Richmond’s Recruiting Manager, Francis Jackson, provides a summary of the three players the Tigers picked up in last night’s 2015 AFL National Draft...
Pick No. 15 – Daniel Rioli (St Mary’s/NT Thunder/North Ballarat Rebels)
“Daniel brings lots of excitement and real fantastic athletic traits. His athleticism has improved markedly throughout the course of the year. His performance at the Combine was terrific, but that’s not the reason we picked him. We picked him because he has some really genuine footy traits, and we rated him as that best position in the draft. He brings excitement, he’s a goalkicker, he averaged five tackles at TAC Cup level, kicked goals in a big carnival game against Tasmania, and also was outstanding at the MCG against the AFL Academy side. So, on the big stage, he’s played some terrific footy . . . He just brings genuine excitement.”
2015 National Draft: Pick 15, Daniel Rioli
Pick No. 50 – Oleg Markov (North Adelaide, SANFL)
“Oleg’s a 19-year-old from North Adelaide who played 12 reserves games and also two league (senior) games (this year). I think he kicked 20 goals in those reserves games . . . He’s 188cm, he possesses outstanding speed, has got an amazing vertical leap and good endurance as well. So, athletically, he’s again top of the tree. He possesses both the speed and the endurance to play multiple positions . . . Oleg brings some genuine excitement, certainly some speed, and he can really mark the footy. A little bit of work to do on his body, but he made really big progress this year to play senior footy.”
2015 National Draft: Pick 50, Oleg Markov
Pick No. 67 – Nathan Broad (Swan Districts, WAFL)
“Nathan Broad’s a win for perseverance. He’s worked really hard on his AFL dream and, to his credit, played all 20 league games with Swan Districts this year. And, he played different roles. His ability to play on both the ‘talls’ and the ‘smalls’ (as a defender) is really impressive. He averaged 20 possessions at WAFL level and provided great rebound. But he could also play a lockdown role on someone. He was the best repeat speed at the (WA) state combine testing, so once again (he) brings tremendous speed. We’ve certainly added that aspect to our club following the draft.”
2015 National Draft: Pick 67, Nathan Broad
