Under Age U16s - 2028 AFL Draft General Discussion

[gucciavo]

SA V VIC in the final on saturday set to be a cracker

 

[gucciavo]

Chase Whelan is a fair player kicked over 15 goals for the tournament at a good size as well.

 

[Freezin]

SA V VIC in the final on saturday set to be a cracker

Looks like WA kicked themselves out of a GF place, kicking 5.14 to lose by 4 pts to Victoria.

 

[gucciavo]

Looks like WA kicked themselves out of a GF place, kicking 5.14 to lose by 4 pts to Victoria.

Certainly did!

They did play well though contested against a strong vic team

 

[ExVIC in NSW]

This is my wrap up of the 2025 SSA AFL champs (pre final day), from just a regular footy lover (apologies for long post). For a little context the things I rate when watching are ball use, team players, cleanliness and ground positioning.

Great week of footy, first time at one of these and couldn’t be much more impressed with the talent levels of 14/15 year olds around the country. Clear gap between Vic, SA, WA and the rest which I truly believe could be reduced at least a bit but that’s another conversation. Great watching some names that I have seen on here in person and will be great to track their progress through the next few years. Some quick thoughts on teams and players (plenty I will miss, these are just who caught my eye)

SA – Even across the team, they played the most controlled footy to me. Strong defence as the 5 goals against shows and clean ball movement forward. Harrison Webb a gun, very classy with the ball in hand just appeared to be a level above most of his opposition. Zane Rooney the other standout in the games I saw, clean with the ball and would often run 20 and kick 45 to really break open games. Other top players Harry Hobby, Jacob Westley, Kade Clark and Sam DePalma.

VIC – Strong and fast, their spread when winning the ball was really great to watch. Again great depth, held their positions well to allow space for players to work in. Bigs caught my eye here, Chase Whelan is a ready made key forward, strong hands, great leading and unselfish. Eamon Hyde at the other end of the ground was great all week, composed, fierce attack on ball, great talker and organiser. Others Liam Basil, Finn Callaghan, Angus Dunstan and Fred Hardman

WA – Maybe the best team to watch, a bit more flair and taking the game on. Had 2 games where their goalkicking wasn’t great but otherwise could’ve easily won it all. Smaller players mainly here, Aidan Martigano played great in all games I watched. Hard at it in the contest but also good out in space. Ashley Clayton is a smooth moving, skillful player, appears to always have time with the ball. Others include Jake Taylor, Troy Warner, Sam Gooch and Jai Keen.

(Could've easily named 10 for WA, VIC and SA but kept it to 6 max)

TAS – Played a contested brand of footy, winning 2 close games. Will be the only team to play all 3 top teams which is tough but great experience. Hopefully some players who will be in the Devils in 2029. Best Players Lennox Hazell, Campbell Barwick, Coby Praciak, William Timsar, P Howard.

QLD Maroon – Competitive in patches against WA and SA, just not quite the same depth, possibly 4th best team in it though. Home team I find can be a blessing and a curse, some players stay at home but maybe less team bonding? Best Players Ryan Hutchings, Xavier Salvana, Paddy Fitzgibbon, Harley Wolbers, Darcy Pearson, Jordan Kaesler.

NSW – Had patches of really good footy, just were inconsistent. Play a much more contested game than the top 3, missing some stronger key position players. Had a good running handball game when up and going. Best Players Noah Golds, Rafael Micheletti, Dominic Dametto, Hayden Gardiner, Noah Keam, Bodhi Charlton

ACT – Similar to NSW, play a tough contested style of footy. Matched others inside just lacked some depth on the outside. Smallest pool to choose from in a tough pool it was good to see them battle out each game. Best Players James Rice, Alex Maher, Preston Singer

QLD White – Had a great game v TAS on day 1, no doubt with a few boys who missed the 1 team with a point to prove. Were competitive though much more so than some scoreboards showed. Best Players Xavier McWhinney, Sunny Chapman, Bailey Lee.

My top 5 of the week:

Harrison Webb, Chase Whelan, Aidan Martigano, Eamon Hyde, Zane Rooney.

Again just my thoughts, no doubt everyone sees things differently and I am looking forward to see the All Australian Team when it is selected. Will be great to re watch this group in 12 months at the National Champs.

 

[gucciavo]

This is my wrap up of the 2025 SSA AFL champs (pre final day), from just a regular footy lover (apologies for long post). For a little context the things I rate when watching are ball use, team players, cleanliness and ground positioning.

Great week of footy, first time at one of these and couldn’t be much more impressed with the talent levels of 14/15 year olds around the country. Clear gap between Vic, SA, WA and the rest which I truly believe could be reduced at least a bit but that’s another conversation. Great watching some names that I have seen on here in person and will be great to track their progress through the next few years. Some quick thoughts on teams and players (plenty I will miss, these are just who caught my eye)

SA – Even across the team, they played the most controlled footy to me. Strong defence as the 5 goals against shows and clean ball movement forward. Harrison Webb a gun, very classy with the ball in hand just appeared to be a level above most of his opposition. Zane Rooney the other standout in the games I saw, clean with the ball and would often run 20 and kick 45 to really break open games. Other top players Harry Hobby, Jacob Westley, Kade Clark and Sam DePalma.

VIC – Strong and fast, their spread when winning the ball was really great to watch. Again great depth, held their positions well to allow space for players to work in. Bigs caught my eye here, Chase Whelan is a ready made key forward, strong hands, great leading and unselfish. Eamon Hyde at the other end of the ground was great all week, composed, fierce attack on ball, great talker and organiser. Others Liam Basil, Finn Callaghan, Angus Dunstan and Fred Hardman

WA – Maybe the best team to watch, a bit more flair and taking the game on. Had 2 games where their goalkicking wasn’t great but otherwise could’ve easily won it all. Smaller players mainly here, Aidan Martigano played great in all games I watched. Hard at it in the contest but also good out in space. Ashley Clayton is a smooth moving, skillful player, appears to always have time with the ball. Others include Jake Taylor, Troy Warner, Sam Gooch and Jai Keen.

(Could've easily named 10 for WA, VIC and SA but kept it to 6 max)

TAS – Played a contested brand of footy, winning 2 close games. Will be the only team to play all 3 top teams which is tough but great experience. Hopefully some players who will be in the Devils in 2029. Best Players Lennox Hazell, Campbell Barwick, Coby Praciak, William Timsar, P Howard.

QLD Maroon – Competitive in patches against WA and SA, just not quite the same depth, possibly 4th best team in it though. Home team I find can be a blessing and a curse, some players stay at home but maybe less team bonding? Best Players Ryan Hutchings, Xavier Salvana, Paddy Fitzgibbon, Harley Wolbers, Darcy Pearson, Jordan Kaesler.

NSW – Had patches of really good footy, just were inconsistent. Play a much more contested game than the top 3, missing some stronger key position players. Had a good running handball game when up and going. Best Players Noah Golds, Rafael Micheletti, Dominic Dametto, Hayden Gardiner, Noah Keam, Bodhi Charlton

ACT – Similar to NSW, play a tough contested style of footy. Matched others inside just lacked some depth on the outside. Smallest pool to choose from in a tough pool it was good to see them battle out each game. Best Players James Rice, Alex Maher, Preston Singer

QLD White – Had a great game v TAS on day 1, no doubt with a few boys who missed the 1 team with a point to prove. Were competitive though much more so than some scoreboards showed. Best Players Xavier McWhinney, Sunny Chapman, Bailey Lee.

My top 5 of the week:

Harrison Webb, Chase Whelan, Aidan Martigano, Eamon Hyde, Zane Rooney.

Again just my thoughts, no doubt everyone sees things differently and I am looking forward to see the All Australian Team when it is selected. Will be great to re watch this group in 12 months at the National Champs.

I reckon Rooney and Whelan are the best players in this draft class as of right now. Both are physically developed more than the rest of the crop. They both stand out with marking ability while Rooney has got some power when flying through the contest. As well as this his field kicking is very notable when exiting D50. To go with Whelan’s marking ability is his pin point goal kicking accuracy rarely missing one inside 50.

 

[Freezin]

Great write ups from you both, much appreciated. Obviously early days for all named, but great to see some names to keep an eye on over the next few years

 

[gucciavo]

Vic winners of the 15s

 

[gucciavo]

AA Team photo

 

[RedmanWasHere]

AA Team photo

I tried copying and pasting this here but to no avail.

 

[Haggas]

AA Team photo

VIC: Liam Basil, Freddie Hardman, Jonathan Millar, Eamon Hyde, Chase Whelan & Finn O'Callaghan
SA: Zane Rooney, Harrison Webb not sure the other 3 numbers arent showing?
WA: Ashley Clayton, Troy Warner, Jai Keene & Aiden Martignago
TAS: Lennox Hazell, Campbell Barwick & Billy Banks-Smith
NSW: Not sure?
ACT: Oliver Slade
QLDM: Callum Samuelson & Kobe Mundy
QLDW: Xavier McWhinney

 

[gucciavo]

VIC: Liam Basil, Freddie Hardman, Jonathan Millar, Eamon Hyde, Chase Whelan & Finn O'Callaghan
SA: Zane Rooney, Harrison Webb not sure the other 3 numbers arent showing?
WA: Ashley Clayton, Troy Warner, Jai Keene & Aiden Martignago
TAS: Lennox Hazell, Campbell Barwick & Billy Banks-Smith
NSW: Not sure?
ACT: Oliver Slade
QLDM: Callum Samuelson & Kobe Mundy
QLDW: Xavier McWhinney

Other SA Jacob Westley, Harry Hobby are next to Rooney in the back row

Sam Casey is the red head

 

[Thunderstruck]

VIC: Liam Basil, Freddie Hardman, Jonathan Millar, Eamon Hyde, Chase Whelan & Finn O'Callaghan
SA: Zane Rooney, Harrison Webb not sure the other 3 numbers arent showing?
WA: Ashley Clayton, Troy Warner, Jai Keene & Aiden Martignago
TAS: Lennox Hazell, Campbell Barwick & Billy Banks-Smith
NSW: Not sure?
ACT: Oliver Slade
QLDM: Callum Samuelson & Kobe Mundy
QLDW: Xavier McWhinney

Rooney has such a fantastic build on him, screams modern AFL mid in the making.

Webb has a power though despite his size, he's dynamite.

 

[gucciavo]

Rooney has such a fantastic build on him, screams modern AFL mid in the making.

Webb has a power though despite his size, he's dynamite.

Unsure how Rooney didn’t win the medal for best player the lad dominates

 

[Haggas]

Unsure how Rooney didn’t win the medal for best player the lad dominates

Who did?

 

[gucciavo]

Who did?

Chase Whelan and a QLD lad which they got wrong with another Queensland lad

 

[Haggas]

Chase Whelan and a QLD lad which they got wrong with another Queensland lad

Whelan did kick 17 goals but a Queensland lad is Ludacris

 

[RedmanWasHere]

2025 SSA ALL-AUSTRALIAN SIDE:

BACK:

ASHLEY CLAYTON (WA)
JACOB WESTLEY (SA)
HARRY HOBBY (SA)
ZANE ROONEY (SA)
CHASE WHELAN (VIC)
CALLUM SAMUELSON (QLD M)
FINN O'CALLAGHAN (VIC)
SAM CASEY (SA)
EAMON HYDE (VIC)
NOAH GOLDS (NSW)
LENNOX HAZELL (TAS)

FRONT:

HARRISON WEBB (SA)
TROY WARNER (WA)
JAI KEENE (WA)
CAMPBELL BARWICK (TAS)
XAVIER McWHINNEY (QLD W)
LIAM BASIL (VIC)
JONATHAN MILLAR (VIC)
? (QLD)
JAMES RICE (ACT)
NOAH KEAM (NSW)
BILLY BANKS-SMITH (TAS)
FREDDIE HARDMAN (VIC)
AIDEN MARTIGNAGO (WA)



Caps lock warning.

How many are correct?

 

[Membling]

Noah Keam for NSW in the front

 

[ExVIC in NSW]

ACT player is James Rice, second NSW player is Noah Golds

 

[Half Back Pocket]

Chase Whelan and a QLD lad which they got wrong with another Queensland lad

Gucci-man, my 3 pre-carnival selections for Vic all made AA…shows what an advantage it is to have exposure to a higher age group/skill level at this age

 

[gucciavo]

Chase Whelan 9 goals in senior footy kid can play

 

[Jen2310]

VIC: Liam Basil, Freddie Hardman, Jonathan Millar, Eamon Hyde, Chase Whelan & Finn O'Callaghan
SA: Zane Rooney, Harrison Webb not sure the other 3 numbers arent showing?
WA: Ashley Clayton, Troy Warner, Jai Keene & Aiden Martignago
TAS: Lennox Hazell, Campbell Barwick & Billy Banks-Smith
NSW: Not sure?
ACT: Oliver Slade
QLDM: Callum Samuelson & Kobe Mundy
QLDW: Xavier McWhinney

Jonny Millar can play.

 

[Freezin]

Chase Whelan 9 goals in senior footy kid can play

Only 15 as well.....great to see

 

[Yoda_]

Any super highly touted father/sons in this group?

Doesnt appear so just yet..