Dylan Van Unen has continued the recent trend of Frankston players making their way to Essendon with his selection at pick 51 in the NAB AFL Draft. Van Unen joins names such as Marcus Marigliani (2009), Michael Hibberd (2010) and Mark Baguley (2011) that have all been recruited from Frankston to Essendon over the last four years, with Dylan a chance to join the last two recruits in the Bombers defence in 2013.
Whilst Van Unen’s name might seem new to senior followers of the Peter Jackson VFL, 2012 marked his fourth year in the competition. He transferred from the Box Hill Hawks across to Frankston in 2012 and was a regular in the Dolphins seniors playing all 18 games. Van Unen had struggled to break into the Hawks seniors in his three years at the club, playing 10 senior games after joining the Hawks from the Eastern Ranges.
Despite his limited time in the seniors, Van Unen did make the most of his time in the Box Hill Hawks Development League side, playing in the Hawks three peat of AFL Victoria Development League premierships from 2009-2011 before joining the Dolphins this year.
His 2012 Frankston coach Simon Goosey told SEN he was proud of what Dylan has been able to achieve this year.
“It is a good story where Dylan has come to a standalone club and really made the most of his opportunity.
“He had an outstanding year, and hardly got beaten all year, and can play on talls and smalls.
“I think come round one (for Essendon) you will see Dylan in there.”
Goosey said the perceived ‘mature age’ recruit will become more popular with clubs as these players learn to develop more than just their football.
“I think it is a great reflection on the competition. One thing that happens is that we draft kids very early more on hope of what they might do in a few years. At least if the kids come out, learn what life is about , they have a job and don’t just go from school to football they get the opportunity to experience a bit about life and actually know what they want,” Goosey said.
“We call them mature age kids, they are only 21 and 22 and just starting out, so I think the VFL provides great opportunity. The kids that I speak to, a lot put all their eggs in one basket to get drafted out of the under 18’s, and you see a lot of kids get devastated not getting picked up.
“I always say to those guys you are better to go when you are ready than when you are not. I think sometime we take kids a bit early, but if we take them a bit later I think they are ready and know what they want.”
Goosey’s comments are supported by looking back to the Eastern Ranges squad that Van Unen was a part of in 2008. Five of his teammates from 2008 were recruited at the end of that season, including Sam Blease, Rory Sloane and Liam Shiels, whilst Van Unen was overlooked.
Also on that 2008 list were his Dolphin teammates Leigh Kitchin and Leigh Osborne, who are both now chances in the December 11 Draft. However with a reduction in rookie selections at this year’s December Draft, spots on an AFL list will be at a premium. Goosey believes a number of talented players may miss out, but the VFL will hopefully benefit from the overflow of talent.
“If you look at Frankston, our three state guys in Ossie (Leigh Osborne), Kyle Martin and Khan (Haretuku) would be right up there. But there were a lot of passes in the draft, so (I am not sure) whether that means they are going to get these kids to have a couple of weeks of training before they take them in the preseason draft or rookie draft.
“I think with the AFL clubs going from six to four rookies you will probably see the state league improve its depth as there are two less players going onto an AFL list and more readymade players will come into the system.”
Asked about the clubs direct path to Essendon in recent years for recruits, Goosey said it has helped provide a name for the club as a place that AFL clubs will keep an eye on.
“When I started three years ago it was a hard sell to get players down, but on the back of Michael Hibberd and Mark Baguley the kids are now ringing me. We have probably got the best group of TAC Cup kids at training, and players want to be part of the club now.
“If we go back three years ago now, we lost all our senior players and were forced to bring in the kids and to have up to six players get looked at (by AFL clubs) throughout the year, like Leigh Kitchin and Lachie Delahunty as well, we definitely have some talent.”
Essendon Recruiting manager Adrian Dodoro revealed that the club has been keeping an eye on Van Unen throughout the season, with the clubs draft strategy to land at least two readymade AFL footballers.
“We wanted at least two of our draftees to be capable of playing senior footy next year, and that's why we targeted the boys from the VFL and the WAFL.
“We've just sat on this guy all year and we think he'll be ready to play league football next year. His form in the VFL competition has been very good - probably underrated because Frankston haven't had a great year in terms of wins of the board,” Dodoro said.
“He's a flexible-type defender, he's very, very quick, and his agility is really good - he can play tall and small. We really wanted to strengthen our back end up and that's why we targeted him. We really happy to have him, for sure.”
Dylan Van Unen
Pick No: 51 (Essendon)
Age: 22
Height: 189cm
Weight: 88kg
Junior Club: North Ringwood
Peter Jackson VFL Season Statistics:
Games: 18
Kicks: 155 (av. 8.6)
Handballs: 94 (av. 5.2)
Marks: 83 (av. 4.6)
Tackles: 62 (av. 3.4)
Highlights:
Honoured as Most Determined Player for the Frankston Dolphins
Last Modified on 29/11/2012 16:36