ALL EYES were firmly fixed on the AFL draft last Friday in Sydney with a host of punters trying their luck pre-draft selecting “a likely” top 10.
Swan Hill’s Justin Bell, 25, was no different as the sports-mad fan made his mock selections for the first time.
A fantasy football player’s favourite time of the year is the draft, and with paramount coverage surrounding the event, it is easy to get into the head of clubs.
Bell told The Guardian he wanted to mock the draft because of his love for the game, using the information he collates throughout the year.
“This is the first time I have done it, but I have always followed closely… it was enjoyable to do,” he said.
“A surprise for me in this year’s draft was gun ruckman Tim English sliding all the way to the Western Bulldogs at pick 18 while forward Patrick Kerr lasted until Carlton’s pick 65.
“One of the big shocks of the draft to me was midfielder Jonty Scharenberg didn’t get drafted with most experts tipping him to go in the top 30 in the draft.”
The Carlton supporter was happy to see his club make some good selections and was “rapt to see Kayle Kirby drafted”.
The question on everybody’s minds is who will be the standout of the 2016 class.
Bell said this particular draft was brimming with talent and it would be hard to pick the next big name from the group.
“You couldn’t select just one name to be the face of this draft, it is similar to the draft in 2001 which had names like Chris Judd and Luke Hodge in it,” he said.
“The two players that will be the faces of this year’s draft in 10 years time for me if I had to guess are midfielder Hugh McCluggage who went pick 3 to the Brisbane Lions. He plays his football in a similar way to Scott Pendlebury, and then quick midfielder Sam Petrevski-Seton who went pick 6 to Carlton.”
AFL Draft 2016 top ten
1. Andrew McGrath (Essendon)
2. Tim Taranto (GWS)
3. Hugh McCluggage (Brisbane)
4. Ben Ainsworth (Gold Coast)
5. Will Setterfield (GWS)
6. Sam Petrevski-Seton (Carlton)
7. Jack Scrimshaw (Gold Coast)
8. Griffin Logue (Fremantle)
9. Will Brodie (Gold Coast)
10. Jack Bowes (Gold Coast)
Justin’s top ten
1. Hugh McCluggage (Essendon)
2. Andrew McGrath (GWS)
3. Ben Ainsworth (Brisbane)
4. Tim Taranto (Gold Coast)
5. Will Setterfield (GWS)
6. Sam Petrevski-Seton (Carlton)
7. Jack Bowes (Gold Coast)
8. Griffin Logue (Fremantle)
9. Jack Scrimshaw (Gold Coast)
10. Jy Simpkin (Sydney)
