A TOP 25 draftee, a father-son and a rookie elevation, is it just the tip of the iceberg for the Western Jets?
The Jets have forecast more players will be selected in next month’s rookie draft.
And then five of the most promising who miss out could be invited back as 19-year-olds next season.
It does not end there: the Jets have already begun preseason training under new coach Torin Baker, with a fresh batch of youngsterswho some are tipping to be the best yet in the club’s history.
“We had five drafted last year, three this year and a good group of talented kids coming through,” Jets region manager Shane Sexton told the Weekly.
“There’s no doubt with the expansion of the region out the west through Werribee, there’s more talent coming through and we’re pretty excited about the future.”
Spencer White was the Jets’ bolter this season. The young key position player from Spotswood was chosen by St Kilda with the 25th pick in Thursday’s national draft on the Gold Coast.
White had a stunning second half of the TAC Cup season, finishing runner-up in the league’s goalkicking, despite limited time in a forward role.
Sexton said a one-month block of games early in the season when White was moved to defence to find form and consistency worked.
“It was to get him to focus on what it was that we were asking him to do,” Sexton said. “He finished up kicking 36 goals, which was the second best out of all the TAC Cup clubs this year, did that playing forward maybe two-thirds of the time.”
White has obvious attributes that would appeal to the recruiters. He has eye-catching goal sense, speed off the mark and a great vertical leap.
The past year has been important in developing the other areas in White’s game and personality.
“We’ve known for a long time that he’s had the talent,” Sexton said.
“He’s an outstanding athlete in various elements like speed, agility and vertical jump. He’s got some special athletic attributes and is going to be a power athlete.
“He’s matured physically and also as a person over the course of the last 12 months. They’re kids and it stands to reason that they’re going to do that over a period of time.”
The second Jet taken was a pre-determined father-son selection of Lachie Hunter to the Western Bulldogs.
The son of Mark thrived both with Vic Metro at the U18 national championships and with the Jets later in the year when he sealed his path to the big time with a five-goal second half in a game against the Bendigo Pioneers.
The midfielder – competent both on the inside and on the overlap – made an immediate impression on the Jets.
“I can remember the first time he came down to training in preparation for our U16 Brad Johnson squad and I was excited with what he did in one particular training session. The first time we’d seen him, we knew he was going to be a good player,” Sexton said.
“He really developed as a strong, inside player and was an important cog in our machine this year.
“There was him and Josh Bench, Jack Walker and Charlie Nastasi and they were the major reason our performance really improved in the second half of the year.”
Majak Daw has been one of the great football stories in recent times.
The Sudanese-born ruckman was talent identified by the Jets in his teenage years and went on to be rookie-listed by North Melbourne. He was the ultimate project player for the Kangaroos and has spent much of his time playing for feeder club Werribee Tigers in the VFL aside from the odd NAB Cup game.
Daw finally made the grade, earning an elevation on to the Roos’ primary list for next season and could be the first Sudanese player to crack it for a senior AFL game.
“There are a lot of Sudanese kids in our system,” Sexton said. “I’m hoping he’s the first Sudanese kid to play an AFL game. He’s a terrific kid from a lovely family and I’m just really excited for ‘Maj’.”
