The test results are there for all to see, but clubs want to know a lot more about a youngster before they commit to making a significant investment in him by calling his name on draft day.
The coach of Team GWS is on the prowl searching for young talent and is at the combine to run his eye over the dozen 17-year-olds eligible to be picked by the AFL’s newest franchise.
Sheedy agreed the interview was one of the key planks of a good recruiting process.
“We can see what they’ve done, but I like to see what the rate of improvement could be,” Sheedy told afl.com.au’s Total Access.
“Also their level of maturity or whether they’re balanced in their life or not. The hardships they’ve had to get here and I think everyone has got a different story.
“They’re quite amazing stories, some of them. People out there have no idea what some of these kids go through in their life, let alone be able to play footy and get here to a draft combine.”
Some coaches like to move prospective draftees well out of their comfort zone in a bid to see how they handle pressure. Former Power coach Mark Williams was a notoriously tough interviewer with very few subjects off limits, but Sheedy prefers a slightly more laid back approach.
“I don’t go overboard like some of them do,” he said.
“I might throw in a question like ‘Who’s your favourite actor?’ or ‘What’s your favourite book?’ because they very rarely read, these kids.
“I might [ask them] the most famous person they’d invite out for dinner. Just throw a few left field ones out there; nothing over the top.
“I know some coaches do [that], but I never have.”
In a wide-ranging interview, Sheedy also spoke of his optimism about the future of rugby league convert Israel Folau, what lies ahead of new Essendon coach James Hird in the job he held for 27 years and GWS’ list build strategy.
Speaking on the same day Gold Coast landed long-time target Gary Ablett, Sheedy said his club wouldn’t necessarily follow the Suns’ recruiting model.
“The drawing up of our list is going to be a little bit different to Gold Coast’s,” he said.
“I don’t think we’ll be putting any names [of recruiting targets] out there at the moment to be quite honest. I just want to move into an area where we’ll use [draft] choices correctly.
“We have two years to put that together where Gold Coast had one, so it’s a little bit different.”
