By Lance Jenkinson
Western Jets midfielder Daly Andrews has the AFL recruiters yearning for more.
Andrews has impressed as a wingman for the Jets in the TAC Cup and turned heads in his brief appearance for Vic Metro in the under-18 national championships, but the recruiters want to see even more of what he could potentially deliver if selected in the AFL draft later this year.
Andrews will provide a more complete picture of his athletic abilities at the AFL Draft Combine.
The 18-year-old is one of four Jets invited to the combine, along with captain Xavier O’Halloran, Buku Khamis and Zak Butters.
To be selected for the combine, five clubs have to nominate the player.
Andrews was humbled by the call-up.
“I was pretty shocked at first, but really happy getting the invite,” he said.
“To play AFL would be a dream and to get that little bit closer was great.”
Andrews, who lives in Werribee and has loved football since his Auskick days at Werribee Centrals, also has a background in athletics through the Werribee Little Athletics Centre, where he was a junior hurdles champion.
“Athletics has always been in the background,” he said.
“The combine will be a chance to showcase my athletic ability.
“A strength of mine is that I can play numerous positions.
“The combine will help showcase that I can play back, forward and through the middle, with all the athletic tests they have there.
“Hopefully, I can get really good numbers across all tests and come out happy with my performance.”
Andrews has been a bolter from the pack
in 2018.
He was no sure selection for the Jets, though a growth spurt helped his cause.
The Vic Metro selection came on the back of a stellar first half of the season.
“This year, I grew over the pre-season and I was lucky enough to get picked for Jets,”
he said. “I had a good first few games for the Jets and got selected for Vic Metro and now the combine. To get selected in that was good for me and good for my confidence as well.”
Andrews continued his stellar season on Sunday, playing a significant role in the Jets’ 56-point win over Greater Western Victorian Rebels at the Williamstown Football Ground despite time off the ground with a hamstring niggle.
While it has been a break-out year for Andrews, it has not all gone to plan.
He was limited to just one game for Vic Metro at the national championships after suffering delayed concussion following the win over the Allies.
Andrews was unluckily “falconed” by the football with the blow to the head significant enough to see him miss the remainder of the championships.
“I felt fine after getting falconed, played the whole game out and sang the song after the game, then I remember biting into a muffin after the game and feeling a bit dizzy,” he said.
“It sort of progressed from there. I felt sick and went to hospital and was throwing up. I do remember the whole game.”
Andrews, a VCE student at MacKillop College, was thrilled to get the opportunity
to represent Vic Metro.
The Werribee Districts junior said it was a goal of his at the start of the year to pull on the Big V.
“That meant the world to me,” he said. “To be in that elite environment really helped develop my footy and me as a person.”
