The Gold Coast SUNS have acquired another ball magnet in the form of versatile Northern Knights midfielder Brayden Fiorini at Tuesday night’s National Draft.
The 18-year-old was selected with the final pick of the first round at selection No. 20, following the club’s first pick, Callum Ah Chee, at No. 8.
After emerging as a talented outside midfielder during his underage age season in the TAC Cup, Fiorini added some inside grunt to his game in 2015, becoming a more balanced onballer.
GC SUNS list manager Scott Clayton lauded Fiorini’s spike in improvement following this year’s national championships, labelling his awareness, ball accumulating nous and team orientated focus as his key traits.
“We really think he can be an inside-outside midfielder. His back half of the season was outstanding,” Clayton told SUNS TV in his post-draft analysis on Tuesday night.
“His improvement from the championships where he had a broken hand into the back half of the year where he averaged nearly 40 possessions for the Northern Knights.
“He’s got great feeling and time, he goes and fills defensive spaces for the team just naturally.
“Another really high quality young athlete. He’s also really looking forward to getting to us.”
The Victorian midfielder played three games for Vic Metro in this year’s under 18 national championships before breaking his hand.
Across 11 matches in the TAC Cup he demonstrated his elite ball winning ability, averaging 30 possessions per game at a polished disposal efficiency rate of 77.5 per cent.
Pick 20
Brayden Fiorini
Height: 186cm
Weight: 75kg
Junior Club: Northern Knights FC
Ball magnet Fiorini heading north
The Gold Coast SUNS have acquired another ball magnet in the form of versatile Northern Knights midfielder Brayden Fiorini at Tuesday night’s National Draft.
