IT'S BEEN a big two years since Gold Coast-based prospect Joel Wilkinson took up Australian football.
In
that time Wilkinson, a gifted junior athlete, worked his way through
the ranks to captain Queensland at June's NAB AFL Under-18
Championships and made recruiters sit up and take notice with a series
of blistering performances at the recent draft combine.
His rare
combination of speed and endurance saw him set new records in 20m
sprint and repeat sprint testing while managing an elite 15.3 beep test
and a time of 10.26 in the 3km time trial - after twice stopping to tie
his shoelaces.
Wilkinson's testing saw him shoot up most clubs'
draft boards, but more importantly, caught the eye of Gold Coast list
manager Scott Clayton who is set to claim the Broadbeach junior as a
Queensland zone selection.
The combine became a strong focus for
Wilkinson after a broken collarbone three games into his promising
championships campaign ended his season.
He worked tirelessly to
ensure he could put his best foot forward at the AIS in Canberra and
impressed with his ability to execute under pressure.
"There is an emphasis to perform at the combine because everyone is watching," Wilkinson says.
"It's
where you have to show yourself under the spotlight. I've always had an
emphasis to perform [there] and I was lucky enough to [do that].
"It's definitely more exciting doing the sprints in front of everyone and seeing all the coaches there.
"If anything it excites me because the ... expectations I have of myself are always greater than anyone else's."
Having
grown up and attended school in a rugby league stronghold, Wilkinson
chose a different path when he decided to give the rival code a try.
It wasn't long before he came to the notice of AFL Queensland talent manager Mark Browning.
"He played one game of AFL and the school teacher rang me and told me to get down there and have a look at him," Browning says.
"So
I went out there and it was just his mindset that attracted me. He was
playing on a half-back flank, he wasn't giving his guy an inch, he
spoiled really strongly and, with his speed and vertical jump, I
thought that he had a competitive mindset that goes a long way.
"He
knows it's hard work, he doesn't kid himself. You talk to him and he
doesn't say, 'I want to be an AFL footballer'. He says, 'I want to work
to be an AFL footballer'.
"A lot of kids go through the system
and there's always great stories, but he is a genuine chance to play a
fair bit of AFL footy. His story will get pumped up because he's run a
quick time at the combine, but he's got the attributes to play AFL
footy, don't worry about that."
Wilkinson counts Brett Kirk and
Harry O'Brien as role models and the 18-year-old will inevitably draw
comparisons to his Collingwood hero.
"Their records on the football field are massive, but their work away from the footy field is what inspires me," he says.
"The way they go about it off the field, their work, and how they just play from the heart [on it] is what inspires me."
While
Wilkinson exudes self-confidence, he is also a very grounded, humble
young man. His character is largely due to the upbringing his mother
toiled to give him.
"She is by far my greatest inspiration and supporter," he says.
"Words just can't describe it. I honestly am speechless about how much my mum supports me.
"There's
all the footy-related things, but then there's all the things away from
football as well. Just everyday life right back when I was younger and
seeing her want to sacrifice for me to achieve.
"I hopefully will be able to repay her in some way and will continue to want to repay her."
The
chance to do that as an AFL footballer is tantalisingly close, but
Wilkinson knows the work he's done this year, while juggling biomedical
studies at Griffith University, pales into insignificance compared to
what lies ahead.
"I've got to work on absolutely everything, but especially my understanding and decision-making at the elite level," he says.
"I'm
just a little dot compared to the rest of the AFL world. It would be
absolutely everything [I need to work on]. I wouldn't say I'm perfect
at anything yet."
Browning is confident the work habits he's observed in the past point to a bright future for Wilkinson.
"When other kids are doing nothing, he makes sure he's doing something," Browning says.
"When
other kids would be sitting on the couch, Joel went out and bought
himself one of those spin bikes and he had it in the garage so he could
go and flog himself on the exercise bike for an hour.
"He's certainly done a great job to get where he has."
Last Modified on 16/10/2010 10:34