AFL Draft guru Kevin Sheehan believes the upper-hand access clubs in New South Wales and Queensland are afforded is “working for our game”.
Attention and criticism on the ‘compromised’ nature of this year’s draft, which follows several counts of heavily affected draft orders littered with Academy or father-son bids, has reached new heights as Wednesday’s first round nears.
The opening six selections could include four bids on club-tied prospects, three of which are tied to Queensland clubs, given their Northern Academy access.
Gold Coast could be matching bids on Academy duo Zeke Uwland and Dylan Patterson in the first few selections, while Brisbane will have their own Academy talent in Dan Annable falling in a similar range.
Carlton has the lead father-son prospect of 2025, with Harry Dean, the son of premiership player Peter, also seen as a potential top-five pick.
The situation could see a club like Richmond, who hold Picks 3 and 4 currently, not make their first actual selection at Pick 7 on night one of the draft.
The situation has earned the ire of clubs that have lacked access to top-rated prospects in years gone by, while some clubs were denied access to NGA prospects in the top 20 and 40 ranges of recent drafts, further fueling the scrutiny since the AFL eased restrictions on access to prospects last year.
For Sheehan, he sees the access Queensland and New South Wales clubs have to the best prospects from their respective states as a necessity given the continuous battle Gold Coast, Brisbane, Sydney, and GWS have with rivalling rugby codes.
“I’m a great supporter of things like the father-son. There’s only about half a dozen a year,” he said.
2024 Marsh AFL National Championships All-Australian representative Zeke Uwland will feature in this week’s trials for the 2024 Marsh AFL Futures game. Photo: Rob Lawson/AFL Photos
“We’ve been spoiled by some of the great stories of the Daicos’ and the Ashcrofts in recent years. Harry Dean’s the one at the top end this year. The other father-son boys might well end up at their clubs a bit later.
“The northern academies, I reckon, it’s worked for the game. You need a different strategy in New South Wales and Queensland; they don’t have the infrastructure of Victoria, SA and WA with the private school system, the community clubs that are so powerful, and they get to play the game all their life.
“You need a different way of going about it up north. Is this working? I think so. I’m a great supporter of different solutions for different markets, and it’s working for our game.”
Quizzed on the view of drafts becoming more and more compromised, Sheehan said he understands the view through the lens of clubs with little access to priority prospects.
Combining anticipated Northern Academy, Next Generation Academy and father-son prospects in this year’s class, almost a third of all selections could come from matched bids.
“The reason clubs say that is the fact that they can’t, potentially, get access to the guys out of New South Wales and Queensland,” Sheehan said.
“It could be 15 per cent of the players that are taken, and they’ll know those clubs will match the bid. So through their eyes, they know that they’re out of their scheme, probably.
“But that’s exciting for us, because 20 years ago we were getting eight per cent of players out of New South Wales and Queensland. So for the game’s sake, it’s brilliant that we have potential first-rounders coming from those two states.
“Expect there could be even 30 per cent (of all selections being) bids. Then you’ve got to evaluate whether you match the bid. If you’re the club that player has been bid upon, are you going to match it at that point, or is that too early? So that’s a big question to answer in a couple of minutes, as to whether that’s too early or have you got enough points to actually get him. Will we go into deficit too far? All of those things need to be answered very quickly, but clubs will have done their homework.
“They’ll be ready for whatever might happen, and there’ll be no love lost as we get through the next few days with clubs, as they try and position their own club to have a great list into the future.”
A prime example of the benefit of the Northern Academy pathways is the journey of Swans-tied defender-midfielder Harry Kyle, who had his first full season in Sydney’s Academy this year after spending most of his junior career playing rugby.
Had it not been for Sydney’s program, Kyle would likely still be plying his trade in another code, and wouldn’t be positioned as a high-quality prospect set for the AFL.
Kyle now firms as a potential top 20 selection given his upside, having earned close comparisons to GWS gun Finn Callaghan with his power and agility.
Harry Kyle representing the Allies during the 2025 U18s National Championships. Rob Lawson/AFL Photos.
Speaking on Kyle’s rise, Sheehan spoke of his excitement about the potential that comes with the Swans-tied talent.
“An exciting player, watched him play closely, not just for the Swans Academy, but he played for the Allies,” Sheehan said.
“He was terrific from a potential point of view. Left footer, a first-choice athlete, no doubt in the world. His speed, even his vertical jump we saw at the combine, all those things indicate.
“And when you know that he hasn’t played footy all his life, that he was one that crossed just a few years ago, he’s got a tremendous upside.
“So that will bring a bid at some point; it’ll be fascinating to watch when that bid comes.”
Sydney also has access to Max King and Lachy Carmichael as potential top 30 selections, while Gold Coast also have trio of Beau Addinsall, Jai Murray and Koby Coulson in mind for this week’s draft.