Highlighted by the first round selection of local product Griffin Logue, the Fremantle Dockers have added height at the 2016 NAB AFL Draft in Sydney.
Fremantle took Logue with pick eight in the first round, while 202cm ruck prospect Sean Darcy came at pick 37 and 193cm key position player Brennan Cox was added with pick 41.
At pick 61, Fremantle secured mid-sized defender Luke Ryan, who brings his intercept marking abilities to half-back.
“We certainly wanted to add some height where we could without getting silly about it either,” Fremantle’s general manager of list management Brad Lloyd said.
“It’s really good from a list management point of view to add some size into the group…it’s not every year you can do that.
“We feel they really complement our trade period where we were able to bring in a of couple taller forwards (Cam McCarthy and Shane Kersten), a key back (Joel Hamling) and a running midfielder (Bradley Hill).”
With Fremantle’s first top-10 pick since 2009, Lloyd was thrilled to see Logue still available at pick eight, with the eighteen-year-old sitting at number one on the club’s wish-list going into the draft.
“We’re really happy. It was really great to get Griffin in with our first pick,” Lloyd said.
“There were a lot of quality players around that pick, but we were over the moon when he was still sitting there.”
“He’s a young, tall defender and I really like his athletic qualities. He’s an outstanding character, so bringing him in to our list is great.
“He’s a talented player and fills a strong list management need and as a young Western Australian, he’s a really good fit for us.”
While Logue stole the spotlight, Fremantle crucially added to their ruck stocks with the big-bodied Sean Darcy, standing at 202cm and weighing 110 kilograms.
“Sean’s a big heavy ruckman and he’s really got some strong ruck capabilities,” said Lloyd about the Geelong Falcons product.
“We like that he’s nice and heavy as well, so we’ll get him fitter and he’ll really complement our playing group.
“We came into the draft wanting to add a ruckman to our list to begin to develop. He’s young, intelligent and has a lot of drive, so he’ll come in well and fit our list profile really well.”
In Brennan Cox, Fremantle have added a speedy tall who can play in multiple key roles.
Cox comes from Woodville West-Torrens, a club that has produced the likes of Matthew Pavlich and Cam Sutcliffe.
“Cox has played a lot forward this year but also went down back as well,” Lloyd said.
“He’s a really good size at 193cm but also did 2.95 seconds in the 20m at the draft combine, so he’s got some good speed. He’s a great addition to our list as a young tall.”
While Fremantle’s first three draft picks came at the minimum 18 years of age, the recruiting team went with a mature age recruit in Luke Ryan with pick 66.
“He’s a more mature age, he’s 20 years old and played VFL football,” Lloyd said.
“He’s more of a half-back with elite kicking skills and reads the ball well across half-back. He’s someone who’s shown he can play a really high level in the State leagues so it’s up to him to grab the opportunity when he gets to the club.”
