Praise for emerging Bomber

VFL/AFL legend Leigh Matthews has said Essendon have got a “beauty” in emerging ruckman Sam Draper.

Draper’s raw talent was on display in the Bombers’ 48-point win over Gold Coast, kicking one of the goals of the season after a wonderful solo run and finish.

The 23-year-old’s agility at ground level reminds Matthews of one of his former legendary Hawthorn teammates.

“I love ruckmen who do more than hit-outs,” Matthews told Sportsday.

“I mentioned the fact that Don Scott, who was the ruckman when I played at Hawthorn for most of the time I played, he was inducted as a Legend into the Hall of Fame for Hawthorn on Friday night.

“I love ruckmen who are big, powerful, aggressive and if they’ve got a bit of agility at ground level, gee, they’re valuable.

“Don Scott had that and certainly Sam Draper has.

“You’ve just got to remind yourself he’s 23 and played 30-odd games. He’s a beauty.”

Essendon coach Ben Rutten sees Draper shouldering a larger portion of the ruck duties in the coming years.

The Bombers cult figure has played 38 games since making his AFL debut in 2020.

“He’s such an energic, spiritual kind of guy for our group. He really does generate some momentum for us,” Rutten said on Sportsday.

“He’s in his third season, he’s just ticked over 35 games, so it’s a really big ask to ask a young ruckman to be able to shoulder the ruck load on their own.

“That’s been a fair bit of the decision making that we’ve had around playing Andrew Phillips, he’s a 30-year-old ruckman for us, a pretty seasoned competitor, and Nick Bryan has also got some game time.

“We’re certainly finding that Sammy Draper’s presence and his energy around the ball is certainly more beneficial and playing about 60 to 65 per cent ruck time seems to be a nice little sweet spot for him at the moment.

“We think as the years go on, he’ll be able to build that resilience into his body and be able to play more ruck and more game time himself.

“But I think that’s about right for him at the moment and we’re seeing some reward with his performance as a result.”

 

– BY ALEX ZAIA/ SEN