List Mgmt. 2025 AFL Draft - Top 10 Candidates

[Mr Magic]

I know the media has conditioned us all to thinking WCE get pick 2 compensation for Oscar Allen.

But I wouldn't be surprised with all the noise around draft equalisation if the AFL use the secret herbs and spices to tighten this right up. Its poor optics to have the reigning premier win the flag and pick up 2 quality players from other sides for free + a top 5 pick from the academy.

Now I know long term pick 2 for Allen is the best result for west coast but in the short term, if the AFL want a more even competition then only giving band2 compensation does that, as it would force west coast to match the offer and force a trade. They would rightly ask for more than say pick 18, so might end up with a future 1st and something else this year, which then limits the lions moving forward. Alternatively they make Allen stay and are a better side next year.

Chances of this happening is about 5% but there's still hope for common sense until it's announced in a weeks time

I actually think Brisbane would be better off without Allen and Draper

 

[THE THIN MAN]

I know the media has conditioned us all to thinking WCE get pick 2 compensation for Oscar Allen.

But I wouldn't be surprised with all the noise around draft equalisation if the AFL use the secret herbs and spices to tighten this right up. Its poor optics to have the reigning premier win the flag and pick up 2 quality players from other sides for free + a top 5 pick from the academy.

Now I know long term pick 2 for Allen is the best result for west coast but in the short term, if the AFL want a more even competition then only giving band2 compensation does that, as it would force west coast to match the offer and force a trade. They would rightly ask for more than say pick 18, so might end up with a future 1st and something else this year, which then limits the lions moving forward. Alternatively they make Allen stay and are a better side next year.

Chances of this happening is about 5% but there's still hope for common sense until it's announced in a weeks time

You are referring to the same organisation that brought in 6-6-6 and the stand rule, which also wants to change footy to AFLX.

 

[KrispyKreme]

Look at what kind of players we took last year and what MCQ and Massey have said publicly. We clearly don’t give a shit about footy IQ or kicking skills. Murphy Reid was clearly a much better footballer than Bo Allan before the draft, yet here we are.

Athletic, contested ball and strength are what we’re after. Robey fits the mould to a tee.

FWIW for many tigers in here with a hard on for Robey I hope we don’t take him. Too risky for us with such a small sample size.

Well if you take him then realistically that
Just allows us to take Sam Cumming. I dunno it’s a win/win in my eyes tbh. I feel like we are at a spot we can’t lose.

 

[ShereKhan]

I wouldn't be going to this draft factoring in Taranto and Hopper. They will be gone by the time this group is contending.

I’ll be very very surprised if both TT and Hopper are still with Richmond from 2027 - it’ll be a Tom Mitchell / O’Meara style trade of at least one of them who sees the writing on the wall that VFL time is coming (probably Hopper).

It wont be nasty … it’ll be a win/win where we save $2.4m over last 3-years of contract, get a decent draft pick, and they get opportunity to be a first choice mid elsewhere … maybe a contender.

 

[KrispyKreme]

i stole this from a poster he made up this chart with average rankings FYI I only added the top 20 seeing as we have picks 3&4

Bit of ranking update, from some of the best minds in the draft space. Our own eDPS, Haggas, Smythe, ESPN, Cal Twomey, Craft of the Draft and the new Reading the Play which is a breath of fresh air and somewhat against the norm.

Pick Average;
the ranking total divided by the amount of selections
eg. Duursma was selected 8 times, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 4 = 13
13 draft points divided by amount of sections (8 rankings used)
13 / 8 =1.625 1.625

High Pick
self explanatory really. The highest they were taken. Gives an idea of how widely viewed some players were.

Low Pick
Opposite to the 'high pick', good to see how low some rated these players.

The players listed below are sorted on this metric. All players were viewed in two rankings across the 8. Some of these selections are skewed by being out of date (ie. Craft of the Draft still had Sullivan Robey at 28, the last update from them was 3 weeks ago)

Also gives a reasonable enough view of where the groups sit

Ranking	Name	Pick Average	High Pick	Low Pick
1	Willem Duursma	1.625	1	4
2	Zeke Uwland	2.25	2	3
3	Daniel Annable	4	2	5
4	Dyson Sharp	5	1	9
5	Cooper Duff - Tytler	5.125	3	7
6	Dylan Patterson	5.5	4	10
7	Sam Cumming	8.25	6	15
8	Oliver Greaves	9.75	7	16
9	Harry Dean	10.125	6	15
10	Sullivan Robey	10.75	4	28
11	Xavier Taylor	11	7	14
12	Sam Grjl	11.5	5	15
13	Josh Lindsay	12.5	10	17
14	Aiden Schubert	12.875	9	18
15	Mitch Marsh	14.25	11	18
16	Noah Hibbins-Hargreaves	14.625	9	25
17	Jacob Farrow	15.5	12	17
18	Lachy Dovaston	17.375	15	22
19	Jeevan Phillipou	18.5	12	24
20	Adam Sweid	22	20	32

 

[eaglevision]

Well if you take him then realistically that
Just allows us to take Sam Cumming. I dunno it’s a win/win in my eyes tbh. I feel like we are at a spot we can’t lose.

You guys are in a great spot where you can just let the draft come to you. I’d be making noise to Essendon that you're talking CDT like we probably are.

Geez Brady Rawlings is unhinged.

 

[ShereKhan]

Essendoom also has their natural pick 4 and could end up with pick 8 from the Hawks for Merrett. If the Suns get pick 7 for Flanders then they could well trade either that or 6 for more points, they're gonna need a bucket load of points if they want all of their Academy kids, Uwland, Patterson, Addinsall, Coulson, Murray and Collins along with a few others, so they're not in a position to trade up, more likely trade down for more points. The Don's will probably get 19 (Band 2 for Draper) and also have picks 22 & 25, those 3 picks could get them pick 7 from the Suns, so they end up with, 4-5-7 & 8 (before bids and compo) Pick 6 will be chewed up by bids which will mean that they have 4 picks in a row.

I can absolutely see a world where Bummers trade 7 & 8 for 4 and a F2. Gets them one of the ‘big 4’, whereas 7 and 8 gets them more speculative picks.

That gives Robey at 3, then 2 of Grjl, Cumming, Greeves or X Taylor at 7/8.

I’m taking 2 of those over 1 x Sharp or CDT.

 

[_RT_]

Especially if he doesn’t like the draft.

Even if he likes it I can't see us doing it as it means the Suns would get to possibly add 2 kids before any bids come for Uwland, which just helps them too much.

 

[Azzleberry]

You are referring to the same organisation that brought in 6-6-6 and the stand rule, which also wants to change footy to AFLX.

Fair point.

So pick 2 to cats, Allen to Brisbane and West Coast get Jack Bowes but need to promise Harley Reid to Gold Coast in 2028 for the privlidge

 

[tigs2010]

Fair point.

So pick 2 to cats, Allen to Brisbane and West Coast get Jack Bowes but need to promise Harley Reid to Gold Coast in 2028 for the privlidge

You forgot the bit where GC give an F1 & FF1 to Geelong for taking Harley & get a F4 in return

 

[tigerfan1961]

Even if he likes it I can't see us doing it as it means the Suns would get to possibly add 2 kids before any bids come for Uwland, which just helps them too much.

Have heard from a strong source (from another club) that Blair is going to make FS and academy clubs pay up this draft. Hope so

 

[captain cotch 9]

Have heard from a strong source (from another club) that Blair is going to make FS and academy clubs pay up this draft. Hope so

We do every draft.
We are Bidmond.

 

[Calcium Man]

Have heard from a strong source (from another club) that Blair is going to make FS and academy clubs pay up this draft. Hope so

Unless wc use pick 1 and 2 it’s still a massive discount.

 

[Lsta062]

If Tanner Armstrong is going to be an inside beast + the top end talent in next year's draft being some seriously good mids.

We can literally trade down and get 2 picks this year's draft.

And address other areas to essentially try and complete our list - that being Grlj, Hibbins hargreaves, Dovaston, Phillipou etc.

If we can slide back from 4 to 8-10 plus get a first round pick, that is a great deal.

Drafting best available without trading down or showing any ounce of creativity leaves you like North Melbourne. Let's just indefinitely draft the best mids at the top of the draft is silly - we are going to have access to the top mids for at least another 2 years, so why not split to address outside pace or a genuine small forward in a weaker even draft crop.

If people think splitting picks in a multi-billion dollar industry is trying to be "clever" or "outsmart" the system, they need to wake up. List managers don't just plan the list 1 pick at a time, they will have their eyes to the future on how they can complete an entire best 22 they think can deliver a flag.

Is Cumming better than getting Dovaston + Grlj. If Blair believes it then I'm on board. If he doesn't, and he splits it, then great.

I've seen this view a couple of times on here and here's my general take on it - Drafting is for best available, and trading is for filling needs. We have holes all over the ground, and our midfield is one of the bigger ones.

As it stands, these are the players we drafted in the last four drafts:

2021:

• Josh Gibcus
• Tom Brown
• Tyler Sonsie
• Sam Banks
• Judson Clarke
• Jacob Bauer (Delisted)

2022:

• Kaleb Smith
• Steely Green
• Seth Campbell
• Tylar Young
• Kaelan Bradtke (Delisted)
• Matthew Coulthard (Delisted)
• James Trezise

2023:

• Oliver Hayes-Brown (Category B rookie)
• Kane McAuliffe
• Liam Fawcett
• Mykelti Lefau
• Jacob Blight (Delisted)
• Campbell Gray

2024:

• Sam Lalor
• Josh Smillie
• Taj Hotton
• Jonty Faull
• Luke Trainor
• Harry Armstrong
• Tom Sims
• Jasper Alger

They (alongside the 2025 draft cohort) will be the core of our youth heading into next season.

You could maybe count 5 of these players as midfielders (Smillie, Hotton, Lalor, McAuliffe, and Sonsie). I'm not confident on Sonsie making it, McAuliffe is yet to grab a place, and it's too early to call for Smillie. While I've seen some good signs from McAuliffe, I'm only confident in Hotton and Lalor at this stage.

So in terms of our youth, our midfield is nowhere near done. I think Taranto, Hopper, Prestia, and Ross are fooling us into thinking we can start filling other needs when the whole point is that we need to upgrade on them. They are slow, and their ability to use the ball does not offset their lack in pace. We need to transition away from them as a group, so I'm not counting them as filling a midfield need in the long run. Taranto might be the only one if he has better users of the ball around him.

So if best available at picks 2 and 3 are midfielders, then we should absolutely pick them IMO. We shouldn't trade down to get a couple of players with less potential. A club might do that if their list is almost done, but ours is not at that stage.

 

[Magic17]

Have heard from a strong source (from another club) that Blair is going to make FS and academy clubs pay up this draft. Hope so

Blair doesn’t show his cards to anyone, especially to someone from another club.

 

[The Vaucluse]

I've seen this view a couple of times on here and here's my general take on it - Drafting is for best available, and trading is for filling needs. We have holes all over the ground, and our midfield is one of the bigger ones.

As it stands, these are the players we drafted in the last four drafts:

2021:

• Josh Gibcus
• Tom Brown
• Tyler Sonsie
• Sam Banks
• Judson Clarke
• Jacob Bauer (Delisted)

2022:

• Kaleb Smith
• Steely Green
• Seth Campbell
• Tylar Young
• Kaelan Bradtke (Delisted)
• Matthew Coulthard (Delisted)
• James Trezise

2023:

• Oliver Hayes-Brown (Category B rookie)
• Kane McAuliffe
• Liam Fawcett
• Mykelti Lefau
• Jacob Blight (Delisted)
• Campbell Gray

2024:

• Sam Lalor
• Josh Smillie
• Taj Hotton
• Jonty Faull
• Luke Trainor
• Harry Armstrong
• Tom Sims
• Jasper Alger

They (alongside the 2025 draft cohort) will be the core of our youth heading into next season.

You could maybe count 5 of these players as midfielders (Smillie, Hotton, Lalor, McAuliffe, and Sonsie). I'm not confident on Sonsie making it, McAuliffe is yet to grab a place, and it's too early to call for Smillie. While I've seen some good signs from McAuliffe, I'm only confident in Hotton and Lalor at this stage.

So in terms of our youth, our midfield is nowhere near done. I think Taranto, Hopper, Prestia, and Ross are fooling us into thinking we can start filling other needs when the whole point is that we need to upgrade on them. They are slow, and their ability to use the ball does not offset their lack in pace. We need to transition away from them as a group, so I'm not counting them as filling a midfield need in the long run. Taranto might be the only one if he has better users of the ball around him.

So if best available at picks 2 and 3 are midfielders, then we should absolutely pick them IMO. We shouldn't trade down to get a couple of players with less potential. A club might do that if their list is almost done, but ours is not at that stage.

A really good piece. We desperately need better midfielders. Midfielders who can transition with speed. That should be our priority.

i know it’s a small sample size, but I rate McAuliffe and believe he’ll be part of our midfield rotation into the future.

We need midfielders who can play forward and kick goals. That’s why I’m pushing hard for Robey and Cummings. From what I’ve seen, Robey likes contact, has a burst of speed, can play forward and kicks goals, is a nice kick and appears to be a good teammate.

I won’t be devastated if we select Sharp, as he’s probably the standout midfielder in this years draft.

 

[tigerfan1961]

Blair doesn’t show his cards to anyone, especially to someone from another club.

Yep, agreed. Only reporting what was said to me. The guy it came from is high up in recruiting and list management at another club though.

 

[captain cotch 9]

Yep, agreed. Only reporting what was said to me. The guy it came from is high up in recruiting and list management at another club though.

No doubt Blair would be spreading the word that we will bid. Clubs will come to him and make offers to try and please him.

 

[Dr Tigris]

I've seen this view a couple of times on here and here's my general take on it - Drafting is for best available, and trading is for filling needs. We have holes all over the ground, and our midfield is one of the bigger ones.

As it stands, these are the players we drafted in the last four drafts:

2021:

• Josh Gibcus
• Tom Brown
• Tyler Sonsie
• Sam Banks
• Judson Clarke
• Jacob Bauer (Delisted)

2022:

• Kaleb Smith
• Steely Green
• Seth Campbell
• Tylar Young
• Kaelan Bradtke (Delisted)
• Matthew Coulthard (Delisted)
• James Trezise

2023:

• Oliver Hayes-Brown (Category B rookie)
• Kane McAuliffe
• Liam Fawcett
• Mykelti Lefau
• Jacob Blight (Delisted)
• Campbell Gray

2024:

• Sam Lalor
• Josh Smillie
• Taj Hotton
• Jonty Faull
• Luke Trainor
• Harry Armstrong
• Tom Sims
• Jasper Alger

They (alongside the 2025 draft cohort) will be the core of our youth heading into next season.

You could maybe count 5 of these players as midfielders (Smillie, Hotton, Lalor, McAuliffe, and Sonsie). I'm not confident on Sonsie making it, McAuliffe is yet to grab a place, and it's too early to call for Smillie. While I've seen some good signs from McAuliffe, I'm only confident in Hotton and Lalor at this stage.

So in terms of our youth, our midfield is nowhere near done. I think Taranto, Hopper, Prestia, and Ross are fooling us into thinking we can start filling other needs when the whole point is that we need to upgrade on them. They are slow, and their ability to use the ball does not offset their lack in pace. We need to transition away from them as a group, so I'm not counting them as filling a midfield need in the long run. Taranto might be the only one if he has better users of the ball around him.

So if best available at picks 2 and 3 are midfielders, then we should absolutely pick them IMO. We shouldn't trade down to get a couple of players with less potential. A club might do that if their list is almost done, but ours is not at that stage.

Exactly. People think that somehow because we have TT, Hopper and Dion we shouldn't get more inside mids. Looking at our list our midfield is at best partially built.

If you have a top end midfield then everything else is much easier. It is the engine room of everything. We have some brilliantly talented mids drafted recently, plus a couple who might be decent AFL players. Round that out and we can then fill holes.

Fixing our current problems in this draft misses that what we should be doing is fixing our problems in 3+ years time in this draft. That is after TT and Hopper.

Getting speed is fairly easy. Getting genuine high end talent is hard - so don't compromise on that until you have the talent you need. i.e. with picks 3 & 4 just pick talent.

 

[Charlie Pannam]

Yep, agreed. Only reporting what was said to me. The guy it came from is high up in recruiting and list management at another club though.

We have a history on bidding on Northern states academy players, did it when we were flying, no reason we won’t continue to do it.
I think Blair’s motto is if we rank an academy player as the best at that pick, then we bid.

 

[Shinrisker]

I've seen this view a couple of times on here and here's my general take on it - Drafting is for best available, and trading is for filling needs. We have holes all over the ground, and our midfield is one of the bigger ones.

As it stands, these are the players we drafted in the last four drafts:

2021:

• Josh Gibcus
• Tom Brown
• Tyler Sonsie
• Sam Banks
• Judson Clarke
• Jacob Bauer (Delisted)

2022:

• Kaleb Smith
• Steely Green
• Seth Campbell
• Tylar Young
• Kaelan Bradtke (Delisted)
• Matthew Coulthard (Delisted)
• James Trezise

2023:

• Oliver Hayes-Brown (Category B rookie)
• Kane McAuliffe
• Liam Fawcett
• Mykelti Lefau
• Jacob Blight (Delisted)
• Campbell Gray

2024:

• Sam Lalor
• Josh Smillie
• Taj Hotton
• Jonty Faull
• Luke Trainor
• Harry Armstrong
• Tom Sims
• Jasper Alger

They (alongside the 2025 draft cohort) will be the core of our youth heading into next season.

You could maybe count 5 of these players as midfielders (Smillie, Hotton, Lalor, McAuliffe, and Sonsie). I'm not confident on Sonsie making it, McAuliffe is yet to grab a place, and it's too early to call for Smillie. While I've seen some good signs from McAuliffe, I'm only confident in Hotton and Lalor at this stage.

So in terms of our youth, our midfield is nowhere near done. I think Taranto, Hopper, Prestia, and Ross are fooling us into thinking we can start filling other needs when the whole point is that we need to upgrade on them. They are slow, and their ability to use the ball does not offset their lack in pace. We need to transition away from them as a group, so I'm not counting them as filling a midfield need in the long run. Taranto might be the only one if he has better users of the ball around him.

So if best available at picks 2 and 3 are midfielders, then we should absolutely pick them IMO. We shouldn't trade down to get a couple of players with less potential. A club might do that if their list is almost done, but ours is not at that stage.

Yeah I agree Timmy should hang around, if he can feed the ball to Lalor and Hotton instead of Hopper and Prestia his game will look a lot better, plus he could potentially start in the forward line and swap with a Lalor or Robey after centre bounces in the future.

 

[Danog]

Trade Young Short and Hopper

Bring in Robey and Sharp, plus whatever we get for those 3 (future picks?)

 

[TJTIGER]

Trade Young Short and Hopper

Bring in Robey and Sharp, plus whatever we get for those 3 (future picks?)

I like Robey but I'm curious why you chose Sharp over Grilj? (Not a criticism, wanting to understand & learn)... cheers

 

[RobsJourney]

I actually think Brisbane would be better off without Allen and Draper

Draper will make them better, Allen they don’t need.

 

[Charlie Pannam]

I've seen this view a couple of times on here and here's my general take on it - Drafting is for best available, and trading is for filling needs. We have holes all over the ground, and our midfield is one of the bigger ones.

As it stands, these are the players we drafted in the last four drafts:

2021:

• Josh Gibcus
• Tom Brown
• Tyler Sonsie
• Sam Banks
• Judson Clarke
• Jacob Bauer (Delisted)

2022:

• Kaleb Smith
• Steely Green
• Seth Campbell
• Tylar Young
• Kaelan Bradtke (Delisted)
• Matthew Coulthard (Delisted)
• James Trezise

2023:

• Oliver Hayes-Brown (Category B rookie)
• Kane McAuliffe
• Liam Fawcett
• Mykelti Lefau
• Jacob Blight (Delisted)
• Campbell Gray

2024:

• Sam Lalor
• Josh Smillie
• Taj Hotton
• Jonty Faull
• Luke Trainor
• Harry Armstrong
• Tom Sims
• Jasper Alger

They (alongside the 2025 draft cohort) will be the core of our youth heading into next season.

You could maybe count 5 of these players as midfielders (Smillie, Hotton, Lalor, McAuliffe, and Sonsie). I'm not confident on Sonsie making it, McAuliffe is yet to grab a place, and it's too early to call for Smillie. While I've seen some good signs from McAuliffe, I'm only confident in Hotton and Lalor at this stage.

So in terms of our youth, our midfield is nowhere near done. I think Taranto, Hopper, Prestia, and Ross are fooling us into thinking we can start filling other needs when the whole point is that we need to upgrade on them. They are slow, and their ability to use the ball does not offset their lack in pace. We need to transition away from them as a group, so I'm not counting them as filling a midfield need in the long run. Taranto might be the only one if he has better users of the ball around him.

So if best available at picks 2 and 3 are midfielders, then we should absolutely pick them IMO. We shouldn't trade down to get a couple of players with less potential. A club might do that if their list is almost done, but ours is not at that stage.

I think I agree with this. I keep changing my mind re trading down.
It really all depends on the first pick of the 2 we get if we split. Will that pick get us another gun mid. Then you use the other pick on a list need eg running hb/ wing/small fwd.
And on how Blair and Rhy rate the players available at pick 4. For example if CDT or Sharp are available, do we want either of them ? and if no is there a club that are desperate enough to trade up. Just using those 2 as an example, they may very well be gone, but that type of scenario