Tim Kelly column: My mate Marlion Pickett deserves mid-year draft call

Richmond has taken a punt on exciting WA midfielder Marlion Pickett in the mid-season draft. Before the draft Pickett’s friend and Geelong star Tim Kelly pitched his case for an AFL lifeline in an exclusive column for the Geelong Advertiser.

THERE is a player in the WAFL who can play almost any position on the ground.

He is brilliant off halfback, got pace to burn off a wing, strong for his size in the forward line and tough enough to excel as an inside midfielder.

A few clubs looked at him in last year’s draft and he was close, seemingly very close, to getting the AFL opportunity he deserved, but ultimately it never came.

He is my good mate Marlion Pickett, who plays for South Fremantle in the WAFL.

If you wanted the best example of the type of player who would benefit from the AFL’s mid-season draft, Marlion is your man.

He is mature-age and he is ready to go.

Clubs have again shown interest in him during the lead-up to the AFL mid-season draft and I hope he gets his chance because he will do everything in his power to make it work.

When I left South Fremantle to come over to Geelong at the end of 2017, he effectively took my place in the midfield and quickly flourished, taking his game to a whole new level.

The mid-season draft is one of the great initiatives the AFL has brought in.

It is a win-win situation for everyone. Clubs can fill an immediate need on their list and only have the commitment of a six-month contract, rather than the two-year deals offered to traditional draftees.

If it doesn’t work, they can shake hands at the end of the season and wish each other well.

If it works, they’ve discovered a player they may otherwise never have thought about selecting.

Clubs have got nothing to lose.

For the player, the benefits are huge. It provides more opportunity to make an AFL list and more incentive to keep chasing your dream in the face of rejection, knowing that a strong start to the season could be all it takes to finally get reward for effort.

I have got no doubt we will see players picked up in this year’s mid-season draft who will come in and have an immediate impact.

Clubs are trending more and more towards mining the best talent out of the state leagues to support their list.

Using Geelong as an example, we’ve got Tom Stewart, Tom Atkins, Sam Menegola, Darcy Fort, Ryan Abbott, Nathan Kreuger and myself as recent examples of players selected from state leagues. Going back further we had Harry Taylor.

Fort today gets to make his AFL debut — what a moment that is for him at the age of 25.

Just last week, the WAFL played the SANFL in a state game. Not only is that a moment of state pride for the players, it now serves as a mini-audition for the mid-season draft.

While I was getting a little bit of interest in early 2017 from AFL clubs, it wasn’t until I played a state game for Western Australia that the interest really took off.

The difference now with the mid-season draft is clubs can act immediately on their instincts.

If there are players who might have some questions marks over them — whether that be their skill, commitment, off-field challenges or anything that has held them back — the six-month contract of the mid-season draft should help alleviate some of those concerns.

It is a free hit for clubs.

Back on Marlion. I think he has the versatility and talent to slip straight into AFL life. I’d love to see my good mate out there later this year, even if he’s on the opposition.

I'll be honest, when I first read that we'd picked a 27-year-old guy with an 8-10 week injury who'd done jail time I was thinking wtf. However after reading this and a few other articles about him, I'm hopeful that he's turned a corner and he'll seize the opportunity like Stack has.

Get excited Richmond fans and pls get Kelly to stay thx

Another one about his Jail time, not sure if it needs another thread but anyway, here you go

New Richmond recruit Marlion Pickett says his stint in jail was a huge learning curve

New Richmond draftee Marlion Pickett says football saved him after walking out of a two-and-half year jail sentence in 2017 and signing up for South Fremantle.

The Tigers provided the jaw-dropping moment of the mid-season draft when they signed Pickett despite his troubled past and an 8-10 week finger injury.

Pickett spent 30 months in jail for a string of minor burglary offences but has been open with clubs about how he has changed his life through football.

He told the Herald Sun on Monday night from Perth that everything he did now was for his partner and four young children.

“This means a lot for my family. Everything I do is for my kids and partner so they don’t have to worry about growing up like I did. Everything I do is for them,” he said.

“I have been out since 2017, so the first week I go out I walked into South Fremantle.

“I have been honest with clubs. The past is the past and I can’t change what I have done but I can change who I have become.

Marlion Pickett is now a Richmond player.

“(Jail) was hard but it was a learning curve. If I didn’t go in there I might have got into worse trouble.

“My older brother was in there and he gave me a talking to. He said you shouldn’t be in here, he gave me a little clip. (To play an AFL game) would mean a lot, to represent my kids and my partner.”

Richmond recruiting manager Matt Clarke said the Tigers would put the right support structures around Pickett as a long-term prospect.

“We are pretty happy to embrace all types of people and cultures and personalities at the footy club. They have still got to fit our mould at the footy club. We think he does,” he said.

“We have liked his talent for quite a while. He has been in the system playing really good senior footy

“Going into the midfield last year with South Freo was a big step up for him and that gave us a bit more confidence to give it a crack. We think he can add to our mix.”

Pickett is unlikely to play this season after injuring his finger in the WAFL.

Richmond’s determination to pick him despite the likelihood he won’t play senior football this year shows how much they believe in Pickett.

His manager Anthony Van Der Wielen said he believed Pickett’s hopes had been dashed by Saturday’s injury.

“We have had a lot of interviews with Richmond in the last few weeks and when he went down on Saturday with the finger, we really thought it might have been hard for them,” he said.

“I knew it was a great opportunity for him to get to Melbourne and go through the induction process.

“He is fit as a trout and with his finger he can train really hard. (List manager) Blair Hartley didn’t tell me until 15 minutes before the draft and I still didn’t want to tell Marlion (until his name was read out).”

Ready to go

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