IT WAS the mark that surely dashed any faint hope of Collingwood tosecure Darcy Moore as a father-son pick in the second round of thisyear's NAB AFL Draft.
Moore's huge grab in the TAC Cup preliminary final, in which hejumped, got a ride and seemed to stay on his opponent's shoulders longenough to take in the view, was done in the 'recruiter's pocket' at VisyPark.
Scouts from clubs were all around him. If they needed any extra convincing of his talent, there it was.
A few weeks later, the Western Bulldogs bid their first draft pick(No.5) for Moore and the Magpies quickly matched the bid with their nextselection.
The son of dual Brownlow medallist Peter, who played 172 games withthe Pies, entered his under-18 season just wanting to get out andplay.
After an injury-interrupted 2013 season with hip and toe problems,he played 19 games for the season, including a taste of senior footballlate in the year with Collingwood's VFL side.
Why wouldn't they? Moore is right up there among the best players in the draft.
He's quick and can accelerate away from opponents, agile enough topick the ball off the ground at top pace, and versatile enough to playat both ends of the ground. Few at 199cm can do what Moore does.
At times during the season he looked more comfortable playing indefence, where he could run straight at the ball, but he also providedplenty of highlights as a marking and leading centre-half forward forthe Chargers, including two goals in the TAC Cup Grand Final.
Moore's an intelligent, well-spoken teenager who captained theChargers to their premiership and led the club through its season.Collingwood will attain not only a very promising player but also anemerging leader when Moore starts his career at the club.
Occasionally Moore's kicking can be a bit off, and that's somethingfor him to work at. He also can close the gap between his best gamesand the ones where he doesn't have much of an impact, having onlyaveraged 11 disposals in 13 games for the Chargers this season. Settlingdown in one spot might help with that.
Given his qualities – and his shape – Moore is a unique prospect.He is the same height as Essendon's Jake Carlisle and can also play bothends of the ground, but is more of a leaper than Carlisle.
It's all sorted. Collingwood recruiter Derek Hine will read out Moore's name at pick No.9.
Everyone has a different opinion about where Moore plays his bestfooty, and whether he's a better forward or defender. But nobody is inany doubt of his potential star factor. If he was in an open draft,Moore would be right in the mix as the first player picked.
