2025 Draft Thread

[Bulldogs85]

Ditto Tom Burton, Jets kid I've kept an eye on.

bulldogs supporter that was training with the club during the pre-season

 

[stefoid]

whats the summary of this upcoming draft? what f/s and academy kids are there?

if we have a crack at butters what high picks have we got available in this and future years - what are the rules?

 

[weltschmerz]

whats the summary of this upcoming draft? what f/s and academy kids are there?

Quite weak with many f/s and academy kids. Gold Coast, Brisbane, and Sydney set to make out like bandits. Collingwood and Carlton have first round father-sons too.

 

[JohnnySteel]

talor byrne looks to be getting some attention as a small forward. Good to have another pop up in addition to Dovaston that isn’t club / NGA tied.

 

[weltschmerz]

AFL Draft Power Rankings: July 2025

Rookie Me Central's AFL Draft Power Rankings are in for the month of July, with the post-championships list extended to 30 names.

central.rookieme.com

Taylor, Dovaston, and Farrow would be my top picks

 

[King Harold]

AFL Draft Power Rankings: July 2025

Rookie Me Central's AFL Draft Power Rankings are in for the month of July, with the post-championships list extended to 30 names.

central.rookieme.com

Taylor, Dovaston, and Farrow would be my top picks

Hey Welts , is the Taylor you have on the list above , Ben ?

I saw him play against top of the ladder Diggers Rest a couple of weeks ago in the RDFL .
Played ruck and CHF.
He was outstanding . Looks a very mature kid and no problem mixing against the men.
Reckon he would make a great CHB ? Don’t think you would have to wait too long either.

 

[weltschmerz]

Hey Welts , is the Taylor you have on the list above , Ben ?

I saw him play against top of the ladder Diggers Rest a couple of weeks ago in the RDFL ?
He was outstanding . Looks a very mature kid and no problem mixing against the men.
Reckon he would make a great CHB ? Don’t think you would have to wait too long either.

Xavier. He seems to have it all as a defender, very good man-on-man on smalls and talls plus having some pace and a good boot. I'll look into Ben Taylor though, someone who can play key back against men sounds like he's got a lot going for him.

 

[Euku]

I really like Onley , hugely underrated i think I hope he ends up at the dogs , what are the knocks for those who know more, I can't see any

 

[Dav1d]

I really like Onley , hugely underrated i think I hope he ends up at the dogs , what are the knocks for those who know more, I can't see any

I think those big bodied midfielders are the hardest to place

My personal favourite for this year has been Fred Rodriguez
Not sure if he is a fit for us though but he has a good balance between inside/outside ball winning. Puts the ball in dangerous places and has some legs on him, think his weakness is his hand balling but just stick him in training drills with Libba and I’d hope that weakness would be ironed out

 

[goodcop badcop]

I really like Onley , hugely underrated i think I hope he ends up at the dogs , what are the knocks for those who know more, I can't see any

His defensive game is very poor. Disposal can be inconsistent. I also don't think he has a high ceiling, but I really like his athleticism.

 

[King Harold]

I think those big bodied midfielders are the hardest to place

My personal favourite for this year has been Fred Rodriguez
Not sure if he is a fit for us though but he has a good balance between inside/outside ball winning. Puts the ball in dangerous places and has some legs on him, think his weakness is his hand balling but just stick him in training drills with Libba and I’d hope that weakness would be ironed out

Yep , I’m in .
Never seen him play, but that name is magnificent.

On a more serious note Dav, have you seen Ben Taylor play ?

 

[Dav1d]

Yep , I’m in .
Never seen him play, but that name is magnificent.

On a more serious note Dav, have you seen Ben Taylor play ?

I’m sorry that I have not



Thought I’d put a game where his team got smashed
I’d be interested in your thoughts

 

[King Harold]

I’m sorry that I have not



Thought I’d put a game where his team got smashed
I’d be interested in your thoughts

Yes ,can see the appeal. Your summary is spot on , he’s a little messy with ball handling and needs a little more composure.
But I think he ends up a real bull, certainly hard at it.
Got a good long kick on him also.

 

[Bulldogs85]

AFL Draft: The names to know ahead of draft season

It's just about AFL Draft season, and after the National Championships, a strong crop of top-line prospects are separating themselves from the pack. Here's Jasper Chellappah's top 30 for August.

www.espn.com.au

 

[DognBones]

Yes ,can see the appeal. Your summary is spot on , he’s a little messy with ball handling and needs a little more composure.
But I think he ends up a real bull, certainly hard at it.
Got a good long kick on him also.

Reminds me of George Wardlaw. A nuggety, hard-tackling mid with high energy. Disposal certainly needs tidying up.

 

[Dav1d]

I didn’t like Dovaston much at first, but the more I’ve seen the more there has been to like. Dovaston & Rodriguez are very see ball, get ball type of players and whilst not always pretty going about it, they really have impacts on the game

 

[JohnnySteel]

Dovaston is the type that could come in & impact at AFL quickly with his pressure in particular. We’d all of the sudden have a very formidable small forward brigade in 2026 if we draft him & with the return of Weightman & another pre-season into Dolan to add to one of the best small forwards in the comp in West.

That puts him on the top of the list for me.

 

[weltschmerz]

Dovaston is the type that could come in & impact at AFL quickly with his pressure in particular. We’d all of the sudden have a very formidable small forward brigade in 2026 if we draft him & with the return of Weightman & another pre-season into Dolan to add to one of the best small forwards in the comp in West.

That puts him on the top of the list for me.

It's close between him and Xavier Taylor to me. Taylor seems like a really complete defender who can shut down smalls and tall, rebound, intercept, has a burst of speed.

 

[Dav1d]

It's close between him and Xavier Taylor to me. Taylor seems like a really complete defender who can shut down smalls and tall, rebound, intercept, has a burst of speed.

Damn it, it’s another one to look at

 

[JohnnySteel]

It's close between him and Xavier Taylor to me. Taylor seems like a really complete defender who can shut down smalls and tall, rebound, intercept, has a burst of speed.

Agree - I really like him as well. I just think we have invested in the backline quite abit with Jaques, Sellwood & walker this last year & now Cleary is starting to flourish so I’m not sure if we’d pull the trigger on another defender early on unless we see Jaques continuing to develop as a winger or see Taylor being developed into a mid (which I think could be possible) Would love to have another pick around our range to bring in both with Farrow & Barker other options around that range.

 

[DiamondDogs8]

Dovaston, Farrow, Barker for me

Wonder how far Barker will drop with his ACL

 

[Foxman98]

Dovaston reminds me of Nick Watson without the campaigner personality to go with it

 

[Dav1d]

Why is it such a chore to find the full games of the series, I swear it’s got worse every year since I’ve watched it.

 

[bulldogs201616]

Alright now the season is cooked what players are we hoping get to our pick? NHH or Dovaston if that's how you spell it are my picks if there isn't a key defender

 

[Bald Headed Flog]

Alright now the season is cooked what players are we hoping get to our pick? NHH or Dovaston if that's how you spell it are my picks if there isn't a key defender

Xavier Taylor. Can defend, can intercept, is quick, can kick. This should be enough for us. Not at all interested in small forwards right now, even if Dovaston does look great. Big no to Higgins-Hargreaves, not what we need right now.

We’ve got Weightman to come back in, Dolan looking incredible in the state league and Arty appearing like he’s really turned a corner. That’s enough change up forward, we have to prioritise defence.