THIS time last year, Bailey Banfield was accumulating plenty of the ball for Claremont. This year, he is preventing others from doing that, although this time he is doing that in the AFL.

Despite an eye-catching season in the WAFL, the 20-year-old was overlooked by all 18 clubs in the National Draft before Fremantle snatched him at Pick 5 in the Rookie Draft.

After the first five games this season, Banfield has emerged as the best value pick from last year.

Five games into his debut season, the mature-age rookie has already claimed the scalps of Essendon’s Zach Merrett, Gold Coast’s Aaron Hall, Greater Western Sydney’s Lachie Whitfield and the Western Bulldogs’ Jack Macrae.

Finals Week 1

While the resurgence of Brownlow medallist Nat Fyfe has been mesmerising, Fox Footy analyst David King thinks Banfield’s influence has been so profound he should be in All-Australian contention.

“We talk a lot about Ben Jacobs and his impact at the Kangaroos, but Bailey Banfield has been doing it for a month and he has taken down some big names,” King said on SEN on Tuesday afternoon.

“If you’re putting together an All-Australian team, it’s not beyond the realms to have this guy in it. If you want a tagger, he has taken the most scalps this year as a tagger.

Bailey Banfield gets a kick away at Optus Stadium last Saturday night. Source: Getty Images

“He shut Aaron Hall down and got him dropped. He had two touches in a half of football.

“He also did a number on Lachie Whitfield for a while who is having an outstanding season at halfback.

“If you are putting up an All-Australian team at the moment, Whitfield is probably in there, Macrae is in the discussion and Merrett is the most important player at Essendon.

“It is another one of those late picks where you get an absolute bonus win out of it.”

Champion Data number cruncher Glenn Luff said Banfield possesses a level of football IQ that allows him to nullify opposition stars.

Just ask Hall who was held to only five touches by Banfield, or Whitfield who only found it twice in a half.

“He missed out on the draft two years, but his WAFL stats last year were 25 disposals, six clearances and six tackles, so the kid can play the game. He is a very smart player,” Luff said.

“To be able to put a footballer on the gun players, he’s going to have the footy smarts to know where to stop and where to run. It’s been a great move.

“To get five games out of a kid from the rookie draft, they’d be doing handstands over there.”