Resource Noob's 2025 Draft Prospect Video Thread

[noobermensch]

We're back underway for another year of Champs action. The highly fancied Allies went down at home to SA in a game that was tight and tense throughout but didn't demonstrate the highest of skill level.

Mitch Marsh stood out with his ability to hit the scoreboard and deliver a ball to his teammates advantage. His hands were clean overhead, he kicked 4 goals of his own and he was involved in a number of scoring chains, directly assisting a few other goals for his teammates.

 

[noobermensch]

Taj plays the majority of his junior footy in SA and his familiarity with many of the SA players may have helped to motivate him to get one over them in this game. He was up and about early, kicking two first quarter goals and leaping all over the SA rucks to dominate hit outs with his superior length. He played more forward than ruck as the game progressed and he remained dangerous, finishing with 4 goals including a variety of classy and creative finishes for a guy his size.

 

[noobermensch]

Sharp will expect to have bigger games in this Champs series but this was still a solid first outing as he helped his SA team to an upset win over the Allies. Given he's one of if not the strongest midfielder in the draft pool it seems a strange choice to have him playing so much time in the forward line, but when he was onball he was typically powerful and influential in there, helping SA build a substantial edge at stoppage which played a large role in the win. On a day when his team struggled with ball movement, Sharp was better than most with his disposal including a highlight moment with a lovely ball off the outside of his boot that landed perfectly for a running Harley Barker to finish.

 

[noobermensch]

Annable was one of the Allies best on the day as they suffered a close loss in game one of the 2025 Champs series. Annable was more impactful outside the contest in this one, spreading hard, delivering regularly inside 50 and involving himself in effective scoring chains for the Allies. He was less effective at stoppage than we've seen in the past, part of an Allies midfield that was well beaten on the day.

 

[noobermensch]

Another fantastic performance in the Talent League for Cody Walker who's either hit a rare vein of form in recent weeks or perhaps this is just what we should expect from him now. He was all action, hitting contests at pace, using strength to break tackles, flying through the air with the greatest of ease, and hitting targets inside 50. The only thing I'd like to see from him is a little more composure at times with the ball, but he's definitely showing us all why he's one of the top prospects in the 2026 draft pool.

 

[noobermensch]

Burton enters the Champs in fine form and has probably been the most consistently excellent performer through this first half of the Talent League season, racking up the footy at will even in a Jets team that's struggled to compete at times. He does a bit of everything, extracting the footy at source and then spreading hard with a work rate as good as anyone in the draft pool. It'll be interesting to see how Burton fares and what roles he plays for Vic Metro in a team with more options through the middle and greater expectations for success.

 

[noobermensch]

While he's still producing solid performances and his Power are winning games, Willem's form has dipped a little over the last few weeks. This was his final tune up heading into the Champs on the weekend so he can be forgiven for being a little distracted. One thing to watch for me is that he can go missing a little when shifted forward like he was for large parts of the second half in this game.

 

[noobermensch]

A strong start to his Champs campaign for Harley Barker who's become one of the most reliable performers in this SA squad. He looked a little nervous early, missing a couple of handballs, but burst into life with two quick goals in the second term which helped him settle. As a winger, he plays in a bit of that Ollie Dempsey style with his running power and size allowing him to slide deep into the forward or defensive 50s and influence play in the air or on the ground.

 

[noobermensch]

Lachy has had games with more possessions and more goals, but I feel that this was his best performance of the season to date. He's spoken about his focus on his pressure game and it was first rate here, stifling his opponent's movement and creating opportunities on the turnover. It felt like something was going to happen every time he was near the footy and he regularly sliced through to score himself or create for his teammates.

 

[noobermensch]

Aiden Schubert was one of SA's best in their win over the Allies on the weekend, his 4 goals testament to how damaging he was on the day. He was the main tall target for SA in the forward line, presenting well and drawing the footy, competing hard in the air and taking a number of impressive contested grabs.

 

[noobermensch]

Patterson was one of the best for the Allies in their opening Champs game on the weekend, showing why he's one of the most damaging players in the draft pool with ball in hand. Splitting his time between wing and half back, Patterson was nearly untouchable, using his pace and agility to beat opponents in the open field and lacing out targets with ease. He plays his role in an interesting way, largely ignoring his direct matchup and surrendering the width to move more through the center of the field and hunt the ball. This caused defensive issues for the Allies who allowed SA to transition the ball through the flanks regularly.

 

[noobermensch]

Doing what he always seems to do, NHH moved into the forward line in the fourth quarter and kicked the final two scores of the game to lift the Stingrays to victory. NHH will be a more fascinating watch than most through this Champs series. He played through the midfield in the first half of this game and had moments where it looked it might be a winning move, but it seems as though he still lacks real match fitness to run through there for long periods, and on a couple of occasions he was beaten to the ball by Tassie mids going lower and harder. Is he a midfielder, a winger, or a marking forward? Plenty of questions still to be answered.

 

[noobermensch]

McGaune has been one of the most consistent Talent League performers through the first half of the season, averaging more than 30 disposals per game and providing a much needed source of goals for his Jets team. It'll be interesting to see what role he plays and the kind of impact he has for Vic Metro with their first game of the carnival coming up this weekend.

 

[noobermensch]

A recommendation from Futbolista, having played other roles in the past Cassidy has been emerging in recent weeks as a big and powerful inside midfielder. Poised with the ball, quick and clean hands at ground level, able to win his own contested footy and then bring his teammates into play.

 

[noobermensch]

To my mind Fred was WA's best in their opening Champs game for 2025, part of a balanced team effort that saw them emerge victorious against Vic Country in a close affair. WA were fumbly with the ball early in the game, perhaps suffering from nerves, but a moment of quality from Fred to kick their opening goal helped to settle them down. His pressure around the contest was a standout all game, and his finishing skills on the outside allowed him on several occasions to provide that moment of quality needed to cut through.

 

[noobermensch]

The legend of NHH continues to grow. Whenever the game is tight you can be sure that the bat signal will shine in the sky, Noah will don the cape and move into the forward line to lift himself and his team with clutch goals. In this case he surged Country into the lead late with back to back clutch goals, although they were ultimately unable to hang on to the lead that he'd given them.

 

[noobermensch]

The super consistent Lindsay was named among the best for Country and was their top possession winner on the day. His disposal efficiency was a little down on what we've come to expect, but he was Country's main avenue for ball transition and mostly sliced and diced with his weapon of a left boot.

 

[noobermensch]

Where others struggled with the heavy and slippery conditions, Koby Bewick went about his business with clean hands, slick moves and lacing out 40 meter darts to his teammates. He put the cherry on top of an excellent performance by kicking three goals to help his Metro side get up in their opening game of the U16 Champs series.

 

[noobermensch]

This won't go down as a classic Whan game, but he was a solid contributor in a balanced team effort from WA who just got over the line in a close encounter. Whan was strong over the ball, and got the chance to penetrate with his long left boot on a few occasions. A solid base for Whan to open his Champs campaign, with hopefully more to come over the next three.

 

[noobermensch]

A huge game from Sharp who led from the front as his croweaters stomped all over the archrival Vic Metro. In many ways we saw more of what we already know about Sharp here, so those that love him will see even more to love, and those that don't will still have their criticisms. It was a wet and wild day, allowing Sharp to showcase his clean hands in tight and his intensity at the contest. We've seen him produce strong overhead marking displays before and we saw some of that again here, and though he played more midfield this week he still pushed forward and kicked a couple of goals. His disposal by foot was as variable as it always tends to be.

 

[noobermensch]

It was a dirty day in the rain for Vic Metro but Ollie Greeves was one of the few to emerge with his reputation undamaged. Best on ground for Metro, he cracked in hard at the contest and didn't stop running all game. His clean hands at ground level were a feature in the wet conditions, his disposal was decent for the most part, and he even laid a few tackles which is an area he needs to improve.

 

[noobermensch]

A game filled with the excellent and the poor from CDT to open his Champs campaign. His ruck battle against Sam Ainsworth was one of the highlights of the match with both emerging with some credit from the contest. For CDT it might have been the best I've seen from him in terms of the two facets of the craft combined, his tapwork and his follow up at ground level. Unfortunately he too often let himself down with his kicking skills, an area where he's typically very strong but in this game he continually missed targets and turned the ball over.

 

[noobermensch]

Schubert has quickly risen to become the number 1 key forward prospect in the draft pool in the eyes of many. This game provided a showcase of why, with Schubert dominating aerially, taking 6 contested grabs, many of them deep forward, and booting three goals to take his tally for the tournament to 7 through the first two games. His size and strength also allow him to function as a second ruck, adding a valuable string to his bow.

 

[noobermensch]

A strong performance from Cumming who did a lot of the tough contested work around stoppage that helped his team gain the ascendancy through the midfield in this game and contributed significantly to their dominance on the scoreboard. The conditions weren't conducive to his usual outside polish, but he still managed to slot a couple of goals.

 

[noobermensch]

An exciting performance from Zane Peucker who showed a little bit of what SANFL u18s watchers have been seeing this season. He kicked the opening goal, using his strength and low center of gravity to shrug off tacklers before snapping truly under pressure, and then continued to get involved in productive moments for SA throughout the rest of the game, kicking a second himself among his 5 score involvements.