South Aussie Select with Will McCabe and Bodie Ryan

By ZAC MILBANK

Central District’s Will McCabe stands at 197cm but he has no idea how that has unfolded.

His father Luke, a dual Bulldogs SANFL premiership player, reached just 183cm and there is little height in the wider family but Will certainly isn’t complaining.

Nominated by Hawthorn as a father-son prospect in this month’s AFL National Draft, Will has been relishing his role as an intercept defender since being trialed there by SA U16 coach Julian Farkas.

McCabe, who has already spent time with the Hawks this year, also reflects on how his football pathway altered when his family home was lost in the Pinery bushfires at the end of 2015.

Glenelg’s Bodie Ryan has kept in close contact this year with his cousin Jakob Ryan, who was drafted by Collingwood last year, to ensure he is best placed to have his name called later this month.

But he won’t be taking any tips from Jakob when it comes to following Google Maps as he still lives down an amusing incident from the 2022 season.

A medium-sized defender who reads the play exceptionally well, Ryan feels he can also be thrown into the midfield considering that’s where he initially played for his local club Brighton.

SANFL Phyiscal Performance Manager Tom Debenedictis also drops in for this episode, providing an overview of SA’s best performers across both AFL Combines in October.

Debenedictis also highlights a late-bloomer – who wasn’t involved in SANFL’s State program, who produced impressive testing results.