Resource Noob's 2025 Draft Prospect Video Thread

[noobermensch]

Willem had his moments here and the stats look pretty good, but this was one of his weaker performances for the season, struggling against SA as many others have done in this years Champs series. The positional shift from midfield into defence that we've seen for Gippsland in recent weeks continued here, and I have to wonder whether he's been done a little dirty by his coaches. Experimenting in such a way is fine, but perhaps not at the most important part of the season in the middle of the Champs. Willem seems to have lost some of his confidence with the move, made some uncharacteristic mistakes in this game and chose not to fly for a few marking contests that he would typically relish.

 

[noobermensch]

In some ways it's a pity for BOB that the Champs series ends here for SA as he was just rounding into some seriously impressive form over the last two games. He was one of SA's best in this one and put together a big third quarter to help his team surge out to a huge lead in that term. When he's at his best (as he was in this game) his incisive movement, bursts of pace, and elite ball use make him one of the most damaging midfielders in this crop. It feels like we're only scratching the surface with BOB, and he could be about to have a big second half of the season which should see his name quickly rise up draft boards.

 

[noobermensch]

Archie Ludowyke's first Talent League games since round 2 was an exciting one with Archie kicking some important goals down the stretch to help his Dragons team to a come from behind victory over the Cannons. He dropped a couple of marks he should be taking early but seemed to grow into things as game progressed and his set shot goal kicking was sharp.

 

[noobermensch]

In a hard fought win for the Allies it was their midfield ascendency that proved the difference across the 4 quarters and midfield general Dan Annable deserves a lot of the credit for that. He was strong in the contest, winning plenty of footy at the source or exerting strong defensive pressure, and although his disposal was a little wayward at times he still led his team in score involvements.

 

[noobermensch]

Swadling's best outing of the Champs series so far and he was clearly one of WA's best on the day. It's been a baffling journey so far, with Swadling, who is arguably WA's best midfielder, being denied midfield rotations by the WA coaches, and again he didn't get a single center bounce attendance in this game. He didn't let that faze him though as he showed the traits that we've come to expect, swooping on loose balls, navigating traffic with agile changes of direction, releasing teammates with creative handballs, and even showing an improved ability to lace out targets by foot.

 

[WCE777]

Swadling's best outing of the Champs series so far and he was clearly one of WA's best on the day. It's been a baffling journey so far, with Swadling, who is arguably WA's best midfielder, being denied midfield rotations by the WA coaches, and again he didn't get a single center bounce attendance in this game. He didn't let that faze him though as he showed the traits that we've come to expect, swooping on loose balls, navigating traffic with agile changes of direction, releasing teammates with creative handballs, and even showing an improved ability to lace out targets by foot.

agree, thought he was excellent.
Also can't work out why he didn't any CBA's, looks like he has been instructed to handball a lot more when in close and kick when in space?
But some of his kicks where outstanding.

 

[noobermensch]

One of the not so secret weapons behind the dominant SA performances at the Champs has been the play of wing duo Barker and LeRay. Barker's size, endurance, athleticism, aerial strength, decision making and penetrating kick might make him the best pure wing in this year's draft pool. In this game his play mirrored his team's, gaining confidence as the game progressed and ultimately pulling off some fantastic and incisive passages of play in the second half to propel SA to another big win.

 

[Thunderstruck]

One of the not so secret weapons behind the dominant SA performances at the Champs has been the play of wing duo Barker and LeRay. Barker's size, endurance, athleticism, aerial strength, decision making and penetrating kick might make him the best pure wing in this year's draft pool. In this game his play mirrored his team's, gaining confidence as the game progressed and ultimately pulling off some fantastic and incisive passages of play in the second half to propel SA to another big win.

Love Harley, he's just so solid every week, very damaging per possession, will be a metres gained player that can break open zones at AFL level.

 

[noobermensch]

A prolific and damaging game from Rory Wright. He played mostly midfield in the first half and displayed a more mature and competitive contested game than we've seen in the past, cracking in for repeat efforts and using some quick and slick hands in congestion. In the second half he played more high half forward and relished the extra space, using his absolute weapon of a left boot to slice open the opposition.

 

[noobermensch]

The WA coaches abandoned the Farrow midfield experiment here, shifting him back into his usual defensive quarterback role and unsurprisingly he responded with by far his best performance of the tournament. He was the game high possession winner using his penetrating left boot to set up a number of WA's most productive forward moves, and on a few occasions proved that he's more than just a designated kicker with some strong marks and interceptions across the defensive line.

 

[noobermensch]

After a slightly softer patch of form in recent weeks this performance was a serious return to form for Sweid. He led the game for possessions, finding plenty of the ball around the ground but it was at stoppage where he was most damaging, ploughing through contests like a cannonball and extracting the footy for his team. We saw some improvement in his kicking here with Sweid able to lace out leading forwards on a number of occasions.

 

[noobermensch]

Another solid haul of goals for Lachy who's firmly cemented his position as the best small forward in this year's draft pool with his excellent form over the last two months. We continue to see the work he's been doing on his pressure game pay dividends, both in his tackle count and the number of rushed disposals he forces opponents into. It's worth noting his willingness to lower his eyes and spot up teammates in space instead of blazing away on goal, a sign of a kid with a mature head on his shoulders.

 

[noobermensch]

Carmichael was probably best on for the Allies, cleaning up the mess in defence, applying tough tackling pressure and rebounding with elite efficiency, barely wasting a possession and helping to set up a number of scoring chains. His most valuable contribution might have been his leadership, reportedly conducting a half time players chat to rouse his Allies squad to greater efforts.

 

[mayne iac]

Swadling's best outing of the Champs series so far and he was clearly one of WA's best on the day. It's been a baffling journey so far, with Swadling, who is arguably WA's best midfielder, being denied midfield rotations by the WA coaches, and again he didn't get a single center bounce attendance in this game. He didn't let that faze him though as he showed the traits that we've come to expect, swooping on loose balls, navigating traffic with agile changes of direction, releasing teammates with creative handballs, and even showing an improved ability to lace out targets by foot.

Eagles trying to hide him?

 

[noobermensch]

Eagles trying to hide him?

I don't really believe that hiding players is a thing. I'm not sure why the player himself would go for it, they're all too competitive and want to win, and I would hope that if the WA head coach is approached by an eagles recruiter asking him to jeopardize his chances of winning by playing a kid out of position the response would be to tell him to **** right off.

There's also Hanlon's razor - never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by incompetence.

 

[noobermensch]

Another solid performance from Cumming who hasn't needed to set the world on fire with his SA team dominating all comers at the national carnival, instead he's played as a strong cog in a very well oiled machine. There's not much that Cumming doesn't bring in his kit bag and we saw that here. His disposal and decision making is classy and efficient, he cracks in to contests and works hard defensively, he's strong aerially for his size and marks with clean hands, and he can get forward to impact on the scoreboard.

 

[noobermensch]

With a Champs game tomorrow I'm taking the rest of the day off to rest my brain a bit. Apologies to the people that asked for other performances from this week, I just couldn't fit them all in, there we so many that were worthy. I'll be hoping to get to the following games from last weekend when we have a quieter week and can do some catch up:

Tairon Ah-Mu
Aiden Schubert
Matt LeRay
Louis Kellaway
Riley Onley - (for PMBangers I know he'll be disappointed)
Sam Ainsworth - not sure if it'll be this game or not but I'll get one of his Champs performances up eventually
Hugo Mikunda
Max King

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

Dylan Patterson
Louis Emmett

 

[PMBangers]

Riley Onley - (for @PMBangers I know he'll be disappointed)

Wasting valuable storage space

 

[noobermensch]

Vic Country got their first win of the Champs carnival in a bit of an upset over the Allies, with Lindsay not as prolific as in the first two but still a solid contributor. He had to deal with closer checking, but he was still extremely active and typically creative with the ball.

 

[noobermensch]

One of the standout prospects for 2026, Cody Walker has been playing for Vic Country as a bottom ager and was quiet in his first couple of Champs games, perhaps adjusting to the higher level. This was something of a breakout for him, finding plenty of the ball and developing the confidence to use his elite power and athleticism at contests and on the spread.

 

[Yoda_]

would love a Riley Onley effort if you could please mate?

 

[noobermensch]

would love a Riley Onley effort if you could please mate?

You'll have wait a few days for that but I do intend to get to him this week, although we'll have to prepare ourselves to face Bangers heckling when it drops.

 

[noobermensch]

Greeves was among the best for Vic Metro in a strong win travelling away against WA to get their Champs campaign back on track. Greeves is incredibly consistent and dependable with his attacking output and again found plenty of the footy. The extremely windy conditions made precise ball use difficult, but he was fairly efficient and attacking with his decision making. He's a regular goal scorer from midfield and again chipped in, but some of his pressure around the contest was lacking at times.

 

[PMBangers]

You'll have wait a few days for that but I do intend to get to him this week, although we'll have to prepare ourselves to face Bangers heckling when it drops.

I'm man enough to admit he played well

 

[noobermensch]

Fred closed out what has been a solid but slightly inconsistent Champs series for him personally for a WA team that struggled overall. He definitely finished strong here with a significant improvement in his contested game, winning a stack of clearances at stoppage and applying strong defensive pressure. On the other hand, it was difficult for him to damage as much as he typically does with his elite disposal given the tough swirling winds.