Essendon coach John Worsfold has praised young ruckman Sam Draper off the back of an impressive performance in the opening game of the VFL Bombers’ season.
Worsfold fielded two ruckmen in the senior side’s brave defeat of Melbourne last Friday, but Draper is nipping at the heels of Tom Bellchambers and Zac Clarke in his third season at The Hangar.
The 20-year-old was terrific leading the charge on the ball in 2018, finishing equal-fifth in the VFL best and fairest and recording more than 40 hitouts on seven occasions including three games of 60 or more.
Draper kicked off his season brilliantly in the VFL against Frankston on Sunday, proving dangerous both through the middle and in the forward line with 22 disposals, 39 hitouts, 10 clearances and two goals in the 121-point victory.
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“Sam Draper looked dangerous when he was up forward, he rucked really well,” Worsfold said on Wednesday.
“He offers us something to look at, we could play Sam and have Bellchambers playing more forward.”
Worsfold said he was pleased with the efforts of his ruck duo against the Demons as they joined forces to limit the impact of star opponent Max Gawn.
Bellchambers racked up 21 hitouts, 10 disposals, six one percenters and two goal assists, while Clarke gathered 13 hitouts and 10 disposals in his first senior game in the red and black.
Tom Bellchambers battles it out with Demon Max Gawn at the MCG.
It was Clarke’s first AFL game since finishing up at Fremantle in 2017 with 101 senior matches under his belt before a successful stint with Subiaco in the WAFL last year.
“For Zac, having been out of an AFL system for so long, he got around the ball pretty well for us,” Worsfold said.
“He was rusty in some areas, but overall I thought those two did what we needed them to do in the game.”
Essendon will take on Brisbane at the MCG on Saturday afternoon and curtailing the influence of powerful ruckman Stefan Martin will be a key to success.
Martin has a number of star midfielders at his feet led by former Docker Lachie Neale who has averaged 38 disposals (at 82.6 per cent efficiency), nine clearances and 18 contested possessions in his three games for the undefeated Lions.
While Worsfold admitted Neale’s recent efforts have been “awesome”, he is confident his on-ballers can take it up to Brisbane after putting together a strong performance against the Demons last week.
“Our midfield group took on one of the best midfield groups last weekend and performed really well.
“We are really confident that we’ll take on Brisbane’s midfield and match them with the same intensity that we threw up at Melbourne last week.
“(Neale has) had an outstanding start and his last few years have been awesome as a top-line midfielder.
“From everything I’ve read, he’s probably leading the Brownlow medal at this point, but that has really no bearing on how we want to play the game this week.”
The first bounce is set for 2:10pm on Saturday and the final teams will be announced at 6:20pm on Thursday.
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