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JUST two games at TAC Cup level were enough to convince Collingwood that Brayden Sier was worth taking with its first selection, No.32 overall, in this year's NAB AFL Draft.
Sier won Marcellin College's best and fairest award and although still raw, the Pies believe they have plenty to work with in someone they see as a late developer.
At 190cm, he has a reputation as being a powerful athlete, having run a 2.92-second 20m sprint.
That he did not attend the national or state combines makes Sier, a big-bodied midfielder from the Northern Knights in the TAC Cup, somewhat of an unknown commodity.
"He comes from a quality family and in this particular draft he was a boy well worth investing in," Magpies recruiting chief Derek Hine told AFL.com.au.
The Magpies went into the draft believing they would only use three selections, but came away with four players – Tom Phillips (No.58), Rupert Wills (No.65) and Ben Crocker (No.74) – as well as Sier.
Wills is well known to the Pies, having been part of their VFL program for the past year while Phillips and Crocker gave the club two other versatile players to complement the additions of Adam Treloar, James Aish and Jeremy Howe in this year's trade period.
Selection No.32 – Brayden Sier
"We're really pleased to give him the opportunity. He's not dissimilar to Brayden Maynard last year. He probably comes in with a higher level of speed and endurance, but he's got a hell of a lot to work with." - Derek Hine
Selection No.58 – Tom Phillips
"He's a 19-year-old and we've had some success with 19-year-olds in the past. He plays a little bit like Tom Langdon and he had a fantastic TAC Cup finals series where he excelled in all areas on the ground." - Derek Hine
Selection No.63 – Rupert Wills
"We were trying to hide him for a bit there, being from our VFL program. He's a little like Brayden Sier, albeit he's a 22-year-old and a bit of late developer. He only played six games in the VFL and he missed a substantial chunk of the season through a concussion injury." - Derek Hine
Selection No.65 – Ben Crocker
"The brother of Sam, listed at St Kilda, he's an AFL Academy player who had a bit of an up and down season – certainly his VFL form was quite good. We actually went into the draft thinking we'd have the three picks, but with him there we just thought he's certainly worth that investment." - Derek Hine
