By ADEM SARICAOGLU
TYLAR Vujanic doesn’t let too much faze him.
As a 16-year-old key forward prospect of the near-future, the former Keilor junior knows his biggest few years of footy are on the horizon.
He knows nothing will be handed to him on a silver platter and he knows he needs to spend the next few summers in the gym to become a competitive centre-half forward against men.
That is why Vujanic, a talented and well-versed footballing intellectual, has put so much thought into what it takes to convince AFL recruiters he could be the next Jonathon Brown or Michael Hurley.
“In every game he plays, even though he might not get the best numbers, he just competes and makes the contest every single time and basically never loses,” Vujanic said of his number one role model, Hurley.
“He always crashes the pack because he just wants it, and that’s what I try to model myself on.”
Physically, the lanky under-16 Western Jets representative strikes a more athletically-based resemblance with someone like Nick Riewoldt rather than a brooding, sizable figure such as Brown.
While currently happy with his short-burst speed and aerial marking abilities, Vujanic is keen to develop his strength, as his bottom-age year in the TAC Cup is just around the corner.
“That’s what I am now (a Nick Riewoldt-like, athletic key forward), but I want to develop into a Jonathon Brown type,” Vujanic explained.
As a Vic Metro representative currently doing battle with the country’s best in the under-16 national championships in Sydney, Vujanic has examined the journey he’s about to embark on.
In the next age group up from his own, Vujanic has closely watched how the likes of Tom Boyd, also a key forward and likely to go number one in this year’s draft, have gone about their business.
He’s also made the most of his opportunities playing school footy for Penleigh and Essendon Grammar School (PEGS), where he regularly gets to line up on older TAC Cup players.
“I’m 16 now and most of them are 18, and two years is a big difference,” Vujanic said.
“From 16 to 18 is the most important part for your career, because you’ve both got to develop your endurance and strength and then you’ve got to have good nutrition levels and you’ve actually got to want (to get to) the AFL.
“Football has to be your life, basically, and you have to deal with school as well as your social life and put it all together, but it’s a lot to deal with.
“You can see how dedicated these players are because you meet them and talk to them and it’s just football, football, football.”
