Pick no.14 - Heath Chapman
Pick no.27 - Nathan O'Driscoll
Pick no.50 - Brandon Walker
Pick no.54 - Joel Western

Fremantle have added four WA-based players in the 2020 NAB AFL National Draft who will all bring athleticism and elite running ability to the table, according to executive general manager of football Peter Bell.

Defender Heath Chapman from West Perth and midfielder Nathan O’Driscoll from Perth were Freo’s headline selections at no.14 and 27 respectively.

Freo’s Next Generation Academy continued its development of AFL-calibre talent with Fremantle matching bids on Brandon Walker from East Fremantle at no.50 and Joel Western from Claremont at no.54.

While pleased to add West Australian talent, Bell said the club was primarily focused on adding players with good character with a range of abilities.

“We’re really happy with the draft and the way it panned out,” Bell said.

“We’ve brought in four really strong characters who are also West Australians. It’s a really well-rounded group of individuals who all offer something a little bit different.”

Chapman shone as a key and intercept defender with West Perth at colts and league level but Bell also rates the 192cm big man’s ability to play on the wing.

The 18-year-old clocked the fastest 2km time trial at the WA draft combine in October, and the ninth-fastest nationally, at six minutes and 20 seconds. 

“Heath had a couple of exceptional years with West Perth, he’s a fantastic athlete and we know he’s a very good runner with a 6:20 2km time trial,” Bell said.

“He’s a quick intercept marker and with that athletic profile, even through he’s played a lot of footy in defence, there’d be no reason why he couldn’t play wing, possibly forward and, long-term, maybe even as an inside mid.

“We feel we’ve got an athlete who will really flourish in an AFL environment. He’s a real competitor and I know the family will be thrilled he’ll be playing and pursuing his AFL career here in Western Australia.”

In O’Driscoll, who is the brother Fremantle AFLW player Emma, Fremantle have added a versatile midfielder who has played both on the inside and outside.

“Nathan is a really hard worker, he’s a genuine two-way midfielder that works extremely hard defensively,” Bell said.

“He’s a great size, close enough to 190cm. He has really good awareness, he uses his hands well, he played five games of senior footy with Perth this year and acquitted himself really well.

“He also performed really well last year for WA in the U18s as an under-aged player.

“We also love that he has the family link with Fremantle with sister Emma playing for our AFLW team, so that’s a nice touch as well.”

The O’Driscoll selection was made possible by some shrewd pick trading by Fremantle, who were able to trade up the order to snatch the 18-year-old at no.27 without impacting their ability to match bids on Walker and Western.

Bell said the pick swaps were made with O’Driscoll in mind and also to protect their second round pick should bids come early for their NGA players.

“We rated Nathan really highly and we were surprised that he was still there around our second pick,” Bell said.

“We spent a little bit, with a future third round pick next year, just to bring ourselves up the order and give us a chance to draft Nathan.

“It was also beneficial to get up the order to make sure that we got that live second pick in before any potential bids came for Brandon and Joel.

“We thought that it was a reasonably small price to pay with our draft hand next year, to really secure a player that we rated really highly in Nathan.”

In Walker and Western, Fremantle secured another two players with exceptional athleticism.

Western turned heads at the WA combine when he recorded a 2.73 seconds 20m time, the fastest time nationally since records were first recorded. 

“Both Brandon and Joel are really good athletes and exceptionally quick,” Bell said.

“We’ve identified that as an area that we really needed to address in the draft and with Brandon and Joel, as late picks and NGA talents, we think that they’ve got a lot to build on but that speed are their real weapons.

“There’s no reason why Joel and Brandon couldn’t spend time on the wing as well.”

Bell paid tribute to the work of former NGA coach and current development coach Tendai Mzungu, who has helped the club select six NGA players in the past three seasons, with Walker and Western joining Liam Henry and Leno Thomas as graduates currently on the club’s list.

“Tendai’s done a great job with the NGA and we have Roger Hayden as our NGA coach moving forward,” Bell said.

“Our NGA is something we invest in heavily, both at the top-end level but also at the community level. We’re looking forward to growing even more in the community while developing young players who can one day become elite-level talent.”