South Aussie Select – Episode 4

By ZAC MILBANK

South Adelaide prospect Matthew Roberts is predicting he will be selected in the 20-40 range at this year’s AFL National Draft.

Speaking on the fourth episode of South Aussie Select, the strong-bodied midfielder/forward isn’t fazed by his subtle drop in rating given he has spoken to every AFL club except the Greater Western Sydney Giants.

Roberts is preparing to watch the AFL Draft – to be held across Wednesday and Thursday night – at home with family and friends, prepared for the reality he will likely be moving interstate.

The Crows fan has spoken multiple times to Hawthorn, opening up the potential chance to again don the brown and gold that he has proudly worn for his local club – the Langhorne Creek Hawks.

Boarding at St Peter’s College for three years has given Roberts an indication of what it would be like to relocate across the border while the left-footer revealed he has been modelling his game on fellow southpaw Marcus Bontempelli.

The Advertiser’s AFL Draft guru Andrew Capel provides South Aussie Select with his thoughts on the Croweaters’ Class of 2021, declaring Panther Jason Horne-Francis as the best talent to come out of the state since Stephen Kernahan left Glenelg for Carlton in 1986.

Capel also gives an insight into what SA’s two AFL clubs might do at the AFL National Draft, with Adelaide picking first at No.4 and Port Adelaide at No.12.

And if that isn’t enough, SANFL High Performance Manager Tom Debenedictis gives listeners an insight into the strengths of Horne-Francis and Glenelg’s Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera ahead of them likely being selected in the first round on Wednesday night.

Debenedictis details what testing benchmarks AFL clubs look for when selecting draftees while also reviewing SA’s AFL Combine and revealing his favourite test to determine whether a player is likely to get drafted.