Port Adelaide have drafted crafty small forward Tom Anastasopoulos in the 2023 AFL National Draft.
The Greek Australian’s name was called upon on Tuesday night with pick 48, the club’s first pick in this year’s draft.
Anastasopoulos had a notable impact this year as a top-ager for the Geelong Falcons, both offensively and defensively – hitting the scoreboard and applying forward tackle pressure.
During the first two weeks of the season, he kicked eight goals and accumulated 12 by Round 4. While his scoring slowed in later in the season, the 18-year-old returned to his goal-kicking form in the finals, scoring five goals across two games.
The 18-year-old was extremely accurate toward goal all year, finishing the season 21.2 across 11 games for the Falcons.
He was also a member of Victoria Country’s National Championship squad, playing three matches, and recorded a time of 6:11 on the 2km time trial at the state Draft Combine, ranked second best amongst all.
The small forward, who finished year 12 this year at Geelong College, spoke to Neos Kosmos last week ahead of the draft, saying that he would be a great asset to any club with his speed, pressure goal sense and team work.
As his name got called out on TV, his family (mostly come from Athens) and friends celebrated and got around him. See video here.
