List Mgmt. 2026 Draftee/NGA/FS Discussion

[Keys]

https://archive.md/QL0xc

Article provides a brief description of the most likely draft hopefuls from the WA Colts system - including the following West Coast Father/Sons and NGA tied players listed below:

Spoiler: Harper Banfield (181cm, midfielder/forward)

The son of two-time premiership Eagle Drew and younger brother of St Kilda draftee Charlie, Harper is hoping to become the Banfield’s latest AFL star. He’s smaller than his brother, but he’s a competitor with elite endurance. His sprinting and agility have also improved significantly in the last six months, suiting a half-forward, midfield role.

Spoiler: Robert Farmer (179cm, forward)

Farmer is out for revenge in 2026 after missing Claremont’s premiership. The West Coast NGA prospect kicked nine goals from seven games as a bottom-age player and he was also a train-on with the State 18s quad.

Spoiler: Noah Braun (183cm, midfielder)

The son of 2006 West Coast premiership player Michael, Noah is a goalkicking midfielder-forward who has had some big games for Claremont last year. Is pushing to make WA’s 18s squad after missing out on the summer training block.

Spoiler: Garrison Kenh (181cm, defender)

An attacking halfback who is part of West Coast’s Next Generation Academy, Kenh announced himself as one to watch a couple of years ago after winning WA’s MVP award at the Under-16 national championships. Originally from Liberia in West Africa, Kenh takes the game on with his speed and agility. He’s also trained with West Coast as part of national academy commitments.

Spoiler: Lachlan McGlade (177cm, forward)

Exciting, agile and crafty, McGlade is everything you want in a small forward. The Eagles NGA prospect likes to take the game on with his run and carry, making him one of the Royals’ most exciting players to watch. Kicked five in one game last year and will be hoping another good start to the year will cement his spot in the state squad.

Spoiler: Cody Lee (193cm, forward)

Is linked to West Coast as an NGA prospect and the Eagles would be pleased with Lee’s development. The developing tall has grown a few centimetres of late and grown into his body. His athleticism has been on show at summer squad training, finishing third in the running vertical leap at pre-season testing.

Spoiler: Jamayson Ketchup (178cm, forward)

Another Eagles NGA prospect, Ketchup isn’t just another condiment. The electric forward has an unbelievable work rate, clean skills and he always knows where the goals are. Ketchup plays his best footy at half-forward, but he can also push into the midfield when needed.

Spoiler: Kyle Perera (170cm, forward)

The West Coast NGA prospect missed most of last year with a stress fracture in his back but made an impact in the last four games of the season. Perera has been training with the State summer squad and his smarts and speed make him one to watch.

Spoiler: Lorenze Cole

The West Coast NGA prospect is known for his speed, power and X-factor. The Karratha product played in the State trial game recently and will be one to watch this year.

Spoiler: David Shanahan

Not mentioned in the article, but is a potential KPD from Swan Districts in our NGA who was on the radar of some posters last year

 

[Happy Mastenator]

We now have the numbers, and hope. We dont have a proven match winning midfield yet.

Exactly, that's why said we need to add top end talent, we have the numbers to find enough foot soldiers.

 

[WCE777]

Presuming we add Harper, we will then have him, Duursma, Harley, Allen, Allan, Gross, Hall and Fred all 21yo or under midfielders. Add Davis as a winger and that’s 9 mids 21yo and under. Will another 18 yo mid be a good idea at the end of the year or should we try and use that pick for a more established one or combination of players.

I wouldn’t be using a top 3 pick on a KPD, We’ve shown we can spot and develop them with later picks. Stirling is a very good fit for us.

I don’t think Brockman has the discipline to be regularly contribute at AFL level. Our small forwards should come from the above, add in Champion, maybe Farmer and possibly Long now that his knee is right.

Long post.

While I tend to agree with your 9 mids under 21, I feel we are 1 elite mid short of an explosive, dynamic league leading 8-10 year midfield.

The A grade mids are HR & Duursma and everyone else at this stage looks to be solid B grades, Hewett has the potential to be an A if he continues his progression.

All young and developing but I am going to put Banfield/Allen/Allan/Gross/Hall/Fred as B grades and possibly at least 3 not making it as full time mids/rotation mids and 2 making it elsewhere on the ground.

Davis is developing into a very good wing but like the others mentioned are more likely to make it as HF/HB rotation mids at AFL level.

It is commonly regarded that half the midfielders make as full time mids and the better talented ones from that group that don't make it there develop a strong career somewhere else on the field.

Take what I regard as the best midfield and bats deeper than all others is BRI, ther next gen 27yo and under mids are J Berry who is a wing, Z Bailey HF/mid, Cam Rayner highly regarded but is now a HF, Fletcher who is now a HB/mid.

Berry is probably B Allan.
Bailey is probably Hewett/Allen.
Rayner was regarded as a Dusty/Petracca and is probably the disappointment of that group.
Fletcher is a HB with wing potential because of the stacked midfield.

Then they have 2 Ashcroft's that are elite that we don't have, cue draft 1 more elite mid.

I think drafting rucks/KP players in the top 10 rarely returns a good investment. We have 1 in CDT.
Especially as the midfield drives most plays.
I think with A Reid/CDT our KP/Rucks are well spent and we have them, go hard at 1 more mid and fill in the holes in the list with KPD's x 2 and best available talent.

If there is something out there available in the 21-23yo group that can fill out our list I would have a serious crack at them but as we know it is almost impossible to attract these players to WA without some connection to us.
This is why drafting a top 5 mid in 2026 is probably the most likely outcome to develop.

I am not saying pay a top 3 pick on a KPD, plenty of great players been selected after the 1st round.
Brockman is a bust unfortunately, Champion/T Williams/Farmer/McGlade or another NGA will fill a couple of exciting SF spots.

 

[WestCoast17]

Garrison Kenh, Harper Banfield, and Robert Farmer are the 3 NGA/FS boys training with the squad. Will be there at the open session on Wednesday

 

[Avalor]

Garrison Kenh, Harper Banfield, and Robert Farmer are the 3 NGA/FS boys training with the squad. Will be there at the open session on Wednesday

All three should be in the blue and gold in 2027.

 

[Elite Pete]

Garrison Kenh, Harper Banfield, and Robert Farmer are the 3 NGA/FS boys training with the squad. Will be there at the open session on Wednesday

McGlade a little unlucky but I guess you can’t have them all out there with already such a big squad.

 

[Elite Pete]

Koby Le Cras will also be training with us as part of the National academy

 

[Eastcoasteagle]

Koby Le Cras will also be training with us as part of the National academy

Top WA draft prospects to train with Freo, Eagles - WA Football

Some of Western Australia’s top AFL draft prospects will get the opportunity to train with Fremantle and West Coast over the pre-season.

wafootball.com.au

This one says Harper Banfield also gets 3 weeks with us.

 

[juice568]

Who was wearing 14 at training today

 

[WestCoast17]

Who was wearing 14 at training today

That was Robert Farmer

 

[eagleyed25]

Garrison Kenh, Harper Banfield, and Robert Farmer are the 3 NGA/FS boys training with the squad. Will be there at the open session on Wednesday

How did the boys go, with anyone who may have gone along to watch?
Well done to the chosen boys, but it is all quite predictable with these boys being selected. I thought now that the NGA rules have changed they may have some older/overage boys included who come with more mature minds and bodies. Hopefully as the season commences more boys are looked at and given opportunities.

 

[Keys]

https://archive.is/liBO7

Bit of a write up by Splinters in the West on the top draft prospects from WA based on information provided by Adam Jones (WA talent manager)

Garrison Kenh gets a mention along with Koby LeCras, Benji Van Rooyen, Lucas Robinson, Cooper Ramsay and Heath Mellody (rated as WA’s best prospect). No mention of Harper Banfield or any of other NGAs besides Kenh

 

[eaglevision]

https://archive.is/liBO7

Bit of a write up by Splinters in the West on the top draft prospects from WA based on information provided by Adam Jones (WA talent manager)

Garrison Kenh gets a mention along with Koby LeCras, Benji Van Rooyen, Lucas Robinson, Cooper Ramsay and Heath Mellody (rated as WA’s best prospect). No mention of Harper Banfield or any of other NGAs besides Kenh

Surprising but also not surprising stickdick didn’t mention Mellody’s speed/endurance mix.

Robinson must be viewed more poorly than face value amongst recruiters if he didn’t make the academy squad and isn’t listed as WA’s leading prospect.

 

[Choogler]

Will be goneski if Banfield gets games for Saints and shows he will make it.

and what if those he picked instead all turn out better TBH, while I would have liked Banfield for sentimental reasons, it was the academy kid Koby Evans interested me more. He was reputed to be the best of our NGA's but copped injuries and slid.

 

[Choogler]

Nice to see a much better representation from WA on that list

Not so nice to see 5 of the top 11 (and 15 overall) tied to clubs - albeit there’s 3 tied to us which is a positive

Expect the bidding rules to be tightened even further for 2026 which will make it harder to match bids, particularly on multiple players. The main potential adjustments I’ve seen mentioned are:
• Reducing/eliminating the 10% discount
• Only being allowed to use a maximum of 2 picks to match a bid
• Extending the required 1:1 ratio of draft picks to list posts into the draft itself rather than discarding it once the draft starts - would mean all those pick swaps Gold Coast did would be either impossible to do or far more difficult

If those changes were brought in for this year, Gold Coast would have seriously struggled to match the bids on Uwland and Patterson, let alone Murray and Addinsall.

New rules will make it harder for us unfortunately, but I think it’s better for the competition overall

My understanding is the new rules will be announced this year

Just the removal of the discount would have seen them struggle to get one of Addinsall or Murray. Extra points they'd have needed were Uwland (248 = Pick 39), Patterson (180 = Pick 43), Murray (83 = Pick 49) and Addinsall (80 = Pick 49-50). All up, they'd have needed 591 pts more, or pick 25.

I'm not sure we need to complicate it anymore than just removing the discount.

 

[Knifey Spoony]

Anyone know where Wes Walley ended up? Has plenty of talent, hope he has a good year.

 

[eaglevision]

Anyone know where Wes Walley ended up? Has plenty of talent, hope he has a good year.

Train on with Carlton.

 

[noobermensch]

Back in the chair after a bit of an extended break. Still in off season mode so the video will be sporadic, getting more frequent as we build up to the new season.

Here we have a look at Garrison Kenh, one of the top prospects for WA from their upcoming crop. In this game he shows his poise with the ball, evasiveness and ability to impact in contested situations.

 

[Jaygee1976]

From what's out there I tend to agree with your comments.
I feel we need to draft 1 more elite mid to finish the midfield.
1 of the below would be fantastic and add H Banfield as a role playing mid.

Butler is an X factor player if he can convert that to midfield he will go pick 1 of the non-aligned players.
Van Dyke looks every bit a top 5 mid in the open pool.
K Edwards looks to be the balanced mid of the group, very much in the S Cumming mould.

KPD options in order at this early stage look more plentiful.
Kale Mathews-Hampton/197/SA
Xavier Ladbrook/200/KP UTILITY/Vic C
Mitch Stirling/195/WA
Tate Hodgson/193/Vic M
Shanahan looks like he will get through to a late selection, highly dependant on his year and potential upside.

Kenh and McGlade would be the priorities of the NGA group and Harper Banfield looks to be the better Banfield and probably comes in as that role player type at this early stage, better skills than C Hall.

We do lack an X factor SF but hopefully McGlade or T Williams can develop or another NGA.

agree with you that Kenh would be a priority but not sure I would put McGlade in front of other players in that NGA group

 

[unty11]

Anyone know where Wes Walley ended up? Has plenty of talent, hope he has a good year.

Train on at Carlton. Yeah I rated him as well was hoping we'd select him.

 

[Eastern Rangers]

Surprising but also not surprising stickdick didn’t mention Mellody’s speed/endurance mix.

Robinson must be viewed more poorly than face value amongst recruiters if he didn’t make the academy squad and isn’t listed as WA’s leading prospect.

Recruiters get to see his efficiency and disposal stats. His ball use is lower tier.

 

[Keys]

Got my first look at Garrison Kenh today who had some decent minutes in the matchsim playing off half back

Liked what I saw. Moved nicely with good pace and well balanced. Disposal was tidy and he had one stellar pass to hit up a leading Koby LeCras

Salivating at the prospect of him teaming up with Josh Lindsay across half back for the next decade

 

[JogOn234]

Give me the best available mid with Kenh and a rock solid KPD prospect and I’ll be happy. Will be time to hit FA soon enough.

 

[squashface]

Got my first look at Garrison Kenh today who had some decent minutes in the matchsim playing off half back

Liked what I saw. Moved nicely with good pace and well balanced. Disposal was tidy and he had one stellar pass to hit up a leading Koby LeCras

Salivating at the prospect of him teaming up with Josh Lindsay across half back for the next decade

We probably won't match the bid along with Harper Banfield because we've given Cripps another contract and have no list spots

 

[eaglevision]

Just some brief notes on the players I’m watching this year to fill two list needs in the midfield and KPD although more will emerge. A caveat on the KPDs that it’s hard to make too many comments due to lack of exposure.

MIDS (1R/ early 2R)

Arki Butler (MID/FWD 180cm) fast, good skills, goal kicker but can he transition to FT mid

Archie Van Dyk (MID 188cm) great size, good clearance work

Heath Mellody (MID 181cm) speed/tank mix, good kick

Noah Williams (MID 176cm) fast, small, left foot

Kodah Edwards (MID/FWD 183cm) inside, clearance work, kicks goals

KPDs

Harry Van Hattum (FWD/RUCK 206cm) athletic monster, hasn’t played much KPD

Tate Hodgson (193cm) rebounder, good kick

Xavier Ladbrook (200cm) mobile, good skills and ground ball

Mitchell Stirling (196cm) aggressive, local, good 1v1 defender, seems more a FB

Kale Mathews-Hampton (198cm) left footer, transitions, good contested mark, good body work and athletic

Charlie Bovill (192cm) I also like but see him as a KPF and think he ends up at Tassie

David Shanahan (196cm) I have pencilled in for a Cat B spot

 

[Happy Mastenator]

Just some brief notes on the players I’m watching this year to fill two list needs in the midfield and KPD although more will emerge. A caveat on the KPDs that it’s hard to make too many comments due to lack of exposure.

MIDS (1R/ early 2R)

Arki Butler (MID/FWD 180cm) fast, good skills, goal kicker but can he transition to FT mid

Archie Van Dyk (MID 188cm) great size, good clearance work

Heath Mellody (MID 181cm) speed/tank mix, good kick

Noah Williams (MID 176cm) fast, small, left foot

Kodah Edwards (MID/FWD 183cm) inside, clearance work, kicks goals

KPDs

Harry Van Hattum (FWD/RUCK 206cm) athletic monster, hasn’t played much KPD

Tate Hodgson (193cm) rebounder, good kick

Xavier Ladbrook (200cm) mobile, good skills and ground ball

Mitchell Stirling (196cm) aggressive, local, good 1v1 defender, seems more a FB

Kale Mathews-Hampton (198cm) left footer, transitions, good contested mark, good body work and athletic

Charlie Bovill (192cm) I also like but see him as a KPF and think he ends up at Tassie

David Shanahan (196cm) I have pencilled in for a Cat B spot

Harry Van Hattum, along with Van Rooyen, sound like potential long term ruck solutions (in conjunction with CDT) given that is still a massive issue for us, that would be happy to take either with our second rounder, or if they are worth it, our first (if no gun mid is available).