Richmond has snared gun West Australian midfielder, Reece Conca, with its first selection in the 2010 AFL National Draft.

The Tigers’ Recruitment Manager, Francis Jackson, had no hesitation in reading out Conca’s name at tonight’s (Thursday, November 18) Draft, held on the Gold Coast.

Conca had been penciled in by the Tigers as their No. 1 Draft choice for several months.

The 18-year-old, from WAFL club Perth, had thoroughly convinced Tiger talent scouts he was their man at the No. 6 selection overall in the Draft, due to his excellent all-round football skills, versatility, and impressive leadership qualities.

In 2010, Conca was vice-captain of the WA team at the under-18 National Championships, and he was considered unlucky not to be named as an All-Australian.

At WAFL level, he worked his way up from Perth’s colts team to senior ranks late in the season and had an immediate impact, highlighted by a best-on-ground performance in just his fifth game, against ladder leader Claremont.

“We’ve been very keen on Reece since Round 1 of the WAFL this year.  I saw him (in the colts) against East Fremantle, where he had 35 touches and dominated,” Jackson said.

“All-up, he played only seven colts games this year, one in which he was injured, yet still managed to finish equal sixth in the competition’s Jack Clarke Medal, after six best-on-ground performances.

“He’s just such a well-rounded player.  He’s got high endurance, really good speed and outstanding lateral movement and awareness.  I’m sure that his peripheral awareness, and understanding of what’s happening around him, is a direct result of him playing soccer up until the age of 13.

“Not only does he win a lot of the ball, he’s a very, very good user of it.  Out of all the kicking profiles that we’ve done, his is the best.  He can take a good mark, his decision-making is outstanding, and his ability to win one-on-one footy, as well as win outside footy, is just a joy to watch.

“We’ve tracked his progress closely all year, watched him play live every game, and he doesn’t appear to have any weaknesses.

“I’m sure when Tiger supporters look at his highlights’ package on our website, they’ll realise why we’re so delighted to have picked him up.”

Conca’s intelligence is not merely confined to the football field . . .

“He has been doing a commerce/psychology degree at Trinity College in Perth, but he deferred this semester,” Jackson said.

“We gave all our psych tests from the Draft Combine at the end of the season to the Club’s psychologist, Kim Stephens.  He didn’t know any of the players - all he had was 30 names, with 30 psych profiles for different tests - and Reece came out No. 1.

“So, he’s the complete package . . . an outstanding kid."

Jackson had a nervous wait along the way, fearing one of the clubs with selections before Richmond early in the Draft, would take Conca.

“He had an ankle injury later in the season and subsequently had a bit of a bone spur removed through surgery, which meant he missed the last two rounds and the Colts finals - but I was more than happy with that,” Jackson said.

“We even had to hide our interest from former Richmond player, Brian Leys, who is the CEO of Perth, because we were so keen on him and didn’t want other clubs finding out.”