Resource Noob's 2025 Draft Prospect Video Thread

[noobermensch]

A huge early season performance from Farrow, an early indication of his quality and part of an outstanding block of form before the champs that saw him move firmly into draft calculations. He was still playing as a rebounding defender at this point for West Perth, the full midfield move yet to emerge, but he pushed up high to sweep behind stoppages and showed that he could win his own footy and impact defensively with a strong tackling display. As always, his classy left boot was a weapon in setting up the play for his team.

 

[noobermensch]

A huge game from Harry Dean, one that started to solidify his place as the best key defender in the draft pool. His kicking was horrific at times, but he impacted in the areas that count for his role, taking some towering intercept marks and crashing packs for big spoils. He was surprisingly active at D50 stoppages and threw himself into tackles showing how disruptive he can be at ground level as well as in the air.

 

[noobermensch]

Typical of the consistently excellent form Taylor found this season. As disruptive as always in the air and on the ground, throwing himself into aerial contests and tackles. He found a decent amount of the footy but was quite conservative with his ball use, still lacking some of the confidence that he developed later in the season.

 

[noobermensch]

Robey's second talent league game was much like his first, playing high half forward and impacting with his long leads up through the middle of the ground and the wings to offer an option in transition, and using his physicality to impact in contested situations. Worth mentioning is how clean/soft his hands are in marking contests, able to securely one grab on a lead at pace or through contact. As always, he hit the scoreboard with a couple of goals and was heavily involved in scoring chains for Eastern in a strong win.

 

[noobermensch]

Oskar Taylor recently blitzed the draft combine setting a blistering time to win the 20m sprint and finishing second overall in the agility test, building a really strong case to be taken in the first round of the draft. Unlike some prospects, you can see every bit of that pace and agility out there on the field as Oskar is one of the most untacklable players in the pool, capable of dancing around opponents and taking meters with dash and disposal. Here we see one of the early season examples of Oskar at his best, even in wet conditions.

 

[noobermensch]

Filling in one of the remaining Champs performances for Farrow who seems likely to be WA's first picked player and a solid first round draft option. Farrow mostly played as a rebounding defender here with a stint as a winger in the fourth quarter. Not his biggest game, but he showed poise and damage with the ball in extremely windy conditions and his ability to make good decisions in a high pressure game where space was at a premium was a highlight.

 

[noobermensch]

Ainsworth is a key defender who was repurposed as a ruckman at the national carnival for the dominant SA team and impressed mightily with his competitiveness and follow up work at ground level. His kicking skills can be variable, but he has clean hands in a marking contest and a large frame, although at 198cm it feels as though he's more likely to be looked at as a key defensive prospect than ruckman at AFL level.

 

[noobermensch]

Only a 6 disposal game here for Neon Leon Kickett, but he still showed the combination of athleticism, skill level, and knack for the spectacular that saw him recently upgraded to the full national combine, indicating significant club interest and a high likelihood that he'll hear his name read out on draft night.

 

[noobermensch]

The last of Sullivan Robey's backlog from me, here we again saw the same type of game from Sullivan that he delivered just about every time prior to his move into the midfield through the finals. He again showed his elite and clean hands in marking contests, work rate to present up the ground, and ability to hit the scoreboard with a couple of goals. His kicking was off here, perhaps effected by the strong wind but also a bit erratic with his ball drop.

 

[noobermensch]

Farrow has become one of the more intriguing talents in the pool over the course of the season, starting the year as a mid sized rebounding defender with a penetrating and classy left boot, he ended the season playing largely through the midfield as we see in this game here, with definite shades of the Hayden Young

26

Hayden Young

Age

24

Ht

189cm

Wt

88kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

10.0

3star

K

6.6

3star

HB

3.4

3star

M

3.2

3star

T

1.4

3star

CL

0.2

2star

D

10.0

3star

K

6.6

3star

HB

3.4

2star

M

3.2

3star

T

1.4

2star

CL

0.2

2star

D

10.0

3star

K

6.6

3star

HB

3.4

3star

M

3.2

4star

T

1.4

4star

CL

0.2

2star

or Ed Richards

20

Ed Richards

Age

26

Ht

188cm

Wt

89kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

12.4

3star

K

7.2

3star

HB

5.2

4star

M

2.5

3star

T

2.4

4star

CL

0.7

3star

D

11.3

3star

K

6.0

2star

HB

5.3

3star

M

1.5

2star

T

2.5

3star

CL

1.1

3star

D

14.6

4star

K

9.8

4star

HB

4.8

4star

M

4.8

5star

T

2.6

4star

CL

0.2

2star

about him. Unlike other half backs that move into the middle, Farrow has already shown stoppage craft and the ability to still find space on the spread to make use of that fantastic left boot of his, although his radar was a little off in this game.

 

[noobermensch]

The full season highlights series is back for another year, and who better to kick things off with than the guy who has emerged as the clear number 1 pick in most people’s estimation, Willem Duursma!

Will the thrill is a rangy and athletic young man with the ability and confidence to impose himself on games and inspire his team with game breaking moments of play. His rapid improvement this year as a midfielder cemented his pick 1 candidacy, and he’s also shown he’s fully capable of impacting in the forward line and defence.

 

[noobermensch]

It would be more correct to call these half season highlights as Sullivan Robey didn't get his CTL call up until round 12, but what an impact he had once he got settled. Probably the biggest draft bolter since Clayton Oliver

10

Clayton Oliver

Age

28

Ht

189cm

Wt

88kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

27.8

5star

K

9.5

4star

HB

18.4

5star

M

3.2

3star

T

6.3

5star

CL

6.3

5star

D

25.1

5star

K

11.1

4star

HB

14.0

5star

M

3.6

4star

T

5.6

5star

CL

5.9

5star

D

19.2

5star

K

4.6

2star

HB

14.6

5star

M

2.0

3star

T

4.4

5star

CL

3.8

5star

10 years ago, Sullivan had a fairytale final stretch of the season, not just with his brilliant personal run of form but also providing the catalyst to spark an Eastern Ranges team that went from good to great, stomping through the finals series to take out the CTL premiership.

 

[noobermensch]

Full season highlights for the standout inside mid in this draft pool Dyson Sharp. Dyson is not the type of footballer who's going to wow the crowd with spectacular, highlight worthy plays... his bread and butter is his work around congestion and contest. Clean hands, powerful over the ball, quick and slick disposal, and always a ferocious appetite to pressure and tackle. Sharp is the player most ready to step straight in to an AFL midfield in round 1 next season and meaningfully contribute, and shapes as a likely future leader for whichever team picks him.

 

[noobermensch]

A brilliant round 1 game demonstrated CDT's elite talent, and he's essentially remained the standout tall in the draft pool since that point. His movement for a 200cm kid is absolutely elite, the eye test backed up by top 10 finishes in the 2km time trial and 20m sprint at the combine, and his coordinated skills and level of competitiveness complete an undeniably attractive package. CDT is likely to be a slower burn for whichever team picks him on draft night, but he has all the tools to pay off that patience in spades in the coming years.

 

[noobermensch]

Lots more Xavier Taylor in the coming days, processing through his backlog of games this year while working up to a full season highlights video.

A tough game for Eastern who took a heavy loss against the Suns Academy. Xavier Taylor was one of Eastern's best with his typical competitive intensity on display, intercepting the ball and chasing down opponents.

 

[noobermensch]

One of Xavier's best games of the season and a perfect encapsulation of what he brings. Given the marquee matchup on Max King

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, Taylor blanketed him and shut him out of the game, beating him in the air and on the ground with his competitive desire to win every contest on full display. He picked his moments to run off King and found plenty of the ball up the ground.

 

[noobermensch]

Grlj has attracted attention all year for his ability to attack the game with explosive pace and agility, dancing past tacklers and breaking lines. These qualities were backed up by an excellent showing in combine testing. Grlj has largely played through the midfield in his top age season but has shown his versatility playing on a wing or a flank in the past and seems likely to start in an outside role while he develops and adjusts to the pace of AFL play.

 

[noobermensch]

Josh Lindsay represents a very different option to other top 10 prospects in this draft pool. Having played predominantly off a half back flank with a little bit of wing towards the end of the season, Lindsay has shown an elite ability to damage opponents by foot all season long and at every level he's played. He knows how to find the footy, working hard to overlap and find space to receive the ball, he has a turn of pace when needed and is stronger in the air than you might think for his size, but there's no doubt that the reason he's being considered inside the top 10 is his wicked left boot. He combines a low and quick ball drop, ability to vary his delivery to hit targets at any distance, and attacking decision making that allows him to break open games and set up attacking moves like nobody else in the pool.

 

[noobermensch]

Xavier wasn't required to do as much in this one with his Ranges dominating territory and the scoreboard. He showed his competitive fire and hatred of losing contests and was typically disruptive in the air.

 

[noobermensch]

Xavier Taylor doing his impersonation of a brick wall here, constantly repelling opposition attacks. He was a thorn in the Rebels side all game and played a key role in a big win for Eastern.

 

[noobermensch]

It's a testament to how dominant SA was this year that they were missing one of the best key defenders in the draft pool through injury for almost the entire carnival and still stomped the competition. Blake Thredgold made it back for the final game and immediately showed what he can bring as a lockdown defender, attacking fearlessly in the air to mark or spoil and shutting down his opponents with his elite closing speed.

 

[noobermensch]

Going back to look at an earlier season game for Cumming, playing through the midfield at U18s level and putting together an impressive performance. He won more contested ball than we often see from Sam but was still able to showcase that powerful and dynamic outside game at times to set up his forwards with inside 50 delivery.

 

[noobermensch]

Dynamic and powerful, Sam Cumming looks to be the prototype modern mid/fwd. As a forward Cumming has shown that he has the aerial strength to play the deeper, marking target as well as the endurance and running power to play as a high half forward. Through the midfield he can win his own footy and has the power to break tackles but is perhaps at his most damaging when able to get out on the spread, using his dash and penetrating kick to damage the opposition.

 

[noobermensch]

Like a number of his Eastern Ranges teammates, Xavier Taylor improved in leaps and bounds over the course of the season and rose steadily up draft boards as a result. He was very much focused on his defensive duties to start the season, showing his elite ability to lock down on a variety of opposition forwards, but with growing confidence through the middle of the year he started to blossom as an attacking threat, picking his moments to run off his direct matchup and damage through the middle of the ground. It all came together for him in the Talent League Grand Final where he was deservedly named best on ground, at times looking like a one man wall across the defensive 50 as well as racking up a stack of the footy going forward.