Eagles grab Maric with pick one in mid-season draft

West Coast have turned to a Victorian talent with the mid-season rookie draft’s No.1 pick for the second straight year, selecting Gippsland Power forward Ryan Maric on Wednesday night.

The 18-year-old emerged as the clear-cut best prospect in the mid-season crop, but the doubt once the Eagles were locked in with the top pick was whether they would go local with Claremont key forward Jack Buller, or Subiaco goalsneak Robert Hansen jnr.

Maric, whose emotions spilled over after the pick was announced, made it clear before the draft he was willing to move interstate to ignite his AFL dream.

He weighed 107 kilograms two years ago when he was playing out of the goal square for his local club Drouin, but slashed 24 kilograms since – with his personal-trainer brother’s help – to get back on the radar after being overlooked last year.

North Melbourne snapped up Hansen jnr with the No.2 pick, and he could quickly play a role in their attack, while Hawthorn added 204-centimetre ruckman Clay Tucker, from the Eastern Ranges, after placing Max Lynch on the inactive list.

Richmond lost Jason Castagna to retirement at the start of the year and went some way to replacing him with Glenelg small forward Matthew Coulthard, who kicked four goals at the weekend in a great final audition.

The Giants passed at pick five after showing interest in Maric and Tucker.

West Coast will hope Maric proves a bigger hit than the three previous top mid-season picks since its reintroduction in 2019. He follows Carlton’s Josh Deluca (six games, after four for Fremantle in 2017), Kangaroo Jacob Edwards (zero) and West Coast’s Jai Culley (nine), who has shown promise but is recovering from an ACL setback this month.