Fremantle Dockers star Murphy Reid could go down as one of the greatest draft steals ever, expert says

Fremantle young gun Murphy Reid is on track to become one of the greatest steals in the history of the draft after making a stunning start to his AFL career, according to a pre-eminent junior talent expert.

Plucked by the Dockers with pick No.17 in the 2024 national draft, the smooth-mover made a mockery of his unexpected slide by winning the league’s Rising Star award in his first AFL season.

And the 19-year-old has taken his game to another level in his second campaign, highlighted by a classy 26-disposal effort in a stirring win over Adelaide on Good Friday which was graded as a perfect 10 by Danielle Laidley in her player ratings for The West Australian.

Draft guru Mick Ablett said he had “no doubt” Reid could go down as one of the biggest over-performers of their draft position in the modern era.

“We mentioned it on the broadcast and leading into that particular draft — he had the best footy IQ of that particular draft group,” Ablett said.

“When you look at the way he plays, his understanding of the game, and his ability to see things unfold a fraction earlier than other players, that’s what set him apart as a kid, and that’s what we’re seeing him do at AFL level.

“I was surprised to see him slide to where he did at 17. Possibly, the question mark could’ve been around his speed and that lack of raw power.

“A kid like Murphy Reid, he’s got exceptional footy IQ, and his ability to slow the game down, buy time, was his greatest asset. It’s transferred into what he’s doing at AFL level, and we shouldn’t be surprised by that.”

Richmond plumped for Sam Lalor with their first selection of the 2024 draft and the powerful midfielder-forward wasted no time in showing off his talent, leading his side to a stunning upset of Carlton in his first AFL game.

The Tigers had four selections before Reid was taken by the Dockers, opting instead to take Lalor, injury-prone pair Josh Smillie (No.7), Taj Hotton (No.12) and key forward Jonty Faull (No.14).

Meanwhile, the Blues executed a trade with West Coast to move up to No.3 and claim prolific midfielder Jagga Smith, who missed his first season at the level due to a torn ACL suffered only days before their campaign begun.

Smith justified the hype which had built throughout his year on the sidelines by gathering 27 disposals in his debut against Sydney in Opening Round last month and followed up with an equal team-high 32 touches against the Tigers.

Former St Kilda coach Scott Watters said Reid’s talent was immediately obvious when he first watched him play as a teenager against one of his sons in a Melbourne junior league.

“The thing that we’re seeing now is a player who just has sublime understanding and awareness of what’s around him and he’s incredibly creative,” Watters said.

“When we see players that can create space for themselves and for others with the use of their hands — you think of Scott Pendlebury, he just has 360 degree vision — Murphy Reid, he has that. His spatial awareness is quite incredible, but then he also has the gift in his hands to be able to use that space really creatively. It’s quite rare and it’s beautiful to watch.

“I think we’ve seen improvement in kicking skills in the last 10 or 15 years in the AFL, but you could argue creativity by hand has been more of a lost art. It’s brilliant to see that we’ve got such a young player showing us how that skill can be used to break a game open.”

Reid’s instant success is one of several recent hits from Fremantle’s recruiting team, who have also plucked superstar forward Josh Treacy and key contributors Luke Ryan, Sam Switkowski and Karl Worner out of the rookie draft.

Ablett said the group deserved plenty of credit for helping the Dockers’ transformation into a premiership contender.

“David Walls leads the charge there and Wallsy’s an extremely humble person and somebody that’s got a bit of a no-fuss kind of approach to recruiting,” he said.

“There’s not too many that they’ve got wrong. You even look at a mature-ager like Isaiah Dudley — he was a talented young player, but from a professionalism point of view, probably wasn’t quite at the level at 18, 19 years of age, but he’s been able to step in and impact games of AFL football every time he’s stepped on the field.”

Reid was called upon to attend a centre bounce in just three of his first AFL 24 games but has been a more regular on-ball presence in the early stages of his second season.

Watters said the situation he had arrived in at the Dockers was the perfect one to nurture his development and his handling by the club had been sublime.

“Spending time as a forward last year, we saw glimpses of his creativity then, but now we’re seeing, after another pre-season, he’s slightly stronger and more adept at looking after himself in the midfield, but that awareness and creativity has remained,” he said.

“He’s also coming into a side that’s got a high level of experience, it’s quite a hardened side now. That’s a really nice entry for a young player.

“He’s rarely going to cop the first level of defensive pressure from oppositions, it’s going to go to Serong or Young when he’s playing again or potentially Brayshaw. He’s always going to be the third or fourth cab off the rank at this point, so that gives him just that little bit of space and time.

“To do what he’s doing so early in his career speaks volume to his talent, but also the work he puts in behind the scenes. We’re seeing something, I think, pretty special.”

When asked what lessons could be taken from Reid’s draft-night slide, Ablett said recruiters should place a greater focus on the strengths players bring, rather than their weaknesses.

“Are they the finished products? Of course they’re not, but I think one of the biggest traps in recruiting is, with the amount of analysing that goes into it, we start looking for things that they can’t do and what their faults are,” he said.

“I’m big on footballers and not just looking at athletic traits, because at the end of the day, that’s what we’re doing. We’re playing football, we’re not sending people to the Olympics.”