“Anywhere would do” is the mantra being lived by AFL draft prospect Kane McAuliffe.
The Port Augusta product from SANFL club North Adelaide is acutely aware that he may not end up at either the Adelaide Crows or Port Adelaide at the 2023 AFL Draft later this month.
With that in mind, the 18-year-old insists that it would not bother him to move interstate.
“Nah, not at all,” McAuliffe replied when asked on SEN SA’s The Run Home.
“I’d just love to end up somewhere. Anywhere would do.”
The powerful midfielder, who loves the contest, was a key contributor for South Australia at the Under-18 National Championships this year.
SA state coach Tony Bamford has placed McAuliffe in the Patrick Dangerfield category and the youngster himself admits the former Crow and now Geelong captain is one player he has watched closely over the years.
McAuliffe’s dad played played under-17s and some reserves footy at Port Adelaide, but was a Leigh Matthews-loving Hawthorn supporter which opened his son’s eyes to modern day Hawks greats like Luke Hodge and Sam Mitchell.
“I really thrive on the contest,” McAuliffe added.
“At times a little bit too much and I forget to work on the outside stuff, just get caught up in the contest.
“I love the contested ball, I love to try and tackle and then try to use my turn of foot to get to the outside and use my kick as well.
“Watching Hawthorn games mostly when growing up, I watched a fair bit of Luke Hodge and Sam Mitchell.
“Of the SA teams, I’d get to the Adelaide Oval and watch a fair bit of Paddy Dangerfield when he was at Adelaide to see how he went about it.”
The 187cm left-footer has spoken to 14 AFL clubs in the lead-up to the draft with the Crows among those showing the most interest.
“I’ve spoken to Adelaide a couple of times and had the training week there at the start of the year in pre-season,” he said further.
“It was really cool to get into the AFL environment and see how they do it.
“I’ve spoken to Port, but I haven’t spoken to Collingwood, Carlton, Gold Coast and Brisbane.”
The first round of the 2023 AFL Draft takes place on November 20 with the remaining rounds to occur on November 21.