Midfield 2026

[partycorolla]

Yeah, it looks okay, but just like the last name, we are going to be too short. If Balta doesn't come back mentally, Gray doesn't come on, and Miller doesn't produce another season like last, and Gib (a wait-and-see) finally turns it around, we will be in trouble down back. And lots to think about up forward height-wise, Faul, Simms, Lynch, only tall forwards we have. So lots to hope for. And don;t talk about rucks! I can see us turning things around in 2 3 years but next 2 will be another struggle.

If any teams first 4 tall defenders aren't playing or not playing well they'll struggle. Bit of pointless argument. With Miller, Balta, Gibus, Gray and a developing Trainor we are well stocked down back and we have rid ourselves of list cloggers Blight and Kosi. We lost one depth player in Young but Gibcus/Gray cover him.

As for fowrards, you didn't name Armstrong or Fawcett.

Rucks we don't have much depth in (Ryan and OHB) but you can trade or FA any average ruck most years. Over-rated position.

As for our midfield - we've added plenty and will have options over summer and in the 2026 draft to get more in. Plenty to look forward to. Just need to get games into them.

 

[THE_GUN]

2026 is going to tell us alot about what we are missing and a competent ruckman post Nank will be the main one.
Its unrealistic to expect Ryan / OHB to make it as a top tier Ruck but if they could just do a stop gap role until we find the right player would be great and there will be a few names around that will be looking for games like Dodson , Knobel
but the one that takes my notice the most is Nic Madden from the giants. He would be a perfect get combines with Sims

 

[wegetpumped]

If any teams first 4 tall defenders aren't playing or not playing well they'll struggle. Bit of pointless argument. With Miller, Balta, Gibus, Gray and a developing Trainor we are well stocked down back and we have rid ourselves of list cloggers Blight and Kosi. We lost one depth player in Young but Gibcus/Gray cover him.

As for fowrards, you didn't name Armstrong or Fawcett.

Rucks we don't have much depth in (Ryan and OHB) but you can trade or FA any average ruck most years. Over-rated position.

As for our midfield - we've added plenty and will have options over summer and in the 2026 draft to get more in. Plenty to look forward to. Just need to get games into them.

I was going on the list the guy had up. Overall, we are small. Fawcett won't make it, and Armstrong isn't that tall compared to Sims and Faull. Anyway, next season we'll know if the young ones will all make it. If only half make it, we will be cooked.

 

[Tackle Bag]

Just zoomed out and had a long look at our list now the dust has settled on the draft.

I think the three players that can help balance our midfield next season are Hotton, Cumming and Campbell.

These guys have the athletic profile (speed / agility) to add some much needed venom to our ball movement. Their skills complement the senior brigade in Prestia / Hopper / Taranto perfectly.

We have no real classy small forwards so moving Seth upfield isn’t ideal, but I just think he offers to much to be stuck up there in a team struggling to score. Get him into that Lambert style role and let him use his speed and tank from stoppages and he’ll have just as much scoreboard impact IMO

If we persist with Prestia, hopper and Taranto in the same midfield group we will not have good balance. Prestia needs to be moved out and become back up only. Three inside plodders is one too many, especially when two of them can only play pure mid

 

[tiger_tough]

**** I'm going to be flat when r1 we line up with Nank, Prestia, Taranto and Hopper in the centre square.

 

[Punt Road Feral]

**** I'm going to be flat when r1 we line up with Nank, Prestia, Taranto and Hopper in the centre square.

They will somewhat protect our kids while we get them on the park and learn.

We know Prestia won’t be playing all season due to inevitable injuries.

We have to hope Hopper and Taranto stay on the park or we will have our fair share of floggings next season.

In time Cumming and Grlj could help our midfield but it’s completely unrealistic to expect them to play much midfield time besides the odd stint here or there.

Cumming HF, Grlj HBF

 

[Barnzy]

**** I'm going to be flat when r1 we line up with Nank, Prestia, Taranto and Hopper in the centre square.

Yep. Sad but predictable.

 

[Morro]

If we are serious, players like Kmac, Lalor, Hotton, Cummy and Grill, Smillie if fit, should all see varied but ample midfield minutes.

Prestia onfield coaching over prime midfield, Hopper the main inside mid, TT playing HFF and onball when Hops has a rest

 

[THE_GUN]

We now have the extra 5th spot on the Bench and people need to accept that that is or could be called the Prestia position

Will probably only play 60% game time and 12/13 games in 2026 thinking Lynch & Broad will also have time reduced in the 2nd half of the year with all 3 players having a game off 1-2 times in the season

 

[partycorolla]

I was going on the list the guy had up. Overall, we are small. Fawcett won't make it, and Armstrong isn't that tall compared to Sims and Faull. Anyway, next season we'll know if the young ones will all make it. If only half make it, we will be cooked.

It's ridiculous to assume all the young ones in any team will make it. What is the average length of AFL career? About 5 years or so I think I read. So it won't be known next year at any rate (for the guys we drafted last year). As for others they may or may not depending on how old they are. Armstrong is a tall forward irrespective of how he is compared to Sims. Darling is a tall forward and is shorter than all of them.

We are shorter now compared to when we had Kosi, Blight and Young but here is the thing - other than Young, they were not very good. So not having them doesn't make us worse.

 

[partycorolla]

We now have the extra 5th spot on the Bench and people need to accept that that is or could be called the Prestia position

Will probably only play 60% game time and 12/13 games in 2026 thinking Lynch & Broad will also have time reduced in the 2nd half of the year with all 3 players having a game off 1-2 times in the season

Sonsie will still probably be sub...

 

[of unsound mind]

There is no point playing all of TT, Hopp and Meatball in the centre. They don’t complement each other or execute an effective system.
Increasing mid time for KMac2, Lalor (maybe Campbell and Sonsie) and carefully with Hotton, Smillie, and Cumming has to be the objective and it doesn’t happen unless we find a different model.

 

[clark1980]

watched a mini highlight package of r1 vs Carlton. Lalor kicked 2, handballed to ross for 2 and had a hand in at least 3-4 more. get him fit and have an injury free year and he alone will make us a better team. the leap and mark he took on the wing in the 1st quarter was amazing for a player with his build. add bits of hotton/smilie/kmac/cumming etc on ball and the dynamics at times will be totally different next year.

 

[wegetpumped]

It's ridiculous to assume all the young ones in any team will make it. What is the average length of AFL career? About 5 years or so I think I read. So it won't be known next year at any rate (for the guys we drafted last year). As for others they may or may not depending on how old they are. Armstrong is a tall forward irrespective of how he is compared to Sims. Darling is a tall forward and is shorter than all of them.

We are shorter now compared to when we had Kosi, Blight and Young but here is the thing - other than Young, they were not very good. So not having them doesn't make us worse.

FFS mate, I know that. But people think that because all the draft hall, a miracle will happen. As for being short if lynch goes down again, and god forbid Faul or Simm, where do we go from there back to Balta? I just feel we aren't properly equipped for what could happen.

 

[docko911]

We now have the extra 5th spot on the Bench and people need to accept that that is or could be called the Prestia position

Will probably only play 60% game time and 12/13 games in 2026 thinking Lynch & Broad will also have time reduced in the 2nd half of the year with all 3 players having a game off 1-2 times in the season

I think Prestia will only play when either Taranto or Hopper are injured, or there aren’t enough young midfielders performing to make up our midfield group.

 

[Tzatziki_Man]

R1 Team

B: Vlastuin, Miller, Gibcus
HB: Banks, Balta, Grjl
C: Cumming, Lalor, Hotton
HF: Rioli, Faull, Campbell
F: Armstrong, Lynch, Lefau
R: Nank (oh boy), Taranto, Hopper
IC: Broad, Mansall, Brown, Sims, Prestia

Team Analysis
Speed - Hotton off the middle, Campbell/Rioli in the forward line, Grjl off half back.

Strength - Lefau as a midsized marking option, Taranto/Hopper in the midfield with the youth around them, along with Prestia, two on the field at once, not all three, and mix the third with Cumming/Lalor/Hotton/Campbell/Grlj for speed.

Height - Sims on the field to support Nank as he's basically gonna be a zebra amongst giraffes next year in the centre.

Pressure - Rioli/Mansall/Brown all bring pressure across the ground from sample size of 2025. Rewarded with list spots.

Experience - Vlastuin off the backline, midfield full of experience and Lynch leading the forwards, we are officially a youthful team however, we have experience on each line.

Depth
1. Luke Trainor (I can't find a position for him at the moment, I think some VFL time will be good to establish a position, as I think Grjl suits speed off half back, whilst Cumming and Hotton are exciting in the centre and completely strong bodied and slow Taranto/Hopper/Prestia combo.
2. Jayden Short

15

Jayden Short

Age

29

Ht

178cm

Wt

75kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

17.4

4star

K

13.3

5star

HB

4.1

3star

M

4.3

4star

T

1.5

3star

MG

430.8

5star

D

19.0

4star

K

14.1

5star

HB

4.9

3star

M

6.3

5star

T

0.8

1star

MG

447.1

5star

D

7.8

2star

K

6.4

3star

HB

1.4

2star

M

3.2

4star

T

2.4

4star

MG

185.2

3star

(can be half forward goal kicker if he works on his game, no more backline)
3. Oliver Hayes Brown (will most likely replace Nank when we lose 90% of the hitouts and centre clearances cause Nank is 199cm and cant jump or wrestle anymore)
4. Liam Fawcett/Campbell Gray (Really should be playing, but can't fit them in)
5. Tyler Sonsie
6. Jack Ross

5

Jack Ross

Age

25

Ht

187cm

Wt

87kg

Pos.

M/F

Career

Season

Last 5

D

16.2

4star

K

7.8

3star

HB

8.4

5star

M

2.2

2star

T

2.7

4star

CL

3.0

4star

D

13.7

3star

K

6.7

3star

HB

7.0

4star

M

1.7

2star

T

1.7

3star

CL

2.0

4star

D

17.8

5star

K

8.0

3star

HB

9.8

5star

M

2.6

3star

T

2.8

5star

CL

3.0

5star

(has had so much opportunity, unless he becomes a genuine tagger, i dont like his chances playing)
7. Josh Smillie (probably needs a year in the VFL, injured all the time and what I saw in the VFL I didn't like - needs to play though)

 

[Football Tragic]

Could you see a time in the future, where around the ground, we had Smilie taking the ruck with Lalor, Cummings, Hotton and Gryll at his feet?

 

[Football Tragic]

It's ridiculous to assume all the young ones in any team will make it. What is the average length of AFL career? About 5 years or so I think I read. So it won't be known next year at any rate (for the guys we drafted last year). As for others they may or may not depending on how old they are. Armstrong is a tall forward irrespective of how he is compared to Sims. Darling is a tall forward and is shorter than all of them.

We are shorter now compared to when we had Kosi, Blight and Young but here is the thing - other than Young, they were not very good. So not having them doesn't make us worse.

Average number of AFL games per selected draft number

If you look through the stats above, you'll see that first round draftees, on average, play over one hundred games (and these stats are diminished by players who never played a game through injury etc.

I think it's safe to say that the majority of first round draftees, go on to play long careers, especially those in the top 10.

 

[Vassp]

They will somewhat protect our kids while we get them on the park and learn.

We know Prestia won’t be playing all season due to inevitable injuries.

We have to hope Hopper and Taranto stay on the park or we will have our fair share of floggings next season.

In time Cumming and Grlj could help our midfield but it’s completely unrealistic to expect them to play much midfield time besides the odd stint here or there.

Cumming HF, Grlj HBF

TT and Hopper will be teaching our kids how NOT to play in the midfield.
Quicker we move them, the better.

 

[tigs2010]

Could you see a time in the future, where around the ground, we had Smilie taking the ruck with Lalor, Cummings, Hotton and Gryll at his feet?

Yes but probably more at a forward stoppage ala Hawkins giving a huge ass shove. Done a little of it in juniors.

 

[partycorolla]

FFS mate, I know that. But people think that because all the draft hall, a miracle will happen. As for being short if lynch goes down again, and god forbid Faul or Simm, where do we go from there back to Balta? I just feel we aren't properly equipped for what could happen.

We aren't done but next draft has a better mix of talls from early reading on it. Not having Kosi, Blight, Bauer and Mate on the list makes the list unquestionably better. Can always pick up some insurance in the SSP or MSD.

In answer to your question about Lynch/Simms or Faull, then the first option will be Lefau, then Fawcett, followed by Balta or Gray (who we drafted as a forward) most probably.

 

[wegetpumped]

We aren't done but next draft has a better mix of talls from early reading on it. Not having Kosi, Blight, Bauer and Mate on the list makes the list unquestionably better. Can always pick up some insurance in the SSP or MSD.

In answer to your question about Lynch/Simms or Faull, then the first option will be Lefau, then Fawcett, followed by Balta or Gray (who we drafted as a forward) most probably.

So, in other words, we are farked.

 

[partycorolla]

So, in other words, we are farked.

If you are thinking about winning a flag in 2026 - probably. If you think the list build is finished, well that's just silly. Oh how will we get on without Blight, Kosi and Bauer? FMD

 

[banzai]

They will somewhat protect our kids while we get them on the park and learn.

We know Prestia won’t be playing all season due to inevitable injuries.

We have to hope Hopper and Taranto stay on the park or we will have our fair share of floggings next season.

In time Cumming and Grlj could help our midfield but it’s completely unrealistic to expect them to play much midfield time besides the odd stint here or there.

Cumming HF, Grlj HBF

We've had our fair share of floggings with both Hopper and Taranto on the park. They get smashed by the top midfields, then there was the North game as well.

 

[wegetpumped]

If you are thinking about winning a flag in 2026 - probably. If you think the list build is finished, well that's just silly. Oh how will we get on without Blight, Kosi and Bauer? FMD

No, it's not finished, and like I said, it will take another 2 years to really see how it's progressing. The important thing is Hope that we got it right, cause with Tassie coming in, who knows how the corrupt AFL will go.