AFL
Chris Doerre 6y

AFL Draft Wrap: Have we discovered the next Marcus Bontempelli?

AFL

Each week, ESPN.com.au AFL draft expert Chris Doerre casts his eye over the country's best junior footballers to give readers an early insight into the next generation of AFL stars.

As well as attending live games, Doerre pores through match vision, analyses the stats and talks to industry sources to ensure he can offer the most insightful draft analysis.

Aside from the weekly wraps, Doerre will also unveil his power rankings at the end of each month and as we get closer to November's national draft, Doerre will also predict who goes where with his annual phantom draft.

Player Focus

Potential first-round choice, Oakleigh's Riley Collier-Dawkins was the standout for Vic Metro's Under-18s in their win against the Allies. It was the work of the 194cm, 88kg, midfielder at centre bounces that was most impressive. Collier-Dawkins regularly won first possession, taking a run up and with perfect timing winning the ball on the move and exploding forward at speed.

The explosive midfielder secured 16 disposals, 10 contested possessions, five clearances, seven inside 50s and two goals on the day.

Both of Collier-Dawkins' goals came from 50m on the move. His most notable goal came off a handball receive where he accelerated 25m through the centre before slotting the goal effortlessly at speed.

Adding to the intrigue surrounding Collier-Dawkins is his growth over the off-season where he shot up a reported 6cm.

Collier-Dawkins' game bares strong similarities to Marcus Bontempelli as a tall, explosive midfielder who has a high impact per possession and does his best work in contested situations. To improve his draft stocks, he will need to become a higher volume ball winner as he is only averaging 19.7 disposals per game.

Under-18 Trials

Vic Metro vs. Allies

GWS Academy, underage midfielder, Thomas Green will be a player to track in 2019. The 188cm, 85kg, powerful, ball winning midfielder amassed 30 disposals, 20 contested possessions, nine tackles, 10 clearances and six inside 50s.

Possible top-five choice, North Melbourne Next Generation Academy (NGA) prospect Tarryn Thomas had several positive moments. The exciting midfielder produced 25 disposals, 18 contested possessions, 11 tackles and one goal. It was his work without the ball that was most impressive, with a chase down tackle, coming from nowhere along with a number of smothers and spoils that caught the eye. Thomas was also winning the ball effectively at stoppages and distributing by hand. Thomas' field kicking was at times wayward in the early stages of the game and will be something he will be looking to improve upon.

Tasmanian Matthew McGuinness impressed with his intercept marking and reliable kicking from defence. The 192cm, 75kg, defender managed 18 disposals, six marks while eight of his 10 kicks were effective.

Queensland overager Timakoi Bowie impressed with his tackling energy and pressure. The 175cm, 82kg, Gold Coast Academy prospect secured 14 disposals, seven tackles and five inside 50s.

Vic Country vs. Allies

Geelong star Sam Walsh put on a show securing 25 disposals and two goals for Vic Country, with 20 of his touches coming in the first half. Walsh, who only played the first three quarters, helped Vic Country to a six-point three-quarter time lead. With Walsh off the field, Vic Country's midfield collapsed and the Allies won the match by 27 points.

Leading the way for the Allies through the midfield, Tasmanian midfielder Fraser Turner was prolific. The 186cm, 75kg, hardworking mid accumulated 32 disposals, 10 contested possessions, seven marks (one contested) and five inside 50s.

Demonstrating agility and evasiveness with ball in hand, Tasmanian Ethan Jackson performed strongly for the Allies. The 181cm, 77kg, midfielder gathered 23 disposals, four marks, four tackles, four clearances, six inside 50s and one goal.

Underager, Mitch O'Neill produced 23 disposals, seven marks (one contested) and eight inside 50s. The 181cm, 69kg, Tasmanian used the ball efficiently with 12 of his 14 kicks effective.

One of Tasmanian's top rated prospects, Chayce Jones worked his way into the game with 15 of his 22 disposals coming in the second half. The 180cm, 74kg, midfielder secured 22 disposals, 13 contested possessions, five tackles, seven clearances, six inside 50s and two goals.

Playing a pivotal role for the Allies up forward, 184cm, 81kg, GWS Academy prospect Jeromy Lucas gathered 18 disposals, 12 contested possessions, 10 tackles and three goals.

Providing a powerful marking target in the forward line, Connor McFayden from the Brisbane Academy was the Allies' best in the win. The 190cm, 81kg, forward secured 17 disposals, five marks (three contested) and four goals.

And performing strongly at both ends, Murray key position prospect Jacob Koschitzke, cousin of ex-Saint Justin, posted 16 disposals, seven marks (one contested) and one goal.

Young Guns game

Winning first possession at stoppages on the move and timing his runs at the ball to perfection, overager Charlie Thompson was a standout through the Vic Metro midfield. Thompson's ground ball winning technique was impressive, bending his knees to get low over the football which helped to ensure he took each ground ball cleanly. His distribution by hand at stoppages set up a lot of offense. Thompson amassed 26 disposals, 15 contested possessions, seven tackles and nine clearances in Vic Metro's 10-point win.

Thompson, who played his first VFL match for Richmond against North Melbourne, was unsurprisingly named one of the Tigers best. Thompson is a midfielder who will test slow and lacks the top-end speed, but due to his endurance, work rate, and his timing at stoppages, hitting the ball on the move, he can play at any level and not get exposed.

Frankston VFL forward Corey Rich was prolific as a forward for Vic Metro. The 21-year-old, 183cm, 83kg, forward posted 22 disposals, seven marks (two contested), four inside 50s and six goals.

Leading the way in the backline for Vic Country, overage key defender Jordan Butts amassed 34 disposals, 12 contested possessions, 10 marks (one contested) and seven rebound 50s. Last year Buttes led the TAC Cup in marks per game and after failing to be picked up last year should be on the radar of clubs this season.

APS Football

Considered Victoria's best key position player by some scouts, Ben King for Haileybury was again prolific kicking seven goals in their win against Wesley.

SANFL

Under-18s

Underage prospect, son of Port Adelaide's Darren Mead, Jackson Mead was named in the Eagles best players for the fourth time in his past six matches. He amassed 31 disposals, six marks and one goal for the Eagles in win against South Adelaide. The 181cm, 83kg, father-son prospect has been selected to South Australia's Under-18 Squad.

Underage prospect and son of Peter Burgoyne, Trent Burgoyne also performed strongly for the Eagles with 23 disposals, six marks and 13 inside 50s.

Improving rapidly, Casey Voss (son of Michael) for the second successive week was Sturt's best player. The Brisbane father-son prospect helped his side to a win against West Adelaide. Voss secured 30 disposals, 12 marks, seven inside 50s and one goal. This is his first 30 disposal effort of the season. Notably, Voss has not dropped below 20 disposals since round three.

WAFL

Colts

Brother of Brisbane's Charlie, West Coast NGA prospect Jarred Cameron starred for Swan Districts in their win against East Perth. The speedy forward collected 25 disposals, seven marks, five tackles, six inside 50s and two goals.

Carlton father-son prospect, Liam Hickmott put forward his most productive performance for the season with 38 disposals and 10 tackles for Subiaco in their one goal loss to Perth.

Key category B signings:

Former Under-15 All-Australian footballer, Tom Fullarton will join Brisbane in 2019 after the 19-year-old, 200cm former basketballer was promoted from the Brisbane Bullet's development squad to the full roster earlier in the off-season. He has since made the decision to return to football. The agile Fullarton played much of his junior football career as a key forward and may also at times relieve through the ruck.

Son of former Melbourne Tigers star, Mark Bradtke and grand slam mix doubles winner Nicole, Austin Bradtke will be joining Melbourne in 2019. The mobile 205cm ruck prospect was last year part of Vic Metro's basketball Under-18 National Championship side but has elected not to follow in his father's footsteps and will instead pursue an AFL career.

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