It will be an intriguing AFL draft period for the Western Jets.
The only ‘lock’ on the phantom draft boards is talented forward Daniel Venables, tipped to be taken in the top 20.
Thereafter, the Jets’ prospects become a draft roulette, the club hoping the ball falls on their number once the elite 30 players are taken off the board.
“We know that Daniel will be a certain pick and we expect him to be in the top 20 range,” Jets coach Torin Baker says with confidence.
“For a lot of the other boys, and this is through the whole back end of the draft, it’s quite wide open from around pick 30 through to the rookie draft range. So from 30 through to 100, it’s a bit of a mixed bag.”
The draft chances of the 2016 crop of Jets hopefuls are particularly hard to assess because of the circumstances surrounding the team this season.
How much weight is given to team performance when assessing an individual after the Jets missed out on the finals?
Have injuries – and there were plenty of Jets lining up for surgery this year – dashed the hopes of certain players?
Did players with private school commitments get enough exposure to AFL recruiters throughout the year?
There are more questions than answers for the Jets ahead of Friday’s national draft and Monday’s rookie draft.
Baker won’t be surprised at all if seven of his Jets players make it on to an AFL list come Monday evening, but he knows that number is pie in the sky. “We feel as though we’ve got about seven boys in contention, but we don’t expect all seven will get drafted,” he said.
“Three or four players drafted [overall in the national and rookie drafts] would be a good result for us.
“We know some of our players are still being interviewed by clubs, as we speak, and there’s some solid interest in our group of players.”
The only guarantee for the Jets players and any other hopeful is some restless nights between now and Friday’s draft.
“I’ve spoken to most of them over the past couple of weeks and there’s a little bit of anxiety there about where they’ll go and if they’ll go,” Baker said.
“I’m sure that’s the case with all the players in contention.”
