Rumour GFC 2025 Player Trading, Drafting FA, Rumours and Wish lists Pt 3

[cats_09]

2025 AFL Draft and Trade Dates:​

Fri Oct 3 - Fri Oct 10: 2025 Free Agency Period
Mon Oct 6 - Wed Oct 15: 2025 Continental Tyres AFL Trade Period
Wed Nov 19 - Thu Nov 20: 2025 Telstra AFL Draft

 

[Footy Smarts]

His finals were very average

If you think his PF was "very average" you either didn't watch or you just flat out hate him. He was good by any standard and exceptional compared to his prior level.

The GF was a step back but it was still probably better than most of his games and basically ok.

 

[D BRIDGE]

Barring a bad injury run, I think we are looking good for 2026 in terms of being a competitive top 4 team. Of course we could do with another gun midfielder (hi Zak) but we have good depth across all lines except for the ruck.

FB: ZGuthrie SDK O’Connor
HB: Stewart Henry Humphries
C: Blicavs Smith Dempsey
R: Stanley Holmes Atkins
HF: Mannagh Cameron Miers
FF: Stengle Neal Danger

Int: Bowes Worpel Close O’Sullivan Mullin

Depth:
B: Kolo, Bews
Mid: Bruin Clark Knevitt Stevens
R : Edwards Conway
F: OHenry Martin Wiltshire

Solid team.

I'd probably have Kolo in for MOC (if fully ready to go) as he has proven to be a top-notch, versatile defender for a long time.

Otherwise, that team looks hard to argue with, unless there's some big preseason spikes from the likes of Bruhn, Henry, Martin or even Edwards/Conway.

 

[D BRIDGE]

Average in a September is a giant step forward from what we'd seen so far.
baby steps it may be.... But steps in the right direction IMO.
Being as positive as i can be TBH.
Here's to a giant leap in 2026 for all of us to eat some humble pie.
Coz that would be great for all... even those of us who have been doubting Thomas's in the young fella.

Yeah, any game where Clark isn't an absolute liability seems to get the tick of approval.

The bar is set pretty low for a top 10 draft pick.

Fingers crossed for a huge leap in 2026... Can't see it happening.

 

[Gee Class Loco]

Yeah, any game where Clark isn't an absolute liability seems to get the tick of approval.

The bar is set pretty low for a top 10 draft pick.

Fingers crossed for a huge leap in 2026... Can't see it happening.

Neither can i but then again I didn't see Tommy Atkins being Tommy Fricken Atkins that he is now lol.

 

[ChrisLOA]

Nobody wants to drafr those types anymore. They are fast becoming dinosauric prototypes of the past. The game is trending towards athletic traits as opposed to traditional footballers.

God given traits are more a thing than ever before.

You can get 30 touches a week as a slow big bodied mid, but unfortuantely recruiters would rather take the skinny explosive quick kid who can run a 2.9 sec 20m, has a high vertical jump, but only gets 15 touches a game.

Athletic traits are valued above natural footy traits

I can mostly agree with this. On Sunday my son attended the South East Juniors Inter-league tryouts (Phase 1) and while the first day was looking who actually has footy skills, the head of the program made it clear that to progress to the next stage (Phase 2) the kids have to be able to demonstrate skill execution under heavy fatigue and pressure. So the next 2 weeks is 800m and Beep test then skills drills. It's pretty extreme for u15s, but the emphasis is skill execution under duress. If you can't cope with that demand you get cut. I suspect that this is something that recruiters at AFL level also look at: Skills under pressure! #shrug

 

[year of the cat]

I can mostly agree with this. On Sunday my son attended the South East Juniors Inter-league tryouts (Phase 1) and while the first day was looking who actually has footy skills, the head of the program made it clear that to progress to the next stage (Phase 2) the kids have to be able to demonstrate skill execution under heavy fatigue and pressure. So the next 2 weeks is 800m and Beep test then skills drills. It's pretty extreme for u15s, but the emphasis is skill execution under duress. If you can't cope with that demand you get cut. I suspect that this is something that recruiters at AFL level also look at: Skills under pressure! #shrug

He play in the SMJFL?

 

[Tony Barber]

I suspect that Bartel is a vastly better athlete than what we may give him credit for.

So was Ling.
I remember Harvey talking about being tagged by Ling.

It went something like "we were two minutes in. First ball up. He had his hands on his knees and was breathing like it was his last breath. And I thought 'I've got him'. In the last quarter he was still doing it and I'd never got space on him for the whole game"

 

[Lana]

So was Ling.
I remember Harvey talking about being tagged by Ling.

It went something like "we were two minutes in. First ball up. He had his hands on his knees and was breathing like it was his last breath. And I thought 'I've got him'. In the last quarter he was still doing it and I'd never got space on him for the whole game"

Funny quote,

One from Wells

“He did do a 16 beep (test). He did play in the midfield, I was lucky enough to be here one day when he did get 30 possessions playing on what is now GMHBA Stadium playing for the Geelong Falcons.”

 

[foxdog50]

Im not sure who will miss out. But we will add Bruhn and Worpel to our team.
The more Midfielders we have in our side, the better chance we can go all the way..
We rely so heavily on 3 midfielders in Atkins, Smith And Holmes.
You look at all the past winners they have 6-8 players that can go in and out of our Midfield, we rely heavily on our 3

 

[Tony Barber]

Im not sure who will miss out. But we will add Bruhn and Worpel to our team.
The more Midfielders we have in our side, the better chance we can go all the way..
We rely so heavily on 3 midfielders in Atkins, Smith And Holmes.
You look at all the past winners they have 6-8 players that can go in and out of our Midfield, we rely heavily on our 3

The positive is that if Bruhn, Clark, and Worpel work. We are going to have collateral (I'm thinking forwards) to hand over to Port next year.

 

[Burtyl78]

Barring a bad injury run, I think we are looking good for 2026 in terms of being a competitive top 4 team. Of course we could do with another gun midfielder (hi Zak) but we have good depth across all lines except for the ruck.

FB: ZGuthrie SDK O’Connor
HB: Stewart Henry Humphries
C: Blicavs Smith Dempsey
R: Stanley Holmes Atkins
HF: Mannagh Cameron Miers
FF: Stengle Neal Danger

Int: Bowes Worpel Close O’Sullivan Mullin

Depth:
B: Kolo, Bews
Mid: Bruin Clark Knevitt Stevens
R : Edwards Conway
F: OHenry Martin Wiltshire

Kolo plays, he’s only 30, releases the other defenders…. Bank it

 

[Warhorse]

Never thought I would say this but after this years disaster.. welcome back Bruhn

 

[iameviljez]

So was Ling.
I remember Harvey talking about being tagged by Ling.

It went something like "we were two minutes in. First ball up. He had his hands on his knees and was breathing like it was his last breath. And I thought 'I've got him'. In the last quarter he was still doing it and I'd never got space on him for the whole game"

Yeah, exactly. And they are both 6'1, 6'2. They just 'look' like unathletic traditional footballers, because they are merely very athletically gifted, rather than extremely athletically gifted.

The average male height for age 25-34 in Australia is 179cm. That's Short Bloke Central in AFL terms.

 

[ChrisLOA]

He play in the SMJFL?

South East Juniors. He plays for Narre Warren Juniors. He turned 14 in July. Just got nominated to represent the team for Inter-League matches. Every club nominate 4 players every year for tryouts. On Sunday there were about 130 u15s and u16s boys mixed together, some of them were big units! As expected, a lot of scratchy kicking, given that nearly all of the boys hadn't touched a footy since the end of the season.

 

[strauchnyy]

With 19 I’d go Ludowke. Looks skilful , has forward craft and big shoulders to fill into. High upside type that will be ready even Jezza decides to finish up. Will be a great partner with Neale.

40 Id go Riley Onley. This kid reminds me of Freijah. 195cm mid that moves well with speed and power. A great mark and the type of mid we lack.

 

[D BRIDGE]

40 Id go Riley Onley. This kid reminds me of Freijah. 195cm mid that moves well with speed and power. A great mark and the type of mid we lack.

Never heard of him but just took a look... Geez, he has something about the way he moves for a guy that size... also has bulk and isn't just a skinny/tall, fast kid.

He doesn't even look like he is going fast (looking at his legs) but can maintain a gap and go from a stand-still to creating space in a few steps (rate it).

Being able to get past guys going left and straighten, even for a small player is a rare thing, and he does it multiple times in below vid.

Love the look of his movement... No idea about if he can accumulate, or just play in general... but I'm sold on his frame/movement alone. Upside looks to be there for sure.

Surely a player with those attributes doesn't get into the 40's in a weak draft.

George Steven's height, but with breakway ability. What am I missing here?

Youtube link: Is impressive.

 

[Reg Hickey]

Solid team.

I'd probably have Kolo in for MOC (if fully ready to go) as he has proven to be a top-notch, versatile defender for a long time.

Otherwise, that team looks hard to argue with, unless there's some big preseason spikes from the likes of Bruhn, Henry, Martin or even Edwards/Conway.

If there's one thing we can be sure of, its that the team will change more than we think. Happens every year.

Unless we have an injury or two in the backline, I'm not sure Kolo is a walk up start either.

 

[Kobe Gryant]

Never heard of him but just took a look... Geez, he has something about the way he moves for a guy that size... also has bulk and isn't just a skinny/tall, fast kid.

He doesn't even look like he is going fast (looking at his legs) but can maintain a gap and go from a stand-still to creating space in a few steps (rate it).

Being able to get past guys going left and straighten, even for a small player is a rare thing, and he does it multiple times in below vid.

Love the look of his movement... No idea about if he can accumulate, or just play in general... but I'm sold on his frame/movement alone. Upside looks to be there for sure.

Surely a player with those attributes doesn't get into the 40's in a weak draft.

George Steven's height, but with breakway ability. What am I missing here?

Youtube link: Is impressive.

Can't kick and no composure.

It'll come down to which club backs themselves in to develop those deficiencies, but they tend to be terminal.

The difference with a kid like Freijah is he's a beautiful kick who can make time stand still. How he snuck through is beyond me.

 

[D BRIDGE]

If there's one thing we can be sure of, its that the team will change more than we think. Happens every year.

Unless we have an injury or two in the backline, I'm not sure Kolo is a walk up start either.

If fully fit, I'd be shocked if Kolo isn't a regular lock in the backline... but time will tell.

 

[D BRIDGE]

Can't kick and no composure.

It'll come down to which club backs themselves in to develop those deficiencies, but they tend to be terminal.

The difference with a kid like Freijah is he's a beautiful kick who can make time stand still. How he snuck through is beyond me.

The kick was a bit iffy for sure... but there were a bunch of times when he settled and hit the short target after a bit of a gallop.... So I didn't think of him as a "chuck it on the boot and hope type"... The ball drop is far from elite though.

I think that size, speed and confidence to take the player on in front of him will help his chances. It's a rare thing these days.

I'll happily take a punt at the tall athlete with some elite physical attributes and upside... even if they can't necessarily play the game, over a guy that can play the game, but can't move or doesn't have any elite traits....Stevens/Clark types.

 

[D BRIDGE]

The difference with a kid like Freijah is he's a beautiful kick who can make time stand still. How he snuck through is beyond me.

Agreed... You just see some of his traits and wonder how so many others were taken ahead of him.

He looks class... Surely he was doing that kinda stuff in his draft year and prior.

 

[geelong_crazy26]

Can't kick and no composure.

It'll come down to which club backs themselves in to develop those deficiencies, but they tend to be terminal.

The difference with a kid like Freijah is he's a beautiful kick who can make time stand still. How he snuck through is beyond me.

All of these players slip because so called “experts” have them defined with issues.

I would be happy to take a punt even pick 19 for onley. That is a rare skillset

 

[Oisin_the_Goat]

A midfield of Worpel, Bruhn, Holmes, Smith and Atkins should be decent step up in midfield depth this year. Four players in / coming into their prime age. Could maybe see Dempsey and Mannagh in there too.

 

[Tkoajd]

With 19 I’d go Ludowke. Looks skilful , has forward craft and big shoulders to fill into. High upside type that will be ready even Jezza decides to finish up. Will be a great partner with Neale.

40 Id go Riley Onley. This kid reminds me of Freijah. 195cm mid that moves well with speed and power. A great mark and the type of mid we lack.

I was talking to Archie this week. My lad does gym with him at times. He said Adelaide and GWS are right into him. I mentioned the cats and he said id love to come to Geelong.

 

[Warhorse]

A midfield of Worpel, Bruhn, Holmes, Smith and Atkins should be decent step up in midfield depth this year. Four players in / coming into their prime age. Could maybe see Dempsey and Mannagh in there too.

It's solid but lacking in class. Need 1 more quality midfielder (hopefully Clark or Bruhn become that)