Player Watch 2025 AFL Draft Thread (Welcome to our new Central Districts overlords!)

[hawkinoz]

Addinsall would be a perfect fit for the Hawks, however...

The Gold Coast Suns’ 2025 draft hand equates to around 5,800 draft points.
Assuming bids:
• Pick 2 = 2,481 points
• Pick 5 = 1,795 points
• Pick 14 = 1,161 points
This would require 5,437 points total. However, the 20% academy discount applies meaning they only need 4,350 pts, which is easily covered with their 5800 pts.

If we had a crack at Murray at ~23
• Pick 23 = 815 points Murray... For a total of 6,252 less the 20% discount it comes to 5002 pts. So they will still be fine and have plenty to spare for Coulson.

Nice thought but the AFL and the Suns are all over it.

Wrong.. Suns have 3773 pts atm and discount is 10% now.

They may gain a few 100-300 points extra via some trades like scum trading 21+27 for 18. As I said before, the easiest trade is trading our 22 for 24+F5 which won't make practical difference to pick order as 23 is Lions pick that will be used in Bid matches, unless it is traded but can't see who can.

at Pick 10( will be pick 14) don't think they match a bid. Given pick 22 is also technically 1st round, if they match, any deficit will be reduced from their 1st round picks next yr, so quite likely to not match. Trade 22 for 24 works for them as 24 is 2nd round and deficit won't affect 1st rounders.

There was a mock yday that saw us bidding on Adam Sweid(Hawks fan) at pick 22 and Dons not matching the bid. If we are making a bid, I am sure MM & team are doing the work on player.

 

[Hawker399]

Mine would be
Dovaston - small forward
Barker - outside midfielder
Krasnadamskis - developing ruck

 

[Davo-27]

Wrong.. Suns have 3773 pts atm and discount is 10% now.

They may gain a few 100-300 points extra via some trades like scum trading 21+27 for 18. As I said before, the easiest trade is trading our 22 for 24+F5 which won't make practical difference to pick order as 23 is Lions pick taht will be use din Bid matches, unless it is traded but can't see who can.

at Pick 10( will be pick 14) don't think they match a bid. Given pick 22 is also technically 1st round, if they match, any deficit will be reduced from their 1st round picks next yr, so quite likely to not match. Trade 22 for 24 works for them as 24 is 2nd round and deficit won't affect 1st rounders.

There was a mock yday that saw us bidding on Adam Sweid(Hawks fan) at pick 22 and Dons not matching the bid. If we are making a bid, I am sure MM & team are doing the work on player.

View attachment 2477126

Sweid is best as a mid, but too short to play mid at AFL level, so will probably be forced to play his secondary role as small forw which isn't ideal...

 

[Hawks_Footy]

10 Grlj
22 Barker
i'll be doing cartwheels

 

[danielG]

10 Grlj
22 Barker
i'll be doing cartwheels

Grlj is the ideal player at 10 , most would agree.. Just suits our game style to a tee..
NHH at 22 would be a great get too.. I saw he did a 2Km a fair bit slower than Greeves who some were talking down so his fitness needs some work..
I wonder if Greeves will really slide and be a late pick.. He seems to be the player that has a real focus on the questionable parts of his game which every player in it has but he seems to be under the microscope..

 

[Blackhawk42]

Realistically, I've narrowed my peferences down to...

1st pick: Farrow or Nairn (since the latter is suddenly bolting into top 10-15 calculations)
2nd pick: Noah Hibbens-Hargreaves
3rd pick: Fred Rodriguez

I'm not certainly not against Greeves, but it's incredibly difficult to put a finger on where he ends up range-wise.
Our first pick feels too high, but it also feels like could be long gone by our second.

I'm happily on the Farrow train, despite others not being as keen. I feel as though he has all the fundamentals as well as the desire to get every little bit out of his footy career.

 

[FB19]

Wrong.. Suns have 3773 pts atm and discount is 10% now.

They may gain a few 100-300 points extra via some trades like scum trading 21+27 for 18. As I said before, the easiest trade is trading our 22 for 24+F5 which won't make practical difference to pick order as 23 is Lions pick taht will be use din Bid matches, unless it is traded but can't see who can.

at Pick 10( will be pick 14) don't think they match a bid. Given pick 22 is also technically 1st round, if they match, any deficit will be reduced from their 1st round picks next yr, so quite likely to not match. Trade 22 for 24 works for them as 24 is 2nd round and deficit won't affect 1st rounders.

There was a mock yday that saw us bidding on Adam Sweid(Hawks fan) at pick 22 and Dons not matching the bid. If we are making a bid, I am sure MM & team are doing the work on player.

View attachment 2477126

A small correction on bidding.
Round one = 10% discount to match
Round two = flat 84 point discount to match
Round 3 onwards = next available pick

 

[Roger Rogerson]

I think he’ll be a good player, but I don’t think he’s what we need.

What do we need?

 

[DrAbs]

Addinsall would be a perfect fit for the Hawks, however...

The Gold Coast Suns’ 2025 draft hand equates to around 5,800 draft points.
Assuming bids:
• Pick 2 = 2,481 points
• Pick 5 = 1,795 points
• Pick 14 = 1,161 points
This would require 5,437 points total. However, the 20% academy discount applies meaning they only need 4,350 pts, which is easily covered with their 5800 pts.

If we had a crack at Murray at ~23
• Pick 23 = 815 points Murray... For a total of 6,252 less the 20% discount it comes to 5002 pts. So they will still be fine and have plenty to spare for Coulson.

Nice thought but the AFL and the Suns are all over it.

Thanks for the insight, mate!

Fair to say the Suns are gonna be stacked for years to come.

Edit: I still think we should cause chaos with bids and trades. Nothing to lose at this point since we're not rebuilding. Whatever it takes to get the best talent in, especially if they're ready to go for AFL right away - as most of the Academy prospects seem to be.

 

[Alite]

Thanks for the insight, mate!

Fair to say the Suns are gonna be stacked for years to come.

Edit: I still think we should cause chaos with bids and trades. Nothing to lose at this point since we're not rebuilding. Whatever it takes to get the best talent in, especially if they're ready to go for AFL right away - as most of the Academy prospects seem to be.

Sorry mate, my original post was wrong. Silly mistakes. Thanks to hawkinoz for pointing it out.


With their current 4,061 points:
• They can comfortably match a bid at pick 2 (2,233pts) and pick 5 (1,616) in succession, but after those two they’d only have 212 points left.
• They cannot then cover a further bid at pick 14 or pick 23 without acquiring additional points/trading/deficit.

So yes, the Hawks could pinch Beau Addinsall.

 

[daniel23]

I'm starting to prefer oskar taylor over grlj . Grlj has a bit more toughness to his game but i prefer taylors kicking which is a pretty obvious sign the club values too with worpel and jiath both moved on.

 

[VandoHawk]

Sorry mate, my original post was wrong. Silly mistakes. Thanks to hawkinoz for pointing it out.


With their current 4,061 points:
• They can comfortably match a bid at pick 2 (2,233pts) and pick 5 (1,616) in succession, but after those two they’d only have 212 points left.
• They cannot then cover a further bid at pick 14 or pick 23 without acquiring additional points/trading/deficit.

So yes, the Hawks could pinch Beau Addinsall.

Forget Addinsall, Murray is the one with serious upside and limited exposure. I want us to bid at 22.

 

[Blackhawk42]

Sorry mate, my original post was wrong. Silly mistakes. Thanks to hawkinoz for pointing it out.


With their current 4,061 points:
• They can comfortably match a bid at pick 2 (2,233pts) and pick 5 (1,616) in succession, but after those two they’d only have 212 points left.
• They cannot then cover a further bid at pick 14 or pick 23 without acquiring additional points/trading/deficit.

So yes, the Hawks could pinch Beau Addinsall.

Taking points out of the equation, I actually think, in the interest of fairness, that the Northern clubs should only be permitted to match 1 bid per 10 picks.
As an example, they can match up to 2 bids within the first round, as long as the first round, by that stage, is guaranteed to be a minimum of 20 picks deep.
It also means if one academy player is bid on at 8 and the other at 9, then they don't have the right to match the pick 9 bid, unless they can sort out a live trade in the moment.

It would also mean that they're forced to do more work during the trade period to get the picks required, if they REALLY rate their academy kids that highly.
That way, experienced players may be forced into being traded to clubs who don't have the same academy advantage, which is about as close to win-win as you're going to get.

Blind Freddy can see that the Northern academies are producing better and better talent year upon year. We cannot find ourselves in 12 months time seeing two likely top 4 sides in Gold Coast and Brisbane once again hoarding first round talent for essentially nothing.

 

[lethalselbow09]

Slightly off topic but how good a team did Eastern Ranges have this year? They would probably beat the WA state team

 

[AlwaysHawks15]

Dovasten should be on our rader for our 2nd pick at least. He's that missing small forward link to pair with Wizard. There practically twins with how they look as well. Same mullet, similar size and speed. We need that extra pressure forward in the poppy mould. That way Moorey, Ginni and CMac dont have to change their roles too drastically. Another lightning quick small gives us the best balanced forward line in the comp IMO.

 

[FB19]

Taking points out of the equation, I actually think, in the interest of fairness, that the Northern clubs should only be permitted to match 1 bid per 10 picks.
As an example, they can match up to 2 bids within the first round, as long as the first round, by that stage, is guaranteed to be a minimum of 20 picks deep.
It also means if one academy player is bid on at 8 and the other at 9, then they don't have the right to match the pick 9 bid, unless they can sort out a live trade in the moment.

It would also mean that they're forced to do more work during the trade period to get the picks required, if they REALLY rate their academy kids that highly.
That way, experienced players may be forced into being traded to clubs who don't have the same academy advantage, which is about as close to win-win as you're going to get.

Blind Freddy can see that the Northern academies are producing better and better talent year upon year. We cannot find ourselves in 12 months time seeing two likely top 4 sides in Gold Coast and Brisbane once again hoarding first round talent for essentially nothing.

Don’t give the AFL motivation to overcomplicate. As I’ve said for years and seemingly is now coming in next year, if you simply reduce matching picks to 2 only, you eliminate the problem. For
Example if bid for uwland comes at 2 with suns current hand starting at 15 they couldn’t match as they would need pick 10 to have enough points. At that stage they are going to find it difficult to match Patterson let alone the other 3.

 

[lethalselbow09]

Dovasten should be on our rader for our 2nd pick at least. He's that missing small forward link to pair with Wizard. There practically twins with how they look as well. Same mullet, similar size and speed. We need that extra pressure forward in the poppy mould. That way Moorey, Ginni and CMac dont have to change their roles too drastically. Another lightning quick small gives us the best balanced forward line in the comp IMO.

Dovaston is the best small forward in the draft by a mile. If we don’t take him gws or the bulldogs will in the teens.

 

[sohsam]

My perfect draft for us would be

Pick 10 Dyson Sharp (more likely gone to Cals Ess, Cal has done a lot of work to get the best player to Ess, so Josh Lindsay)
Pick 22 Aidan Schubert (might be gone by then, Ollie Greeves would be a good pick up here for his versatility as med forw and mid)
3rd Pick Fred Rodriguez (Blake Kelly also good as a mid, forced to play half his champs as a forward, but as a mid performed similarly to Annable imo, if Annable played forw it would hurt his rep too, bad coaching by playing players out of position is becoming the norm in WA u18s teams recently)

I would not be getting Lindsay but that is just me (too one dimensional, he will get found out at AFL level), if Cumming/Sharp/Doveston are gone, and you have issues with Farrow, trade it out for FF and get a 3rd or 4th pick back this year, unless want NHH badly. You should be able to get a Greeves/Barker with pick 22, Fred and maybe M Marsh if still available instead of Schubert (we already have a couple of tall forwards, you should be able to get a tall forward with our 3rd or 4th pick like Hetherton). NHH is an interesting one, obviously you do not see value in him at our first or second. I would swap NHH for Farrow if people see him as better option. I think we were looking at Onley too.

 

[Blackhawk42]

I would not be getting Lindsay but that is just me (too one dimensional, he will get found out at AFL level), if Cumming/Sharp/Doveston are gone, and you have issues with Farrow, trade it out for FF and get a 3rd or 4th pick back this year, unless want NHH badly. You should be able to get a Greeves/Barker with pick 22, Fred and maybe M Marsh if still available instead of Schubert (we already have a couple of tall forwards, you should be able to get a tall forward with our 3rd or 4th pick like Hetherton). NHH is an interesting one, obviously you do not see value in him at our first or second. I would swap NHH for Farrow if people see him as better option. I think we were looking at Onley too.

Onley looks like an athlete before a footballer to me. That would worry me with a first round selection. Would take a punt with a third if atill available.

 

[sohsam]

He could become an elite player at the stoppages.
You're banking on him being able to transition to senior footy and excel at the fundamentals.
Not an unlikely prospect, but I am not excited by him.


Jude Bolton had a similar profile, and was taken at pick 8.
Had a solid career. Good character and leadership.

If we picked a player with that profile, I'd hope it was long after the first round.

10 Grlj
22 Barker
i'll be doing cartwheels

I would not be getting Grlj, just an outside runner, we have enough class on the outside, if Cumming/Sharp/Doveston/Farrow/NHH taken I would trade out for FF and late 3rd, early 4th. Aren't Barker and Grlj similar anyway. Neither of the two are immediate need, but more future proofing. Apparently we were after more class in the midfield, as to the type of player we are after is debatable. I would be future proofing Gunston with M Marsh ahead of two outside runners, everyone has their opinions.

 

[sohsam]

Onley looks like an athlete before a footballer to me. That would worry me with a first round selection. Would take a punt with a third if atill available.

sorry, perhaps I came out all wrong, yes sure, sometimes these type of players where question marks and later on, you have to question whether worth a pick up, his name has been mentioned a few times. I never meant with our first pick, ofcourse 3rd or 4th, if at all.

 

[VandoHawk]

Dovasten should be on our rader for our 2nd pick at least. He's that missing small forward link to pair with Wizard. There practically twins with how they look as well. Same mullet, similar size and speed. We need that extra pressure forward in the poppy mould. That way Moorey, Ginni and CMac dont have to change their roles too drastically. Another lightning quick small gives us the best balanced forward line in the comp IMO.

Dovaston may not last to our first pick. Dees seem interested and Essendon have done some work.

He's my preference for our pick. Adds forward pressure and speed, takes pressure off Wiz, and lets us utilise Moore or CMac higher up. It's not a sexy comparison but he's a quicker Lachie Shultz.

I think Dovaston > Sharp > Farrow/Lindsay are my current preferences. Grlj trumps all but even more unlikely to be available.

 

[Roger Rogerson]

Dovaston may not last to our first pick. Dees seem interested and Essendon have done some work.

He's my preference for our pick. Adds forward pressure and speed, takes pressure off Wiz, and lets us utilise Moore or CMac higher up. It's not a sexy comparison but he's a quicker Lachie Shultz.

I think Dovaston > Sharp > Farrow/Lindsay are my current preferences. Grlj trumps all but even more unlikely to be available.

Does Dovaston have X factor?

 

[burner1]

Forget Addinsall, Murray is the one with serious upside and limited exposure. I want us to bid at 22.

Reckon we’d have to bid on him at 10 for a chance suns don’t match. Articles suggesting suns would prioritise Murray over addinsall.

Arguably could be the best mid available at our pick (assuming others are gone) but would be a massive call given his lack of footy this year. But as with most guys we’d have watched years of his footy.

Does feels like we should swing for the fences. We need stars.

 

[DrAbs]

Sorry mate, my original post was wrong. Silly mistakes. Thanks to hawkinoz for pointing it out.


With their current 4,061 points:
• They can comfortably match a bid at pick 2 (2,233pts) and pick 5 (1,616) in succession, but after those two they’d only have 212 points left.
• They cannot then cover a further bid at pick 14 or pick 23 without acquiring additional points/trading/deficit.

So yes, the Hawks could pinch Beau Addinsall.

This is great news. Addinsall looks like a genuine footballer and would suit our style. Tested well too. Given players like Cumming, Sharp, and Grlj are all likely to be gone by our first pick, I would not hesitate to bid on him at Pick 10 (probably 14 after the initial bids).

I can just imagine the outrage it would cause if that happened, and I would absolutely love it. Sam's the type of guy to be ruthless if he has to be, so I really hope he gives MM the nod. Surely Addinsall ranks highly on the club's list.

As for the other two, I wouldn't mind them either. Jai Murray & Jai Newcombe would be a combo! Koby Coulson won GC academy player of the year, which says something.

I just like the look of Addinsall, I think he would complement Day, Nuke, Ward and co. Also, as the post above mentions, I did also hear the Suns would prioritise Murray if it came down to having to let one of the boys go.