A dashing defender from the Goulburn Valley region will join Tongala’s Harley Reid and 60 other players at this year’s AFL Draft Combine following an AFL announcement on Friday.
Shepparton United talent Oscar Ryan was included in the list to attend the national draft, which gives some of the best young footballers from across the country a chance to impress recruiters.
The combine, which runs for three days, will be held in Melbourne in early October.
Reid, who made one last appearance for Tongala last month, played a starring role for VFL outfit Essendon ― which included a spectacular high-flying grab.
Ryan has enjoyed a stellar draft year, one that has included a dominant showing for Murray Bushrangers and classy performances for Victoria Country.
Murray Bushrangers’ head coach Mark Brown was thrilled Ryan gets a chance to further push his case in front of AFL clubs.
“It’s a great reward for Oscar; he’s had a fantastic season and he’s done a mountain of work,” Brown said.
“The focus now for him is finishing the season off strongly.
“For the club to have four players invited to the national draft is a great result. It’s a funny one, you look at our ladder position and we’re quite low, but we’ve produced the second or third most invitees.
“It’s a good reflection on the work put in by the support staff and the parents.”
The selection criteria to attend the draft was based on the amount of nominations provided by AFL recruiters, with all 18 clubs submitting a list of preferred attendees.
Clubs will conduct interviews and medical screenings at the MCG, while physical testing will be held at Margaret Court Arena on October 8.
There are always players who miss out on being invited and talented Mooroopna teenager Coby James can count himself unlucky to not receive an invite.
James, who has been a standout for the Bushrangers in 2023, featured multiple times for Vic Country at the recent national championships.
“It’s obviously disappointing for Coby to miss out,” Brown said.
“It’s never been harder to get drafted in the November draft with clubs no longer selecting the numbers they used to do. But there’s different avenues nowadays (to get onto an AFL list) ... for Coby he just needs to focus on his game.
“He’s a very impressive young man and I have no doubt he’ll bounce back from this setback.”