AFL draft 2021: East Perth Jye Amiss on dealing with the hype, his breakout season, AFL interest, Josh Kennedy influence and more

Top WA draft prospect Jye Amiss’ measured approach to the hype surrounding him mirrors that of when he’s lining up for goal. The East Perth sharpshooter admits interest from AFL clubs has “grown a bit” in the past month as he firms as a first-round draftee. It’s easy to see why after the Busselton product has kicked multiple goals in every game this year including a deadly-accurate 49.12 a dozen WAFL colts appearances. “At the start of this year, I had a couple of clubs interested but over the past month it’s grown a bit,” Amiss told The West Australian. “I’m a player who just takes each week as it comes and just look at the game ahead and focus on that sort of thing. “I look at the media stuff as that I’m playing good footy.” Amiss showed AFL recruiters on Saturday that he can match it with the best in the country with a starring role up forward in the WA under-19s’ 29-point victory over South Australia at Mineral Resources Park. The classy 195cm left-footer booted two majors including goal of the day from deep in the pocket in the second term, but could’ve easily had four or five if he wasn’t so unselfish. “We worked together as a forwards group pretty well and I had a couple of opportunities to go for goal but brought my teammates into the game instead,” Amiss said. Injuries forced Amiss to wait more than six years between State appearances, dating all the way back to the 2015 national under-12s carnival alongside fellow draft fancies Matt Johnson, Jacob van Rooyen and Josh Browne. But he made the most of what could be the only match of the 19s championships because of the coronavirus situation on the east coast. “I played State 12s when I was younger and then I missed 15s and 16s with injury so this is my second taste of national carnival footy,” Amiss said. “I had a hamstring injury for 15s and a back injury for 16s, right before the carnival so it’s quite unlucky. “Coming out here and playing against higher opposition was a great experience. “I thought it was a good challenge and good for AFL recruiters to see how I match up against a strong side like South Australia.” Amiss said hard work and countless hours trying out different set shot routines on his own were behind his consistent season. “It’s basically been off the back of a strong pre-season,” Amiss said. “In the seasons before this year I didn’t have the strongest pre-seasons, but I put in a lot of work during the last off-season and coming into the season, it’s been about just taking each game as it comes. “I’ve sort of done a lot of the set shot stuff myself, just going down during my days off and practice different routines and I’ve finally found one that works.” While he accuracy would come in handy at Fremantle, who kicked more behinds than goals in 15 of their 22 games to finish with 219.264 for the season, Amiss supports their cross-town rivals and models his game on their greatest-ever forward. “The work that Josh Kennedy from the Eagles does behind the footy, a lot of people don’t see what he does so I’ve tried to pick out little things that he does,” Amiss said. “He can get up the ground and push back as well.” Making his feats even more remarkable is the fact that Amiss still lives in Busselton and drives up to Perth every weekend with his close friend and fellow East Perth draft prospect James Tunstill, who was also among the stand-outs in for WA at the weekend. “It’s working well, especially with the State stuff,” Amiss said. “We drive up together each week and take turns with driving duties.” The pair have their sites sets on a WAFL colts flag, with the Royals third on the ladder with an 11-4 record. There was a strong East Perth flavour in the State game with midfield bull Kade Dittmar and forward Ethan Regan also featuring. “I’m really confident in the team and I think we can have a really strong finals campaign,” Amiss said.