It was sometime in Josh Fraser’s fourth AFL season that the whispers grew louder.
The then-Collingwood ruckman was the consensus No.1 pick in the 1999 draft – Matthew Pavlich went three selections later – and so dominant at junior level there were articles written bemoaning the fact he wasn’t eligible a year earlier (his birthday is January 5).
Josh Fraser was a No.1 pick for the Pies.Credit: Mario Borg
Fraser kicked 37 goals in his third year as a back-up ruckman playing mostly as a key forward, including three goals in a preliminary final then grand final, but critics grew impatient.
He went on to play 200 games in black and white, then another 18 for Gold Coast.
“I was quite naive to external stuff in my first few years, and was probably living in the moment a bit more,” Fraser said.
“But years four and five I started to hear what was being said: ‘He’s not as good as we thought’ and ‘He’s been a disappointment’. That weighs on a young player’s mind. You’re still 22, 23, and not as mature as you are at 27.
“I was incredibly supported internally, but once you leave, the external stuff smacks you in the face, whether you look for it or not.”
Fraser’s experience was not unique for a player anointed as the dux in his draft class.
Brendon Goddard, the top pick in the 2002 draft, picked up the paper one day early in his career to find himself in a graphically modified spacesuit, alongside the headline: “Lost in space”.
He also dealt with almost weekly sledges from rivals labelling him the worst No.1 selection ever – but insists he was one of the lucky ones, particularly with great role models, from Aaron Hamill and Andrew Thompson to Nick Riewoldt and Lenny Hayes.
“Naturally, as a younger kid, you don’t want to be a bust like some others have been,” Goddard said. “I was told by numerous opposition players over the years that I was the worst No.1, and at that age I didn’t say much back. [Former Melbourne captain] Brad Green was one.
Brendon Goddard (left), with Saints champion Robert Harvey and his fresh-faced teammates Nick Riewoldt and Luke Ball.Credit: Dominic O’Brien
“The Brisbane Lions were ruthless … Michael Voss, up at the Gabba, told me he would kill me if I touched the ball in the centre square, and the only other time that happened was from Jonathan Brown later in my career, but I was older and wiser by then. You’re an easy target for sledging and physical abuse.”
Goddard’s St Kilda coach at the time, Grant Thomas, like many before him and since, told his fresh batch of draftees it didn’t matter whether they were picked first (Goddard), 22nd (Matt Ferguson) or 46th (Leigh Fisher).
Of course, the truth is quite different, no matter the good intentions.
Jason Horne-Francis, who openly wanted the No.1 status in his draft year but has since admitted he understands why his stepfather warned him of its perils, learned that the hard way, as Jamarra Ugle-Hagan did a year earlier, and Tom Boyd, Jack Watts and even Tom Scully long before that.
Tom Boyd played a pivotal role in the Western Bulldogs’ 2016 premiership.Credit: Graham Denholm
Watts, the 2008 No.1, will always be associated with his Queen’s Birthday debut, where three Collingwood players gang-tackled him with his first touch of the Sherrin.
Scully followed Watts to what was a historically awful Melbourne a year later, and enjoyed more individual success but spent just two years and 31 games there before accepting a $6 million, six-year deal to join expansion club GWS.
Boyd went the other way: requesting a trade and leaving the Giants after only one season, like Horne-Francis at North Melbourne, to be a Bulldog on a seven-year contract worth almost $1 million annually.
He was one of the AFL’s most-discussed footballers, from his high-profile trade, to his form, then playing an integral role in the Western Bulldogs’ drought-ending 2016 flag, only to retire, for mental and physical health reasons, barely five years after he was drafted.
Both Fraser and Goddard, who are back working in development at their original AFL clubs, say there has never been more scrutiny on No.1 draft picks, or young players in general – and at a much-earlier age.
That owes to the rise of social media, saturation journalism and even recruiters’ scouting going to another level, they said. Horne-Francis’ situation, especially the booing he has been subjected to from clubs he was never associated with, is a source of intrigue for them as much as everyone else in football.
Nick Daicos (left) is enjoying a brilliant start to his career.Credit: AFL Photos
“For whatever reason, in people’s minds, Jason hasn’t delivered straightaway on what people expected him to, so they create a false narrative around him as a person and footballer,” Fraser said.
“He’s a 19-year-old kid who’s going to be a very talented player. The AFL environment is tough – you can do all the pathway programs, but nothing really prepares you. It takes time to figure it all out.”
Fraser has had a front-row seat in his coaching career to No.1 pick Sam Walsh and fellow prodigy Nick Daicos, who was drafted in the same class as Horne-Francis but linked to Collingwood as a father-son selection. Daicos would have been a strong contender to be No.1 in an open draft.
Their instant and phenomenal success is the exception to the rule, he said, rather than examples of what top draftees should do.
Goddard happily makes that point himself. After 334 games, two All-Australian honours, a club best and fairest and captaining his second club Essendon, he is one of the best No.1 picks ever. But he remembers riding the pine extensively in his early seasons, when high rotations were a foreign concept. Goddard gravitated to Riewoldt, another No.1 selection, at the Saints, and they grew up together with great expectation.
“At the end of the day, not too many people will remember your first two or three years,” Goddard said.
“The club knew what they were doing with me, and they kept telling me to be patient and always had the bigger picture in mind, having confidence I would eventually get there.
“Everyone deals with it differently, but I had a pretty thick skin.”
Keep up to date with the best AFL coverage in the country. Sign up for the Real Footy newsletter.
