SMOKEY DETECTORS
How school games led club to ‘freaky talent’
JUST a handful of school games were enough for “freaky talent” Ollie Dempsey to win over Geelong recruiters and land on an AFL list just six months after he returned to football.
The humble 18-year-old had a quiet celebration on Friday night after he was taken by the Cats with the 13th pick in the AFL Rookie Draft before turning up to do one final running session with his Old Carey Grammarians teammates on Saturday morning.
While the wider AFL world was surprised to hear the Cats call Dempsey’s name, those inside Old Carey and the football program at Carey Grammar had heard whispers he was on the way to the big league after seeing his outstanding ability as a rangy forward.
Dempsey made an under-12 state primary school football team but focused on basketball from under-13 level before he returned to Australian rules this year to play with his mates.
Jeremy Dickson has coached him in both the school and Old Carey programs and he said the 185cm forward had shown plenty of ability in his short return to footy.
Dickson said the competitive teen (pictured) played in year 12 basketball premierships in year 9 and 10 and captained Carey as a year 11 student before switching codes.
“I think he played three under-19 games with (Old Carey) and every game he has more than 10 scoring shots, the last game he played he was playing high half-forward and wing and he kicked 6.4,” Dickson said.
“At APS level, it is a pretty high standard so anybody that isn’t a 6’5 forward and is kicking 4-5 goals each week, you know you have some freaky talent.
“He is good at ground level, very evasive and he will generally out-mark anyone that is of equal physical dimensions.”
Dickson said he had noticed Dempsey’s basketball background coming to the fore at training, where his vision allowed him to see things others didn’t.
He spearheaded a commitment to youth at the Supersaints and while his team finished 2021 winless, it showed plenty of green shoots.
Patrick signed a two-year extension to lead St Albans in early August as the club searched for stability in its coaching ranks but the chance at a higher level was too good to pass up.
The mentor was comfortable handing over to Tortora, given the foundations in place for improvement.
“We put a plan in place about a year ago for what we wanted to do over coming years," Patrick said earlier this year.
“It wasn’t a case of wanting instant success as the club might have done (in the past), it has been a process of what the foundations we need to build for the future are.”