Talent identification is a never-ending process, and the Brisbane Lions’ recruiting team maintain a long-term approach in scouring the country to find the future stars of the AFL.
For instance, many of the players that will be eligible to nominate for the 2013 AFL National Draft have already been heavily scrutinised over the past few years.
So almost as soon as the final name was read out at the Rookie Draft last December, the Lions’ recruiting staff began looking towards the next crop of potential draftees.
“We started to formulate our list for 2013 at the end of last year,” Lions Senior Recruiting Manager Stephen Conole told lions.com.au.
“We spend hours cutting and watching vision of those players who we’ve seen show good signs as U17s so that we’re better educated before we start concentrating on them as live U18 selections.
“We meet all the key stakeholders at the SANFL, WAFL and TAC Cup as well as the Division Two competitions to gauge to discuss players’ aptitude, family life, and their demands for 2013. It helps us paint a better all-round picture.
“So a lot of preparation goes into our year to make sure our records are up to date.”
The Club’s ‘priority list’ is subject to change throughout the season as lesser-known players inevitably emerge as legitimate draft candidates, while some of the more highly-rated prospects from 12 months earlier can just as quickly drop off the recruiting radar.
“The majority of the group we looked at closely at the start of 2012 ended up being selected within the first round of last year’s Draft,” Conole said.
“There were guys like Jackson Macrae (Western Bulldogs) and Taylor Garner (North Melbourne) who we probably didn’t know a whole lot about at the beginning of the year because it was their first year in the U18 system.
“But by the end of the season, they were being strongly considered. Both ended up being drafted in the first round.
“As for our three selections, Sam Mayes we regarded very highly as an U17 and maintained a strong interest throughout his final year.
“We certainly knew about Marco Paparone and Michael Close, but both showed an enormous amount of improvement in their top-age year to shoot up our ranks.”
Conole spent time with some of the top draft prospects of 2013 last month as part of the AIS-AFL Academy’s tour of Europe.
“It provided a terrific insight into an elite group of talented young players, and how they function away from home,” he said.
“We had the opportunity to see them train and play a couple of games – even though the games probably weren’t at the same standard of the U18 Championships, it was definitely a worthwhile exercise.
“History says that at least one of those kids on the touring party would be a chance to be selected by the Club this year. Last year we used our first pick on Mayes who was an AIS-AFL Academy graduate.”
The recruiting team’s attention is now firmly focussed on the U18 Championships, which officially commenced late last month.
“The U18 Championships give us the chance to compare apples with apples – it’s basically the best junior kids playing on each other at AFL-standard quality venues. We will cover them comprehensively will Club representatives at every game.
“It’s a huge recruiting tool, but is by no means the be-all and end-all. There’s still plenty of school footy and club footy to come, so players won’t be judged solely on their performance at the Championships.”
Stay tuned to lions.com.au for Part 2 of the Recruiters’ Insight when we speak with the Club’s Pro Scout about identifying mature-age recruits and potential free agents.
