Port pair prime picks
Phillips likened to star Saint Sinclair
TWO Port Melbourne mature-agers loom as possible pick-ups in this month’s draft intake, one of whom has been compared with All-Australian Jack Sinclair by one of the Saints’ former coaches.
VFL intercept king Ethan Phillips – who won the Fothergill Round Mitchell Medal after breaking Sam Collins’ intercepts record in the VFL – and former Roo and Demon Corey Wagner have attracted interest from clubs ahead of the draft.
Phillips, who would become the 16th consecutive recipient of the VFL’s best young player award to land on an AFL list, has generated interest from three clubs as a ready-made 198cm key defender with the ability to intercept like Paddy McCartin.
Wagner, 25, emerged as a contender for his third crack in the AFL system after a move to halfback this year proved a revelation.
Fremantle is his most likely destination as a rookie, with the club showing strong interest in the speedy defender.
Wagner has been out of the AFL system since he was delisted by the Demons after one season at the club in 2019.
Borough coach Adam Skrobalak says his speed and ball use draw similarities to Sinclair – whom Skrobalak coached for seven years at St Kilda in his time at the club as a line coach – and believes he would be an “unbelievable” addition for a club.
“To me (Wagner) plays very, very similar to Jack Sinclair. He’s come up and made All-Australian this year and he’s got similar attributes,” the coach said.
“He’s a great runner, he’s got speed, he’s really strong in the contest and he has great ball use, he just sees gaps and can open up the play. If there’s a team there that is looking for someone who can defend really well and then really help them on offence, he’d be unbelievable. He’s had two cracks at it before but now playing off a halfback and getting a greater understanding of where he is at with his footy, he has just gone to another level.”
He also said Phillips’ reading of the play and elite intercept traits had elements of Sydney pick-up McCartin.
“Ethan is obviously a bit bigger than Paddy but he has always been able to read the ball very well, even when he was a forward at St Kilda, when I was there, from a young age,” Skrobalak said.
“There’s definitely some similarities in how they read the ball off the boot and the confidence to come off their opponent and intercept.”