Top Gold Coast draftee Bailey Humphrey has revealed he was almost poached by Melbourne on draft night.
The 18-year-old was selected with the Suns’ first pick – no.6 overall – last November and was the club’s only recruit from the National Draft.
He’s billed as a tough midfielder who has the ability to play forward, proving a handful for opponents playing the Gippsland Power in his draft year.
While he ultimately joined Stuart Dew’s side, as per the indication he’d received, he suggested that Melbourne too was interested in his attributes.
“I kind of prepared myself to move to Gold Coast a couple of weeks before the draft but on draft night it was a little bit different,” he began on SEN’s Saturdays in Gippsland.
“Melbourne tried to go to the pick before Gold Coast, they tried to steal me.
“I did kind of think that I was going to end up at Gold Coast, but draft night was a little bit different, I was a little bit stressed.”
It was reported on draft night that several clubs were interested in acquiring Essendon’s pick five, although the Dons ultimately stuck firm to select Elijah Tsatas.
Despite hailing from Victoria, Humphrey says he was happy to land at a football program that’s on its way up.
“I’ve definitely gone to a good program, I think it's probably the best time for a young kid to come into the club,” he said.
“They’ve got a lot of young talent now and now they’re just trying to find a fair bit of balance with mature age players as well.
“I think we’re definitely in a very good spot to play finals and in the upcoming years to take the cup.”
But while his talent has him a strong chance to play in Dew’s Round 1 side, Humphrey is aware he’s got plenty of work to do.
In a midfield including Touk Miller, Noah Anderson, Matt Rowell, Elijah Hollands, Humphrey is hoping to cement a positon as a high half-forward.
“That’s definitely my main goal is to play Round 1, and a lot of the coaches have sort of made that pretty clear that that should be my goal,” he explained.
“I do a lot of my training in the forward line more as a high half-forward/extra mid… it’s a very hard position to play and that’s something I’m getting used to because I’m normally a deeper forward.
“Obviously the AFL boys are a lot stronger than me now, so I've got to try and work harder to get back to goal quicker.
“I think that I will be doing a little bit of extra midfield stuff at the end of training because I think the midfield coach (Steven King) likes me in the midfield as well.
“I think I’ll play high half-forward this year.”
Humphrey will be hoping to push his case for a berth in Gold Coast’s first match simulation against Essendon on February 23 before the Suns line up for Round 1 against Sydney on March 18.
