CTV> Dayne Beams speaks with CTV about his new life at CollingwoodDayne Beams filled in a giant blank in Queensland football history when he was the first Sunshine Coaster to be drafted by AFL heavyweights Collingwood.
Beams’ brave decision to bypass a guaranteed contact with the proposed Gold Coast team was vindicated when he was claimed by the Magpies in the second round of the NAB AFL National Draft at No.29 overall.
It was exactly the scenario the 18-year-old Southport midfielder was hoping for.
An Essendon fan in his earlier years, Beams had got to know the Collingwood people well during the pre-draft period and had fallen in love with the facilities at the Lexus Centre.
“I can say it now – I really wanted to go to go Collingwood,” an elated Beams said this afternoon.
“I’m elated … it hasn’t all sunk in yet but I couldn’t be happier,” he said.
Beams, an athletic 187cm and a strong 79kg, was described by AFL Talent Manager Kevin Sheehan as “a prolific ball-winner with the ability to play in a variety of roles and is noted for his composure and balance in traffic”.
A member of Southport’s 2008 AFLQ Velocity Sports Cup premiership side, Beams followed the draft via the AFL website at his mother’s place with family and friends.
“When my name was called out everyone jumped up and down and started screaming,” he said.
“It hasn’t really sunk in … it’s such a relief … it’s a dream come true.”
It all happened very quickly for the best-performed member of the Australia Post Queensland U18 side this year.
The first congratulatory phone call he received from Collingwood was from president Eddie McGuire.
It’s a Queensland first. Not since the introduction of the AFL draft system in 1986 has a Queenslander been drafted to Collingwood, although Gavin Crosisca and Mal Michael have played in the black and white stripes, and rookie Lachlan Keeffe is presently with the club.
Crosisca joined the Pies on a ‘Form Four’ interstate recruiting ticket prior to the first draft to begin a magnificent 250-game career which included the 1990 AFL premiership.
Michael began as a Supplementary List player before being the first person in AFL history to be elevated from a rookie list to play at senior level. He later played in Brisbane’s 2001-02-03 premiership hat-trick before finishing his career at Essendon.
And Keeffe, a young giant from Gympie via Marist College Ashgrove with no junior background in Australian football, joined the Pies late last year as an unregistered rookie.
Beams, captain of the Queensland U18 side for the last two games of the year, had been targeted for a top-level three-year contract with the GC17 bid team.
Even after he rejected the Gold Coast’s initial response, coach Guy McKenna went back for a second try to lure the in-and-under midfielder.
But , not wanting to wait until 2011 for a chance to follow his dream, Beams chose the no-guarantees option of the draft.
Born in Victoria, he had moved with his family to the Gold Coast as a four-year-old and took up football at Mudgeeraba two years later in 1997.
Also a talented cricketer, he split his loyalties for a long time and although he represented Queensland at U16 level in 2006 he has only really focused his sporting energies exclusively on football in the last 18 months.
A product of Palm Beach High School, he also represented Queensland at U12 and U15 level, and in 2007 made his senior AFLQ debut with Southport and was also runner-up in the Sharks’ U18 B&F.
Asked which AFL player he had modeled himself on, Beams nominated Brisbane Lions champion Simon Black. “I love watching him play. He’s great with his hands, skilful and hard at it. He’s everything I try to base myself on.”
The key influence on his career, he said, was his father, an Ovens & Murray product who later played at the Gold Coast. “He always gave me a few pointers.”
And his best football attribute? “I like to create play, and to set other players up,” he said, having won enormous regard among recruiting scouts for his excellent use of handball.
“I also pride myself on my leadership. I like to take it upon myself to lift the boys when they’re down and just lead by example. And I pride myself on my kicking.”
Beams kicked a key and memorable goal from the boundary line in the first quarter of Southport’s AFLQ grand final win over Morningside before a hip injury put him out of the game and cost him any active participation in the AFL Draft Camp in Canberra.
Still, he’d done more than enough by then to convince Magpies recruiting manager Derek Hine.
He averaged 32 possessions and two goals in three games for the Queensland Scorpions against TAC Cup opposition this year, and averaged 24 possessions at the NAB AFL Division Two Championships, with a best of 34 against the Northern Territory.
He also played 13 senior games and kicked 11 goals for Southport in the Velocity Sports Cup, and was runner-up to Mt.Gravatt draftee Rohan Bail in the NAB AFLQ Rising Star Award.
