National Recruiting Manager Hamish Ogilvie recalls how the Crows plucked Ricky Henderson from relative obscurity in the 2009 AFL Rookie Draft …

“Ricky Henderson’s draft story is quite well known because it’s so different.

“I first saw ‘Hendo’ at the National Basketball League Prospects Camp in Melbourne in July, 2008. I met him during the lunchbreak of the camp and I asked if he’d ever played football before. He said he’d played in Ballarat until his mid-teens, but gave it up for basketball. I handed Rick my business card and told him to call me if he was going to play footy anywhere.

“He hadn’t played footy since Under-16s, but one of our part-time recruiters, who was up in Ballarat, remembered him and had seen him play for the Rebels. He was pretty good then. I knew if this kid had played before, he would have a chance of making it because he was a brilliant athlete and decision-maker.

“Not long after the camp, Hendo called me and said he’d decided to play footy for Trentham in the MCDFL with (former Crow) Will Young’s brother who was coaching at the time. Hendo played three games for Trentham late in the season.

“We sent one of our Victorian recruiters out to watch him in the first game and he came back with a good report. The next week, we sent another recruiter out to a game and he came back with a good report too. The third week, I went and watched Hendo myself and he kicked seven goals in the first half. It was a pretty average standard of football and the weather was shocking. I think it even snowed one game, but Rick just picked it up like he’d never stopped playing.

“We thought Rick could play wing/half-forward at AFL level with his speed. We knew he could kick pretty long, but he needed to tighten up on it a little. He’s such a good sportsman, he was able to find his kick. His basketball was unbelievable. His decision making and awareness as a point guard was really good. He just controlled the game. He made the All-Star Five at the camp and I couldn’t believe he didn’t get on an NBL roster. I thought he’d get a spot for sure and we’d lose him to basketball. He was starring for the Ballarat Miners in the South East Australian Basketball League and was working at the stadium as a bartender, so he lived and breathed the game.

“From a Club perspective, we’d seen enough and wanted to keep it quiet. We went and interviewed Rick at the North Ballarat Football Club, which was a bit risky because we were up there interviewing another kid and people saw us. We asked the club for a room, but didn’t tell them the second player we were interviewing. We finished the first interview and came out and slipped Rick into the room. Then we got him over to Adelaide for a week and did all the testing.

“We decided we were going to take Rick with our first pick (No.10) in the Rookie Draft. One or two recruiters from other clubs heard a whisper that something was going on, but I don’t think anyone knew enough and we were able to get Rick at No.10.

“I remember ringing the Trentham Football Club to thank them for their help. I think back then the club got some footballs if one of their players was drafted. The bloke said to me that we’d tripled the number of footballs in their storeroom by drafting Hendo!”