Left and above: Imposing Dandenong Stingrays forward Jarrad Boumann was selected by the Western Bulldogs in Saturday’s AFL National Draft. Picture: Stewart Chambers.By Paul Pickering
THE CHILDHOOD dreams of Narre Warren South resident Jarrad Boumann became a reality on Saturday morning, when the towering teen heard his number called at pick 48 in the AFL National Draft.
Boumann, 17, will accompany Dandenong TAC Cup teammate Jarrad Grant (pick five) to the Western Oval, where the pair will don the red, white and blue alongside 2006 Stingrays graduate Andrejs Everitt.
Jarrad’s father Craig reflected this week on the anxious wait that preceded the Bulldogs’ third-round selection.
“We sat at home and listened to it on the radio,” he said.
“Sitting there waiting for his number to come up, it was like winning Tattslotto.
“It had his mother in tears, just the jubilation and relief that all the hard work wasn’t wasted.”
Boumann’s selection was also a satisfying moment for his under-18 coach Rik Crook, who tuned in to the draft broadcast from work on Saturday morning.
“He always had the potential,” Crook said of the gifted youngster who played centre half-forward in the Eagles’ 2006 flag.
“Because he’s so tall, it was just a matter of maturing and he’s done it pretty well.
“He’s always had the gears to take the game by the scruff of the neck.”
Boumann, who cuts a striking figure at 196cm and 89kg, will follow recent Beaconsfield graduates Shane Tuck and Chris Newman into the AFL ranks.
“To have a kid come through and get drafted is fantastic and it shows that the junior program the club has going is working,” Crook said.
For Boumann, draft day was an emotional cocktail of relief and excitement.
“It was a bit of both I suppose, but more excitement – once my name got read out – to just get stuck into it,” he said.
While Boumann supported St Kilda as a kid, he admitted to being a little star-struck with some of the senior Bulldogs during Monday’s first training session.
“It was a bit intimidating, but it seems like a good environment with good people,” he said.
For Grant, who averaged the most contested marks in the TAC Cup this year, pre-draft hype about his selection was nothing more than an amusing prelude to Saturday’s event.
“Most of my mates would send me texties early in the morning saying that I was in the paper again, but I didn’t take too much notice,” he said on Monday.
Attending the draft at the AFL’s Telstra Dome headquarters with his mum Caroline and sister Brydie, Grant was delighted to be joining his best mate Everitt at the Bulldogs.
“Having someone you know there helps a lot, he’s passed on some information about what goes on and how it all works,” he said.
Despite carrying the hopes of many Bulldog fans that have long coveted a strong-marking forward, Grant says he is keen to dismiss the expectations and concentrate on the things he can control.
Joining Grant and Boumann in the draft class of 2007 are Stingrays John McCarthy (pick 31 to Collingwood) and Scott Simpson (pick 44 to Geelong).
Bottom-age teammate Steven Gaertner was not selected, but his stocks are expected to rise with another solid season at Shepley Oval.
