We have 12 players coming out of contract end of 2026, and another 7 to consider end of 2027.
Draft capital will be sucked up by Walker this year and the compromised draft starts end of 2027.
We have holes to fill, and we need some quality star power or match winning capacity to help us get over the line. FA is the only hope we have for the latter.
This year is timely to make big changes to our list to improve the quality of the list and our plight moving forward.
https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/not-all-the-best-players-are-playing-afl-say-footy-greats/news-story/2e2559ba5cbc90e47ebd79fcd715b638Not all the best players are playing AFL, say footy greatsQuote:
Dermott Brereton hit the nail on the head.
Australia’s best 414 footballers are not running around in the AFL every week.
Instead, a chunk of high quality players who are good enough to be playing in the national competition are plying their trade at lower levels, most notably state league competitions, where they are combining full-time work with their passion for the game.
“There are 414 players running onto a ground every week under the fraternity of the AFL, but I can tell you, we don’t play the 414 best available players,’’ said Brereton, an Australian Football Hall of Famer and five-time Hawthorn premiership forward.
“There are blokes who are in the best 414 who aren’t out there, we miss them every year because we (AFL clubs) take kids in the draft.
“We bring these kids in, with a view to the future, but some aren’t ready and yet we play them when there are (other) blokes who are in the best 414 who we don’t get out there.
Quote:
Of the six SANFL products taken at last year’s contentious mid-season draft - Glenelg’s Harrison Ramm (drafted by Port Adelaide) and Oscar Adams (Gold Coast), North Adelaide’s Ewan Mackinlay (Port), Central District’s Mani Liddy (Power), Norwood’s Jacob Newton (West Coast) and South Adelaide’s Noah Howes (Collingwood) - only Howes has yet to debut for his new club.
Quote:
Regular AFL flag contender Geelong has been the master of successfully recruiting mature-age players, with first-choice men Tom Stewart, Mark Blicavs, Tom Atkins, Shaun Mannagh, Mark O’Connor, Oisin Mullin, Brad Close and Lawson Humphries signed via that avenue.
Glenelg coach Matthew Clarke - in his first season as a SANFL coach after a long AFL playing career at three clubs and successful AFLW coaching career with the Crows - agreed with Francou that there are plenty of mature-age SANFL players who could thrive in the AFL.
Quote:
Apart from Lewis, other mature-age SANFL players currently understood to be garnering the attention of AFL clubs include West Adelaide talls Tom Scully and Caleb May, Port Adelaide’s Rome Burgoyne, Sturt’s Zac Becker and Alex Holt, South Adelaide’s Arie Schoenmaker and Arlo Draper, Glenelg’s Rex Jones and Woodville-West Torrens’ Kade Herbert, Max Beattie, Ted Clohesy and Ethan Grace.
Then there's the WAFA, VFL comps to monitor for talent.
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