Collingwood has added some speed and skill to its list by selecting West Adelaide wingman John Noble in the mid-season rookie draft.
The Pies’ national recruiting manager, Derek Hine, was delighted to snare Noble, whose fastest time of 2.92 seconds for the 20m sprint will make him one of the fastest players over that distance at the club.
The 22-year-old also has a best 2km time of 6.10, which is up there with the best efforts of the club’s time-trial king, Tom Phillips.
“There’s not too many players that have got that combination,” Hine said.
“John’s a boy that’s had to bide his time and he’s had a few setbacks along the way, but his body of work, particularly in the last 12 to 18 months, has been really outstanding.
“We’re really pleased. He’s got a real speed-endurance combination, which is going to put pressure on our list in a whole range of areas.”
Noble, who stands 180cm tall and weighs 72kg, was an outstanding performer in the recent representative game between the SANFL and the WAFL.
He finished the match with 24 disposals and four tackles.
“The rep game, two to three week ago now, was a testament to where he could potentially be,” Hine said.
“He wouldn’t have been too far off being South Australia’s best player against senior boys that had played a lot of AFL footy.
“So that was really probably the clincher for us. We’ve seen him in really good company now and the opportunity has to come his way.”