Another draft top ten. I have had somewhat less interest than in the past up until now for obvious reasons but who knows where we end up once the wheeling and dealing come out into the open.

6 hours ago, hardtack said:

I’m all for us getting in Lachie Dovaston, if we can trade ourselves into the first round. We need a good small forward.

Couldn’t agree more. With Kossie spending more time in the midfield we lose a lot in the forward line. Maybe Chin could interchange with Kossie one on one out mid / forward. If we play with speed on as King has pledged a good small forward that is a sniper around goals is essential.

http://bit.ly/4gtck7U

Sullivan Robey - watch this kid for Ranges this week

His eye-catching performances as a half forward who racked up huge possession tallies when pushed into the midfield was capped by a 40-possession, three-goal clash against the Western Jets only a few weeks ago.

It was only after Melbourne recruiter Jason Taylor interviewed him but was keen to keep their conversation under wraps that he realised he could be in draft contention.

Soon enough every club realised a player who they thought might be a draft smokey was on centre stage.

I wanted to get as far as I could with my footy and I was hoping to get onto a list or onto the VFL but it wasn’t until my first interview I thought, ‘I have got to be a chance here’,” he told this masthead.

“I hadn’t played any Coates League before so I didn’t know the standard but after the first two or three games I understood I could be comfortable and could excel on that stage.

“Melbourne was pretty intrigued and they didn’t want me telling anyone but that’s gone out the window now because people know.

“Them wanting me to keep it a bit under the covers made me feel they saw something in me that could work out. It gave me a bit of confidence.

“You think about the draft and what will happen but I am just trying to think about the week ahead. It’s a big weekend against Sandy and then it will be the combine and then the draft.”

1 hour ago, spirit of norm smith said:

http://bit.ly/4gtck7U

Sullivan Robey - watch this kid for Ranges this week

His eye-catching performances as a half forward who racked up huge possession tallies when pushed into the midfield was capped by a 40-possession, three-goal clash against the Western Jets only a few weeks ago.

It was only after Melbourne recruiter Jason Taylor interviewed him but was keen to keep their conversation under wraps that he realised he could be in draft contention.

Soon enough every club realised a player who they thought might be a draft smokey was on centre stage.

I wanted to get as far as I could with my footy and I was hoping to get onto a list or onto the VFL but it wasn’t until my first interview I thought, ‘I have got to be a chance here’,” he told this masthead.

“I hadn’t played any Coates League before so I didn’t know the standard but after the first two or three games I understood I could be comfortable and could excel on that stage.

“Melbourne was pretty intrigued and they didn’t want me telling anyone but that’s gone out the window now because people know.

“Them wanting me to keep it a bit under the covers made me feel they saw something in me that could work out. It gave me a bit of confidence.

“You think about the draft and what will happen but I am just trying to think about the week ahead. It’s a big weekend against Sandy and then it will be the combine and then the draft.”

Wonder if this is why it’s rumoured we want back into the first round this year

The art of the draft must surely be to be able to select a player who becomes an elite player but not necessarily at the cost of a top five pick.

The selection of Harley Reid at #1 in the 2023 National Draft didn’t involve any genius or inspirational moment on behalf of the West Coast Eagles recruiting staff but landing Murphy Reid at #17 was definitely a coup.

I would like to think that Melbourne could manage to somehow snare a pick around the 10 - 15 mark where it might land a player like Sullivan Robey or this bloke who @spirit of norm smith likes - I do too.

Both will be out there on the big stage of a Coates Talent League Grand Final at the weekend. As often happens, the good players rise to the occasion in big games like this one.

I know that I’ll be viewing with interest.

Wonder if we have a couple of late picks and list space if we’ll pick up Tairon Ah Mu and/or Latrelle Pickett. Wouldn’t be upset with that tbh.

These guys are running a draft series at the moment - I wonder how high they'll have Robey?

Ahead of the Coates League GF, the National Combine and State Combines

1st round (likely up to 30 selections) 

1. Willem Duursma VIC Midfielder 

2. Cooper Duff-Tytler  Vic Ruck 

3. Zeke Uwland(** academy GCS) Def Suns

4. Dyson Sharp. SA Midfielder 

5.Daniel Annable(** academy Bris) Midfield 

6.Dylan Patterson(** academy GCS) midfielder 

7.Josh Lindsay VIC halfback/quarterback

8. Beau Addinsall(** academy GCS) midfield

9. Sam Cumming SA midfield/Hff 

10. Sam Grlj VIC halfback/midfield

11. Oliver Greeves VIC midfield 

12. Jacob Farrow WA def/halfback/quarterback

13. Harry Dean (**Carlton f/son) def

14. Noah Hibbins-Hargreaves VIC midfield/HF

15. Mitch Marsh SA med/tall fwd 

16. Max King (**academy Swans)  Fwd

17.  Louis Emmett VIC ruck/fwd

18. Lachlan Dovaston. VIC sml fwd 

19. Archie Ludowyke VIC ruck/fwd

20. Aiden Schubert SA. Fwd/ruck

21. Zac McCarthy (**Collingwood NGA)key fwd

22. Riley Onley tall mid

23. Lachlan Carmichael(**acdemy Sydney) halfback/quarterback

24. Rory Wright. VIC Gun HBF/mid👍🏻

25. Fred Rodriguez WA midfield

26. Adam Sweid (*Ess NGA) small mid

27. Noah Chamberlain(**academy Sydney)

28. Xavier Taylor Key defender

29. Sullivan Robey 🚀VIC. Mid/fwd

30. Harley Barker. SA. Mid/wing

2nd round  31-52 

31. Jevan Phillipou SA. Mid/hff 

32. Cody Curtin Key fwd/ruck

33. Koby Coulson (* Suns academy)👍🏻

34. Matthew LeRay. SA. Mid/wing

35. Sam Swadling WA Mid 

36. Ryder Corrigan  (**academy Giants) 👍🏻 inside tough mid 

37. Harry Kyle. (*Swans academy ) halfback/quarterback

38. Jack Dalton. Sml mid. Accumulation 

39. Thomas McGuane(**Coll FS) ruck rover type mid

40. Blake Oudshoorn-Bennier👍🏻 mid. Think Luke Parker. 

41. Jett Dahlitz SA 👍🏻def/halfback/quarterback

42. Felix Kneipp 👍🏻skilled half back 

43. Tairon Ah-Mu Big key fwd 👍🏻

44. Jesse Mellor (*GEELONG NGA) hf/goalkicker 

45. Harrison Bridge (*Lions academy)elite Hbf 👍🏻

46. Louis Kellaway(**Rich FS)

47. Jai Murray (**academy GCS) mid 

48. Noah Roberts-Thompson SA 👍🏻mid/hff

49. Liam Hetherton (*academy Giants)

50. Latrelle Pickett🚀SA Glenelg Hff 

51. Kye Fincher (*Saints NGA) 

52. Kalani White(** Melb FS/ )💙❤️

3rd round + and rookie hopefuls 

Hussein El Achkar

Avery Thomas 

Jack Ison (*Carlton NGA)

Taj Murray. 

Sam Niklaus 

Xavier Bamert

Toby Whan (*Freo NGA) 

Sam Ainsworth

Tyan Prindable (* Lions academy)

Thomas Burton 

Blake Kelly

Zane Peucker 

Brodie Atkins

Zac Harding

Kobe Evans (*WCE NGA) 

Wes Walley(*WCE NGA)

Tyah Williams WA 

Hunter Wright👍🏻

Jobe Scapin

Toby Simmema (*Dees NGA)💙❤️

Callum Smith 

Blake Thredgold 

Cameron Nairn 

Hugo Mikunda

Aaron Sharkie

Finnegan Davis 

Sam Allen 

Oskar Taylor

Ben Rongdit (**Cats NGA) 

Andrew Barker 

Talor Byrne

Hunter Holmes 

Smokies 

Connor Ryan 

Tom Ryan

Sam Lewis

Jasper Russell

Oliver McKenzie. 

Mitch Moate

Harry Tatterson.

VFL 

Tom Blamires

Jackson Voss 

Taj Hayes 

Fergus McFadyen

That’s 95 players so like many years, a lot of good youngsters will miss out.  I would argue it’s not a weak draft year.  It’s okay. Some quality young players are even going to be available through the later group.  Some will be drafted, some will go on to play VFL/SANFL/WAFL, some will go on to local leagues and others pursue different paths in their lives and sporting careers.  It’s an exciting but anxious time for all.  Will they get drafted? Where will they go ? Will it be a move interstate? 

seems a weak draft for talls.

schubert and CDT the only ones who have raised their stocks this year and we probably aren't in the market for either.

I rate Ison/Whan/El Achkar higher than you do

I don't mind what Dalton does and Byrne looking at HF options. I think our priorities should be talls if there were any and then small forwards and defenders.

Dovaston/Byrne/Pickett

Voss/Farrow/Wright

If Curtin was available i would jump at him at our second pick in the 30s range otherwise maybe a LeRay type but he feels similar to what we've picked recently in XL and Windsor so you'd be hoping 1 or two of them can transition onto the inside but not everyone can/does

@Turner My priority? Young players with ability to run and who can kick. Players who you can see have AFL quality.

First rounders

Josh Lindsay, Sam Cumming, Sam Grlj, Jacob Farrow, Sullivan Robey , Rory Wright

2nd rounders

Blake Oudshoorn-Bennier, Jett Dahlitz, Felix Kneipp, Harrison Bridge, Noah Roberts-Thomson

3rd rounders

Oskar Taylor, Hunter Wright, Finn Davis

And of course Toby Sinnema

If the Dees are planning to execute under the new Steven King run and create and move the ball quickly, then they have to be able to get better ball users through the middle and kicks that hit targets or at least to kick to advantage.

WAFL Colts Grand Final this Sunday South Fremantle vs Claremont

Some Draft prospects for this and next year on the Big Stage

South Fremantle

Whan -25 Half back/mid

Rodrigues-25 mid

---

Robison-26 mid

Foster- 26 Ruck

Wilson-26 med def

Claremont

Curtin-25 Tall Fwd

Hopkins-25 overager defender

C.Banfield -25 mid/fwd

---

Van Rooyen-26 Ruck

Gale-26 Half back/wing/mid

H.Banfield-26 mid/fwd

Braun-26 wing

Mellody-26 half back

Should be a good contest

idk who this person is or what they're mail is. for all i know they could just be a fellow DL enjoyer but the mail suggest both of us @spirit of norm smith plucked one each (or theyve read us bang on about the same players over and over again and thats their mail)

@Turner Dovaston ⭐️and Robey⭐️. Young guns who are very impressive.

Would be truly sad to see Trac leave but if we landed these two guys, it sets us up for the next 10 years with Langford, Lindsay, Kolt & Windsor.

This guy - not sure who he is - has released 21-30 (I'm pretty sure 31-50 are already out) in his power rankings countdown:

2 hours ago, Deemolitioner said:

This guy - not sure who he is - has released 21-30 (I'm pretty sure 31-50 are already out) in his power rankings countdown:

Not sure but like all draft rankings there’s some surprise as too high and others as too low. For example, Riley Onley is often mentioned in round 1 rankings and I’d have him around pick 20 after the concessional academy and father son picks. But these guys have him at “48”. Wow. He’d be a bigger steal than Logan Morris and Joel Freijah. Onley is a big midfielder who win it inside or outside and kick it 55 metres with ease. Sure his precision kicking needs work but he’s not far away with AFL refinement. So “48”… that would be Xmas for any team at that pick Their write up …

#48: Riley Onley:

Position: Midfielder
Height: 194cm
Club: Vic Country / Murray Bushrangers
Draft Range: 40+

Riley Onley entered the 2025 season as one of the more highly regarded prospects in the country, and it’s not difficult to understand why. At his best, he is a physically imposing, explosive midfielder with rare athletic traits. Standing at an imposing size for his position, Onley possesses genuine breakaway speed, power through contact, and the ability to extract the ball cleanly from congestion.

55 minutes ago, spirit of norm smith said:

Not sure but like all draft rankings there’s some surprise as too high and others as too low. For example, Riley Onley is often mentioned in round 1 rankings and I’d have him around pick 20 after the concessional academy and father son picks. But these guys have him at “48”. Wow. He’d be a bigger steal than Logan Morris and Joel Freijah. Onley is a big midfielder who win it inside or outside and kick it 55 metres with ease. Sure his precision kicking needs work but he’s not far away with AFL refinement. So “48”… that would be Xmas for any team at that pick Their write up …

#48: Riley Onley:

Position: Midfielder
Height: 194cm
Club: Vic Country / Murray Bushrangers
Draft Range: 40+

Riley Onley entered the 2025 season as one of the more highly regarded prospects in the country, and it’s not difficult to understand why. At his best, he is a physically imposing, explosive midfielder with rare athletic traits. Standing at an imposing size for his position, Onley possesses genuine breakaway speed, power through contact, and the ability to extract the ball cleanly from congestion.

I did think Onley that low was at odds with some of the other rankings. Maybe it's their 'attention grabber'? Or maybe there's more to Onley that meets the eye. They go on to discuss decision making and defensive intent as areas to improve.

@Deemolitioner I agree. I think Onley has so so many weapons. If we picked him and it was anywhere past pick 20-25, it would be a huge huge win.

@Deemolitioner and they had a few other mixed ones but I was staggered by them having Addinsall at 32!! Omg. Range 30-50 🤮.

If anyone saw him v giants in the last VFL game, he had 26 possessions and wasn’t out of place against senior players. Not doubt for me. He’s top 10. I have him at pick 9 and I think (ffs) the other clubs SHOULD MOVE TO MAKE THE SUNS PAY TOP DOLLAR POINTS FOR THEIR ACADEMY GUNS AND PICK GUYS LIKE ADDINSALL EARLY AND FORCE SUNS TO MATCH !! Addinsall. Skill. Smarts. Composure. Run. He’d walk into our MFC best 22 as a mid in a short time in 2026. Actually he’d be wasted to go the Suns

#32: Beau Addinsall (GCS Academy):

Position: Midfielder
Height: 180cm
Club: Allies / Suns Academy
Draft Range: 30-50

Beau Addinsall is among a number of draft hopefuls whose 2025 season was heavily disrupted by injury. The time spent sidelined has contributed to him slipping from wider draft discussions, but there remains a strong case to be made for the Suns Academy prospect based on his prior form.

cody curtin kicked 6 goals in the wafl colts granny, i know its not the highest standard of junior comp but given hes probably outside the top 30 prospects, hes 200cm and he wont be too dissimilar to his brother in athletic profile and mentality/professionalism i hope we are seriously considering him

10 hours ago, Turner said:

cody curtin kicked 6 goals in the wafl colts granny, i know its not the highest standard of junior comp but given hes probably outside the top 30 prospects, hes 200cm and he wont be too dissimilar to his brother in athletic profile and mentality/professionalism i hope we are seriously considering him

Agree. He took some great marks including two in congested packs. Quote a prospect. I think he’s slipped from top 20 but represents an excellent buy if he slips into the 30s or 40s. Guys this size take time but the upside is huge.

Updated - now with the Coates League finished and WA colts final done …

Pending the Draft combine testing

Rankings 2025 draft 

1st round (likely up to 30 selections) 

1. Willem Duursma VIC Midfielder 

2. Cooper Duff-Tytler  Vic Ruck 

3. Zeke Uwland(** academy GCS) Def Suns

4. Dyson Sharp. SA Midfielder 

5.Daniel Annable(** academy Bris) Midfield 

6.Dylan Patterson(** academy GCS) midfielder 

7.Josh Lindsay VIC halfback/quarterback

8. Harry Dean (**Carlton f/son) def 

9. Beau Addinsall(** academy GCS) midfield

10. Sam Cumming SA midfield/Hff 

11. Sam Grlj VIC halfback/midfield

12. Oliver Greeves VIC midfield 

13. Jacob Farrow WA def/halfback/quarterback

14. Noah Hibbins-Hargreaves VIC midfield/HF

15. Mitch Marsh SA med/tall fwd 

16. Xavier Taylor VIC Key defender 

17. Max King (**academy Swans)  Fwd

18. Sullivan Robey 🚀VIC. Mid/fwd 

19. Louis Emmett VIC ruck/fwd

20. Lachlan Dovaston. VIC sml fwd 

21. Archie Ludowyke VIC ruck/fwd

22. Aiden Schubert SA. Fwd/ruck

23. Zac McCarthy VIC  (**Collingwood NGA)key fwd

24. Riley Onley VIC. tall mid

25. Lachlan Carmichael(**acdemy Sydney) halfback/quarterback

26. Rory Wright. VIC Gun HBF/mid👍🏻

27. Fred Rodriguez WA midfield

28. Adam Sweid VIC  (**Ess NGA) small mid

29. Noah Chamberlain(**academy Sydney) 

30. Cody Curtin Key fwd/ruck

2nd round  31-52 

31. Jevan Phillipou SA. Mid/hff 

32. Harley Barker. SA. Mid/wing 

33. Matthew LeRay. SA. Mid/wing

34. Sam Swadling WA Mid 

35. Oskar Taylor VIC running left foot half back 

36. Blake Oudshoorn-Bennier👍🏻 mid. Think Luke Parker. 

37. Jett Dahlitz SA 👍🏻def/halfback/quarterback 

38. Koby Coulson (* Suns academy)

39. Ryder Corrigan  (*academy Giants) inside tough mid 

40. Harry Kyle. (*Swans academy ) halfback/quarterback

41. Jack Dalton. Sml mid. Accumulation 

42. Thomas McGuane(*Coll FS) ruck river type mid

43. Felix Kneipp 👍🏻skilled half back 

44. Tairon Ah-Mu Big key fwd

45. Jesse Mellor (*GEELONG NGA) hf/goalkicker 

46. Harrison Bridge (*Lions academy)elite Hbf 

47. Noah Roberts-Thompson SA 👍🏻mid/hff

48. Liam Hetherton (*academy Giants)

49. Cameron Nairn SA tall fwd 

50. Thomas Burton VIC sml def/mid

51. Kye Fincher (*Saints NGA) utility/ half back 

52. Kalani White(*Melb FS/ )💙❤️

3rd round

53. Tom Blamires (Frankston VFL) 

54. Jai Murray (*academy GCS) mid 

55. Louis Kellaway(*Rich FS) 

56. Hussein El Achkar (*ESS NGA) 

57. Avery Thomas 

58. Hunter Wright👍🏻

59. Jack Ison (*Carlton NGA)

60. Xavier Bamert👍🏻

61. Toby Whan (*Freo NGA) 

62. Sam Ainsworth

63. Tyan Prindable (* Lions academy)

64. Talor Byrne 

Late picks + and rookie hopefuls 

Latrelle Pickett🚀SA Glenelg Hff 

Blake Kelly

Taj Murray. 

Sam Niklaus 

Zane Peucker 

Brodie Atkins

Zac Harding

Charlie Banfield (*Eagles father son) 

Kobe Evans (*Eagles NGA) 

Toby Simmema (*Dees NGA)💙❤️

Callum Smith 

Blake Thredgold 

Hugo Mikunda

Aaron Sharkie

Wes Walley(*WCE NGA)

Tyah Williams WA 

Finnegan Davis 

Hunter Holmes 

Sam Allen 

Ben Rongdit (**Cats NGA) 

Andrew Barker 

Smokies 

Connor Ryan 

Tom Ryan

Jobe Scapin

Harry Tatterson

Sam Lewis

VFL 

Jackson Voss 

Taj Hayes 

Fergus McFadyen

SANFL

Angus Anderson 

That’s 95 players so like many years, a lot of good youngsters will miss out.  I would argue it’s not a weak draft year.  Some quality young players are even through the later group.  Some will be drafted, some will go on to play VFL/SANFL/WAFL, some will go on to local leagues and others pursue different paths in their lives and sporting careers.  It’s an exciting but anxious time for all.  Will they get drafted? Where will they go ? Will it be a move interstate?

Edited 6 hours ago6 hr by spirit of norm smith
K