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NEW SOUTH Wales has produced a record bounty of star draftees in 2015 thanks to the success of the academy programs in place at the Sydney Swans and Greater Western Sydney.
Only four NSW locals had been picked inside the top 10 since the inception of the draft before Callum Mills (Sydney Swans – pick 3) and Jacob Hopper (Greater Western Sydney – pick 7) achieved the feat on Tuesday.
Matthew Kennedy (GWS – pick 13), Harrison Himmelberg (GWS – pick 16) and Matthew Flynn (GWS – pick 41) increased the quota of academy graduates from NSW to five to make this year's draft a history-making night for the state.
Mills, who was spotted by Swans chairman Andrew Pridham as a junior, became the first Sydney metropolitan product to be drafted in the top 10 best young players in the country.
The gun midfielder, whose grandfather represented Western Australia and enjoyed a decorated career in the WAFL, said the significance of the night hadn't been lost on him.
"It's definitely special. I guess it's something that we should be really proud of, and something that the academies and AFL New South Wales has had a really big role in developing," Mills said.
"You're not going to get too many (Sydney Swan) Isaac Heeneys jumping out of the box, but you're definitely going to get people that weren't going to be AFL players become project players like (fellow academy product and now Swan) Jack Hiscox.
"If someone had said, when he was 16 (years old), that he was going to play AFL football, nobody would have guessed it, but because of the work the Swans academy put into him he's turned into what could be a really good footballer.
"This year I've got two of my mates to play local club footy and I think that's also what the academies have done, they've really branched out the game."
The NSW academy players with the NSW/ACT talent team. Picture: AFL Media
Hopper says the fact that emerging stars like himself could fly the flag for NSW against the more traditional footy states like Victoria and Western Australia at a representative level was priceless, and moving into the academy system was hugely beneficial.
"You take pride in the fact that you're representing your state and doing good things and developing the game in areas it's not as well known, and I think the academy is playing a huge part in that," he said.
"As New South Wales boys we remember who has been drafted (previously), and once it was massive for a New South Wales person just to be drafted.
"You can see how far the game has come and I think it's pretty evident with what we've got on show tonight.
"That's largely due to the academies that have been put in place now, and I think it's really important to see the game grow in places where the pathways weren't available previously."
Kennedy almost gave up on his dream of playing in the AFL when he missed out on selection for the NSW schoolboys' team, but he took a less conventional route to the highest level.
On the advice of his father, he returned to play local footy for his local side Collingullie in the Riverina league before eventually starring earlier this season for the NSW/ACT Rams, where he attracted the attention of recruiters.
The tough onballer says playing against men as a 16-year-old fast tracked his development, and his further education with the GWS academy made him the player he is today.
"It's been beneficial for me to learn the travel side of things, the commitments, the training, so I think it's opened the door for me to realise what's it's like to be an AFL footballer," Kennedy said.
"Without the Giants' academy I probably wouldn't be here right now – I'd probably still be playing for Collingullie."
Jacob Hopper and Matthew Kennedy with their mothers. Picture: AFL Media
The NSW academy boys enjoying the moment before the draft. Picture: AFL Media
