It sounds like you’re making the same mistake that Essendon supporters make in pre-season when essendon are playing against essendon and looking a million bucks.
These kids are playing against other junior footy players for the most part. A kid averaging 8 clearances per game in the Talent League will be described as a contested inside beast because that’s exactly what he is at junior level - doesn’t mean he can replicate that against the big boys.
I don’t need you to point out my mistakes, I’m married!
@noobermensch you are my favorite draft expert because you don’t take things to seriously. Keep up the good work, much appreciated.
haha! And they fall for that every year.
Dyson Sharp will enter next season as many people’s favourite to go pick 1 in the 2025 draft. He’s a tough and brave contested inside mid with enough versatility to his game to play and thrive in other roles. His stoppage work is a standout, his reading of the tap and movement always seems to put him in the right place at the right time and he plays with a physical edge to absorb contact or apply pressure of his own. He’s already shown that he can impact in a major way at senior SANFL level as a 17 year old, more than physically ready, the only slight question mark at this stage being his decision making at times where he has more time and space than he realises and rushes into a disposal, something that we can probably expect to improve with more experience at the level.
Death riding melbourne to finish last for the #1 pick
Cody played most of his bottom age season as a key defender at Colts level and for WA at the champs, impressing people enough to get himself firmly into the first round conversation for 2025. Late in the season Claremont threw him forward and he responded with back to back 6 goal games to demonstrate his elite potential.
Apologies for the poor audio quality at times in this one.
Any relation to the other Curtin?
Possibly, Daniel Curtins younger brother is called Cody,
Of course, younger bro.
Cody is MUCH better than Dan overhead, more of a typical key position player. Not as strong as Dan at ground level but still very good.
Not sure about Sharp, seems dump kicky a little. Makes the game look hard. Clearly a tough kid though.
Following in the footsteps of Isaac Kako, Hussien El Achkar is another name for Bombers fans to get excited about from their NGA program. A nuggety and powerful forward who can rotate into the midfield, El Achkar has plenty of tricks in his bag. In this game those tricks were all on display as he racked up some seriously impressive numbers, one of few to shine on the day given the extremely windy conditions.
Thanks Noob. Any thoughts on his likely draft range projection? Is he a Cat B rookie type prospect, or likely to go in the draft proper?
I feel like he’s a main draft type of talent right now, but not quite top end.
There’s a lot to like there, clean with his handling of difficult balls at ground level which is super important for a small forward, nice skills although looks to be very one sided, has a nose for a goal.
I don’t know if this is just my bias but he doesn’t have a typical footy physique. He looks more like a small rugby player that’s built for short bursts of speed and power rather than endurance. Combined with his lack of height (171cm), this probably pigeonholes him into being a small forward, and that lack of versatility could hurt his draft stock a tad.
We’ll wait and see. He’s already playing a decent amount of midfield for Calder. Perhaps he’ll show up round one next year having slimmed right down and grown a few cms.
Great highlights, some top notch crumbing in there as well.
Looks like he definitely needs to trim up a bit, what’s his kicking usually like?
I’m no expert yet, I’ll get a better feel for his game as I do more with his footage. He seems quite skilled to me, able to hit targets and bite off high difficulty options. Doesn’t appear to have a left foot though.
having clear strengths will be in his favour though, if youve got weapons coaches will figure out how to use them a reasonably exciting prospect watching that.
good intensity, good thirst for contact
Gimme that draft pick 
Josh Lindsay put himself firmly on the radar for 2025 with his BOG performance in the under 17 futures game on grand final day. A dashing defender with a classy and creative left foot, in this game he shows his ability to read the play and take intercept marks. He also managed to win a few clearances at stoppage, perhaps hinting at a potential future move into the midfield.
Archie Ludowyke is an interesting talent with plenty of supporters and some detractors. He started the season strongly, hitting the scoreboard regularly and getting called up to play a game for Vic Metro where he had some nice moments. His close to the season wasn’t as strong, particularly struggling to impact during the Dragons finals run. He’s a moments player at this stage, able to find space inside the forward 50 and hit up strongly at the ball carrier. His set shot goal kicking can be variable, and he does struggle at times with his overhead marking, tending to double grab, although he has shown an ability to clunk them when he gets it right.
