Preview 2025 AFL Draft General Discussion

[Futbolista]

SA U18 Team - Game 3​

2025 Marsh AFL U18 National Championships – Game 3
Sunday June 15 at Alberton from 12pm
South Australia v Western Australia
SOUTH AUSTRALIA
F: Sam Cumming (North), Mitch Marsh (West), Aidan Schubert (Central)
HF: Jesse Nye (South), Zane Peucker (Eagles), Cameron Nairn (Central)
C: Harley Barker (Sturt), Dyson Sharp (Central), Matt LeRay (Central)
HB: Luke Candy (Glenelg), Balyn O’Brien (Norwood), Jack Cook (Eagles)
B: Bryce Sanders (Norwood), Noah Daw (Norwood), Jett Dahlitz (Sturt)

R: Sam Ainsworth (Norwood), Noah Roberts-Thomson (Sturt), Louis Kellaway (Sturt)
INT: Tim Alver (Glenelg), Blake Oudshoorn-Bennier (North), Jim Kelly (Norwood), Joshua Reichelt (Central), Archie Van Dyk (South), Kodah Edwards (South), Kale Matthews-Hampton (Sturt), Ethan Herbert (North)
IN: Archie Van Dyk, Kodah Edwards, Kale Matthews-Hampton, Ethan Herbert

It/SA looks too strong for WA - just - on SA home soil.

 

[Futbolista]

It looks too strong for WA - just - on SA home soil.

Vs WA
FF- Tyler Williams (SD), Charlie Watson (CL), Hudson Walker (S)
HF- Charlie Banfield (CL), Cody Curtin (CL), Wes Walley (S)
C- Tom.Phillips (EF/Oak), Fred Rodriguez (SF), Heath Mellody (CL)
HB- Jacob Farrow (WP), Lochlain Carpenter (WP), Dale Sutherland (P)
FB- George Gale (CL), Joseph Hopkyns (CL), Matthew Becker (PT)

FOLL- Benji Van Rooyen (CL), Sam Swadling (WP), Toby Whan (SF)

INT- Will York (PT), Luke Hallett (EP), Max Thomas (SF), Oscar Willis (CL), Blake Kelly (SD)

 

[weltschmerz]

SA U18 Team - Game 3​

2025 Marsh AFL U18 National Championships – Game 3
Sunday June 15 at Alberton from 12pm
South Australia v Western Australia
SOUTH AUSTRALIA
F: Sam Cumming (North), Mitch Marsh (West), Aidan Schubert (Central)
HF: Jesse Nye (South), Zane Peucker (Eagles), Cameron Nairn (Central)
C: Harley Barker (Sturt), Dyson Sharp (Central), Matt LeRay (Central)
HB: Luke Candy (Glenelg), Balyn O’Brien (Norwood), Jack Cook (Eagles)
B: Bryce Sanders (Norwood), Noah Daw (Norwood), Jett Dahlitz (Sturt)

R: Sam Ainsworth (Norwood), Noah Roberts-Thomson (Sturt), Louis Kellaway (Sturt)
INT: Tim Alver (Glenelg), Blake Oudshoorn-Bennier (North), Jim Kelly (Norwood), Joshua Reichelt (Central), Archie Van Dyk (South), Kodah Edwards (South), Kale Matthews-Hampton (Sturt), Ethan Herbert (North)
IN: Archie Van Dyk, Kodah Edwards, Kale Matthews-Hampton, Ethan Herbert

Which name is worse, Balyn or Kodah?

 

[briztoon]

It looks too strong for WA - just - on SA home soil.

Not like we haven't seen home umpiring in SA before, particularly against WA.

 

[Yoda_]

By my reckoning that's close to 40% of the top 40 aligned to clubs through Academy/NGA/F/S unless their aligned club chooses not to match a bid.....what a joke.

I think it’s lazy journalism rather than actual accurate reporting

El-Achkar & Sweid from my mob, on form, shouldn’t be in the 40 let alone 20 and 25

 

[Mutineer]

I think it’s lazy journalism rather than actual accurate reporting

El-Achkar & Sweid from my mob, on form, shouldn’t be in the 40 let alone 20 and 25

Didn't El-Acchkar kick 3 goals on his VFL debut recently, not sure t many other small forwards have matched that effort this season thus far.

 

[Yoda_]

Didn't El-Acchkar kick 3 goals on his VFL debut recently, not sure t many other small forwards have matched that effort this season thus far.

dig deeper

Held possession less in first half

1 goal from Joe the goose

3 goals from 4 possessions

 

[Mutineer]

dig deeper

Held possession less in first half

1 goal from Joe the goose

3 goals from 4 possessions

Leading CTL small forward re ave goals kicked with bags of 4.2, 3.1 and 3.5 in his 3 games.

 

[Yoda_]

Leading CTL small forward re ave goals kicked with bags of 4.2, 3.1 and 3.5 in his 3 games.

has tools but the ones he does have aren't as good as being made out.

This would be one of the shallowest Metro sides I can remember

 

[Yoda_]

Couple of things,

Cooper Duff - Tytler is being massively overhyped, won't surprise if he slips down to 3 - 5 with Dyson Sharp, Willem Duursma or any of the top end academy kids filling the very pointy selections.

Couple of the SA kids are being criminally under rated, Sam Cumming, Matt LeRay, Harley Barker, Noah Roberts-Thompson and now Cameron Nairm all shooting the lights out in the champs to be top 30 considerations imho

 

[Miller1971]

Do SA really play 7-8 kids on the interchange bench??!

surely 4 of them are emergencies.

 

[tigs2010]

Do SA really play 7-8 kids on the interchange bench??!

surely 4 of them are emergencies.

3 were emergencies. They just named an extended squad

 

[crankygeese]

As someone who lives in a Northern state, and has an interest in the game locally, but don't barrack for a 'northern' club I can assure you that they are an essential thing that are bringing more talent to the game.

The Suns will have 2 good drafts out of 10 being 2023 and 2025. Annable will be the Lions first ever genuine coup from it.

If they get massive draft hauls on a regular basis year in year, then its worth looking at. At the moment, these are mere anomalies.

Dylan Patterson and his ties to Rugby League is a prime example of its success. Same for Heeney in Sydney.


The only thing I would agree with, is that if a player has F/S ties to a club - then they should not be eligible for academy rights as well. It's an absurd notion that the son of a 100+ game AFL footballer was drawn to the game by an academy.

Tom Trbojevic at Manly and Mitch Woods at Canterbury two examples of players that have been lost to League from the Swans academy that I can think of.

With regards to the father/son argument, I would agree with that if it came with a proviso that they then aren't allowed to train with the academies either. Being somebody who lives in the northern states, you've seen the state of the junior pathways. So Blakey, Scott, McCartney, Hodge, etc. can all be F/S exclusive if that's what the AFL wants, but shouldn't be allowed to make use of the Academy pathways at all if that's the case. The northern clubs surely wouldn't bring them in and they'd be left to develop on their own or board in another state. So what's the solution in that instance?

 

[crankygeese]

Yep. Also Hipwood and Kiddie Coleman.

Jack Payne, Sam Marshall also at the Lions. Then you have Aliir Aliir, Ben Keays, Mabior Chol, Samson Ryan, and more. - https://www.lions.com.au/teams/academy/graduates

The Lions Academy is probably the best example of what the league gets when they start looking at the next tier of players that academies produce. A lot of players get overlooked from the 4 northern academies that can play, and that have grown up in professional environments. Though they seem to be taking notice of those other academy kids in the last couple of years and I think they'll find a number of role player types in their ranks if they actually look.

 

[Miller1971]

With regards to the father/son argument, I would agree with that if it came with a proviso that they then aren't allowed to train with the academies either. Being somebody who lives in the northern states, you've seen the state of the junior pathways. So Blakey, Scott, McCartney, Hodge, etc. can all be F/S exclusive if that's what the AFL wants, but shouldn't be allowed to make use of the Academy pathways at all if that's the case. The northern clubs surely wouldn't bring them in and they'd be left to develop on their own or board in another state. So what's the solution in that instance?

It's a tough one.

One of the great concerns with pathways up here is that there is no longer really a state team, and kids (whether drafted or not, or prospects or not) don't have a QLD jumper to aspire to because the academies have completely taken over the talent pathway.

A Blakey or a Hodge for example, yeah - don't be part of a club academy - but play QLD u18 or QLD u17 - they probably wouldn't miss much.

Though its alleged now that in the last 18 months to 2 years, the development outcomes in the 2 academies in QLD have improved dramatically from where they were before - next step is getting talent ID right.

 

[crankygeese]

It's a tough one.

One of the great concerns with pathways up here is that there is no longer really a state team, and kids (whether drafted or not, or prospects or not) don't have a QLD jumper to aspire to because the academies have completely taken over the talent pathway.

A Blakey or a Hodge for example, yeah - don't be part of a club academy - but play QLD u18 or QLD u17 - they probably wouldn't miss much.

Though its alleged now that in the last 18 months to 2 years, the development outcomes in the 2 academies in QLD have improved dramatically from where they were before - next step is getting talent ID right.

Agree that it's a tough one, and without the state teams, then without the academies for father/son kids in that situation. They'd be relying purely on the coaching quality at local clubs to get noticed for the Allies, and to develop their skills that way.

The amount of extra training kids get from the Swans academy is intensive. Over the course of 4 years (2xu16 and 2x u18) Blakey would have missed out on 100s of hours of professional organised coaching each season, without the Swans academy. I personally don't think he would have even made allies at that point. But that's always going to be a matter of opinion and I accept that.

I think it's certain that no northern club would invite a player into their academy if they don't get access to them later. I believe it is a 4 year minimum to qualify as a northern academy kid, so it's a significant investment. Sydney doesn't have schools like Haileybury that have Matthew Lloyd coaching. They just don't exist up here. Nor are their power clubs like Oakleigh or Sandringham. Those that do exist like Pennant Hills and North Shore work their absolute arses off and are brilliant with the limited resources they have, don't get me wrong. Without the academies, the kids wouldn't get that coaching, and wouldn't make it to the AFL in the first place, unless they wanted to move south and board away from their families.

So, while I can see the argument for saying F/S kids shouldn't be able to qualify for northern academies, I don't think people have thought through the ramifications of such a decision, especially when they haven't seen the state of the non academy coaching in non heartland states.

 

[Miller1971]

Sydney obviously extremely good in how they operate.

The Lions don't supply any good coaching or coaches until you reach their u18 program, the levels below are of no significance whatsoever and you would find far better coaches at many of the state league clubs. Lions have Mitch Hahn

Mitch Hahn

Age

44

Ht

188cm

Wt

99kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

13.2

3star

K

7.9

3star

HB

5.4

4star

M

3.6

4star

T

2.6

4star

G

0.9

4star

No current season stats available

D

6.0

2star

K

3.4

2star

HB

2.6

3star

M

1.8

2star

T

0.2

3star

G

0.0

1star

with help from Grant Birchall

14

Grant Birchall

Age

37

Ht

193cm

Wt

89kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

21.9

5star

K

12.6

5star

HB

9.3

5star

M

5.8

5star

T

1.6

4star

MG

250.0

4star

D

13.3

3star

K

9.2

4star

HB

4.2

3star

M

4.3

4star

T

1.3

2star

MG

250.0

4star

D

14.0

4star

K

7.6

3star

HB

6.4

4star

M

2.6

3star

T

0.6

3star

, Simon Black in their u18s - plus a few other guys who are likely good coaches, just without the big names. Their u16 and u14 stuff is mostly volunteer nuffies who want a free polo, and never heard a single positive word about the u16 head coach, can't recall his name - but just a local club coach who didn't achieve much in club land.

The Suns do have good coaching across the board, and invest far more into their academy than the Lions do.

Having said that, most state league clubs have very strong coaching in their Senior and Colts programs. the senior coaches at most State League clubs would be the equal or better than most of even the u18 programs at both academies in QLD - its just a matter of how early you get access to these guys.

 

[Miller1971]

I think it's certain that no northern club would invite a player into their academy if they don't get access to them later. I believe it is a 4 year minimum to qualify as a northern academy kid, so it's a significant investment.

Lions did not have exclusive access to Shadeau Brain, as he wasn't eligible due to living in NSW and playing u15 State footy for NSW. The requirement for 4 years is merely their home address, they don't need to be part of the academy for that period, merely live in the zone.

Harris Andrews was virtually ignored by the Academy until very late in his draft year, so wasn't 'part of it' for 4 years - he merely lived there.

There are several players in both the Suns Academy and the Lions Academy u18 teams in recent years that they had no rights to, its just not in the news much as none of them were genuine prospects other than Shadeau Brain, but even then - he was taken as a QLD Cat B Rookie, not as an academy pick. Had there been a bid on him, Lions had no right to match it.

 

[TW Sherrin]

White is going to cost Melbourne their first pick. Kid could be the best player in the draft.

 

[Keystone agony]

Anyone, anyone got an order list of 30 or so on here?

Or we just waiting for Cal to podcast more?

 

[Aido97]

Trainor will be a 3rd tall at absolute most. Probably more likely a medium/rebounding defender or wing.

wat

 

[Miller1971]

White is going to cost Melbourne their first pick. Kid could be the best player in the draft.

would be a bigger waste than The Pies taking Tony Shaws kids.

 

[TW Sherrin]

would be a bigger waste than The Pies taking Tony Shaws kids.

watching him in the VFL last game vs men and he clearly a talent and he'll get the 200cm bonus.

 

[madjoe]

Player that has taken my eye is shaun Watson. in such a so/so draft i'd throw a dart at a kid like him.

 

[Tom14]

Yep. Also Hipwood and Kiddie Coleman.

Hipwood is the highest pick from the Lions academy (pick 14). If Jaspa Fletcher had nominated under the academy process rather than F/S, then he'd have been the earliest pick at pick 12.

Brisbane haven't had a top 10 academy player - GC, Syd, GWS have had at least 3 (though I think all of GC's have been since 2023 unless I am forgetting someone).

Annable will be the first assuming he goes top 10.

Andrews was a second round bid in the 30s in 2014 (rules then were that you matched with your next available pick, which after a liam dawson bid had happened earlier was a pick in the 60s).

Coleman was bid on at pick 37 (second round), but he'd already been through the draft process in 2018 and no one picked him and he came back as an overager. He was playing lions NEAFL games in 2019 and genuinely would have been in the frame for senior selection if he was on the list.

Jack Payne also an academy graduate, but again a very late pick (in the 50s I think).