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Bloody hell. Will Darcy decides to play for the Chargers all of a sudden, so of course he goes and kicks the bloody sealer by beating his opponent in a marking contest.Leave a comment:
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From National Draft perspective here are some players I would hope we will consider
Smaller defenders
Sam Allen - 182cm winger who I think might be a more natural defender. Highly athletic player and physically strong,
Sam Grlj - 182 defender or mid. Super quick and highly skilled. I believe he is a real climber with the draft boards.
Thomas Burton - 178cm defender. He's been a prolific performer for the Jets this season
Kye Fincher - 184cm defender. A NGA candidate for St Kilda and has pace and terrific kicking skills.
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Top prospects, latest whispers in mega mid-year state of play
AFL clubs will considerably ramp up their focus on this year’s mid-season draft over the coming weeks as they seek the next mid-year bargain gem later this month.
The 2025 AFL mid-season rookie draft will take place on Wednesday May 28.
The draft has uncovered an array of success stories this decade, including Hawthorn star Jai Newcombe, Essendon’s Sam Durham, ex-Pie turned Sun John Noble, ex-Bomber turned Hawk Massimo D’Ambrosio, in-form St Kilda forward Cooper Sharman and, most notably, dual premiership Tiger Marlion Pickett.
Trying to find that gem, however, takes a lot of man hours. Already trying to track hundreds of national draft-eligible players all year round, monitoring the mid-season crop stretches club recruiting resources even more at this time of the year.
How many clubs participate in this year’s mid-season draft remains unclear at this stage, with only Carlton, Collingwood, Essendon, North Melbourne, West Coast and the Western Bulldogs currently having vacant list spots. Recruiters expect more positions to open up in the lead-up to the draft as club injury toll becomes clearer and pressing list needs crystallise.
Some clubs will still devote ample time and resources to the mid-season crop, yet ultimately not end up picking a player on the night. As one scout told foxfooty.com.au: “It can be a lot of work for no return.” The risk is, of course, not doing enough work on the players then being left unprepared ahead of the night after a late, ill-timed injury or necessary list strategy pivot.
One aspect that is clear, though, is the strong interest in several players from Richmond’s VFL team, which has been a terrific breeding ground in recent times with the likes of Durham, Sam Davidson and James Trezise all plucked from there. The program’s ability to recruit players from all levels of footy, upskill them and get them ready for AFL level has earned the respect of the recruiting industry.
This year, VFL Tiger Tom McCarthy (189cm) is on the radar of multiple clubs after a strong start to his 2025 VFL campaign, averaging 22.1 disposals and 4.1 marks.
After playing predominantly as a midfielder last season, McCarthy has thrived across half-back this season, showing off his excellent kicking skills and power.
Also in the mix is teammate Sam Toner – a dangerous 184cm natural goalkicker with lots of tricks.
Toner has played predominantly as a wing for the Tigers’ VFL side, averaging 12.3 disposals from three games. But he showed his craft close to goal and impressed in both of the Young Guns’ recent games, booting 3.2 from 12 touches against Vic Metro before kicking 4.1 from 14 disposals and seven marks against Vic Country eight days later.
The 19-year-old this year has shown he’s more than just a last-line goalkicker, improving his work up the ground to give himself the best chance of a mid-season spot.
Tigers small forward Massimo Raso has also caught the eye of AFL clubs and will be strongly considered at the mid-season draft, despite receiving less hype in recent weeks. He looms as a classic ‘needs’ pick for a club seeking small forward depth.
A Western Jets product renowned for his speed and cleanliness at ground level, Raso has been a standout for the Tigers’ VFL side, booting a team-high 12 goals and averaging 14.5 disposals per outing.
Clubs, too, are excited about the prospects of Eastern Ranges Rod Ali – a late-comer to footy with a high ceiling.
A former basketballer who prioritised football at the start of the year, Ali is a good chance to be taken in the mid-season draft after impressing as a 186cm hybrid intercept defender.
Scouts know he’s raw — and if he was selected later this month, he’d be a long-term project — but they also love his competitiveness and physical nature. One recruiter told foxfooty.com.au that if Ali was on the open national draft board at the end of this year, he’d be a top-30 prospect.
Ali, who was playing for Mitcham’s Under 19s in the Eastern Football Netball League last season, played in both Young Guns games against Vic Metro and Vic Country, but needs to play another game to ensure he’d mid-season draft eligible. That match should come this weekend, with Ali set to represent Collingwood’s VFL side against Northern Bullants.
The Magpies have been keeping close tabs on Ali, as well as two of their own VFL players in 195cm forward Riley Mason and on-baller Josh Browne.
After kicking 72 goals from 18 games for Seymour last year, Mason has kicked 13.4 this season, with nine of those goals coming in the first two weeks. Browne, meanwhile, has kicked 6.3 and averaged 24.5 disposals from his past four VFL games for the Magpies.
mong the myriad of VFL players in the mid-season draft discussion include Geelong VFL defender Charlie McCartin – the brother of Paddy and Tom McCartin – ex-Kangaroo turned Borough ball magnet Charlie Lazzaro and Port Melbourne 202cm ruck Ajang Kuol mun.
McCartin has averaged 16.8 disposals and 8.4 marks from his five VFL matches, while Lazzaro has averaged 27.2 disposals and 7.2 tackles from five games for Port Melbourne. Kuol mun, renowned for his natural leap and mobility, is coming off his best VFL game yet, booting 2.1 from 20 disposals, 17 contested possessions, nine clearances, nine score involvements, three contested marks and 39 hit-outs.
North Adelaide’s Ewan Mackinley also has ample fans at AFL level.
A 182cm Mildura product, Mackinley has kicked 4.5 and averaged 16.0 disposals and 3.8 inside 50s in the SANFL this season. He also kicked one goal from 16 disposals and five inside 50s in the SANFL-VFL state game.
Clubs love Mackinley’s speed and power, as well as his kicking skills in the front half.
One ex-AFL player on the radar is premiership Cat Brandan Parfitt, who’s had a monster start to his WAFL stint, averaging 31.0 disposals from four games for Perth.
Ex-Eagle Hamish Brayshaw on 6PR radio flagged a month ago that West Coast “will be eyeing him (Parfitt) off for the mid-season draft, adding he had “a spring in his step, bounce and a sheer drive and determination to make it back in the AFL” after being delisted by Geelong at the end of last season.
Parfitt, however, is reportedly dealing with a hamstring injury, which could put him in doubt for the upcoming SANFL-WAFL state league match.
There’s several players in their 19th years generating momentum, especially key-position prospects.
Athletic and energetic GWV Rebels ruck-forward Floyd Burmeister was unlucky to miss out on being drafted last year, but this month is right in the mix to earn an AFL gig.
The 199cm prospect played two Coates League Talent games as a forward for the Rebels, booting 3.7 and averaging six marks per game. His impact was limited in the two Young Guns game as he spent more time in the ruck, but scouts have noted his improvement since the end of last season.
Burmeister shared ruck duties with Zac Harding in the Young Guns game against Vic Metro — then rucked against Harding eight days later when the latter lined up for Vic Country. Playing for the Young Guns, Harding had 11 disposals and 16 hit-outs before putting 16 touches and 18 hit-outs on the Young Guns when representing Country.
Harding, the son of former Fitzroy player Dean Harding who played 19 AFL games in the early ‘90s, is considered one of the top 19-year-olds in the mid-season pool, with recruiters liking his kicking skills, as well as his mobility and competitiveness.
Then there’s the sheer size and presence of 209cm Western Jets ruck Ayden McCarroll, who’s consistently hit the scoreboard in recent months. After booting two goals for the Jets against Eastern Ranges, McCarroll kicked three goals across the two Young Guns matches.
McCarroll is raw, so would be a long-term project if selected, but he kicks it beautifully for a player of his size — and might be the type of prospect clubs want to pick now to get ahead of rivals that might consider him later in the year.
Calder Cannons 193cm defender Gus Papal is also a chance to be picked up after a solid start to his Coates Talent League campaign and an impressive Young Guns performance against Vic Country (17 disposals, 8 marks, 7 rebound 50s). Powerful Cannons teammate Cooper Herbert (191cm) also starred against Vic Country, booting 3.1 from 15 disposals and six marks.
There’s also interest in Dandenong Stingrays key defender Adrian Cole — a St Kilda Next Generation Academy graduate who was stiff not to be drafted last year. An athletic 194cm backman with strong one-on-one ability and a great natural leap, Cole has played three games for the Stingrays and two games for the Young Guns this year.
Rival clubs have linked Cole to the Sydney Swans, who could look to develop more key-position depth in defence.
Elsewhere, multiple sources linked Gold Coast to Southern Football Netball League bolter Caleb Lewis, who kicked five goals across the two Young Guns games.
In his draft year (2021), he was classed as a key defender, renowned for intercept marking and pinpoint ball use from half-back. But Lewis, 21, has become an exciting 198cm forward with his high-flying ability and goal nous.
The Suns, as it stands, don’t have a list opening, but defender Charlie Ballard is out for the rest of the season after suffering a ruptured ACL in March.
Recruiters are also expecting Essendon to pick a ready-made ruck, considering the long-term injuries to Sam Draper and Nick Bryan. Southport 25-year-old ruck Brayden Crossley, who played 10 games for Gold Coast and was close to an SSP lifeline with the Bulldogs in February, will be strongly considered after averaging 15.2 disposals, 5.8 tackles, 4.2 clearances and 40.0 it-outs across five games for the Sharks. Another option could be 26-year-old East Fremantle big man Lachlan Blakiston, who was heavily linked to AFL clubs ahead of last year’s national draft before ultimately being overlooked.Leave a comment:
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I wonder if this one might be worth keeping an eye on for the MSD
Caleb Lewis
He’s the high-flying bolter from the ‘burbs.
Southern league key forward Caleb Lewis has climbed over packs and on to the radar of AFL recruiters as an outside chance for next month’s mid-season draft.
It’s believed Gold Coast has taken a particular interest in the 198cm Lewis.
The 21-year-old has played only four VFL games at Casey Demons in the past two seasons but at local level has produced excellent form for Dingley.
Last year he kicked 66 goals for the Dingoes and almost dragged them over the line in a tight grand final against Cheltenham.
He started this season where he left off the last, soaring over a 200cm opponent just 54 seconds into the first quarter of the Round 1 match against Chelt. Lewis finished with five goals.
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Lewis was an Under 16 Victorian representative alongside fellow Sandringham Dragons Josh Sinn, Blake Howes and Dante Visentini.
He burst into senior football with amateur club St Bede’s Mentone Tigers in 2023, booting 49 goals from 14 games. That year he also had four appearances with the Footscray VFL team, kicking three goals against North Melbourne and three against the Northern Bullants.
Former Tigers coach Steve D’Andrea said Lewis was an outstanding prospect.
“At 6’6 and with his jumping ability and ground ball … so much talent,’’ D’Andrea said.
Lewis was a VAFA Rising Star nomination in 2023, with the Tigers declaring “he catches the eye in everything that he does especially his ability to take contested pack marks on a regular basis’’.
Dingley coach Zach Horsley remembers his first meeting with Lewis at the end of 2023, saying the aerial presence wooing AFL clubs was an early topic of discussion.
“We met at a café in Dingley. I had watched a little bit of vision on him in some games he had scored big goals to see how he looked and how he moved,” he said.
“The first question I ask a lot of potential recruits is, ‘How do you describe yourself as a player?’ He just said ‘Oh, I don’t know, I love taking hangers, yeah, I love it’.
“I think since he’s come to Dingley he’s taken 15 genuine big ones; I think as a player he loves to play with some highlight reel stuff and really energise the people around him.
“He’s definitely lived up to his early assessment, without a doubt.
“He’s got a really good nous for football … if he feels like sitting on the shoulders is the best way to mark the footy, we’ll back him in.
“I think you’re a pretty brave person if you sit under the footy in front of him because you might end up on a poster.”
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A Western Bulldogs fan from the Western Jets is making his mark in the Coates Talent League as one of the leading rebounding defenders in this year’s draft class.
Thomas Burton finished as the top-ranked player on the ground in the Jets’ loss to the Northern Knights on Sunday, returning to the side after playing for the AFL Academy in recent weeks.
Burton gathered 34 disposals at 82 per cent efficiency across half-back, along with seven marks, seven rebound 50s and five tackles for a total of 183 ranking points.
A Bulldogs fan, Burton grew up idolising Jason Johannisen and trained at Whitten Oval over pre-season as part of the AFL Academy program.
He made his senior debut for local club Point Cook as a 16-year-old in the 2023 Grand Final in the Western Region Football League, under coach Clay Smith.
Smith was a 2016 AFL premiership player for the Bulldogs, while his premiership teammate Luke Dahlhaus was also part of that losing Grand Final side.
“To have Clay put that faith in me was unreal,” Burton said earlier this year.
“And then to have Luke Dahlhaus out on the field directing me and guiding me was special.”
Burton finished his bottom-age season strongly with the Jets in 2024 and has continued his development this season.
He was particularly prominent in the back half for the AFL Academy side in its first match against Richmond’s VFL side in April, logging 20 disposals and three tackles.
“I think my speed combined with my decision-making is probably the biggest things that come to mind,” Burton said of his strengths.
“But also, if I can get my aerobic fitness to be an elite level, I think it will give me the opportunity to be one of the best players.”
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