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

[FB19]

A death ride thread for F2 picks? Meh, that's the realm of Eagles supporters.

I’ve already told the missus that I have to watch all the dees games with a few beers next year given we hold their f4. As we know list mgt ultimately comes down to securing the right f4.

 

[Kuuz]

Im going to assume that Shubert is the furthest away from a debut and contributing to the list in any meaningful way. Anyone care to guess who will be the first to be named and do something exciting? Any chance any of them to debut in 2026?

1.
2.
3.
4.
5. Shubert

I’d argue the Beast from the East will be a sneaky bet for debut before any of the boys from this years draft.

Shown a good ability to be a role player around the ground at Box Hill.

 

[Dewnior]

Funny you say that as I thought Leary looked the most physically ready out of all of them.

He’s got a pretty solid core to my eye.

You might mean he needs to build his tank up of course which is fair.

The gym is not the best place to build your tank up.

 

[Simon Crawshay]

I’d argue the Beast from the East will be a sneaky bet for debut before any of the boys from this years draft.

Shown a good ability to be a role player around the ground at Box Hill.

Nairn looks a little special to my eye.

Reckon he could be a sneaky chance for a debut fairly soonish.

 

[Dewnior]

Nairn looks a little special to my eye.

Reckon he could be a sneaky chance for a debut fairly soonish.

Yep, he reminds me of Fritsch.

 

[Simon Crawshay]

Yep, he reminds me of Fritsch.

Personally I can’t go past the Tony Hall comparison.

Quite amazing how similiar his game looks to Halls in his heyday.

 

[grumbleguts]

I hadn't heard it either, but I assumed it meant losing lots of money...

What did you think it was? Drugs or alcohol?

I got kicked out of the casino after misunderstanding the function of the craps table.

 

[DrAbs]

Well what an awkward situation we have here?

Greeves haters will have to cope. Do we cheer or do we boo?

Hope he dominates for us. Feel Sammy will push him to his limits and beyond.

If it comes off, this may go down as one of the greatest rookie calls. If not, I'm glad it was a rookie call and not a first round pick! Genius move.

Such a well balanced haul, well done Hawks

 

[DrAbs]

And yet we still get him

Lmao you're a funny lad.

I guess we can agree to disagree then. At least he's not a Cat!

 

[Ka Norkers]

Well what an awkward situation we have here?

Greeves haters will have to cope. Do we cheer or do we boo?

Hope he dominates for us. Feel Sammy will push him to his limits and beyond.

If it comes off, this may go down as one of the greatest rookie calls. If not, I'm glad it was a rookie call and not a first round pick! Genius move.

Such a well balanced haul, well done Hawks

not sure why anybody would be a Greeves "hater", you'd think everyone here is hoping for the best.
he was, however pick 12 in the rookie draft in what was, as we have been continually told, a "weak draft"
so I'm personally not hanging out to see what year he wins his first Brownlow.

 

[kazzooka]

To me Nairn looked like a young Steele Sidebottom

22

Steele Sidebottom

Age

34

Ht

184cm

Wt

86kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

27.4

5star

K

14.1

5star

HB

13.3

5star

M

5.5

5star

T

3.7

5star

CL

3.2

5star

D

24.0

5star

K

12.0

5star

HB

12.0

5star

M

4.5

4star

T

4.3

5star

CL

2.3

4star

D

31.6

5star

K

14.4

5star

HB

17.2

5star

M

4.2

4star

T

4.2

5star

CL

6.0

5star

kicking 10 playing as a forward.

Was destined to be a mid that could do damage forward.

Shubert the project tall, looks pretty composed out there takes his marks up the ground but knows when to give the handball, when to kick long or centre it. Sometimes the tall guys get the ball and don't know where they are. 6th in line behind Gunston, dear, Lewis, Chol, Ramsden. 2 years in I'm still not sure if McCabe is in that group or the other end of wing.

Dalton. Know the least about him and haven't been able to find more than 2 or 3 highlights of him kicking goals surrounded by minutes of dump kicks. Likely the type who looks better watching a full game that flashy stuff. But Nash and Finn trouble me enough with disposal already.

Leroy - really excited about this. Tall marking winger with good long kick. Exactly the type we need. Losing CJ wing is a weak spot for us. People said Brad hill would take years too and that he didn't get enough of the ball. MM is right he keeps his width well, I think he's the type that gets used more in AFL than juniors who don't use the whole ground as well with switching and shuffling defences.

Greeves. If a beast inside, he can go forward and mark. He is a good booming kick. Either he gets that fitness level and becomes a star (this will take time and a few years perhaps as a forward) petracca did this to lose the puppy fat and get more zip and power. Or he will be just not have the body type for it. As a rookie pick you'd be stupid not to try after the incredible year he had. We'd know better than most about him too. I'm unsure if we didn't rare him and highly or if we had some insight that we could get away with waiting till rookie draft.

 

[Ashman23]

Is there any news regarding Kobe Williams?

 

[kazzooka]

not sure why anybody would be a Greeves "hater", you'd think everyone here is hoping for the best.
he was, however pick 12 in the rookie draft in what was, as we have been continually told, a "weak draft"
so I'm personally not hanging out to see what year he wins his first Brownlow.

Weak draft more relates to the top 5 not including talent like delidio, Roughead,tambling, Griffen, Franklin.

Not that pick 25 is worse than Adam hartlett.

 

[ReturningHawk]

The most likely order of debut in my opinion:
1. LeRay
2. Nairn
3. Greeves
4. Dalton
5. Shubert

I reckon LeRay and Nairn are the ones to play outside running roles if we have injuries, and with CJ out there's already a best 22 spot to fill

I reckon Crawshay is on the money. MM mentioned that LeRay might need to work on his running a bit.

Nairn and Dalton look like the ones in line for game-time next year as they run all day. Although you never know with a monumental summer the Shin-guard might be able to crack it!

 

[H00t]

Greeves. If a beast inside, he can go forward and mark. He is a good booming kick. Either he gets that fitness level and becomes a star (this will take time and a few years perhaps as a forward) petracca did this to lose the puppy fat and get more zip and power. Or he will be just not have the body type for it. As a rookie pick you'd be stupid not to try after the incredible year he had. We'd know better than most about him too. I'm unsure if we didn't rare him and highly or if we had some insight that we could get away with waiting till rookie draft.

Not the first time I’ve seen Petracca mentioned in regards to Greeves. Petracca was a freak athletic beast who couldn’t run out games.

Even if Greeves gets incredibly fit he’s not going to come near the athletic profile of Trac. Just different sorts of players. It was inevitable Trac would dominate once he got fit.

With Greeves it only looks like part of the puzzle. Going to take more for him just to make it let alone be a star.

 

[Tomohawks]

Yep, he reminds me of Fritsch.

Yes, but better most likely. Fristch couldn't go up the ground and play on the wing or midfield like Nairn has where he won heaps of the footy. Has some very similar forward traits but he'll end up playing further up the ground where his big engine and ball winning ability is going to help us most.

The flexibility we brought in is insane as LeRay looks to have the same capability just to add to what we already have. We absolutely hit this draft out of the ballpark it appears.

 

[hawkinoz]

If these are true about NHH then what did recruiters see? Given we have 2 rookie spots, did we miss a trick not taking a punt here.

 

[hawkmang]

If these are true about NHH then what did recruiters see? Given we have 2 rookie spots, did we miss a trick not taking a punt here.

We can invite him as a train on player and pick him up as a pre season supplemental player if we want

 

[chippie]

Leray looks like he needs at least 2 years in the gym before we see a debut.

I agree TL92 but most of us also thought the same about Will Day!

 

[chippie]

Is it possible MM prioritised scoping SA talent given Adelaide and Port had poor draft hands? Very clever if so.

Yes, and having had a lengthy career in the SANFL I’m sure he still has contacts with good intel on the young talent over there.

 

[Blackhawk42]

Personally I can’t go past the Tony Hall comparison.

Quite amazing how similiar his game looks to Halls in his heyday.

Since his name was called out, across the draft coverage and internet, he's been compared to...

Jack Gunston
Bailey Fritsch
Mason Wood
Will Hayward
Tim Membrey
Steele Sidebottom
Tony Hall (who admittedly I'm a little too young to remember very well)

I can't remember ever seeing a draftee with such a wide range of player comparisons. None of those two players are the same, and Nairn has been compared to all of them.

Probably why he feels like such an exciting pick.

And to add one more, if he can become a genuine midfield threat, he just might develop into our version of Zac Bailey.
Capable of 10 scoring shots in a big final, or 25+ clean disposals out of the midfield on any given day.

 

[FB19]

Yeah the NHH lack of drafting is a mystery he’s certainly far more worthy than many picked on the field and all the talk off the field is positive. I even heard he was doing extra training with some AFL players prior to the draft. We had rookie spots for him and I was hoping for both Greeves and NHH that would have been some hail from a talent perspective. I’m at a loss here will be interesting to see what if anything comes into the public domain to explain it.

 

[Bremner20]

Well what an awkward situation we have here?

Greeves haters will have to cope. Do we cheer or do we boo?

Hope he dominates for us. Feel Sammy will push him to his limits and beyond.

If it comes off, this may go down as one of the greatest rookie calls. If not, I'm glad it was a rookie call and not a first round pick! Genius move.

Such a well balanced haul, well done Hawks

Does he have really glaring deficiencies or did we just do a real good job of hiding him ??? There seems to be more excitement and hype on SM around us picking him up in the RD than there is the guys we picked up in the first and early 2nd rounds.

 

[Threadkilla]

Yeah the NHH lack of drafting is a mystery he’s certainly far more worthy than many picked on the field and all the talk off the field is positive. I even heard he was doing extra training with some AFL players prior to the draft. We had rookie spots for him and I was hoping for both Greeves and NHH that would have been some hail from a talent perspective. I’m at a loss here will be interesting to see what if anything comes into the public domain to explain it.

I didn’t follow the lead up to the draft enough to have an opinion. I did hear a coach (Gipplsand?) on the radio talking up Duursma and a few other kids a day or two before the draft. Was asked about NHH and really struggled with o talk him up. Paraphrasing here, but said something along the lines that he goes well when he’s switched on.

 

[Simon Crawshay]

Since his name was called out, across the draft coverage and internet, he's been compared to...

Jack Gunston
Bailey Fritsch
Mason Wood
Will Hayward
Tim Membrey
Steele Sidebottom
Tony Hall (who admittedly I'm a little too young to remember very well)

I can't remember ever seeing a draftee with such a wide range of player comparisons. None of those two players are the same, and Nairn has been compared to all of them.

Probably why he feels like such an exciting pick.

And to add one more, if he can become a genuine midfield threat, he just might develop into our version of Zac Bailey.
Capable of 10 scoring shots in a big final, or 25+ clean disposals out of the midfield on any given day.

Go and look at some of Tony Halls highlights on youtube (especially the overhead marking) and you will see what I mean