Preview 2026 National Draft Thread

[chubbspeterson]

definitely not the most physical at this early stage, but I haven't seen anything to suggest he is soft.

Very raw physically, but from what I've been told both he and Bradley tested really well in pre -season testing so the two of them have a good athletic base to build from.

He looks like a bit of a gazelle athlete with real neat kicking skills for a tall.
I just haven't seen him use his body much in the contest or take the body and the ball with a spoil yet.
Most of his intercepts that I saw were more when he was just too tall and read the flight of the ball.

 

[chubbspeterson]

Oh no. That's terrible news. Likely means Malady, LeCras, Houndsome and Spawton-Guy's draft stocks will keep on rising.

 

[giantroo]

 

[Sphynx]

This is good for us.

More of this please, as selfish and cynical as I can be..

 

[Rooboys Rool]

Bloody hell that sucks.

Feel like it’s much more of a risk to take a tall who has done an ACL compared to smaller player.

With pick 7, North Melbourne selects…

 

[koshari]

With pick 7, North Melbourne selects…

pick 7! you banking on 6 academy and FS bids?

 

[Rooboys Rool]

pick 7! you banking on 6 academy and FS bids?

No no no, not at all.

5

 

[noobermensch]

A strong first up performance from Clancy Snell, leading a defensive unit that stifled their opponents and dominated in the air. Snell showed excellent judgement of the ball in flight along with a willingness to launch fearlessly, taking a couple of strong contested grabs and disrupting his opponents when he couldn't get hands on it himself. He was constructive with the ball, highlighted by a number of long and accurate kicked up to the wings.

 

[My Left Foote]

This is good for us.

More of this please, as selfish and cynical as I can be..

Please excuse my naivety but how is this good for us?

 

[giantroo]

 

[Sphynx]

Please excuse my naivety but how is this good for us?

He’s likely going to be the #1 pick outside of Cochrane or Walker if he plays the entire year.

Based on our games against WC and Essendon I think we finish bottom 5 still.

If he has a few injuries there is a very slim chance he is there at that pick.

HVH recorded a 102cm vertical at the preseason testing. That is Nic Natanui type verticality and he is a mix between Riley Thilthorpe and Luke Jackson in terms of a prospect. He’s a much more of a power forward than Jackson, but a much more athletic rudk than Thilthorpe when in there.

In a season you can see how the ruck has changed for jumping in the middle…

He will be hot property.

 

[JUST NORTH]

if Da

He’s likely going to be the #1 pick outside of Cochrane or Walker if he plays the entire year.

Based on our games against WC and Essendon I think we finish bottom 5 still.

If he has a few injuries there is a very slim chance he is there at that pick.

HVH recorded a 102cm vertical at the preseason testing. That is Nic Natanui type verticality and he is a mix between Riley Thilthorpe and Luke Jackson in terms of a prospect. He’s a much more of a power forward than Jackson, but a much more athletic rudk than Thilthorpe when in there.

In a season you can see how the ruck has changed for jumping in the middle…

He will be hot property.

if Darcy Wilson is actually seriously considering our rumoured offer,than this thread is of no use because our first pick will be traded to the saints

 

[noobermensch]

A much quieter game from Arki this week, but when you're a top 5 prospect the bad will get scrutinized along with the good. He played more through the midfield than forward but struggled to get into the game in either role. He did have a couple of instances where his pace and disposal were able to cut through, but those were few and far between.

 

[noobermensch]

Huge numbers from Noah Williams who seemed to be involved in everything. His repeat efforts in contested situations is a real standout trait, and his tackling pressure in particular was immense here. His ability to damage with the ball continues to be somewhat stifled in the closer confines of the inside midfield role, so it'll be interesting to watch if he can find more space on the spread as the season progresses.

 

[noobermensch]

A real day out for Seb Marsic who almost single handedly kicked the Chargers to victory with his big bag of seven goals. He presented strongly all game and took a couple of really nice contested marks, but absolutely maximized the chances that came his way on the day, and it'll be interesting to see if he can back up this performance going forward. The most impressive part of his game might have been the tackling pressure he applied which is valuable trait for a modern tall forward.

 

[spurs]

I love the fact that JHFF left us to join Port who are now in a terrible situation list wise and we are starting to look healthy. On top of that Poooort will need to pay more for Cochrane, Zemes Pilot and Louis Salopek who are all top 10 picks over the next 2 years with changes to bids in the upcoming drafts

 

[noobermensch]

A second straight strong performance to start the year for Jackson Phillips, playing a significant role as his Stingrays registered a convincing win over the highly fancied Gippsland Power. Phillips powerful movement through congestion is a point of difference in his game, and he plays with a physical edge. He found more of the footy this week, though perhaps wasn't quite as damaging by foot.

 

[roos_fanatic08]

A second straight strong performance to start the year for Jackson Phillips, playing a significant role as his Stingrays registered a convincing win over the highly fancied Gippsland Power. Phillips powerful movement through congestion is a point of difference in his game, and he plays with a physical edge. He found more of the footy this week, though perhaps wasn't quite as damaging by foot.

He is on my watch list. Reminds me a little bit of Luke Parker with the way he attacks the contest. Can't teach that physicality/competitiveness.

Any chance we could get an Archive Devine (TAS) highlight reel from round 1 or 2? Plenty around here would be curious to see considering he is a North NGA.

 

[noobermensch]

He is on my watch list. Reminds me a little bit of Luke Parker with the way he attacks the contest. Can't teach that physicality/competitiveness.

Any chance we could get an Archive Devine (TAS) highlight reel from round 1 or 2? Plenty around here would be curious to see considering he is a North NGA.

Still too many high end prospects to get into the more "exotic" types yet. I'm sure I'll get to him once the Talent League starts to cool off a bit.

 

[DunderHead]

We have two NGA’s this year from memory that Archie Devine and another bloke playing for TAS - Jess Bual?? Does anyone know much about how they are travelling?

 

[Lomas]

We have two NGA’s this year from memory that Archie Devine and another bloke playing for TAS - Jess Bual?? Does anyone know much about how they are travelling?

They aren’t, fuel restrictions

 

[King Hansen]

We have two NGA’s this year from memory that Archie Devine and another bloke playing for TAS - Jess Bual?? Does anyone know much about how they are travelling?

#6 Archie Devine (North Melbourne NGA)
Defender/Midfielder | 181cm | 13/02/2008

Stats: 23 disposals, 7 marks, 6 tackles

Played a little higher this week for the Devils with Beams taking the bulk of the kickouts. It enabled Devine to still find plenty of the ball, though he often marked in between the thirds and looked to drive the ball forward. He worked back into defence to help out when required and is no stranger to the give-and-go. However he also cracked in and won a few crucial contested touches, and finished with a fairly high efficiency to-boot.

#7 Jess Bula (North Melbourne NGA)
Forward | 186cm | 09/02/2008

Stats: 9 disposals, 5 marks, 5 tackles, 2 goals

While his stats don’t jump off the page, Bula made just about every touch turn to gold. He used his body well one-on-one, clunked some great grabs, and also brought an enormous amount of heat to the front half of the ground. His balance of offensive and defensive capabilities were on show, and the North Melbourne NGA member got reward for his effort in the last term, booting two goals with the game on the line and essentially becoming a match-winner. Classy finisher.

Scouting Notes: 2026 Talent League - Round 2

Round 2 of the Talent League saw prospects produce breakout games, and stand up in the absence of key personnel.

central.rookieme.com

 

[Ichiro #51]

I’m only just getting around to having a look at this year’s crop. Looking very strong to me overall, both with individual talent and the level of the early games.

There could be some really interesting shenanigans come the second half of the season with the combination of the wildcard top 10, upcoming Tassie drafts, potentially extra end of round 1 picks, and two of the teams with high end f/s needing as much draft capital as possible (and likely to be near the bottom).

 

[RooInNorthLondon]

if Da

if Darcy Wilson is actually seriously considering our rumoured offer,than this thread is of no use because our first pick will be traded to the saints

If we trade a first for a player who has gone backwards since he showed flashes as a rookie and is an abysmal kick we deserve every bad thing that happens to us after that.

 

[noobermensch]

A first look at the prolific Jacob McNicol who's started off the AAMI Talent League with a bang, racking up possessions and kicking goals for fun over the first three weeks of the season. McNicol plays the classic junior footy mid/fwd role for Glenelg, and a significant portion of their forward thrust comes from his classy left boot, directly kicking goals himself or setting up his teammates inside F50. He did sky a few kicks where a bit more composure would have been nice, but when you kick the ball 28 times the odds are you'll get a few wrong.

Unfortunately, the broadcast was quite choppy at times, so we probably missed a few of his moments.