Swans development coach Henry Playfair says he has been impressed with the way 2010 National Draft acquisitions Jed Lamb, Luke Parker and Alex Johnson have adapted to life at AFL level.
Playfair has told SwansTV, that while all three players were making steady progress, 18-year old Victorian, Luke Parker has a physical edge over his fellow draftees.
“He’s more advanced physically. He’s had a reasonably smooth preseason and physically, he almost looks ready to step up and play seniors, so we’re hoping that could be the case,” Playfair said.
He’s an inside midfielder so he’ll be in and around the stoppages with hard ball gets and contested footy. He is a little bit of a Jude Bolton type, so hopefully he has an injury free run up to the NAB Cup and can get his chance there,” he said.
Playfair said Jed Lamb and Alex Johnson would both require some time in the gym before being ready to make the transition to senior football, but that both players and shown good promise in their first taste of preseason training.
“Jed’s got that sort of freakish flair about him, so hopefully he will kick a few goals for us. His work rate has been pretty good too, so if he can combine that with his flair, he’ll be a good package,“ Playfair told SwansTV.
Playfair said lightly framed Johnson was a longer term project, but the rapid development of Sam Reid last year, had highlighted that anything was possible with young emerging players.
“He’s got a good pair of hands, is a really good athlete and is really good on the lead. If he can get his body up and going, take some contested marks and combine that with his running ability, he’s an exciting prospect going forward,” Playfair said.
See Henry’s four-part chat with SwansTV about the progress of all of the development group players.