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AFLW 2025 AFLW Draft / Prospects

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I praised the Bris v Melb game but I thought the GCS v Coll game was the direct opposite. Atrocious. They'd want to get those talented players coming through in asap. Really poorly skilled ATM. Even Rowbottom who I rate looks like she is playing for herself at times.
I think losing their captain in Bohana was a big loss and also Daisy D'Arcy with an ACL. It's been pass the baton with injuries with the engine room trio of Whitfort, Single and Charlie. That and the inexperience and the game plan they don't seem to have progressed much at all this season. Also I'm left scratching my head why Rhyce has sent arguably this season's best player and captain Niamh McLaughlin to the forward pocket for long periods when the ball has been parked down the other end.
 
With one game to go in the 2025 season my attention turns to the draft.

Ladder positions as of now.

View attachment 2465516

With all 3 immediately above us being rank outsiders to win, we could jump to 14th.

Its going to be an interesting week. What do you think toenail63 ? I have mixed thoughts. You still think Gold Coast may trade their #1?
Media think we will jump to 14th

 
Media think we will jump to 14th



If that comes to be, last year the players around that pick were Zippy Fish, Poppy Schulz and Lou Painter.

Wouldn't be unhappy with that quality this year.
 
Is there a commission meeting between now and the draft? Suns may need some more special assistance governance on the run from the AFL as with future trading as it currently stands since the rule change a few months ago Suns can't trade a future 1st and 2nd in the same draft year. I've got a feeling Gold Coast will need to trade out more, or give up a player.

Suns may be looking to trade in the earliest possible 2nd rounders for this year's draft to maximise their hand, to meet the rule that they must give up a pick within 18 places after a bid comes in.

If we trade our first this years with theirs, say their pick 1 for our pick 3-5, this will cover them for a top 5 bid for Usher which will happen.

If we move up to get Bown, who they don't care about as they want Usher, a first round pick swap (pick 1 for pick 3-5) and then we trade out our 2nd round (pick 21-23) for Suns future 2nd and 3rd, then Suns can keep their next years 1st as will then go to draft, or trade down for, the picks needed to draft 2026 draft eligible academy players like Summer Browning.

Suns give their Pick 1, next years 2nd, next years 3rd.
We give our Pick 3-5, and this years 2nd.

We get Bown and 2 x 2nd rounders for next year alongside our next years first which will be a nice draft hand. Suns have picks to go to draft, or match bids, for pick 5, (Usher), pick 19, (Davies), pick 21-23 (Lappin), and pick 37 for Welsh.

If they want Dekota Baron as well they may have to trade out a decent enough player for another 2nd Rd pick. The way I see it they have Jac Dupuy, Havana Harris and will have Georja Davies, so are covered for tall forward/utility types.
We need to re stock this year more than one decent player , try 5-6
 

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Its going to be an interesting week. What do you think toenail63 ? I have mixed thoughts. You still think Gold Coast may trade their #1?

Riley Beverage confirming that last Thursday that Suns told all clubs at the club catch up meeting that their No. 1 pick is officially for sale.

And they've also decided that next years future 1st is also for sale, this means that Suns next years future 2nd and 3rd are off the table to trade.

Melbourne, St Kilda, Adelaide, Richmond and the Bulldogs are the clubs chasing hardest to get this year's No. 1 pick.

 
Suns will want to net 2 or more x picks between pick 20 and as low as possible, so minimum for us this would be our 2nd and another 2nd from somewhere, or as I had previously suggested a first pick slide. This still on paper not enough.

From pick 3 down as Riley suggests bid's start, a slide works for us if we finish 14th, as it covers the earliest bid to come in for Ava Usher.

We may be up against it if Suns are going all in in getting at minimum 5 of their best in this years draft. They will all be bid on in the first round and gone unless Suns can add more early 2nd rounders to match bids.

It depends on who has the best hand and that may be difficult for us as the slide works and passing on our second works, but Suns want to trade out their future first for picks, so we can get their future first pick but in return we would have to give up this years 2nd as well as more, i.e. another 2 x 2nd's to match the first rounder. So options we trade out of our future first to other clubs to get in 2nd rounders, or we trade out players, Q. Is this selling the farm for Bown and their 2026 first?

Another option for us is if it becomes unlikely to win this trade with the Suns, and we decide to pull out of the race and just keep our pick 5 for this years draft, then we still have a extremely valuable 2nd rounder to trade out for a very good player that either Melbourne or Adelaide, if they become desperate enough, may give up, and we could cheekily ask for a Niamh Kelly or a Olivia Purcell for example for our 2nd rounder. Maybe worth it for them to do to get Chloe Bown and Suns 2026 1st rounder you never know.
 
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Suns will want to net 2 or more x picks between pick 20 and as low as possible, so minimum for us this would be our 2nd and another 2nd from somewhere, or as I had previously suggested a first pick slide. This still on paper not enough.

From pick 3 down as Riley suggests bid's start, a slide works for us if we finish 14th, as it covers the earliest bid to come in for Ava Usher.

We may be up against it if Suns are going all in in getting at minimum 5 of their best in this years draft. They will all be bid on in the first round and gone unless Suns can add more early 2nd rounders to match bids.

It depends on who has the best hand and that may be difficult for us as the slide works and passing on our second works, but Suns want to trade out their future first for picks, so we can get their future first pick but in return we would have to give up this years 2nd as well as more, i.e. another 2 x 2nd's to match the first rounder. So options we trade out of our future first to other clubs to get in 2nd rounders, or we trade out players, Q. Is this selling the farm for Bown and their 2026 first?

Another option for us is if it becomes unlikely to win this trade with the Suns, and we decide to pull out of the race and just keep our pick 5 for this years draft, then we still have a extremely valuable 2nd rounder to trade out for a very good player that either Melbourne or Adelaide, if they become desperate enough, may give up, and we could cheekily ask for a Niamh Kelly or a Olivia Purcell for example for our 2nd rounder. Maybe worth it for them to do to get Chloe Bown and Suns 2026 1st rounder you never know.

Olivia Purcell would be a great get. Steal I think if we managed to trade a second rounder. Still only 25. Think the Dees wouldn’t want to lose here and would she want to move to a third club? From our perspective, is a player with two knees to much of a risk?
 
Olivia Purcell would be a great get. Steal I think if we managed to trade a second rounder. Still only 25. Think the Dees wouldn’t want to lose here and would she want to move to a third club? From our perspective, is a player with two knees to much of a risk?
So far every female player that’s done a knee in our program has done another.
Only a small sample size and might be unlucky but looks bad.
 
Olivia Purcell would be a great get. Steal I think if we managed to trade a second rounder. Still only 25. Think the Dees wouldn’t want to lose here and would she want to move to a third club? From our perspective, is a player with two knees to much of a risk?
It might be a long shot but Melbourne did let very good players go in 2021 under same management, I don't know if they currently see things as a bridge too far for premiership opportunities while North are dominating, and are then willing to let an injury prone midfielder, albeit a game changing one, go in the pursuit of young talent like the Mithen trade for Molly O'Heir last year. I would love to have a player of Purcell's quality starting in our midfield alongside Ellie and Mon. It might be a gamble for us maybe, but there's nothing surer than if fit and healthy she becomes the strong dominant midfielder that we need that frees up Mon etc to be the receivers.

Watching Mon having to do so much inside work, tackle and try and do this role, in yesterday's game is not allowing her to make use of her talents.
 
Watching Mon having to do so much inside work, tackle and try and do this role, in yesterday's game is not allowing her to make use of her talents.
Her possession effectiveness drops off because she tries, or has to do so much. She gets so much attention now, we have to find ways to make teams re-think putting so much time into her.
 
With the Suns likely to receive either pick 1 or 2 and the rules around bidding where they have to use a pick within 18 selections from a bid, we may be able to trade a later pick with Suns who will have a possible 3 picks being bid early and will need at least 2 more x 2nd round picks than what they currently have.

I don't know if it would be worth trading out a player like Bec Miller for a 2nd rounder and trade our 2 x second rounders for their first round pick.

Melbourne did this with trading Mithen last year and in return received Molly O'Hehir with the pick 3 they got in return.

We could end up potentially with pick 1 & 2, also agree not to bid, and then Suns are taken care of for 3 of the 4 players they want, we could even swap a 3rd for a 4th.

We could guarantee getting Chloe Bown and Mia Russo as a two punch mid combination. Ellie Mac can then play that Kate Hore role and dominate outside of centre bounce across the field and up forward.
I think a lot will disagree with you, but I tend to agree. We need quality into the club especially in the midfield and our defence, particularly tall is quite strong. Millers age is also against her, and I wouldn't begrudge her a trade to try and snag a Premiership.

She would have plenty of suitors as she's so good at what she does, but when we look at our list and we have Graham, Seymour and McLlelland that can play tall back.

I'd also consider swinging Brennan back, her long and accurate kicking out of defence would be a weapon, and I think she's cooked as a forward now, swinging her into an intercepting role could prolong her career, essentially as 3rd tall. I thought Shelby Knoll showed enough to continue with her forward and McLleland can play that role at either end of the ground. I do think if we play Paige Scott forward it might benefit us to go in smaller anyway, Scott's not fit enough to play a small forward role, she's almost an undersized key forward but strong enough (like Dusty was) to hold defenders out, but we need more run around her.

I like the thought pattern or what type of player could we trade out, and defensively we do have a bit of an abundance of talls.
 

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Her possession effectiveness drops off because she tries, or has to do so much. She gets so much attention now, we have to find ways to make teams re-think putting so much time into her.

Its because she's having to play too inside, she has a great burst of speed and her evasiveness is outstanding, but having to start from standing starts to get away means she's not always able to make that lack of space work for her.

We'd actually much prefer her and Ellie playing a bit more outside and being more of that link into the forward 50, but we have to play them inside as our depth of inside mids is pretty crap. I'm hoping Sierra Grieves gets given more time on the inside next year, the other could be someone like Wickstead of even MacKenzie Ford who I think we tend to waste at the moment.
 
Its because she's having to play too inside, she has a great burst of speed and her evasiveness is outstanding, but having to start from standing starts to get away means she's not always able to make that lack of space work for her.

We'd actually much prefer her and Ellie playing a bit more outside and being more of that link into the forward 50, but we have to play them inside as our depth of inside mids is pretty crap. I'm hoping Sierra Grieves gets given more time on the inside next year, the other could be someone like Wickstead of even MacKenzie Ford who I think we tend to waste at the moment.
Mon backing this up by saying today that her body has just held up and she is battered and bruised and very sore from the role that she played personally, as very inside. We can fix this in the off season hopefully.
 

TOP 5s | 2025 AFLW State Draft Combines​

Standing Vertical Jump:

1. Ella Gilbey (Claremont/Western Australia) – 60cm
eq. 2. Aleah Stringer (Suns Academy/Queensland) – 57cm
eq. 2. Stella Huxtable (Geelong Falcons/Vic Country) – 57cm
4. Maya Louvel-Finn (East Fremantle/Western Australia) – 54cm
5. Melissa Anderson (South Adelaide/South Australia) – 53cm

Running Vertical Jump:

1. Sienna Gerardi (Swan Districts/Western Australia) – 70cm
2. Ava Stewart (Swan Districts/Western Australia) – 69cm
3. Stella Huxtable (Geelong Falcons/Vic Country) – 67cm
eq. 4. Maya Louvel-Finn (East Fremantle/Western Australia) – 66cm
eq. 4. Melissa Anderson (South Adelaide/South Australia) – 66cm
eq. 4. Lily Smart (Sturt/South Australia) – 66cm

20m Sprint:

1. Melissa Anderson (South Adelaide/South Australia) – 3.158 seconds
2. Sophie Thredgold (Sturt/South Australia) – 3.169 seconds
3. Ella Gilbey (Claremont/Western Australia) – 3.176 seconds
4. Maya Louvel-Finn (East Fremantle/Western Australia) – 3.222 seconds
5. Lily Smart (Sturt/South Australia) – 3.226 seconds

Agility Test:

1. Baia Pugh (Gippsland Power/Vic Country) – 8.273 seconds*
2. Lucy Greenwood (East Perth/Western Australia) – 8.338 seconds
3. Lily Smart (Sturt/South Australia) – 8.417 seconds
4. Sophie Thredgold (Sturt/South Australia) – 8.42 seconds
5. Sienna Gerardi (Swan Districts/Western Australia) – 8.435 seconds

2km Time Trial:

1. Sienna Timmermans (Perth/Western Australia) – 7:34 minutes
2. Chelsea Sutton (Gippsland Power/Vic Country) – 7:40 minutes
3. Sienna Sharp (Sandringham Dragons/Vic Metro) – 7:47 minutes
4. Annabelle Foat (Suns Academy/Queensland) – 7:55 minutes
5. Isabelle Creaton (Eastern Ranges) – 7:57 minutes
 
Its because she's having to play too inside, she has a great burst of speed and her evasiveness is outstanding, but having to start from standing starts to get away means she's not always able to make that lack of space work for her.

We'd actually much prefer her and Ellie playing a bit more outside and being more of that link into the forward 50, but we have to play them inside as our depth of inside mids is pretty crap. I'm hoping Sierra Grieves gets given more time on the inside next year, the other could be someone like Wickstead of even MacKenzie Ford who I think we tend to waste at the moment.
I'm yet to see MacKenzie as a keeper. I want her to be, and she has moments, but she is playing however she wants to for the most part, and not impacting much. Reminds me too much of Brancat, and another whose name escapes me. Really hope I'm proved wrong though.
 
I'm yet to see MacKenzie as a keeper. I want her to be, and she has moments, but she is playing however she wants to for the most part, and not impacting much. Reminds me too much of Brancat, and another whose name escapes me. Really hope I'm proved wrong though.
Think in time we play Ellie on a wing or off half back in a link up role and have others do the heavy lifting around ball and we can let Ellie be that player that Carlton's Mim Strom now plays who gets on the end of it and uses her strengths which is sitting as a release player and using width for her run and carry. She's the release player breaking towards defensive set ups and launches their attacks. It's how I remember Ellie playing before she was drafted.

 

TOP 5s | 2025 AFLW State Draft Combines​

Some context to posting this list earlier, these are the state testing results for the players who were not invited to national testing. If we do cut hard and go deeper into this draft than just the 2 x U18 draftees, would be the first time since the 2021 draft of Reid, Yassir and Houtsma, then players testing well here are more likely to end up on lists in later rounds and worth a look at. Top of this group would be for mine Maya Louvel-Finn, I still don't know how she didn't get an invite to the national combine even after she was named All Australian.

Standing Vertical Jump:

1. Ella Gilbey (Claremont/Western Australia) – 60cm
eq. 2. Aleah Stringer (Suns Academy/Queensland) – 57cm
eq. 2. Stella Huxtable (Geelong Falcons/Vic Country) – 57cm
4. Maya Louvel-Finn (East Fremantle/Western Australia) – 54cm
5. Melissa Anderson (South Adelaide/South Australia) – 53cm

Running Vertical Jump:

1. Sienna Gerardi (Swan Districts/Western Australia) – 70cm
2. Ava Stewart (Swan Districts/Western Australia) – 69cm
3. Stella Huxtable (Geelong Falcons/Vic Country) – 67cm
eq. 4. Maya Louvel-Finn (East Fremantle/Western Australia) – 66cm
eq. 4. Melissa Anderson (South Adelaide/South Australia) – 66cm
eq. 4. Lily Smart (Sturt/South Australia) – 66cm

20m Sprint:

1. Melissa Anderson (South Adelaide/South Australia) – 3.158 seconds
2. Sophie Thredgold (Sturt/South Australia) – 3.169 seconds
3. Ella Gilbey (Claremont/Western Australia) – 3.176 seconds
4. Maya Louvel-Finn (East Fremantle/Western Australia) – 3.222 seconds
5. Lily Smart (Sturt/South Australia) – 3.226 seconds

Agility Test:

1. Baia Pugh (Gippsland Power/Vic Country) – 8.273 seconds*
2. Lucy Greenwood (East Perth/Western Australia) – 8.338 seconds
3. Lily Smart (Sturt/South Australia) – 8.417 seconds
4. Sophie Thredgold (Sturt/South Australia) – 8.42 seconds
5. Sienna Gerardi (Swan Districts/Western Australia) – 8.435 seconds

2km Time Trial:

1. Sienna Timmermans (Perth/Western Australia) – 7:34 minutes
2. Chelsea Sutton (Gippsland Power/Vic Country) – 7:40 minutes
3. Sienna Sharp (Sandringham Dragons/Vic Metro) – 7:47 minutes
4. Annabelle Foat (Suns Academy/Queensland) – 7:55 minutes
5. Isabelle Creaton (Eastern Ranges) – 7:57 minutes
 

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TOP 5s | 2025 AFLW State Draft Combines​

Some context to posting this list earlier, these are the state testing results for the players who were not invited to national testing. If we do cut hard and go deeper into this draft than just the 2 x U18 draftees, would be the first time since the 2021 draft of Reid, Yassir and Houtsma, then players testing well here are more likely to end up on lists in later rounds and worth a look at. Top of this group would be for mine Maya Louvel-Finn, I still don't know how she didn't get an invite to the national combine even after she was named All Australian.


Can run, jump, mark and... just as important...gets the pill and is a tacking machine.

Would love to have her.


Last 10 Matches
RoundCompetitionOppositionKHDMTHOFFFAGB
Finals Week 1, 2025WAFLWSwan Districts120124602100
Round 18, 2025WAFLWSwan Districts7181500200
Round 10, 2025WAFLWPerth86143601100
Round 9, 2025WAFLWSouth Fremantle83115700101
Round 7, 2025WAFLWWest Perth116172501000
Round 6, 2025WAFLWSwan Districts76134401000
Round 5, 2025WAFLWEast Perth7292302100
Round 4, 2025WAFLWSubiaco119208401000
Round 3, 2025WAFLWClaremont95144602100
Round 2, 2025WAFLWPeel Thunder512174501000
 
Think in time we play Ellie on a wing or off half back in a link up role and have others do the heavy lifting around ball and we can let Ellie be that player that Carlton's Mim Strom now plays who gets on the end of it and uses her strengths which is sitting as a release player and using width for her run and carry. She's the release player breaking towards defensive set ups and launches their attacks. It's how I remember Ellie playing before she was drafted.

Um not Ellie, I was discussing Mackenzie Ford 🤪
 
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Oh Thank F. I thought you'd taken the cutting back too far :p Note to self read the friggin post.
I even checked my spelling of the Mc vs Mac - Ellie is definitely a keeper, in fact she is a cloner (?) Off to the Scottish version of a Gulag for you mate!
 
Fox Footy Article on Suns academy this year and re girl's strong crop expected to be drafted. excerpt re girls only.

How newest footy factory stole Aus ‘best athletes’ from rival codes… and other AFL clubs can benefit​


Image 1.jpeg

Fans who haven’t followed this year’s AFL and AFLW draft crops too closely will likely get a jarring shock when they see how many club-tied players are taken early – especially Suns academy prospects.

From an AFLW perspective, the Suns could have at least seven – possibly a few more – academy graduates to choose from, including Usher, Lappin, Georja Davies, Dekota Baron, Alannah Welsh, Rhianna Ingram and Mikayla Nurse. The first five players could all be in the first-round mix.

Next month, their AFLW list management team must match a bid with a selection within 18 picks on the night – a task that’ll be made easier this year with AFLW teams now able to trade future picks.

But it’s almost certain a few Gold Coast prospects could slip to another club.

Usher, who joined the academy when she was 12 years old, is best friends with Havana Harris – the second prospect taken in the 2024 AFLW draft. Harris made a splash in her debut season, kicking a team-high 11 goals from a full 12 games.

Usher couldn’t have been prouder of Harris – and more excited to hopefully play alongside her next year.

“It’s really exciting to see. With ‘Hav’ being my literal best friend, I’m so happy for her and I knew she would go straight into the league and dominate,” she said.

“To see they were in our shoes this time last year is pretty cool. I’ve made some lifelong friends with those girls. I’ve played with them since I was 12 and then as a double bottom-age player as a 15-year-old, 16-year-old and 17-year-old.

“Watching them grow and develop and blossom into the players they are now, as first-year players, is pretty cool.”

Lappin played with Harris, as well as fellow academy-to-AFLW Suns like Kiara Bischer, Sienna McMullen, Nyalli Milne, Tara Harrington and Heidi Talbot during her junior career.

She said she had gotten a real kick out of watching her former teammates represent the Suns at the top level.

“It’s so cool, especially with the way the game is going and the way that there’s girls who have played footy from a very young age. Like, they grew up with it essentially,” Lappin told foxfooty.com.au.

Image.jpeg

“It’s getting into a place where you can see all these first-year players are doing things that the game hasn’t seen before because they’ve got this background in the sport that a lot of the other W players don’t have.

“It’s one of those things where you’re watching people that I’ve known for a very long time, they’re getting drafted – and now it’s suddenly like my turn to try and do that.

Lappin for months had been weighing up whether to nominate as a Suns academy prospect or choose either Carlton or St Kilda under the father-daughter rule as her dad, 2004 All-Australian Matthew Lappin, played for both clubs during his 14-season AFL career.

But Lappin, who looms as a top-10 selection in this year’s AFLW draft, chose the Suns because she thought she’d play her best footy at the top level if she remained on the Gold Coast.

“I had a huge decision to make and lots to consider – a big one was family and friends and the idea of moving interstate. I don’t think I’d play as good of footy if I was somewhere else other than where all my favourite people are,” Lappin said.

Lappin also said the prospect of playing under academy coach Rhyce Shaw at AFLW level as well played a significant role in her decision, adding: “I think that he’s building something special at the Gold Coast Suns and that’s something I’d really love to be a part of.”Usher, too, has a close bond with Shaw.

“He’s also been like a role model for me through my ACL (injury rehab). He’s done two in his lifetime and he’s taught me a bit of patience throughout the journey,” she said.

“He’s an unbelievable coach … The way he thinks about things and puts it into action is actually so amazing. The way he gets around the girls, whether it’s in our control or out of our control, it’s on us still.”

The Suns’ AFLW team, meanwhile, is in the middle of a rebuild, finishing 18th this year after a 17th-place finish in 2024. They had one of the youngest and least-experienced lists in the competition in 2025.

But the foundation of the rebuild is the draft and their academy prospects.

“I think it’s a more exciting thing, to be honest,” usher said of the prospect of possibly joining a young Suns list.

“Every team’s got their experienced players and their girls who have played in the league for nine to 10 years. But the young, fresh legs I think is something that’s going to work really well if I end up at the Suns.

“I’ve played with those girls since I was 12, so the connection we’ve already got and built wouldn’t be too bad, I don’t think"
 

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AFLW 2025 AFLW Draft / Prospects

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