AFL: Connor Blakely, Brady Hough, Jye Amiss and more ready to embark on fresh AFL season as COVID clouds clubs

Another football season has just begun and the South West has a bumper crop of players ready to line up at AFL clubs. The region’s biggest draft haul in more than a decade means some of them are new faces on the brink of debuts and establishing themselves at clubs across the country. Here are the seven South West players ready to line up for AFL clubs this season and what we hope to see from them as the year wears on. Brady Hough (West Coast Eagles) West Coast Eagles coach Adam Simpson has confirmed the classy half-back, who played for Harvey-Brunswick-Leschenault as recently as last year, will make a round one debut. While it comes after a torrid run of injuries and other absentees, the draftee is widely regarded as the most promising of the club’s new players. Stars Luke Shuey, Nic Natainui and Jack Redden have all been glowing in their praise of the youngster, with Redden declaring he was ready for a round one debut, while dual best and fairest winner Natainui said he was “excited to play alongside” Hough. In a stellar first year in the colts at Peel Thunder, Hough played mostly across half-forward and his 10 goals at nearly a goal-a-game was a feature of his season. But his high-level ball use and running ability will likely see him used across half-back for the Eagles. And while he is by no means an elite ball-winner yet, there could be scope for a run in the midfield, given the all-star injury list set to plague West Coast’s start to the season. This year he will play games early, with a view to holding his spot once the likes of Shuey, Tim Kelly and Dom Sheed return as the club gets closer to full strength. Isiah Winder (West Coast) A knee issue, which came just days after his frantic debut appearance against St Kilda last year, meant that Winder, the Eagles’ first pick in the 2020 draft, still has just one senior game to his name. When he returned in the back-half of last season he was unable to recapture the stunning form that earned him his call-up. He made only a second-half cameo appearances in the club’s first pre-season game against Fremantle, but wasn’t required for the second game and the torrid injury run set to open the door for Hough’s debut, is unlikely to see Winder return for round one. Jamie Cripps was a slow-starter last year but worked his way into some form by season’s end, while Liam Ryan is fit and Willie Rioli will return from his drug ban, leaving forward-line vacancies scarce. The hope is that he establishes himself as a genuine WAFL goal-threat and is used sporadically in the senior team as COVID cases and injuries take their toll. Connor Blakely (Fremantle) This year feels like a fork in the road of Connor Blakely’s football career. De-listed in the off-season only to be rookie-listed again in a move Fremantle said was for “administrative purposes”, Blakely has fallen well out of Fremantle’s best midfield and set an early record for most times used as a medical substitute last year. The recruitment of former Gold Coast on-baller Will Brodie, who has impressed pre-season as a contested ball-winner, might bump him further down the pecking order, and skipper Nat Fyfe has flagged his own return to the midfield on a more regular basis. His size and contested ability made him look a good fit last year, but a new crop of midfielders have another year of development under their belt and Brodie has exceeded expectations, meaning games for Blakely could be few and far between. If he can’t find a way to break into the side this year, or establish himself in a new role, Blakely could well be in different colours come this time next year. Jye Amiss (Fremantle) The highest South West draft pick since Anthony Morabito, sharp-shooter Amiss is the most promising forward to come from the region in years. The former Busselton player lit the WAFL colts alight last year, leading the goal-kicking, and impressed from limited opportunity in State under-age games. He arrived at the Dockers with a nagging knee issue, which kept him from training with the main group until Christmas, and a quad complaint kept him out of the first practice game against West Coast. He wasn’t picked for the second of those games, but had minutes for a composite Peel Thunder and Fremantle side at Cockburn. He is very much a long-term prospect and is unlikely to be ready for the early rounds, unless he was to be parachuted into the side in place of the injured Matt Taberner. Ethan Hughes (Fremantle) A fully-fit Fremantle backline is stacked. So much so, Tobe Watson was dropped after playing 11 games and premiership defender Joel Hamling looks set to start the season wearing teal, rather than purple. Hughes was another victim of the squeeze towards the end of last season, never really re-establishing himself in the side after a shoulder injury kept him sidelined for the middle part of the season. With Heath Chapman and Hayden Young both also fit and new recruit Jordan Clark also likely to take a half-back spot, that might be where he starts this season too. But things this year could change all so easily, and Hughes’ experience at the level will make him the perfect player to fill a back six role should a defender go down given he can rebound just as well as he can lockdown. He might not feature early, but the chances of Fremantle having a clean bill of health a month into the season are unlikely, and Hughes will be called upon at least a few times this season. Marlion Pickett (Richmond) After his historic grand final debut in 2019, Pickett’s blistering start came crashing down and he found himself out of favour and in the wilderness at Punt Road over the 24 months that followed. But a new wing role and a string of injuries meant he found his way back into the club’s best 22 last year and could start there again this year, but that is no guarantee. The Tigers are looking to do an on-the-run rebuild made famous by Alistair Clarkson’s Hawthorn sides of the past decade, and whether 30-year-old Pickett is a part of that will be one of the season’s big talking points among our local crop. In a similar vain to Hughes, there is little chance he won’t appear at all — but it is unlikely to be in round one and he might be at the mercy of the Tigers’ COVID caseload. James Tunstill (Brisbane) The former East Perth midfielder whose classy ball-use saw him shoot up the draft board and off to Brisbane, Tunstill seems a fair way off a debut, but has impressed in the club’s second team. The Busselton product kicked five goals in two games, playing across half-forward for the Lions’ reserves in pre-season practice games. The expanded VFL competition, which now includes former NEAFL clubs including Brisbane, will give Tunstill significant exposure if he can continue to impress in that side. Players who would be starting midfielders at other clubs — like Cam Rayner and Hugh McCluggage — are already forced into other positions and spots in that group will be at a premium. But the chance to learn off Brownlow medalist Lachie Neale, Jarrod Berry and Jarrod Lyons will be invaluable, and Tunstill could be in line for a late-season debut.