St Peter’s College student Isaac Piper will be entered into the 2017 National Draft ahead of the 2018 AFL New Zealand Premiership.
It will be the first time the 17 year old will play in the the premier competition as a senior player after playing in the 2017 AFL New Zealand Premiership as a development player.
AFL New Zealand will provide a number of talented players from the AFL New Zealand Academy the opportunity to participate in the Premiership as development players.
The opportunity will be utilised to further develop and manage the environment for young players and their introduction into senior football. The preparation they receive will potentially see them drafted and playing in the 2019 AFLNZ Premiership as a full time participant.
High Performance management will distribute development players to team’s week to week dependent on several factors including;
- The players stage of development
- The players physical preparedness and capability
- Approval from AFLNZ, the participants parents and the participant
Piper has made the transition from a development player to a senior player and so enters the AFL New Zealand National Draft along with a further fifteen talented athletes who have completed a similar pathway. These players will be featured in the coming weeks.
Currently playing for the Manurewa Raiders in the Auckland AFL, Piper impressed his peers with his speed and agility around the ground and will add value to the midfield to any of the four sides.
“Isaac is one of the quickest players and has certainly shown improvement through his opportunities in the AFL New Zealand Premiership earlier in the year.” National Youth Manager Mick Coultard
Growing up playing a mixture of sports, Isaac has been involved in the AFL New Zealand system for a several years after first getting involved in the sport through an invitation to the National Combine. He currently sits in second place overall for the fastest 20 metre sprint with a time of 2.84 seconds which was recorded back in 2016.
His representation for New Zealand at age group level shows that the 18 year old has big potential in the sport and with a goal of one day wearing the Silver Fern at senior level, look out for Piper to feature heavily over the next few years.
Read more:
2018 AFLNZ Premiership retained players list explained
