2025 Draft Watch

[Bornadog]

All good. Very informative phantom draft.
For the Dogs, Farrow is a really good player with fantastic kicking skills but my preference with the players available would have been Grlj Dovaston, or Oskar Taylor.

The Age draft order have Dovaston at 16 - read here for full list

16. Lachy Dovaston

Blackburn/Eastern Ranges/Victoria Metro
Forward, 177cm, 29/5/2007
Talent League U18 stats (avg): 16.1 disposals, 5 tackles, 2.4 goals
U18 champs stats (avg): 12.8 disposals, 5 contested possessions, 2.3 goals
2025 All-Australian
Dovaston is almost universally regarded as the best small forward up for grabs in this year’s draft. He works hard up and down the ground, kicked multiple goals in 13 of his 16 Talent League outings, and his defensive commitment and selflessness have improved considerably. Dovaston’s excellent VFL performance for Box Hill Hawks only added to his appeal, so don’t be surprised if he makes an instant impact in the AFL.

[GVGjr]

Sorry to post about a Richmond podcast - but the guy from that Reading the Play website was on last night explaining through the phantom draft he released. Not a bad listen if you’ve got the time:

All good. Very informative phantom draft.
For the Dogs, Farrow is a really good player with fantastic kicking skills but my preference with the players available would have been Grlj Dovaston, or Oskar Taylor.

You could certainly see Farrow taking a lot of kick-ins for a senior side

[The_Bont]

Sorry to post about a Richmond podcast - but the guy from that Reading the Play website was on last night explaining through the phantom draft he released. Not a bad listen if you’ve got the time:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7Mued80hPY

[Axe Man]

did you know Brisbane didn't have one left footer in the GF. First time since I think the 1940s.

Clearly that's where we are going wrong - too many left footers!

[Willow18]

Pick 4&6 could easily be one of Cumming/Grlj as well but then Dons just take Robey/Taylor I would imagine. And not much needs to go our way to give us a really hard choice to make on the night.

guys left after the first round (no F/S, Aca):

1. Cameron Nairn - fwd (SA)
2. Blake Thredgold - key back (SA)
3. Latrelle Pickett - small fwd (SA)
4. Louis Emmett - ruck
5. Matt LeRay - mid (SA)
6. Blake Oudshoorn-Bennier - def (SA)
7. Avery Thomas - def (Tas)
8. Jack Dalton - mid
9. Sam Swadling - mid (WA)
10. Riley Onley - mid
11. Rory Wright - def/mid
12. Talor Byrne - small fwd
13. Fred Rodriguez - mid (WA)
14. Thomas Burton - def/mid
15. Cody Curtin - key def (WA)
16. Max Kondogiannis - key back

[Willow18]

Bit of a different one, but just as a way to try and see how everything sits, I did a bit of a mock draft.

- where team name is replaced by “traded”, doesn’t mean it gets traded just that it potentially could be traded. example: Crows chasing Petracca, Saints chasing Flanders, Suns doing god knows what with Petracca & points

Assumption that Eagles, Dons & blues all get band 1 compensation.


ROUND ONE

1. Traded - Willem Duursma
2. Gold Coast - Zeke Uwland (Aca)
3. West Coast - Duff-Tytler /Sharp
4. Richmond - Sullivan Robey
5. Brisbane - Dan Annable (Aca)
6. Traded - Xavier Taylor
7. Essendon - Duff-Tytler /Sharp
8. Gold Coast - Dylan Patterson (Aca)
9. Essendon - Grlj /Cumming /Farrow
10. Traded - Grlj /Cumming /Farrow
11. Carlton - Harry Dean (F/S)
12. Traded - Schubert /Marsh
13. Traded - Grlj /Cumming /Farrow
14. Traded - Lindsay /Greeves /Taylor
15. Sydney - Schubert /Marsh
16. Western Bulldogs - Lachy Dovaston
17. Fremantle - Lindsay /Greeves /Taylor
18. Greater Western Sydney - Greeves /Taylor
19. Traded - Jevan Phillipou
20. Traded - Noah Hibbins-Hargreaves
21. Sydney - Max King (Aca)
22. West Coast - Harley Barker
23. Essendon - Adam Sweid (Aca)
24. Geelong - Archie Ludowyke

[Willow18]

did you know Brisbane didn't have one left footer in the GF. First time since I think the 1940s.

Yeah I heard that today, what a wild stat haha

[Bornadog]

Twomey suggested Josh Lindsay is now in that 10-15 range. He’s not one I’ve paid any attention too but is suppose to have a lethal left boot

did you know Brisbane didn't have one left footer in the GF. First time since I think the 1940s.

[doggies ftw]

I like the sound of Farrow. Anything Richards-like will do me!

Start at half back move to the middle like Ed when Libba hangs them up.

Agree with this, like Farrow a lot and a Richards clone would be very welcomed!

Dovastan & Farrow are my favourites and looks like one should be available hopefully

[doggies ftw]

This is the write up on Will Darcy on Code Sports

The Western Bulldogs have another Darcy coming, and there is plenty of intrigue around Will, who received a national combine invite despite limited exposure in the elite talent pathways. The raw tall is not as highly touted as his older brother Sam was in his draft year, but recruiters can see his upside, given Sam was also a late developer after a massive growth spurt. Will has shot up about 15 centimetres since he was in the Oakleigh Chargers program as a 16-year-old. The son of Luke Darcy decided initially to focus on his schooling this year before re-joining the Chargers’ program in May, having caught the eye as a key defender at APS level. In his Coates Talent League debut he took a strong contested mark and kicked the sealing goal for a win against the Lions Academy. Darcy has also impressed behind the scenes with his dedication since returning to the Chargers, and his speed, tidy foot skills and clean hands below his knees draw similarities to his older brother. He had spent time playing as a key forward for Scotch College earlier in the year before shifting back.

2025 Coates League 41 ranking points, 6.2 disposals, 1.2 marks, 3.8 intercept possessions, 0.8 spoils, 1.4 tackles, 0.2 goals (5 games)

Didn’t do much in Coates but apparently was very impressive in the APS footy.

wed be crazy not to take him IMO, nothing to lose really, even if he goes a little earlier than we’d hope. Hes even further back than Sam was, but with his genes and Sam’s rate of improvement from his bottom age year to now who knows.

It’s irrelevant to me when people say “if he wasn’t a Darcy”, okay sure but he is and it counts for something IMO

[Willow18]

Twomey suggested Josh Lindsay is now in that 10-15 range. He’s not one I’ve paid any attention too but is suppose to have a lethal left boot

[Uninformed]

I like the sound of Farrow. Anything Richards-like will do me!

Start at half back move to the middle like Ed when Libba hangs them up.

[Willow18]

Such a funny draft. I don’t think there’s a chance I’ll be disappointed with whoever we pick up. I like Farrow, prefer Dovaston, was previously into NHH. The fact one of Cumming/Grlj/Lindsay falls to us as well is exciting.

[GVGjr]

He looks like a pretty good player but I think we could do better.

[The_Bont]

Reading the Play have dropped their Phantom Draft (early as it is) and have us taking Farrow and matching a bid on Darcy at pick 32. Are we happy with these?

https://readingtheplay.wordpress.com/2025/10/01/2025-afl-phantom-draft-version-1-0/