“I didn’t want to say a bad word”: An inside look at a club interview with a draught prospect, including the most bizarre questions asked this year.
This was the club interview that rising star defender Ollie Murphy, a self-described “huge Saints fan,” really didn’t want to botch.
Murphy, like hundreds of other prospective AFL players, has adapted quickly to the format, tempo, and standards of club interviews, which are now an integral part of the player experience leading up to the draught.
For the Sandringham Dragons backman, though, it reached a new level when he was seated across from St Kilda coach Ross Lyon at the national draught combine earlier this month.
Speaking to foxfooty.com.au, Murphy grinned and described his Saints and Lyon encounter as “just nerve-racking,” especially for him.
“I tried not to say anything negative. It was rather frightful.
“He made some remarks, and I believe he corrected me a few times, but I kind of expected that.”
At the draught combine in October, Lyon wasn’t the only senior coach in attendance.
Murphy also got to know Giants owner Adam Kingsley and Hawthorn’s Sam Mitchell.
“They’ve visited your house over the past year, and it’s been fairly relaxed with two to four people.” Not strange questions, just a few challenging ones. However, I’ve received a few more direct questions in the last few days,” Murphy remarked.
Alastair Clarkson, a four-time premiership coach, was also present in North Melbourne’s box at the MCG.
About his meeting with Clarkson, Suns academy star Jake Rogers told foxfooty.com.au, “He can be serious at times, but he cracked a few laughs and a few smiles, so it wasn’t too bad.”
“You get fun out of it, but it can be a bit daunting at times.”
After watching Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin on TV for so long, Central District’s Will McCabe described seeing him in person for the first time at the draught combine as “pretty weird.”
In an interview with Gold Coast, Tasmanian midfielder Ryley Sanders met Damien Hardwick as well. He was especially excited to receive some advice from Mitch Duncan and Gryan Miers, two premiership players who were on the Cats panel.
Sanders told foxfooty.com.au, “It was pretty intimidating to sit in front of all of them and sell myself to the club while you’ve got a couple of really good players there. Geelong had a lot of people in there.”
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Daniel Curtin, a versatile prospect for Claremont, stated: “Every coach is different.” One of them might coach you the following season, which would be an awesome experience.
A STEPH ABOVE HOME VISITS… Okay, mainly
Curtin observed the “crazy” increase in intensity – and volume of club representatives – during interviews at the combine, in contrast to the Zoom chats or home visits he’d been involved in throughout the year. Curtin met Mitchell, Kingsley, and Goodwin a few weeks ago. For everyone involved, one recruiter referred to it as a “speed dating experience.”
Koltyn Tholstrup, a star from Subiaco who is expected to be selected in the first round of this year’s draught, revealed that he had 16 club interviews scheduled over the course of two days at the combine.
“I’ve been very fortunate to be able to speak to as many clubs as I have,” Tholstrup told foxfooty.com.au.
“It’s been full-on. In and out of a fair few rooms, but they’ve been good conversations and, to be honest, I really enjoy talking with them because they’re just normal humans.”
The majority of players that foxfooty.com.au spoke with earlier this month said that the in-season meetings were generally informal, laid back, and friendly. Instead of attempting to trap players with “gotcha” questions, clubs are eager to learn more about players and their families.
Forward Nick Watson of the Eastern Ranges described those conversations as “pretty cruisy,” while Ashton Moir of Glenelg described the experience as “really exciting” all around.
On one home visit, Dean Duursma stated that his son Zane Duursma, a forward for the Gippsland Power and a projected top-five draught pick, resisted questions.
Dean Duursma said last week on SEN Breakfast, “It was interesting to watch the Swannies challenge him a bit.”
“They stated that this isn’t good enough after bringing out a previous 2 km time trial he completed two years ago. However, he responded, “Hey, come on, that was two years ago; I’ve come a long way since then.” He took a small step back.
THE CURREST QUESTIONS FOR AN INTERVIEW
Nate Caddy, a forward for the Northern Knights and a potential top-10 pick, claims to have conducted “nearly done 50” interviews so far this year. He added that although there hadn’t been many difficult questions, there had been a few instances where clubs had tried to “contradict you.”
“It’s your job at the end of the day, so you’ve got to do them. There’s a lot of them … but it becomes a part of life I’d say,” Caddy told foxfooty.com.au.
“Not really curly questions … The psychs – they get you.
“But you get used to them and you’ve just got to understand they want to know about your life.”
According to a few players, Gold Coast asked them to write a book about themselves from scratch throughout the year, which they found difficult.
Utility Tassie James Leake was also tested on his AFL knowledge.
“I got caught off guard once when a club asked me to name their whole back six, and I was like, ‘Oh sh*t.'” But it’s manageable,” he said to Foxfooty.com.au.
“You hear people talk about getting a few curveballs and stuff, but I’ve been fortunate in my life. I’m sure I’ll still encounter some challenges from time to time.
According to Tholstrup, the most bizarre question he ever received was, “What superpower would you have?”
“I said speed,” he replied. It’s always seemed to me like this: “Blink, and the ball is on the other end, kicking a goal.” That seems like the best option to me.
But Tholstrup is already a fantastic athlete; he placed second in the agility test (8.194) and equal-ninth in the 2 km time trial (6:17).
BEST SUGGEST
However, Connor O’Sullivan, a utility player for the Murray Bushrangers, had a club interview that made him reevaluate his goals in football.
“After talking with Dad, Hawthorn was one of the people who asked me some questions that probably made me think about some things about my goals and stuff like that,” O’Sullivan said to foxfooty.com.au.
“I suppose from that sense, it’s really good to sometimes get those questions that you’re not expecting because it makes you have an actual think and actually consider what your genuine answer is to that.
“They just asked what are the long-term and short-term goals of my career. I normally take one step at a time, so you probably don’t look at long-term goals to set yourself. But it’s probably something I need to start considering and what I want to aim to achieve out of whatever career it may be.”
Arie Schoenmaker, a talented running defender from Tasmania, has used the interview process to show teams how much he has changed as a person and a player since accepting a 10-week suspension from the Tasmanian Devils in January for giving alcohol to some of his Coates Talent League opponents.
“This has been a really fun process. They talk a lot about my learnings and what happened at the beginning of the year. All in all, it’s been rather cliche,” Schoenmaker told foxfooty.com.au.
However, socialising and learning how to talk to people have been really beneficial. In addition to tough questions, they also pose some polite ones.
Northern Academy players and father-son prospects haven’t had to deal with as many interviews as Caddy, who may have had dozens this year.
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