Coaching great Allan Jeans once said tall players don’t get shorter, but fast players get slower, highlighting the importance of key position footballers.
This was the draft that went against that long-accepted convention.
Small forwards such as Nick Watson are increasingly important.Credit: AFL Photos
It was only 30 years ago that key forwards ruled the game – Jason Dunstall, Tony Lockett and Gary Ablett snr were among those who regularly bagged 100 goals a season.
It feels like an eternity ago now.
Midfielders dominated the class of 2024 and though key forwards still found a home, there was a shift in priority to speedier types.
The slide for key forwards was most dramatically illustrated by first-round heartbreak kid Jack Whitlock’s drop to 33. Only three were picked in the first round, compared to seven smaller forwards.
If the key forward mafia was a political party, their backroom powerbrokers would be aghast at their dwindling importance.
The trend towards faster forwards having more influence than their bigger teammates in finals was noted.
Take 2023, when Carlton’s back-to-back Coleman medallist Charlie Curnow did not fire a shot in a finals series that culminated in Collingwood’s Bobby Hill taking home the Norm Smith Medal. This year, unheralded Brisbane pair Callum Ah Chee and Kai Lohmann were unlikely heroes in the Lions’ flag, while Sydney’s three big forwards were hardly sighted.
“The small forwards are having a real impact on the game,” Melbourne’s recruiting manager Jason Taylor said.
Brisbane Lion Kai Lohmann (centre), who kicked four goals in the AFL grand final against Sydney, is congratulated by teammates Eric Hipwood and Callum Ah Chee.Credit: Eddie Jim
“The speed of ball movement and speed of the game is becoming quite apparent. A lot of these players are having high impact at the right time of the year in finals. That was really apparent this year.
“Maybe that’s something that we might see, more of the smaller forwards, speedier types having a real impact, not only up forward but pushing up further afield to open the game up.”
There has never been a greater need for speed to break down sophisticated defensive structures, firstly by pushing up the ground to assist in clearing the ball from defence, then in the foot race back to goal on rebound.
Richmond’s recent dynasty could not have happened without small forwards who had the mix of speed and endurance to pressure teams defensively and lock the ball near goal. Hawthorn’s brash, young forwards have made them an offensive weapon, headlined by Nick Watson, the pint-sized “Wizard” selected with pick five last year.
Greater Western Sydney, who have already built a fleet of small forwards the envy of many of their rivals, swelled their ranks with another two this year – Oliver Hannaford and Cody Angove – in the first round.
“I think there’s been a shift,” Port Adelaide’s recruiting manager Geoff Parker said. “You look at the smaller forwards that have come in. Hawthorn have developed a style of their own and other clubs are going a little bit that way as well.”
Though Port used pick 33 on 200-centimetre key forward Whitlock, who looms as a potential replacement for Charlie Dixon, the value they placed in small forwards was evident on Wednesday night when they traded out a pick to climb one spot to grab pacey small forward Joe Berry.
“The game’s shifted a little bit that way to quick ball movement, smaller in the forward-50, push up the ground, run back into space. That’s how we think it might be travelling the next few years.”
By necessity, Richmond, for whom this draft is the cornerstone of a rebuild, went against the flow. Unlike the genuine contenders at the other end of the ladder, they are nowhere near the point where they can top off their list with speed.
They picked the first two key forwards in the draft – Jonty Faull at 14 and Harry Armstrong at 23 – then for good measure opened proceedings on the second night by selecting ruck/forward Thomas Sims.
Their boom midfielders Sam Lalor and Josh Smillie are already hulking. Lalor’s shoulders are already broader than Trent Cotchin, the retired Tigers great who presented him his jumper, while Smillie’s frame made another former Richmond star, Jack Riewoldt, look in need of a visit to the gym.
Whereas many of his counterparts prioritised the value of speed in finals, Tigers recruiting guru Blair Hartley saw how the bigger bodies of Melbourne, Geelong and Brisbane came to the fore in their flags.
“The game’s fast but it’s also contest-based,” Hartley said. “You’re recruiting for the last day in September. So how do those games look, and how have they looked over time? Those are the things we assess.
“The game’s always getting faster. Just look at some of the athletes tonight. But when it comes back to the crunch of the big games, it’s a contest game. You need to have that too. You need guys who can play all around the square and we’ve tried to assess that as we assess this draft pool.”
If speed continues to prevail, the modern-day version of Jeans’ expression might go something like “tall players don’t get shorter, but they get slower faster”.
