He’s certainly putting his name in lights, exactly what Kingy has asked for.

On 16/01/2026 at 09:27, Fritta and Turner said:

True, but at least he stands out

Funny my father long ago when I was playing under 18's said it is pity you don't have long blonde hair. You need something to make you stand out. I think he was just being nice as my ability sure didn'take me stand out.

On 16/01/2026 at 14:59, Slartibartfast said:

Or you could watch him train on multiple occasions if you have the opportunity. I do, I did, I believe.

Was taken by his arrogance or should that word be confidence and maybe nonchalence, just looked to me like he has just donned the Superman suit and believes it may well be "His Time" I hope so because he looked super impressive yesterday!

Edited yesterday at 11:211 day by picket fence

Really like him in a more fwd role with stints in the mid. Really hope he gets a chance to play in a role that suits his skill and not as some have speculated as a 2nd ruck.

Broken out in 2025

On 16/01/2026 at 04:11, Rodney (Balls) Grinter said:

Going to sit on the fence a little bit here and say that both things can be true and it's all relative to the players level to start with.

An establishing player can have a breakout year that establishes them in the team and an established player can have one where they go to an elite level.

In my view, it's all about a player taking their game to the next level in a big step, rather than one of slow incremental improvement.

Perhaps with Culley it's more of a break through year, where a player goes from fringe to best 22, playing the vast majority of the season in the seniors…?

On 16/01/2026 at 09:50, DeelightfulPlay said:

I love his haircut, it feels a bit King Arthur 😂

Dora the explorer.

Seems to have a few doubters.
I aint one of them.
Reckon he's gonna be a rippa.
Life long Melbourne supporter too.
Go the Demons.

Edited 22 hours ago22 hr by Fork 'em

I think he's gonna offer something we don't have enough of.

Breakout year I don't know but he'll be playing many more games this year for sure.

If he becomes a b grade midfielder who show up every week paired with his height he will be a really important and valuable player for us. The future is Langford, Windsor, Pickett, Lindsay, but if he can help them it's massive.

I just want him to play as many games a possible this year and see where he gets to.

'Breakout season' is such a personally subjective term, like when people talk about 'A graders and B graders', the boundaries can be radically different for different people.

The two main notions seem to be either 'went from being a fringe player to a core AFL-grade player', or 'went from being just another good player to being a noted star'.

Just for fun I'm looking back at some of our current veterans to see when their breakouts might be noted.

Gawn is an interesting start. He clearly had a breakout half season in 2015 after returning from injury. Clearly the penny dropped at some point in that long layoff. By 2016 his numbers weren't that different but he was suddenly very visible, played the full season for the first time in his career, and people were ready to call him a star.

Salem finally got some blocks of games in, despite still having injury interruptions, in 2017 and that was when he really looked like changing from 'interesting prospect' to core player. He set his personal standard in 2018, and has maintained that level as best as injury has allowed him since, including of course some gems in 2021. That perennial injury issue has probably cost him the opportunity to make that second layer 'breakout'.

Fritsch went from VFL to regular AFL after being mature-age drafted. Was promising but not allowed to / able to find his best position for a few years. And then 2021 happened and for a while there he was as good as any medium forward you care to name. But given the subtle changes in role and a bit of inconsistent form since that epic peak, does it count as a breakout?

Turner is the natural example of the first type of breakout and probably the best analogy to what people are hoping for from Culley. A couple of seasons on the list wrecked by injury and an uncertain place in the pecking order. Really started to show a bit in 2024, and then in 2025 became a reliable, essential part of our starting team.

Anyway, all four of Culley's games late in 2025 were legitimate AFL grade contributions. He took some contested marks, got some clearances and a high ratio of contested ball, gained some metres, laid some tackles, and had remarkably few clangers.

He would barely need to improve to be considered a very solid part of a dynamic, complex midfield mix. If he is having a great preseason and looking highly motivated and confident, then you could just about bank him having a notable 2026.