By Michael Esposito
FOR the first time since 1996 – and only the second time since the club’s inception in 1992 – the Western Jets had no representatives picked up in the AFL draft.
The Jets were considered unlikely to have a player picked up in the national draft, but there was hope Ben Casley or Adam Kennedy might get selected in last week’s rookie draft.
“We’re disappointed for some kids,” Jets region manager Shane Sexton said.
“We didn’t win many games this season and some of the better sides that were around this year provided some difficulties for us when we were playing them.
“However, we still had a number of kids who we thought had pretty good seasons, so we’re disappointed for them.”
The last time a Jet was not picked up in the draft was one year after its most high profile player, Matthew Lloyd, was selected.
Interestingly, the Jets were grand finalists in their first two years in the TAC Cup, when 12 players landed AFL contracts. Season 1994 yielded 11 draftees from the club, but the numbers since have been nowhere near that high.
Between 2000 and 2009, 17 Western Jets have been put on an AFL list.
On a more positive note, ruckman Dylan Jones has been selected in the initial training squad for the Vic Metro under 18 side.
The 17-year-old will take part in a testing session on 14 March, before playing practice matches in front of selectors.
Pre-season training has started for the Jets, with the under 18 squad training three days a week, the Brad Johnson under 16 squad training two nights a week, and the under 15 “skill acquisition group” training once a week.
New assistant coach and former Williamstown premiership captain Troy West will add plenty of footy smarts to the coaching panel, according to Sexton.
“He was a really good player and has had some pretty decent coaching experience under the likes of Gary Ayres (at Port Melbourne),” Sexton said.
“A lot of our kids are training at various VFL clubs. There’s quite a few at Williamstown, some training at Werribee and if you’re living in the north eastern part of our region, they’d be looking to get on Coburg’s list.”
