WITH the mid-season draft finalised, Carlton’s list manager Nick Austin is pleased with their pick-ups to bolster the Blues list. 

Carlton picked up ruckman Alex Mirkov from their own VFL program and Jordan Boyd from the Footscray VFL program to develop at the half-way point of the season.

Austin noted that they got what they were aiming for in terms of positional players and talent, and were looking forward to getting Mirkov and Boyd into full-time training. 

“We’re really excited to have Alex and Jordan, give them an opportunity to come in and develop in our program and hopefully push through the ranks and show what they can do at an AFL level,” Austin said. 

“It's really exciting for both of those guys to come in.”

Austin admitted that a ruckman was their top priority, even as far back as recruiting Mirkov for their VFL program earlier in the year. 

At 210cm, Mirkov is still raw in terms of development, but Austin was impressed with his coachability and athletic ability that he has shown so far in 2021. 

“[Alex] is an absolute sponge with his coachability and the way he goes about it, his attention to detail and willingness to learn, he’s just going to get better and better,” he said.

“From a ruck perspective, we feel he had a breakout game against the Brisbane Lions in the VFL, rucking against an AFL ruckman who had just come out of the side. 

“The range of hits and the craft he showed in that game was really exciting to see from someone of his experience.”

Coming from a volleyball background, Mirkov has already been working with ruck coach Matthew Kreuzer to improve his ruck and midfield work. 

“His point of difference is that he’s 210cm which is rare and hard to find but from a pure football point of view, he’s inexperienced and it’s going to take some time to build up that body and get used to the program and the continuity and the grind of being an AFL player,” he said. 

“He can really chase down those mids and he’s laid some tackles and gets on his bike and is quite active so he’s quite raw from a football point of view but to have that coordination and athleticism at that height is quite a rare combination, so we’re really excited to see that develop.”

Austin was familiar with Boyd, having worked with him during his time at Footscray, and noted that Boyd’s penetrating kicks and vision were just the start of his abilities. 

“[Jordan] came [to Footscray] as a damaging high forward with speed, power and he’s an elite penetrating kick,” he said. 

“He impressed straight away with his attack on the ball, his ability to make things happen and just his attitude.”

Boyd burst onto the VFL scene as a forward, and had been training in that role as well as spending time on the wing for Footscray's VFL side.

However, with a number of AFL-listed forwards featuring the Dogs in the opening six weeks, Boyd was thrown into a role down back and flourished, impressing with his ball use coming out of the back half.

While both club and player are looking for Boyd to make an impact up forward, Austin said it was an extra box ticked for the new Blue in terms of his versatility.

“From a recruiting point of view, to show how quickly he settled into that role and used his weapons in a different way - his kick coming out of defence and the way he could shut down different opponents and get up the ground and get back - was great,” he said. 

“He showed us something that we hadn’t seen and we know what he can do as a mid-forward, which is where we think he’ll land at the Carlton side in that capacity.

"But to see him play an unfamiliar role and really put some consistent performances on the board was a real plus for the recruiting team and gave us a lot of confidence.”

While the mid-season draft may be over, Austin and his team have already turned their attentions to the 2021 NAB AFL Draft, hoping that the COVID situation won’t impact too many opportunities for emerging footballers in Victoria.

“Fingers crossed that the COVID situation in Victoria can get sorted quickly and we can move on  and watch some local footy,” he said.

“The national championships are coming up for the under 17s and the 19s so we’ll be in full swing for our preparation for those.”