Review 2025 National Draft Thread | Dovaston #16 / Thredgold #26 / Mikunda #48

[LB2Snake]

All but one player tied to a club already. Get stuffed CorruptFL. What a joke of a comp.

 

[Chip Scab1]

All but one player tied to a club already. Get stuffed CorruptFL. What a joke of a comp.

We'll take Dovaston if he's available, surely. I'd be happy

 

[JGreezy]

Wish list;

• a 187cm+ wing/hbf who can run all day, make simple decisions and isn't soft (I wanted Freijah, he seemed like an obvious choice, he's tall, he could run and he could kick)
• a legitimate goal kicking, pressure small forward (a player like that, with Brayden George, could allow Curtis to rotate into the middle at times)
• a goal kicking key forward (role the dice on potential here)
• if there's a 187cm+ mid who is athletic then grab him

 

[roos_fanatic08]

Wish list;

• a 187cm+ wing/hbf who can run all day, make simple decisions and isn't soft (I wanted Freijah, he seemed like an obvious choice, he's tall, he could run and he could kick)
• a legitimate goal kicking, pressure small forward (a player like that, with Brayden George, could allow Curtis to rotate into the middle at times)
• a goal kicking key forward (role the dice on potential here)
• if there's a 187cm+ mid who is athletic then grab him

On the bolded, we really should’ve taken Archer May in the MSD. I like Banch, but just feel like May would’ve suited us perfectly.

Barker & LeRay are the two SA tall wingers who have plenty of upside. Barker as an athlete is pretty similar to Freijah, just a few cm shorter.

 

[JGreezy]

On the bolded, we really should’ve taken Archer May in the MSD. I like Banch, but just feel like May would’ve suited us perfectly.

Barker & LeRay are the two SA tall wingers who have plenty of upside. Barker as an athlete is pretty similar to Freijah, just a few cm shorter.

God forbid, if Larkey ever misses time, we'll be screwed. Even when he's playing poorly they can't leave him. No Larkey and life's much harder for everyone else.

We need someone else over 190cm who is a threat to kick goals if you don't focus on him.

We'd probably have to play small with Curtis or George at full forward.

 

[chubbspeterson]

Haggas rolling mock draft

View attachment 2357964

Not sure that would actually play out that Onley and Dovaston would be still available.
I'd take Onley and Dovaston if they were still on the board. Both players with real x-factor talent.
I know Onley is "another mid", but at 194cm with his power game and running, he's got a chance to be special.
I think after his most recent game for VC it's unlikely he drops that far back imo.

Ludowyke I've been less than impressed with. I didn't even know he was playing to be honest.
Cody Curtin, Schubert and Ah-Mu been more impressive.
No doubt we need a key forward, but I'd almost rather take an Ah-Mu, Heatherton or Taj Murray at 42 (39).

We don't need a half fwd in Cameron Naim. Hoping some other teams take him a little higher up that need that type.
Don't get me wrong the kid can play, has some real talent, just not a list need for us currently.

 

[roos_fanatic08]

Vic Metro too good for W.A, another scrappy game but some good chains from Vic Metro, Greeves best on ground, other players that I was impressed with, Vic Metro: Lachy Dovaston with 2.3 including running into an open goal from twenty meters out in the last minute of play to miss it somehow, Aaron Sharkie was everywhere at times, Xavier Taylor was okay in defence, Max Kondogiannis in his unnatural position on the backline played well, Cooper Duff Tytler was just okay, played better in the ruck, was held goal less when on the forward line and is going to be a slow burn.

For Western Australia: Fred Rodriguez was okay without being outstanding with 23 disposals, Sam Swadling & Adam Sweid were okay on a blustery day.
Wes Walley with just the 5 disposals, kicked 0.2, was well held throughout the day. Archie Ludowyke with 4 disposals for the match. This years AFL national draft is going to be a real head scratcher for recruiters on where they prioritise certain players & draft rankings will no doubt show vast differences in opinion between now and November. OUR CURRENT PICKS OF 20, 21, 39 and 57 may or may not change between now and November but I feel with so much uncertainty on this years draft class, our picks are very much in the sweet spot.

Overall it was a pretty crap game to watch. Lots of fumbles, lots of turnovers and just poor skill level across the board.

For Vic Metro:

Greeves may have been best on ground, but for a big inside mid, his lack of defensive effort stands out. Doesn't seem to cover the ground all that well either.

The metro small forwards in Dovaston & El Achkar were good, but very very wasteful with their disposal.

Sweid and Sharkie got plenty of the ball but have no penetration with their kicking, and seemed very rushed with their disposal.

Jack Dalton and Tom Burton had a few nice moments ball in hand, but neither have all that much athletic upside imo.

Grlj and Hunter Holmes weren't all that crash hot with their decision making and disposal. Both of them have speed to burn but very rarely find the space to use it and link up.

Emmett and Ludowyke were both disappointing and didn't have much influence at all.

For WA:

Farrow stands out like dogs balls for them because he has classy ball use and sound decision making. Has some real composure in his game which results in him using the ball well.

Swadling and Rodrieguez found plenty of the ball but like the above midfielders, were disappointing with their ball use. Rodrieguez works had and I had him highly ranked earlier in the year, but he is lacking that damage that he showed as an underager. Not as much run and carry/explosiveness out of the contest. Might be carrying an injury?

Curtin finally showed a bit at this level with 3 goals, but dropped at least 4 gettable marks, and considering his size advantage I'd expect him to have more of an impact.

 

[roos_fanatic08]

Two of the more damaging players in this years draft class. Barker I've spoke about before, but Farrow is a fantastic half back who has good balance between his defensive and offensive game.





Thanks to noobermensch who continues to put in a bucketload of effort to provide us all with this content!

 

[roos_fanatic08]

One of my favorites in this draft class:

 

[shinboner magic]

Not sure that would actually play out that Onley and Dovaston would be still available.
I'd take Onley and Dovaston if they were still on the board. Both players with real x-factor talent.
I know Onley is "another mid", but at 194cm with his power game and running, he's got a chance to be special.
I think after his most recent game for VC it's unlikely he drops that far back imo.

Ludowyke I've been less than impressed with. I didn't even know he was playing to be honest.
Cody Curtin, Schubert and Ah-Mu been more impressive.
No doubt we need a key forward, but I'd almost rather take an Ah-Mu, Heatherton or Taj Murray at 42 (39).

We don't need a half fwd in Cameron Naim. Hoping some other teams take him a little higher up that need that type.
Don't get me wrong the kid can play, has some real talent, just not a list need for us currently.

What’s happened to Ludowyke as I thought he’d be a Monty for top 10 in the draft.

 

[hoffseason gains 01]

I really only have a pool of 10-20 that are realistic for us to draft, fill a need and are draftable.

roos_fanatic08 you've touched on most of them recently. I worry that the form of Farrow and Barker compared to some of the originally rated inside mids will leave us in a bad spot with where we are drafting.

Honestly not super sold on the key position crop as a whole too, would rather we keep taking later punts or recruit external.

 

[Its a Process]

Thanks to all of the draft watchers for their thoughts and video content, very much appreciated.

To quote a line from horse racing, appears to be a very messy speed map in trying to predict a top 30 in batting order.

 

[chubbspeterson]

What’s happened to Ludowyke as I thought he’d be a Monty for top 10 in the draft.

I honestly don't know. Very much looked a lead and mark forward last year as an underage player for Vic Metro.
Just hasn't really gotten near it this year. Been really disappointing apart from one of his early season games.
He might be like a Cadman with those rangy arms who's a bit all over the shop, but then it just clicks for him at some point.
He said he trained with Saints over preseason, so I thought they might take him with their R1, but not sure they'd take him over Schubert or one of the mids they could add.

 

[chubbspeterson]

Another wrinkle is the compensation picks for Oscar Allen

4

Oscar Allen

Age

27

Ht

196cm

Wt

96kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

9.8

2star

K

6.6

3star

HB

3.2

3star

M

3.8

4star

T

2.4

4star

G

1.1

4star

No current season stats available

D

8.6

3star

K

5.8

3star

HB

2.8

3star

M

3.8

4star

T

2.0

4star

G

1.2

4star

and Sam Draper potentially spitting out at pick 2 and pick 8 (7) if they are Band 1 contracts. WCE could have 1 & 2 and * could have 6 (5), 7 (6) & 8 (7).
* could offer all those for Reid I guess, but seems like Reid might stay.
WCE could trade back in the order to take WA kids Rodriguez as well before Freo at 10 if they don't think he lasts to WCE (Hawks) R1 at pick 14 currently.

 

[hoffseason gains 01]

I honestly don't know. Very much looked a lead and mark forward last year as an underage player for Vic Metro.
Just hasn't really gotten near it this year. Been really disappointing apart from one of his early season games.
He might be like a Cadman with those rangy arms who's a bit all over the shop, but then it just clicks for him at some point.
He said he trained with Saints over preseason, so I thought they might take him with their R1, but not sure they'd take him over Schubert or one of the mids they could add.

He has some form in the Coates League. Honestly I see him pretty similar to Matty Jefferson, has some tools, some production but to me he will take 3+ years to play afl footy. That isn’t always a negative because these rangy types have also shown to be productive in the right roles / teams, I’m just not really that confident in the upside being worth it to develop him for 3+ years unless it’s a later pick.

 

[chubbspeterson]

Gold Coast currently have 8 (Port), 12 (GC), 18 (Pies) & 30. 3873 points. 56 & 66 are worth nothing currently.
They can only take as many picks that match their free list spots, so unless there is some list spots gymnastics they can do to made trades in trade week, it's more likely they'll be live trading at the start of the draft to gain more points.
Probably unlikely they trade into next year if they have two top 10 kids and another top 20 as I suspected.

 

[chubbspeterson]

He has some form in the Coates League. Honestly I see him pretty similar to Matty Jefferson, has some tools, some production but to me he will take 3+ years to play afl footy. That isn’t always a negative because these rangy types have also shown to be productive in the right roles / teams, I’m just not really that confident in the upside being worth it to develop him for 3+ years unless it’s a later pick.

Ok yep he could be anything. Haven't been that impressed but I'm not against taking him if he's still there.
Got a very long arms and reach a bit like Cadman, so I can kinda see the potential of what he could be.
On form Taj Murray has been more impressive and even Ah-Mu, although a bit more raw.
We might just have to take the risk on a Ludo, Ah-Mu, Murray or Heatherton this year, then hopefully add Aidan in 2026.

 

[hoffseason gains 01]

Ok yep he could be anything. Haven't been that impressed but I'm not against taking him if he's still there.
Got a very long arms and reach a bit like Cadman, so I can kinda see the potential of what he could be.
On form Taj Murray has been more impressive and even Ah-Mu, although a bit more raw.
We might just have to take the risk on a Ludo, Ah-Mu, Murray or Heatherton this year, then hopefully add Aidan in 2026.

Yeah I agree with you. I really like the look of Murray

 

[noobermensch]

Dovaston was an energizer bunny throughout the game but especially in the first quarter. He did a lot right but tended to spray his opportunities at goal and ultimately that inaccuracy prevented him from having a bigger impact. He showed admirable intensity at the contest and the work rate to get up the ground to influence play around the wings and through the middle with creative hands and ability to fight through contact.

 

[chubbspeterson]

Vic Metro too good for W.A, another scrappy game but some good chains from Vic Metro, Greeves best on ground, other players that I was impressed with, Vic Metro: Lachy Dovaston with 2.3 including running into an open goal from twenty meters out in the last minute of play to miss it somehow, Aaron Sharkie was everywhere at times, Xavier Taylor was okay in defence, Max Kondogiannis in his unnatural position on the backline played well, Cooper Duff Tytler was just okay, played better in the ruck, was held goal less when on the forward line and is going to be a slow burn.

For Western Australia: Fred Rodriguez was okay without being outstanding with 23 disposals, Sam Swadling & Adam Sweid were okay on a blustery day.
Wes Walley with just the 5 disposals, kicked 0.2, was well held throughout the day. Archie Ludowyke with 4 disposals for the match. This years AFL national draft is going to be a real head scratcher for recruiters on where they prioritise certain players & draft rankings will no doubt show vast differences in opinion between now and November. OUR CURRENT PICKS OF 20, 21, 39 and 57 may or may not change between now and November but I feel with so much uncertainty on this years draft class, our picks are very much in the sweet spot.

Yeah very hard to rank them this year. Here is my best uneducated couch guess at a top 40.
First time I've really ranked them like this. I haven't taken into account what teams may pick, so I might have to edit it as a full mock draft as we go along. Twomey's mock draft and the combine testing may change the order a bit too.

1. Dyson Sharp
2. Daniel Annable (Lions)
3. Josh Lindsay
4. Willem Duursma
5. Zeke Uwland (GC)
6. Dylan Patterson (GC)
7. Oliver Greeves
8. Aidan Schubert
9. Cooper Duff-Tytler
10. Lachie Dovaston
11. Fred Rodriguez
12. Mitch Marsh
13. Beau Addinsall (GC)
14. Riley Onley
15. Harley Barker
16. Matthew LeRay
17. Max King (Swans)
18. Noah Hibbins-Hargreaves
19. Samuel Cumming
20. Sam Grij
21. Harry Dean (Blues)
22. Jacob Farrow
23. Cody Curtin
24. Xavier Taylor
25. Archie Ludowyke
26. Cameron Nairn
27. Hunter Holmes
28. Toby Whan (Freo)
29. Sam Swadling
30. Tom McGuane (Pies)
31. Tom Burton
32. Taron Ah-Mu
33. Jett Dahlitz
34. Blake Oudshoorn-Bennier
35. Noah Chamberlain (Swans)
36. Louise Emmett
37. Taj Murray
38. Jesse Mellor (Cats)
39. Jovan Phillipou
40. Rory Wright

 

[chubbspeterson]

Thanks to all of the draft watchers for their thoughts and video content, very much appreciated.

To quote a line from horse racing, appears to be a very messy speed map in trying to predict a top 30 in batting order.

Oh it's very difficult this year because some of the kids have had great games and then not much the next game, so very hard to say "this kids got it". I can however say the clear #1 should be Dyson Sharp imo.

 

[The Talent Scout]

Yeah very hard to rank them this year. Here is my best uneducated couch guess at a top 40.
First time I've really ranked them like this. I haven't taken into account what teams may pick, so I might have to edit it as a full mock draft as we go along. Twomey's mock draft and the combine testing may change the order a bit too.

1. Dyson Sharp
2. Daniel Annable (Lions)
3. Josh Lindsay
4. Willem Duursma
5. Zeke Uwland (GC)
6. Dylan Patterson (GC)
7. Oliver Greeves
8. Aidan Schubert
9. Cooper Duff-Tytler
10. Lachie Dovaston
11. Fred Rodriguez
12. Noah Hibbins-Hargreaves
13. Sam Grij
14. Beau Addinsall (GC)
15. Riley Onley
16. Samuel Cumming
17. Toby Whan (Freo)
18. Cody Curtin
19. Harley Barker
20. Mitch Marsh
21. Harry Dean (Blues)
22. Sam Swadling
23. Matthew LeRay
24. Max King (Swans)
25. Archie Ludowyke
26. Cameron Naim
27. Hunter Holmes
28. Lachlan Carmichael (Swans)
29. Jacob Farrow
30. Tom McGuane (Pies)
31. Wes Walley Jnr (WCE)
32. Noah Chamberlain (Swans)
33. Xavier Taylor
34. Blake Oudshoorn-Bennier
35. Koby Coulson (GC)
36. Louise Emmett
37. Taj Murray
38. Adam Sweid (*)
39. Taron Ah-Mu
40. Liam Heatherton

Hey, nice job chubby, that's pretty well done at this time of the year, its good to rate players and have a bit of fun + see who other people have got in their first two rounds, remember, there's no right or wrong in doing this, if people thought after the first round last year some players were going to go anywhere then they had better get strapped in cause the first two rounds this year are going to drive all the draft watchers on BigFooty "bat crazy".

Players not going to go where some think they will go, its going to be so interesting and the best place to have one of two picks will be the start of the second round for a number of reasons, its usually a + to have one of the first two picks in the second round but this year you can double that average and having the first two if we keep them might be an absolute bargain in more ways than one!

 

[chubbspeterson]

Hey, nice job chubby, that's pretty well done at this time of the year, its good to rate players and have a bit of fun + see who other people have got in their first two rounds, remember, there's no right or wrong in doing this, if people thought after the first round last year some players were going to go anywhere then they had better get strapped in cause the first two rounds this year are going to drive all the draft watchers on BigFooty "bat crazy".

Players not going to go where some think they will go, its going to be so interesting and the best place to have one of two picks will be the start of the second round for a number of reasons, its usually a + to have one of the first two picks in the second round but this year you can double that average and having the first two if we keep them might be an absolute bargain in more ways than one!

Yep. Teams might like some players a lot more than other teams or have different needs for their list.
For sure it does depend on what happens in trade week with players and pick swaps as to what picks we hold.
It'd be nice to be in the top 15 to increase our chances of landing one of those players, but it might not be all that worth trying to move up vs taking two that are available at whatever 20 or 21 end up being.

 

[XU1-ROO]

Ok yep he could be anything. Haven't been that impressed but I'm not against taking him if he's still there.
Got a very long arms and reach a bit like Cadman, so I can kinda see the potential of what he could be.
On form Taj Murray has been more impressive and even Ah-Mu, although a bit more raw.
We might just have to take the risk on a Ludo, Ah-Mu, Murray or Heatherton this year, then hopefully add Aidan in 2026.

Watched Taj Murray highlights. Looks good. Could be a good 2nd fwd/ruck

 

[muttley45]

I know there have plenty of tears spilt over losing our 1st round pick to Richmond, but we have their 2nd rounder, which wont be too shabby considering the compromised top end of a supposedly weaker draft, yay or nay ?