiers Glenelg at pick four. Another Werribee product, Flynn Young, was taken by Carlton at pick five and Glenelg lost another key backman when Oscar Allen, who has previously been on St Kilda's list, joined Gold Coast at pick seven. Collingwood chose utility Roan Steele from West Perth, while West Coast added SANFL outfit Norwood's Jacob Newton with pick nine. The Kangaroos signed Cooper Trembath from their VFL ranks to round out the top 10, as 18 players were selected overall. Experienced AFL duo Adam Tomlinson and Brandon Parfitt were overlooked. AAP
News.com.au
28-05-2025
- General
- News.com.au
AFL mid-season draft 2025: Live updates and every pick as it happens
The mid-season rookie draft is here and Essendon and Port Adelaide are set to shape a night that could involve up to 18 selections. Follow all the action and every pick with us below. Originally published as AFL mid-season draft 2025: Live updates and every pick as it happens
News.com.au
14-05-2025
- Sport
- News.com.au
AFL 2025: Essendon coach Brad Scott would not open up mid-season draft despite growing injury toll
Essendon coach Brad Scott fears shifting the mid-season draft to a mid-season signing deadline could 'easily decimate' second-tier teams. The Bombers, despite already having four players ruled out for the year through injury, have to wait until the mid-season draft to bolster their list. While a tweak to the draft – allowing clubs to sign players at any point similar to the SSP – would be beneficial for the Bombers, Scott is wary of the 'flow-on effect'. 'My mind immediately goes to the flow-on effect of second-tier competitions. It's something we've got to be very cognisant of – what it does to second-tier teams and competitions,' Scott said. 'We're in a situation now where, yeah, we have a number of spots on our list available, but if three or four clubs have that situation you can pretty easily decimate a second-tier team. 'While people might think 'how does that affect the AFL'? Well, it doesn't but it does the second tier and we've always got to be aware of those dominoes as they fall. 'Things like the mid-season draft, mid-season trading will always be a discussion until it comes in and I think they're all really relevant discussions. 'But there's a hell of a lot of work that needs to go on behind the scenes so we don't create problems that are unforeseen.' Despite his concerns for the second-tier teams, Scott said the VFL competition continued to pose challenges at AFL level. Essendon was cautious of promoting players after its Anzac Day loss to Collingwood, as the VFL Bombers had a shorter break between games. The fixture impacts the Bombers again this week, with midfielder Darcy Parish's slow return from injury halted by a VFL bye. Scott, who tried to perfect the balance in his former role at the AFL, hopes it is still high on the league's list of priorities. 'I think other coaches have talked about it and I concur, it's a challenge,' he said. 'The structure we have at the moment, it's not just the byes, the mismatch in terms of fixturing whether it's VFL has a five-day break, the AFL has got a seven-day break. 'We're trying to manage all of that in a very imperfect system. I think there was a piece of work being done on that, I am not sure where it's at at the moment. 'I think we need to look at it because it's really unfair and unlucky that players get compromised because of a different structure at VFL level to AFL level.'
