By Jonty Ralphsmith
Several locals will be watching the second night of the AFL Draft nervously hoping to hear their name called out.
While Harvey Langford, Alix Tauru, Xavier Lindsay, Cooper Hynes, Jasper Alger and possibly Noah Mraz are set to be called on the first night, up to 10 locals will hold out hope of hearing their name on night two.
As well as Narre Warren medium forward Sam Toner and Berwick interceptor Riak Andrew, profiled on page 39 and 41 respectively, Ricky Mentha, Asher Eastham, Charlie Orchard Jordan Doherty, Elwood Peckett, Max Donohue have all received interest.
Mentha is a small forward from Drouin who represented the AFL Academy and is part of Melbourne’s Next Generation Academy.
It gives the Dees first access to him and allows them to put him on their rookie list if a bid doesn’t come in the national draft.
After growing up in the Northern Territory, Mentha moved down to Gippsland last year, showing his x-factor and goal sense for the Power early in the year before showing his skillset off halfback.
Eastham is a medium forward whose marking is his strength and received a State Combine invite, indicating a level of interest, while his Power teammate Donohue is a midfielder who one club are believed to be interested in.
Peckett is a St Kilda father-son prospect but appears unlikely to get taken despite a strong year in the midfield, while Charlie Orchard is on the precipice and will hope to keep his name around the mark for the midseason draft next year.
Doherty, meanwhile, ran well at the state combine, and has interest from multiple clubs as a key-position player.
