They say don’t meet your heroes. But what about meeting them in a “job interview” — does that make it even worse?
Not for top AFL draft prospect Cooper Duff-Tytler, who met his childhood footy idol while being quizzed by the team he supports — at least for another two days, that is.
The Calder Cannons ruck/forward is unlikely to slip past the first four selections at this week’s AFL draft or, at worst, certainly not the first seven, with West Coast or Richmond almost certain to call his name out early on Wednesday night.
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It means his beloved Hawthorn, whose first selection is No.10, will have no chance of accessing him.
But that hasn’t stopped the Hawks, and at least 12 others clubs, from doing their work on him.
Duff-Tytler has met with all but five clubs — Brisbane, North Melbourne, Port Adelaide, Melbourne, and the Western Bulldogs — none of whom have a pick in the top six, which will become top 10 after academy and father-son bids.
The former basketballer knows he won’t get to join the Hawks, but was still starstruck when he got to meet former Hawthorn champion — now one of the club’s recruiters — Jarryd Roughead.
“I’ll be a Hawks supporter until my name gets read out to a different club,” Duff-Tytler told 7NEWS.com.au.
“When the Hawks came, they were one of the last clubs, but it was pretty surreal. I made sure to tell them how much I loved them growing up.
“And then at the combine, when there were a few different meetings that people had, I didn’t actually have one with the Hawks, but when they heard that Jarryd Roughead was my favorite player, and he was in the meetings, they pulled me into their meeting to let me have a chat with him, and they got me to get a photo with him, which was pretty cool.”
AFL clubs are notorious for their curly questions to prospective draftees.
Duff-Tytler’s toughest came from Essendon, who asked him what personality trait about himself that he would change, while Carlton wanted to know what three personal items he would save from a burning house.
For the record, he said he’d change his occasional procrastination habit, and would take his phone and a box of his lifetime achievements from his house if it were burning down.
“Each club does it a little bit different, and obviously you’re a bit nervous,” Duff-Tytler said.
“It’s like a job interview with AFL clubs, which is pretty cool.
“It’s a bit nerve-wracking, but not so much intimidating. Some are more of a general relaxed chat, and some are a bit more straight-at-you questions.”
Duff-Tytler, who narrowly missed out on qualifying for Essendon’s Next Generation Academy, is likely to be snapped up by West Coast with one of the Eagles’ two top picks.
The Eagles have picks one and two. Gippsland product Willem Duursma appears certain to be headed west with the first selection, but the next one is not as clear.
At times throughout the year, Duff-Tytler was mooted as a potential No.1 pick. He could slip to No.4 but still land at the Eagles, if they put in bids for Gold Coast academy gun Zeke Uwland and Carlton father-son prospect Harry Dean, as expected.
“It’s pretty hard not to have a look at the media rankings and what people are saying about you, but it doesn’t really bother me what they come up with,” Duff-Tytler said.
Of carrying the tag as a top selection throughout the entire year, he added: “For me, I feel like it hasn’t impacted me too much.
“I think it’s hard at times when you’re seeing stuff all the time, but I’m just trying to stay consistent with just worrying about the people that actually matter and what they have to say; your family and your inner circle, coaches and teammates, and recruiters.
“I think the more that you can block out the external noise and just listen for the people that actually matter and have your best interests at heart, the better off you’ll be.”
The 18-year-old, who has just finished school with Penleigh and Essendon Grammar School, is excited, not apprehensive, about the possibility of moving his life to the other side of the country.
“You’ve got a lot of time on your hands now, just to think about it, so I’ve thought about it a fair bit — what could happen and where I could end up, just naturally thinking about it,” he said.
“But for me, I haven’t been too anxious or worried about going to West Coast. I feel like it would be unbelievable to go over there and start a new chapter in my life.
“I’d be super happy if West Coast took me, and being one of the first names called out would be pretty cool.”
Duff-Tytler and AFL Academy teammates Uwland and Matt LeRay are set to feature in Code Sports’ Chasing The Dream documentary, which follows the trio for six months leading up to the draft.
“It’s pretty cool to have a documentary about yourself your family. It’s exciting that I got that opportunity,” he said.
“I feel like having those like interviews throughout the year gives you a chance to reflect on what you’ve achieved, and how your year is going.
“I’ve watched the first episode, which was obviously cool to see my parts, as well as how the other boys have done it as well. Zeke and Matt and their families did it very well too. So yeah, it’s good to watch.”
