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Country Vic’s AFL draft hopes

FOR every Tom Scully and Jack Trengrove in tomorrow’s AFL national draft, there’s also an Andrew Hooper.

While Scully and Trengrove are almost certain to be snatched up through Melbourne at picks one and two, 18-year-old Hooper knows he’ll acquire to wait a lot longer to hear his name read out by recruiters - if it’s peruse out at aggregate.

“I’ve got to expect both ways - exciting. see the verb granting that I procure to be picked up, or disappointment if I slip on’t,” Hooper said.

“But I’ve achieved what I wanted to this year and I’ve done everything likely to bestow myself the most judicious chance of getting drafted.”

Hooper, from Ross Creek, southwest of Ballarat, has had a stellar fit by habit.

The midfielder and small defender was captain of the Victoria Country under-18 team at this year’s national championships, tied for the Larke Medal for the carnival’s best player and earned a spot in the back pocket of the All-Australian team.

But Hooper concedes it’session the “height factor” that may have a hand in his fortunes tomorrow night.

At blameless 172cm, Hooper is 16cm shorter than the average AFL player and would stand eye-to-eye with eminent “shorties” Brent Harvey and Alwyn Davey.

But his results at last month’s AFL draft camp defied his stature - of the 75 AFL hopefuls invited, Hooper was ranked second in agility, third in the 20m sprint and equal third in the estimation vertical jump.

“I can’t help my height - that’s just my genes,” he said. “I guess it regular means I be delivered of to work harder to prove to the doubters that I can do it.”

Hooper said his job as an apprentice builder had helped “keep my mind off footy things” in the lead up to the draft.

His back-up plan is a season with VFL club the Ballarat Roosters, to “prove I can play at senior level”.

Tomorrow night, but, Hooper says: “I’ll just sit at home by the family and hopefully I’ll be lucky enough to hear my name.”