Dovaston keeps on building and improving as the season progresses and should be considered firmly in the first round frame at this stage as the premiere small forward in the draft pool. He’s lacking almost nothing for that role, capable of kicking all types of goals, willing and able to apply defensive pressure at a high level, brings teammates into the play with creative disposal, electric around the footy with his pace, agility and a touch of magic. It would be nice to see him frank his form with a big performance at the Champs, but the talent level is undeniable.
I think there is an assumption though, particularly with indigenous players, that if they get delisted they must be too hard work. Delisted players no matter what the talent level tend not to be picked up again though, as clubs prefer the shiny new toy approach to recruiting.
Charlie has been kicking goals for fun since returning from an injury delayed start to the season, following up his 8 goals in round 8 with another big bag of 7 on the weekend. He’s an unfashionable, throwback type of player, a real stay at home, “undersized” full forward in the mold of a Lockett or Dunstall from a bygone era. He doesn’t mind laying a tackle or bump occasionally, but mostly he just wants to kick goals and he’s excellent at doing just that. Let’s hope his latest heroics will earn him a call up to represent Vic Country in their remaining Champs games.
An intriguing watch for draft nerds with Willem moved away from the mid/fwd role that he typically plays for Gippsland. He was mostly deployed on a wing in the first half and struggled to impact as much as we’ve come to expect this year, but that changed dramatically in the second half with a shift into defence which saw him produce one of the best displays of intercept marking that I’ve seen this junior season. I’ve wondered at times if Willem’s positional versatility is a bit of a curse, and this shift into other roles here may suggest that the clubs themselves aren’t fully sure where his future lies and wanted more of a look at him playing other roles.
Another excellent game from Aidan Schubert who’s become the early draft bolter at this year’s Champs. He split the ruck duties much more evenly with Ainsworth in this game which limited his opportunities to hit the scoreboard but gave him an opportunity to show an aspect of his game that we hadn’t seen as much of through the first two games. He was strong in the ruck, giving his mids first use on a number of occasions and playing a large role in SA’s overall dominance through the middle, as well as finding a stack of the footy himself and using the ball constructively by hand and foot.
I guess we can look at some damn good players coming in in 2026.
I just looked at squiggle, who predicts that we will only win 1 more game this season, which is entirely plausible since thats about the same as 2023 and 2024, plus the fact that we have some injuries, and one of the hardest 2nd half fixtures of all clubs.
So, are we going for 2 maybe gun 18 year olds or one gun 20 to 21 year old?
That will be interesting but thats about 15 weeks away, so meantime we canwatch how we sort the wheat from the chaff over the next potentially depressing 10 games.
