Riverina trio to impress at combine

This article first appeared in the Daily Advertiser

By Simon Brunsdon

Wagga’s Max King, Temora’s Jake Barrett and former Coolamon gun Mick Gibbons were all invited this week to attend the national combine in Melbourne in October, where AFL clubs will get a look at some potential future stars of the game.

Saddington, a former Sydney Swans and Carlton champion, coached all three boys during the Rams’ national championships campaign last month.

He believes the Riverina’s next AFL star is right in front of him.

“I thought they all played well throughout the championships and showed they had some ability that is probably capable of going to the next level,” Saddington said.

“Max King, 200cm tall, it’s quite rare to get big boys like that.

“He’s got great hands overhead and is also quite clean at ground level which is pretty unusual for a player of his size.

“He really showed some good athletic potential for a big man.

“Jakey Barrett, it’s still only his third season of footy from a rugby league background.

“He’s a really hard worker, runs hard on the field, really good with clearance work, he wins high possession and his defensive efforts are extremely strong.

“Micky Gibbons averaged seven tackles per game at the championships, which is really high.

“He’s really good inside, a good clearance player, wins high possession and has good finishing skills in front of goal.”

The Riverina boys were three of five NSW/ACT players invited to attend the national combine.

Saddington did not want to single out a player he thought showed the most potential to become an AFL champion.

Saddington, former Swans teammate Tadhg Kennelly and former Essendon vice-captain Mark McVeigh were all in Wagga yesterday to conduct a coaching clinic with Wagga Swans juniors.

McVeigh said he always enjoyed spending time in the Riverina.

“I played here as a kid a lot with representative games,” McVeigh said.

“I have a lot of friends from here; I had an association with Wagga Tigers through some friends that played NSW rep football.

“It’s a great place.”

The three retired players spent almost two hours running drills with the young players at Anderson Oval.