By Jonty Ralphsmith
Drouin boy Ryan Maric was taken with pick one in the mid-season rookie draft last Wednesday night.
The 193cm high half-forward found out with family and friends at his junior footy club.
He has come from nowhere this season after a four-goal round-one performance for Gippsland Power.
That put him on the radar of AFL clubs and he finished with eight goals in three games for the Power, and averaged 19 possessions.
Maric, who hadn’t been to Perth prior his new teammates greeting him on arrival last week, said he had received no indication from West Coast that he would go at pick one.
“I didn’t think it was real until I had my name read out,” Maric said on the broadcast of the draft.
“I thought I would be fine, composed, and then broke down and I’m very emotional , so happy, I can’t believe it.”
After losing weight at the end of 2020 to get him in shape for talent pathway footy, Maric was struck down by glandular fever last year, so the recent pre-season is his first full one.
Maric has played two games for Box Hill, scoring two goals in each match.
“It was a great learning experience and unreal for my development playing against AFL listed players and with AFL listed players, so it is a bit different to Coates League but getting those games in early is nice and puts me in good stead going forward,” he said.
The Power graduate also played a prominent role for the Young Guns in a recent series which gives 19 and 20-year-old Victorian prospects the opportunity to play against the best under-18s in the state.
“We have been really impressed with Ryan’s commitment after completing his first ever pre-season, getting himself in the shape he needed to elevate his game,” Eagles list manager Rohan O’Brien said.
“We believe he has a lot of upside and has barely scratched the surface, so we will be excited to see what he brings to the club.”
Athletic Tooradin-Dalmore local Jimmy Trezise was taken after a meteoric rise for Richmond VFL this year.
Wandin’s Caleb Poulter, who has played impressive footy for Footscray after being delisted by Collingwood last year, was given a chance by the Western Bulldogs.
Rowville local lad Clay Tucker was picked up by Hawthorn with pick three.
DRAFT SELECTIONS
Pick 1: Ryan Maric (West Coast Eagles)
Pick 2: Robert Hansen Junior (North Melbourne)
Pick 3: Clay Tucker (Hawthorn)
Pick 4: Matt Coulthard (Richmond)
Pick 5: Pass (GWS)
Pick 6: Harry Arnold (Sydney)
Pick 7: Mitch Hardie (Geelong)
Pick 8: Ethan Stanley (Fremantle)
Pick 9: Jaiden Hunter (Essendon)
Pick 10: Caleb Poulter (Western Bulldogs)
Pick 11: Quinton Narkle (Port Adelaide)
Pick 12: Brandon Ryan (Hawthorn)
Pick 13: Jimmy Trezise (Richmond)
Pick 14: Pass (GWS)
Pick 15: Jack Buller (Sydney)
