IT ALL started with an email. Adrian Cole had just turned 13 when St Kilda reached out for the first time. The Saints' Next Generation Academy had yet to bear any fruit, but the club wanted the St Bede's College student to join the program at RSEA Park.
Since then, Mitch Owens and Marcus Windhager have graduated from the same program to become regular fixtures in the red, white and black. Angus McLennan is also now on the list. Jack Peris and Josiah Kyle have been drafted by the Saints in the past, while Bigoa Nyuon was recruited by Richmond and Cam Mackenzie landed at Hawthorn via pick No.7 in 2022.
The rules have changed this year. Again. Since Jamarra Ugle-Hahan was selected by the Western Bulldogs with pick No.1 in 2020, clubs haven't been able to match bids for NGA products inside the first 40 picks. They can now.
It means the 195cm lockdown defender from down the road, whose father was born and raised in Nigeria and spent 20 years in Italy before meeting his mum and moving to Melbourne, could join Ross Lyon's squad full-time by the end of the month, five years after first arriving at the club.
The Saints currently hold picks No.7, 8, 32 and 47 heading into the 2024 Telstra AFL Draft. Talent ID and player movement manager Simon Dalrymple has spoken to Cole across the year, but St Kilda hasn't provided him with any indication just yet.
"I'm happy wherever I land – I just want to get into the AFL – and I would give my best to any team. But there is something special about giving back to a club I've been a part of since 13, repaying the faith that has been shown in me," Cole told AFL.com.au at the Draft Combine in October.
"I haven't had too many conversations with them [St Kilda]. We've had one formal meeting when they came over to my house. With the NGA, Simon spoke to us all on a camp and did a presentation. That's the only interaction I've had directly with them."
Cole's draft stocks have risen across 2024. He played three games for Vic Metro at this year's under-18 championships, including the title clinching win over Vic Country at Marvel Stadium. He made 15 appearances for the Sandringham Dragons, playing all four finals, including the Grand Final win over Greater Western Victoria Rebels at Ikon Park. He also featured twice for the Sandringham Zebras late in the VFL season.
That form has led to meetings with a handful of clubs and makes him one of the more interesting names to follow, most likely on day two.
Rival clubs believe St Kilda will select him, but there are no guarantees. No matter what happens, Cole is grateful for what St Kilda has done for him to this point.
Saints greats Nick Dal Santo and Brendon Goddard have accelerated his development, while Indigenous welfare manager Aunty Katrina Amon and Academy coach Trent Dennis-Lane have taught him more culturally.
"I think the Saints are one of the more supportive clubs when it comes to the NGAs; they are really invested in the program; you spend a lot of time learning off Trent Dennis-Lane and aunty Katrina on leadership development and cultural identity work. You learn a lot," Cole said.
"I started off with 'Dal' (Dal Santo) when I first got there. It has really grown a lot since then. He has been a great support for me. He was awesome at teaching the fundamentals; at the age of 13 and 14 it was so great for me to focus on the basics. 'BJ' (Goddard) came in and was direct with his feedback which was great. He challenges you and just wants the best for you. He was a great leader."
Cole missed almost 12 months due to a shoulder reconstruction in 2020, which wiped out most of the following season. But in that period, he learned how to be more professional through the NGA and came out the other side a more rounded athlete and person.
"It was obviously tough. I did it the start of August. A week later my grandma passed away and then had some other obstacles, like being released from the Dragons development squad. Then I had a racial incident off-field, so it was a really tough time," he said.
"I had some great support from the NGA. Got booked in for surgery, then it got pushed back four months due to COVID, so it took a while just to get the surgery done. Then it took six months to recover from.
"It was a tough process because footy was a release for me, so it was hard to have that taken away from me. You learn other interests during that period. I had a great support network around me, so I was just grateful for that. I came out of it a better person, so as tough as it was, I'm grateful that it happened."
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Cole has been racially vilified in the past and is wary of what could await in the future if he is drafted. AFL stars have been regularly exposed to abhorrent comments on social media and over the fence.
"Unfortunately, it happens once in a while," he said.
"Someone that I trusted said a few things. What I heard was a name that can be quite offensive. It was hard to hear from someone I had a relationship with. It got to me a bit. We worked through it and learned from it; we grew from it. I don't hold anything against him. You see it happen so often now on social media in the AFL. You just have to have a good support network around you."
Cole has found himself watching Greater Western Sydney regularly in recent years, learning off the Giants' array of defensive stars. Sam Taylor has stamped himself as one of the premier one-on-one defenders in the land across the past three years. Jack Buckley has risen from obscurity to stardom. And Connor Idun is only underrated by those who don't watch the game closely.
"Sam Taylor is definitely the top one," he said.
"I love Jack Buckley, Connor Idun. Really enjoy watching the GWS defenders. Cal Wilkie is another one. Such a strong one-on-one player. Connor Idun is so good at playing different positions and I try and do that with my athleticism, playing on a range of different forwards.
"I think I'm an athletic lockdown defender. I try and shutdown my opponent, limit his influence and then go from there. I'm pretty old school with the way I go about it, one-on-one, focused on my man and then build. I think this day and age there are a lot of intercept defenders, but I'm more of a player that looks to limit my opponent first and have that athletic side where I can show that run and burst."
While Isaac Kako has been spoken about as much as any other prospect due to his NGA ties to Essendon, Cole could be the next NGA player to graduate to the AFL later this month.
It has been a long ride at St Kilda since he turned up in 2019. And it might just be getting started.
