The Draftees: How Five Boys Made it to the AFL National Draft

by Emma Quayle

Meet Jake Lever, Peter Wright, Isaac Heeney, Tom Lamb and Clem Smith. In 2015, they played their first game. In years to come, they could become stars. But first they had to be drafted to a club. 

Every year, hundreds of boys are put through their paces at AFL draft camps, training sessions, under-18 competitions and school footy matches. They all hope they will end the year signed to an AFL team. Meanwhile, clubs are making brutal calls on which young players will take them up the ladder. Too many bad recruiting decisions could set them back years.

Emma Quayle, senior football writer for The Age and an expert on talent identification, tracks these five boys through 2014 – the year they nominate for the AFL's national draft. We meet their coaches and families. We ride the bumps and share the triumphs. With exclusive behind-the-scenes access to recruiters at St Kilda Football Club as they decide on their 2014 draft picks, Emma sheds light on what it takes to become an AFL footballer.

For Jake, Pete, Isaac, Tom and Clem, hearing their name called out on draft day is just the beginning of their football story. But it takes a lot to get to that start line. 

Genres: Sports

384 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 26, 2015

Reviews

[Dave Bolton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've only ever casually followed AFL, but I do enjoy it because there's a large crossover in skills and thinking with my favourite sport of basketball.

Anyway, this book is excellent. A great look inside the St Kilda football club's recruiting process as they try to rebuild into a powerhouse, alongside following the lives of five young footballers who are hoping to be drafted to play professional AFL.

Emma Quayle is a quality writer. I was incredibly engaged by her depiction of the young men involved, as they struggled to deal with expectations and pressure that far outweighed their life experience. The maturity and thoughtfulness that Emma was able to capture was one of the highlights of the book.

I also found all the concepts of "list management" and thinking about team building to be super interesting, and actually quite relevant to my day job as a people manager.

[Charlie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think that the draftees was a very good book, which explained these amazing rookies’ stories. This book shows a lot of evidence about how these players were drafted to the AFL. The five players that the book is based on are Jake Lever, Peter Wright, Isaac Heeney, Tom Lamb, or Clem Smith. Every season, hundreds of boys are put through their paces at AFL draft camps, training sessions. All these players are hopeful that their work will pay off and at the end of the year, they will sign a contract with and AFL team. If you have an interest in AFL football, you should read this book.

[Toby · Rating 3 out of 5]

At the moment I am really enjoying this book because I really like reading about footy and learning more about the game. The book is telling me as a reader about younger footballers journeys though their AFL careers so far. They're all learning about how they can improve as a footballer and as a person. Most of the players are going on camps with different coaches to learn more about the game but most of the players have never experience anything like that before and getting a bit home sick. This book also connects to me as a footballer to help me learn about young people careers. I'm really enjoying this book and I can't wait to read more about it!