Resource Noob's 2025 Draft Prospect Video Thread

[noobermensch]

The second half of the dynamic small forward duo with Dovaston, Hussien El Achkar was inches away from tearing the Young Guns apart in this game. His ability to continually find dangerous space in the forward 50 and create shots on goal was elite, but he was unfortunately unable to direct most of those shots through the big sticks.

 

[noobermensch]

One of the most quietly impressive performers across the two Academy games was Harley Barker from SA. In a team with a multitude of players competing for time in their preferred role, Harley played exclusively wing in both games and looked extremely comfortable doing so with attributes very much suited to it. He's tall, rangy and clean in the air which allows him to present down the line as an exit option or for a switch of play, and allows him to impact as a third up in marking contests at either end of the ground. He's a powerful runner with seemingly excellent endurance and has tidy and efficient disposal to help link the play while rarely biting off more than he can handle.

 

[noobermensch]

Matt LeRay is a tall outside leaning mid who plays more of a utility role for Central Districts but was predominantly deployed as a winger for the Academy, a role which suits his strengths well. This game was better than the stats suggest, with LeRay presenting well and using his solid kicking skills to his team's advantage. He also threw himself enthusiastically into pressure acts which don't show up on the stat sheet.

 

[PMBangers]

Matt LeRay is a tall outside leaning mid who's plays more of a utility role for Central Districts but was predominantly deployed as a winger for the Academy, a role which suits his strengths well. This game was better than the stats suggest, with LeRay presenting well and using his solid kicking skills to his team's advantage. He also threw himself enthusiastically into pressure acts which don't show up on the stat sheet.

First time I've seen 'it' with LeRay personally, looks a good wing prospect

 

[noobermensch]

Swadling is proving to be unstoppable at Colts level. In this game he racked up an impressive 40 disposals due to his strength and size over the footy at stoppage and his huge work rate to find space outside of the contest. The concerns over his decision making and disposal by foot seem to have been put to bed with Swadling showing a significant improvement in his composure with the ball and ability to hit the right target on the chest.

 

[noobermensch]

Wes will have more prolific games, but this was a pretty solid showcase of the talents and traits that Wes brings. His marking prowess is one of his biggest strengths which we got to see on display in this game, clean hands and one grab, strong on the lead and willing to leap at packs, and his crumbing and pressure game is solid. His kicking skills have been a little bit variable in the past both field kicking and set shot conversion and while he nailed a really nice 50m shot from the left flank it remains a bit of a watch.

 

[RedmanWasHere]

For such a little guy, I was surprised Wes had a rocket built into his right foot.

Impressive goal.

 

[noobermensch]

A look at prolific rebounding defender Jacob Farrow from the West Perth Falcons. Jacob works hard to find space and present an option for his teammates and uses the footy fantastically well with his classy left boot. His 189cm height and solid marking ability should allow him to be a versatile defender at the next level, and in this game he conceded nothing to his direct matchup in 1v1 contests.

 

[noobermensch]

As an Essendon tragic I occasionally indulge in producing something for my people. Son of the great Darren Bewick, Koby Bewick has been hyped for years coming up through the junior grades and here we see his arrival at the elite level, debuting for the Cannons at 15 years old and just quietly going about his business with an excellent first up performance.

 

[Futbolista]

As an Essendon tragic I occasionally indulge in producing something for my people. Son of the great Darren Bewick, Koby Bewick has been hyped for years coming up through the junior grades and here we see his arrival at the elite level, debuting for the Cannons at 15 years old and just quietly going about his business with an excellent first up performance.

Very cool. Darren was a difficult player to compete against in juniors. Can't wait to see the young bloke in this vid.

 

[noobermensch]

In this second episode of State of the Draft for season 2025 I give my high level thoughts on how this draft pool is shaping up, go through my very early player ranks and cover some prospects that have emerged through this first block of games.

 

[Yoda_]

great watch mate, well done on episode two No fluff, no opinions just facts and reasons.

 

[noobermensch]

The highly rated and anticipated Max King

Multiple players found. Use birthday to differentiate. eg [PLAYERCARD="23/11/1962"]Joe Smith[/PLAYERCARD]

debuted in the Talent League for the Swans Academy in round 4 and put in a solid display. He was clearly a little bit rusty, dropping a couple of marks he'd normally take and a bit wayward with his kicking skills, but he was involved in most of the productive forward moves for the Swans and created enough opportunities to kick a bag of five on another day.

 

[CatToTheFuture]

Hey Noobs, understand you don't have time for everyone but is Jesse Mellor worth cutting some footage on? I heard he kicked 6 for Vic Country against the young guns?

 

[noobermensch]

Another week, another massive performance from Swadling in the WAFL Colts, upping his 40 disposals from last week with 42 this time. There was so much to admire about this performance, his combination of size, speed of mind and footwork allowing him to move around congested space to find a stack of the footy and give West Perth a significant stoppage advantage. Maintaining our watch on his disposal, he was poised and creative with hands, but his kicking was a bit off here, regularly missing targets short early in the game and even coughing up a goal on turnover.

 

[noobermensch]

Hey Noobs, understand you don't have time for everyone but is Jesse Mellor worth cutting some footage on? I heard he kicked 6 for Vic Country against the young guns?

Sounds pretty worthy, but I didn't grab a recording of that game myself and I'm not sure if a replay is being posted anywhere. If I find it I'll give Jesse's game a look.

 

[CatToTheFuture]

Sounds pretty worthy, but I didn't grab a recording of that game myself and I'm not sure if a replay is being posted anywhere. If I find it I'll give Jesse's game a look.

Thanks!

 

[noobermensch]

What we managed to get of this Rory Wright performance was solid. He's increasingly showing his aerial prowess and we're starting to see some slick moves in tight spaces to dance his way out of trouble. He had some of his typical lovely left foot darts, but also missed more targets than we're used to seeing from him.

Unfortunately we also lost all of the third quarter and a chunk of the fourth due to the classic Talent League Technical Difficulties, so Rory might have been absolutely brilliant in that term, we'll never know.

 

[noobermensch]

The premier ball hunter in the draft pool was back this week in talent league action. Eastern made some interesting tactical choices here. Up against an extremely strong GCS academy team they played a bunch of young debutants and chose to play Greeves exclusively forward for the first quarter and a half, which led to them being dominated in the middle and Greeves starved of opportunities. Once he moved into the midfield Ollie did what he always does, hunted the footy, won clearances and delivered the ball to his teammates with variable kicking accuracy.

 

[noobermensch]

An excellent first talent league game of the season for Annable as he led his Brisbane Lions Academy team to a strong win. As always, Annable's power and strength over the footy and in contested situations was a standout feature, able to win the footy, create space for a teammate, or apply heavy physical pressure on the opposition. He was regularly able to navigate into enough space to get ball to boot, although as is becoming a trend for the inside mids in this pool, the quality of his kicking was variable on the day.

 

[noobermensch]

A recommendation from Futbolista, Rae-Anthonysz is an all action small defender with strong athletic traits and full commitment to everything he does on the footy field. The defensive side of his game is strong, and his pace and agility allow him to be a weapon on rebound at times, although he can get a bit adventurous and doesn't always seem to have a plan when he sets off on a run.

 

[RedmanWasHere]

Riden?
Rid-Un?

 

[Futbolista]

Riden?
Rid-Un?

Ryedun I reckon.....so impressed.....we will be hearing more about this lad this season.

 

[noobermensch]

Ryedun I reckon.....so impressed.....we will be hearing more about this lad this season.

Yep his teammates were saying Ryedun

 

[Yoda_]

A recommendation from Futbolista, Rae-Anthonysz is an all action small defender with strong athletic traits and full commitment to everything he does on the footy field. The defensive side of his game is strong, and his pace and agility allow him to be a weapon on rebound at times, although he can get a bit adventurous and doesn't always seem to have a plan when he sets off on a run.

hahaha is that Andy McGrath's protege?