In both 20, Fremantle took four West Aussies in the National Draft and a Victorian rookie, with Treacy in 2020 and Worner in 2021. While the pair will always have that Vic Country / Vic Metro rivalry, they are also the only two players on Fremantle’s list who know what it was like to go through a draft year that was heavily impacted by Covid. Treacy makes a joke about not knowing any of the city kids. We’ve just announced Worner as our rookie pick, and since he and Worner are Victorians of the same age, we ask if they know each other.

Freo's pick no.8 in the NAB AFL Rookie Draft.īack in Perth, on that same Friday, Josh Treacy says hello to the media team on his way to the dining room for lunch. Just get me there.’”Ĭheck out some of the best highlights from this hard-working wingman from the Oakleigh Chargers. “He basically said, ‘just pick me! I’m coming even if it’s just to be a train on, I’ll walk to Perth if I have to. We said we might look at him as a train on and definitely didn’t guarantee that we’d pick him. We didn’t guarantee him anything in the rookie draft. “He was just so impressive with how he bounced back as well as his attitude. “When we met up for breakfast, we spoke for about an hour,” Walls said. The 19-year-old didn’t know what Walls had in mind, but either way, he was ready to pack his bags for WA. While Fremantle had one place available on their rookie list, they also had the option of giving a handful of players the opportunity to train through the summer and compete for that spot.

There’s a reason why this phone call didn’t fill Worner with the hope it probably should have.

He knew that there wouldn’t be many live picks in the Rookie Draft, so I could tell he was flat.” “I called him first thing in the morning and he was just disappointed. “I just wanted to see what frame of mind he was in more than anything,” Walls said. He knows that most clubs, including Freo, are simply using the rookie draft to relist players and there will be few spots, if any, left available for him.Ī phone call from Walls asking to catch up would have given Worner hope, but nothing is guaranteed.īecause of Covid, this is the first time the pair have had a meeting that wasn’t on Zoom, and to Walls, this is one last chance to get a character assessment of the winger. The NAB AFL Rookie Draft is set to kick off at 3pm that afternoon.Īfter missing out on selection for the second straight National Draft, Worner is on the brink of having his AFL dream crushed once again. David Walls and Karl Worner meet face to face for the first time in a café on a Friday morning in Glen Iris.

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