Six of best Falcons in combine

THE Geelong Falcons have had six players named in the AFL draft combine, set to be held in October.

Ethan Floyd, David Handley, Matthew Ling, Tom McCartin, Gyran Miers and James Worpel were included in an 83-man group made up of the best elite junior talent in the country.

The Falcons had the equal highest number of players selected of any club in country Victoria, with coach Danny O’Keefe saying each of them had impressed throughout the year.

“Gryan, Floyd and Handley were players who we knew were good last year but they never announced themselves, but they’ve all come on really strongly this year,” O’Keefe said.

“McCartin is the one that has come out of left field but we always knew he could do it, he just needed an opportunity.

“Lingy and Worpel are serious chances (to get drafted) early on.”

O’Keefe said players such as Josh Jaska and Cassidy Parish – who is averaging 30 disposals per game in the TAC Cup – as well as Bayley Cockerill and Harry Benson are still eligible to be invited to the state combine, which remains a strong likelihood.

“Their concentration just rolls into the back end of our year now. That’s where they can get picked up from and that’s where they potentially will get picked up from,” he said. It’s not the end of the world, that’s for sure.”