BY ROY WARD
12 Dec, 2011 01:00 AM
IT'S out of your hands - that's the advice prospective AFL rookie list players have got from Dandenong Stingrays coach Graeme Yeats before the AFL rookie draft tomorrow morning.
The Stingrays have at least four main hopefuls from their 2011 class of players. Brett O'Hanlon (Edithvale-Aspendale), Piva Wright (Noble Park JFC), Darren Minchington (Dromana) and Morrish medallist Alex Benbow (Beaconsfield) all make appealing cases to go to AFL level.
AFL rookie list players get contracted to a side and can be elevated to the main list in place of injured players.
Numerous rookie-listed players, such as current Western Bulldogs defender Dale Morris, have moved on to become regular AFL senior players.
"At the end of the day we can't control who the clubs decide to pick," Yeats said.
"We would like think most of our kids would do well if they got an opportunity but that is the hardest thing - to get a club to show enough faith to pick you and then develop you."
While staying hopeful that all four players would earn selection, Yeats said it was important all players realised the AFL system gave hard-working players a chance to be drafted in years to come.
"Sometimes kids slip through the cracks," he said. "They all have the opportunity to be very good players. The system takes care of those players who keep pushing themselves."
Yeats said O'Hanlon would get the most interest due to his improvements in kicking and fitness over the past season.
"We are confident that of all kids he'll get a rookie spot," Yeats said. "O'Hanlon genuinely showed a lot of improvement last year. He actually won our most improved player award.
"He has good hands and kicks incredibly well, but he is that in-between height of 188-189 centimetres, which doesn't always appeal to clubs."
Yeats said Wright was confident he would earn a rookie-list spot after not winning selection in the AFL draft last month. "He is really confident, so time will tell," Yeats said.
"Time can really be an enemy or a friend of these kids, but I think they are all realistic enough to know there will still be other opportunities for them if they keep at it."
Last Modified on 17/12/2011 14:38
