Brad Mangan, pictured making a spoil against Brendan Fevola, was selected by North Melbourne in the AFL rookie draft last Tuesday. 70272 Picture: DAMIAN VISENTINI
BY MICHAEL ESPOSITO
PERSISTENCE can mean many things – focus, practice, patience, a refusal to accept the status quo. However you look at it, Brad Mangan has it in spades.
His story is a classic tale of persistence, and it’s so sweet when it pays off as it has for the 20-year-old boy from Kyabram, who last week was rookie drafted to North Melbourne after a break-out year for VFL club Werribee.
Mangan was in his Tarneit home when he saw his name appear on the AFL website’s live feed at pick number 18 in the rookie draft.
Although Mangan had been training with North Melbourne for the past three weeks, he was given no assurances of being selected.
“I woke up this morning and had my fingers crosses like every other bloke in Australia and just sat there and watched the rookie draft and saw my name pop up,” Mangan said hours after the draft.
“I’m still in shock, it hasn’t quite sunk in yet, but the dream’s come true. I’ve got my foot in the door now and I’ve just got to pretty much get the head down and bum up and work harder and try to get a game now.”
Mangan is well aware of the demanding road that can face a rookie, and the work they must do to earn the respect of their peers and earn that coveted spot on the senior list.
But Mangan, with his endless reserves of persistence, is tailor-made for the challenge.
It’s what made him such a valuable defender commanding interest from AFL clubs.
Overlooked in the 2009 draft, the Murray Bushranger left home and moved to Melbourne, determined to keep his AFL dream alive.
Mangan said the main difference between now and the past two years was his fitness.
“I moved down in January 2010, so I missed most of the Werribee pre-season and had a bad fitness base, that’s why my first year wasn’t probably as good, then I finally got a full preseason under my belt which helped,” he said.
“I’ve got a pretty good VFL fitness base but developing a good AFL fitness base will be the next thing I’ve got to work on, and then I’ll learn their game plan which is similar to Werribee’s, but a little bit more advanced, I’d imagine.”
Mangan considers himself fortunate to be picked up by the Kangaroos, which are Werribee’s AFL affiliation.
“I know half the list and I did the first three weeks with the new boys so I know a fair few of the boys, so it will just be a lot easier,” he said. “I’m very happy when I’m not playing at North to be playing at Werribee.”
Mangan, one of 11 rookie selections from the VFL, said his training sessions with the Kangaroos cemented his belief that he was up to the task of playing AFL footy.
“I didn’t feel out of place with my skills. Those boys have gone to Utah twice now so they’ve got that little bit of extra fitness, but that will all come and I’ll catch up eventually with the fitness.
