Jones, Evans, Ramsay, Gollant await the big time
Four Calder Cannons earned their way onto AFL lists following the conclusion of the 2019 NAB AFL National and Rookie drafts.
First to go was tall key forward Harry Jones, before two-gamer Francis Evans, best and fairest-winner Sam Ramsay and late bloomer Lachie Gollant joined him in the AFL ranks.
Harrison Jones | Pick 30 | Essendon
“Quite simply, we rated Harry as a first-round draft selection and when he got there overnight and missed out in the first round, we decided that we wanted to target him and get him to our club,” Essendon Football Club List Manager Adrian Dodoro told essendonfc.com.au.
“He’s tall and a phenomenal athlete. He’s going to take a bit of time obviously, but I think long term he and Joey (Daniher) in our forward half will be pretty dynamic.
“It is nice, he’s an Essendon Grammar boy (from the) Calder Cannons, he lives down at Gisborne. He’s a great young fella and we’re looking forward to seeing what he can do in the future.”
Francis Evans | Pick 41 | Geelong
“I went to a game where Francis was playing at North Old Boys earlier in the year and soon after that he was recruited into the Calder Cannons before he got injured. If we hadn’t seen him play senior football early in the year it would’ve been hard to pick him,” Geelong Head of Recruiting Stephen Wells told afl.com.au.
Sam Ramsay | Pick 47 | Carlton
“Sam does a lot of things really well: he gets involved offensively, has good speed and gets his hands dirty,” General Manager of List Management and Strategy Stephen Silvagni told carltonfc.com.au.
“When it comes down to it, it was his form at the end of the year where he showed what he’s capable of. His performances as an inside midfielder were really encouraging.
“He knows how to find the footy, he’s a competitor and he’s good in traffic. We think he’ll relish the chance to work with and learn off some of our experienced midfielders.”
Lachlan Gollant | Pick 48 | Adelaide
“Lachie’s probably a bit of a smoky, because not many people would know him, but that’s okay,” Adelaide National Recruiting Manager Hamish Ogilvie told afc.com.au.
“We knew him pretty well. He’s played on the wing for Calder. We just forecast if he played again for Calder as a 19-year-old next year, he could’ve been anything, so we’re happy to bite him off and take him now.”
The Calder Cannons Football Club would like to congratulate all four draftees and wish them all the best as they begin their AFL journeys.