Clayton Oliver was originally not picked to play for Victoria in under 18s and only got a chance when all the best mids were playing in the carnival(50 odd kids for 2 Melbourne sides),and starred when he got the chance.
Their were 2 thoughts in his games that he starred.
1 thought was ,well he was playing in a much much lower standard under 18s with all the best mids and players not there so would probably go mid teens somewhere.
2 thoughts were forget how and whom he played,he's a big boy whom could hurt a club not picking him .
As it turned out Melbourne picked him due to what he could become .
If those carnival games didn't happen,Oliver was a huge chance to not get drafted at all,that's how important actually playing is and our current Young AFL listed guys and most under19s have hardly played.
We have many young players that all though not anywhere near regulars have played same AFL games as VFL,
Guys like DOw, Ralphsmith have played 4 AFL games and around 4-5 ish VFL games.