North Melbourne have confirmed the AFL’s worst-kept secret, taking younger gun Jason Horne-Francis with their prized first ever primary draft pick.
The South Australian, who emerged because the excellent participant of his draft class with some stellar performances taking part in senior SANFL soccer with South Adelaide, was the unbackable favorite to be taken by the Kangaroos, and can now put on blue and white in 2022.
“I can’t wait to get into things with the North Melbourne footy club; it’s a really special moment that I’ve got to share with some great people,” Horne-Francis instructed Fox Footy after being taken.
“North are in the right direction and they’ve got a lot of young talent. I think I can learn off a lot of players at the club.”
Horne-Francis is assured that he’ll, as many predict, make his debut in Round 1 subsequent 12 months, having proved himself as a readymade prospect within the SANFL.
“I feel like I’m pretty well-prepared and pretty ready for it [a Round 1 debut],” he mentioned.
Horne-Francis was chosen after North selected to not bid on extremely rated father-son prospects Nick Daicos and Sam Darcy.
The Kangaroos held the primary pick for the primary time in an AFL nationwide draft and used it to pick the fashionable midfielder on Wednesday night time.
He was offered his jumper by AFL legend Malcolm Blight, who received a Brownlow Medal and performed within the Kangaroos’ first two premierships in 1975 and 1977.
As effectively as his North connection, Blight is widely-regarded as the most effective footballers in South Australian historical past.
Although he was a certainty to be chosen by North, Horne-Francis didn’t immediately have the information relayed to him.
“It was a bit weird, we couldn’t see much and luckily my manager hooked us up with his phone,” he instructed Fox Footy.
“Definitely a number of pleasure. I can’t wait to get into issues with the North Melbourne footy membership.
Horne-Francis appears to be like able to step straight into North’s finest staff below David Noble subsequent 12 months, after taking part in two seasons of senior soccer with SANFL membership South Adelaide.
Meanwhile, ruck-forward Darcy was chosen with pick two after the Western Bulldogs matched GWS’ bid for the son of Luke.
Daicos went at pick 4, with Gold Coast bidding for the midfielder earlier than Collingwood shortly snapped him up.
© AAP
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