One of my absolute favourites in the 2025 draft crop is Fred Rodriguez from WA. Slick and clean with his hands, able to gather difficult ball below his knees. Elite skills off either side of the body by hand or foot. Attacking instincts to burst forward into dangerous space. Strong running power on the outside.
He was excellent at the Champs as a bottom ager, one of WA’s best for the tournament. Here we see most of his game on full show, although his left foot was a little less lazer sharp than usual.
Better get used to three letter acronyms in 2025 as the hyphens are coming, featuring CDT (Cooper Duff-Tytler) right at the pointy end of the draft pool. A tall ruck/forward who moves fantastically for his size, is clean below his knees and skilled with the footy. Plays more like a midfielder than a ruckman after the tap. More dominant through the middle than as a forward at this stage, which is a slight concern given he’s “only” 199cm tall.
The fourth of the Duursma clan is another elite prospect with potential to be the best of the brood. The tallest of the siblings, he’s rangy and athletic, capable of playing any role on the footy field from key position, wing or on ball.
A strong contribution to the 2025 hyphen brigade, NHH turned in a solid performance on grand final day in the U17 futures game. Playing on a forward flank for most of the game he was one of the high possession accumulators, demonstrating his endurance to roam up the ground and get involved in repeat contests. His marking strength was a standout, and he showed his creativity by foot, although he did also turn the ball over at times.
Greeves has been playing understudy to Josh Smillie this season at Eastern and shapes as a similar elite level prospect for next season. A big bodied midfielder standing 191cm tall with the speed and agility of a much smaller man, excellent disposal skills paired with quick and decisive decision making. In this game we see him racking up a lot of the footy as well as showing his ability to influence stoppage and create scoring opportunities for himself and his teammates.
Onley shapes as another prototype of the modern big midfielder standing 194cm tall with the pace and agility to navigate midfield traffic and lovely quick hands in tight spaces. As a bottom ager he got a lot of run as a core onballer at the Champs which says a lot about the high regard that the Vic Country coaching staff have for him and his game. I would love to see Riley put a lot of work into his disposal by foot over the pre-season as his final kick inside 50 or shot on goal can too often spoil his excellent build up work.
