Resource Noob's 2026 Draft Prospect Video Thread

[noobermensch]

First look at the power cube for 2026. Marlon Neocleous was better this week after a quiet opening round, playing midfield and forward and ending as one of his team's best in a humbling loss. His pace and reaction time allowed him to apply strong defensive pressure, and his powerful frame ensures that his tackles stick. His pace and lateral movement allowed him to attack the game and carry the ball forward, and his kicking skills were typically neat.

 

[noobermensch]

A second straight strong performance to start the year for Jackson Phillips, playing a significant role as his Stingrays registered a convincing win over the highly fancied Gippsland Power. Phillips powerful movement through congestion is a point of difference in his game, and he plays with a physical edge. He found more of the footy this week, though perhaps wasn't quite as damaging by foot.

 

[JHF1870]

Armstrong is literally a Caleb Serong

3

Caleb Serong

Age

25

Ht

180cm

Wt

87kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

13.0

3star

K

7.0

3star

HB

6.0

4star

M

1.8

2star

T

3.6

5star

CL

2.6

4star

D

13.0

3star

K

7.0

3star

HB

6.0

3star

M

1.8

2star

T

3.6

4star

CL

2.6

4star

D

13.0

4star

K

7.0

3star

HB

6.0

4star

M

1.8

2star

T

3.6

5star

CL

2.6

5star

clone.

Kenh looks like a second effort player with good reliabiltiy.

 

[noobermensch]

Every year there are prospects that miss out at the National Draft and use it as motivation to come back better the next season. Oliver Griffin may well be one of those, having put him name in the early frame for the mid season draft. He was impressive in this game, especially early, showing competitive fire and physicality along with the springy athleticism, clean hands and aerial attack to make him a real marking threat.

 

[noobermensch]

A lot to like about this first up performance from Ethan Drever. A midfielder with a big frame who likes to impose himself in contested situations, Drever was especially effective at stoppage, getting first hands on the ball a lot or laying tough tackles to prevent the opposition breaking free. One of the most impressive sights in footy is a midfielder breaking clear from center bounce, driving forward and bombing a long goal, and Drever nearly did it twice at a pivotal time in the final quarter. On the negative side, he will need to work on his composure and decision making when kicking the ball.

 

[noobermensch]

A first look at the prolific Jacob McNicol who's started off the AAMI Talent League with a bang, racking up possessions and kicking goals for fun over the first three weeks of the season. McNicol plays the classic junior footy mid/fwd role for Glenelg, and a significant portion of their forward thrust comes from his classy left boot, directly kicking goals himself or setting up his teammates inside F50. He did sky a few kicks where a bit more composure would have been nice, but when you kick the ball 28 times the odds are you'll get a few wrong.

Unfortunately, the broadcast was quite choppy at times, so we probably missed a few of his moments.

 

[Thunderstruck]

A first look at the prolific Jacob McNicol who's started off the AAMI Talent League with a bang, racking up possessions and kicking goals for fun over the first three weeks of the season. McNicol plays the classic junior footy mid/fwd role for Glenelg, and a significant portion of their forward thrust comes from his classy left boot, directly kicking goals himself or setting up his teammates inside F50. He did sky a few kicks where a bit more composure would have been nice, but when you kick the ball 28 times the odds are you'll get a few wrong.

Unfortunately, the broadcast was quite choppy at times, so we probably missed a few of his moments.

He's certainly had a big start to the season

 

[#BallMagnet]

He's certainly had a big start to the season

Agree.
Patterson gets most of the attention out of that Glenelg team but there’s some solid prospects like McNicol shown here, Croker another Wing/Mid & Franz a very solid defender.

 

[noobermensch]

A first look at Albert MacGowan after a few requests from viewers for his game from last weekend. MacGowan has racked up heaps of the footy over the first two weeks, playing as a hard working and gut running midfielder. His strength is his ability to get to contests and always provide the plus one outnumber, as well as spread hard to provide an outlet option. He'll likely need to show more of an ability to damage with the ball.

 

[RedmanWasHere]

ALBERT!

Been aaaages since an Albert was in the VFL/AFL.

 

[noobermensch]

Kodah Edwards was back after missing a week, with a carbon copy of his first game. Once again influential at stoppage and round the ground when deployed as a midfielder and looking extremely dangerous as a forward. His ability to win 1v1s with clever body work is a real highlight, as is his powerful first step to create separation. Similar to week one, he wasn’t always as composed with the ball as you’d like to see.

 

[noobermensch]

Mostly deployed across half back, Koby Bewick found a stack of the footy in this game, his rebounding run a big factor in Calder's attacking thrust. Bewick's elite traits are his outside run and penetrating kick and both featured strongly here as did his attacking forward handball which is becoming increasingly important in the modern game. His physicality and defensive instincts remain a work in progress.

 

[RedmanWasHere]

His physicality and defensive instincts remain a work in progress.

Welcome to Essendon, Koby.

 

[noobermensch]

Cody Walker gets marked much more harshly than most other prospects due to his lofty status as one of the two clear front runners to be pick 1. He had another huge game here but there was some bad among the good. As usual his power and athleticism were brutally effective in contests and stoppage, with a handful of his clearance takeaways leaving opponents in the dust. His kicking was better than it often is and Cody even laced out his teammates with F50 entries on a few occasions. His handball let him down a bit too often today however, both in decision making and execution, leading to a number of scrappy and broken sequences of play.

 

[big_e]

ALBERT!

Been aaaages since an Albert was in the VFL/AFL.

Albert Proud, 2010?

Ended up in jail, apparently.

 

[RedmanWasHere]

Albert Proud, 2010?

Ended up in jail, apparently.

Forgot he existed.

 

[noobermensch]

Neocleous is building into his season nicely, putting together his best game so far in round 3 in helping Gippsland to a solid win. He started forward for most of the game but used his running power to roam up the ground and provide a marking outlet for his teammates in transition. He used the ball well, applied strong defensive pressure and mostly important hit the scoreboard with 4 goals.

 

[noobermensch]

Drever must be moving up draft boards after a seriously impressive first two games of the new season. His numbers in this one pop off the page, but his influence on the game was just as immense, winning contests all over the ground with power and physicality. With the game close in the closing minutes Drever made the difference with a goal from a clearance in forward 50 and then a tackle to win possession at the center bounce and driving the ball forward for another important score.

 

[noobermensch]

Another relatively quiet game from Arki Butler. He started quite well in the opening term, showing the pace and kicking skills that allow him to create incisive attacking moments for his team. He drifted out of the game as it progressed and barely touched the footy in the second half. There were clear signs of frustration from him, including starting a melee at one point.

 

[noobermensch]

An Essendon NGA for the 2027 draft Mostafa Darwish gave Bomber fans an early look at what they can expect from his game with a strong performance. He played mostly wing and motored up and down with excellent run and endurance, impacting in the air and setting up play with poised disposal. His ability to get back into D50 and taking intercept marks was a real highlight, regularly stifling the Pioneers attacking moves.

 

[noobermensch]

An extremely impressive performance from Finlay Yeo to open his top age campaign, about as damaging as you're likely to see from an outside midfielder. He largely played off a wing with a couple of rotations on ball, but the pattern of his play remained consistent, finding dangerous space ahead of the ball and attacking with elite pace and agility before finishing with slick skills by hand and foot. He only has a slight frame but showed an admirable willingness to take on physical contact in order to open up space for a teammate and laid a few strong tackles of his own.

 

[noobermensch]

A first look on the channel at Kale Matthews-Hampton who entered the season as a hot draft fancy playing as a tall defender. Here he's had an interesting switch up into the midfield, playing as the defensive side sweeper at stoppage preventing opposition exits through the attacking side of the square, a critical role given the ruck dominance of Herbert for North Adelaide and a role KMH played well on the day. The structural importance of his role aside, his overall game was solid without being spectacular, although he did manage to get forward on a couple of occasions and hit the scoreboard. It'll be interesting to see if this midfield experiment continues and whether he becomes more comfortable and confident through there.

 

[noobermensch]

It turns out Marcus Prasad is not actually club tied to Melbourne after all, so this might be a good opportunity for fans of other clubs to remind themselves of his exciting talent. He's been super consistent through the first three weeks of the talent league season, finding the footy up the ground and getting dangerous inside forward 50. When he's around the ball he's always involved, throwing himself into contested situations with a bravery that belies his slight frame, and when he finds space he can damage with his pace, evasiveness and skills.

 

[noobermensch]

A very nice game from Watkins who maximised the impact of his 16 disposals with most of them leading to scores for his team. He split his time between midfield and half forward with his elite poise and ball use being the clear highlight in both roles. Inside the contest he has time and the vision to hit runners on the outside with handball, and on the spread he regularly picked great options and executed by foot, hitting up leading forwards and even kicking a couple of goals of his own.

 

[noobermensch]

Prolific output in the first game of the season for Leo Steed. Somewhat undersized for a primary midfielder, he didn't let that deter him from cracking in hard in contested situations, winning plenty of his own footy and applying strong tackling pressure. Steed demonstrated his running power with a top 5 yo-yo test in the preseason, and that strength was on display in this game, regularly burning off opponents on the spread. His ball use was typically tidy without being super damaging, although he did manage to hit the scoreboard.