While Sandringham Dragons forward Mitch Brown had rocketed up the charts in recent weeks, few thought he was a bona fide top-20 pick.
Some considered him a smokey to the Sydney Swans at pick 12. But the Cats had done their reconnaissance well, with no-one having linked the club to the late-bloomer.
Nathan Ablett’s premature retirement forced the Cats’ hand to some degree; Geelong recruiting staff – headed by Stephen Wells – seeing a heap of potential in the youngster who two years ago couldn’t get a look-in at his TAC Cup club.
“I think he will [be a bit of a project player],” Wells said.
“Most of the players that get drafted do take a bit of time, but the way Mitch has developed this year it wouldn’t surprise me how quickly he develops.
“But we certainly haven’t drafted him to be making an impact straight away, we’ve drafted him for the long term and anything he does in the short term will be a bonus.”
At 195cm, the 18-year-old towers over the boy he was a little more than a year ago.
Brown, one of four Sandringham Dragons taken in the first round of Saturday’s draft, played a lot of school football for Mentone Grammar this year and it was there that he made a huge impression on several AFL clubs.
It was also there that he convinced Dragons coach Jarrod Molloy to invite him back into the TAC Cup fold.
“Initially he missed a bit of the squads at Sandringham because of his height, but then we went and watched him at his school footy and then invited him back into our program and he just got better and better as the year went,” Molloy said.
“He only came into our program very late because he’s actually gown a fair bit over the last year.
“He’s about six-foot-three or four now, and a year ago he was probably five-foot-seven or eight, so he’s probably grown six or seven inches.”
Molloy believes Brown’s best football is yet to come, with the exciting forward likely to thrive in an AFL environment.
“There’s a heap of upside … he hasn’t done a full pre-season before, he’s just learning how to play key position and [yet] he still does it very well for the amount that he’s played there,” Molloy said.
