AFL Draft intel: All the latest news and the top 50 Coates Talent League prospects ranked after round 2

A Richmond father-son has made a strong start to the season, while a towering ruckman with electric speed has burst onto the scene in South Australia. All the latest news.

Chris Cavanagh and Dan Batten

7 min read

April 5, 2023 - 4:00PM

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Richmond father-son prospect Charlie Naish is pushing for Vic Metro selection after an impressive first two weeks of the season.

The son of former Tigers midfielder Chris, Naish recorded 20 disposals, five inside 50s, eight score involvements and three score assists for the Northern Knights in the Coates Talent League last weekend.

“His footy IQ is probably his most impressive trait,” Knights talent manager Nat Grindal said.

“He just sees and understands the game so well. Our game against the Rebels last year, the wildcard game, it was pretty tight and he ended up with the ball and he had the composure to know to slow it down and find a couple of other options. If the game ends up in someone else’s hands, the game probably wouldn’t have ended up like it did. He was one of the reasons we got over the line. He’s a good user of the ball.”

Naish is the younger brother of Patrick, a fellow Knights graduate who was drafted to Richmond under the father-son rule in 2017.

Naish is hoping to spend more time onball for the Knights this year, having primarily featured on a wing and across half-forward last year.

Chris Naigh and Patrick Naish ahead of the 2017 draft. The Tigers could draft another Naish in 2023. Picture: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

TOP PROSPECT BACKS TASSIE TEAM

A top AFL draft prospect in 2023 is firmly backing the introduction of a new 19th AFL team in the Apple Isle, saying it is “wrong” that the state doesn’t already have a side.

Ryley Sanders grew up in Launceston but moved to Melbourne last year to finish his schooling at Melbourne Grammar.

He is playing for the Sandringham Dragons in the Coates Talent League this year.

“It would be great to see a Tassie team. It would be elite,” Sanders said.

“It’s a bit wrong that we don’t have one already, since we’re such a footballing state. I know we’re not the biggest state but we’d definitely get behind it.”

Sanders also played state-level basketball in Tasmania but is now firmly focused on his football and is part of the AFL Academy squad this year.

Last year he was part of a Dragons midfield which also included 2022 AFL draftees Will Ashcroft, Cam Mackenzie and Harry Sheezel.

However, he has stepped up to play a leading role as a top-age player this season and logged 34 disposals, eight clearances, eight tackles, seven score involvements and one goal against the Calder Cannons last weekend.

“I was probably the fourth mid with Ashy and Cam and Sheez and what not,” Sanders said.

“So it was definitely good learning off them. It was definitely frustrating, starting on the bench and not getting as much time. But hopefully this year, I feel like it’s given me a good advantage to really go into my top age here and hopefully dominate this year.”

Ryley Sanders in action for Tasmania in 2021. Picture: Russell Freeman/AFL Photos

‘WIZARD’ EXCITING EARLY

Recruiters have loved Nick Watson’s start to the season as the small forward firms as a potential top-five draft pick this year.

Watson logged 27 disposals, six marks, five tackles, seven score involvements and a goal for the Eastern Ranges in a win over the Gold Coast Suns Academy last weekend.

The performance came after an “outstanding” Round 1 game against Sandringham, where Watson kicked two goals from 17 disposals.

An X-Factor player, recruiters love the “entertaining” and “special” AFL Academy member, who is constantly “sitting on heads and snapping goals”.

He has taken on the nickname ‘The Wizard’, given his freakish talents.

“I’ve had a couple of people call me Wizard lately. So it’s getting around there,” Watson said.

Few small forwards are selected as top-five picks in the national draft, but Watson is one who could be an exception.

GIANT SA BOLTER COMES FROM NOWHERE

A freakishly athletic giant from South Australia has come from nowhere to enter the frame as a draft prospect – and it all started with an ambitious phone call from his teammate.

Towering ruckman Taylor Goad, who stands an imposing 207cm, hadn’t played club footy for three seasons, but had shown some signs of promise for Westminster College in school footy.

This led his Westminster teammate and South Adelaide prospect Tom Wheaton to call Panthers talent manager Mark Clayton and ask if Goad could trial over the pre-season.

Goad possesses incredible speed for a player of his size, and this rare combination saw him stand out from his very first session.

Tom Wheaton (right) got the ball rolling for Taylor Goad. Picture: Brenton Edwards

His elite burst was then put on full display in February with an equal-first finish in the 20m sprint at SA’s pre-season testing day, wowing recruiters with a staggering time of 2.92.

This effort would have put him inside the top six competitors at last year’s national draft combine, and was equivalent to West Coast draftee and round three Rising Star nominee Reuben Ginbey’s time, who was regarded as one of the most athletic players in the draft pool.

Goad is set to be South Australia’s ruckman at the national championships and while the raw product has plenty to learn, Clayton said he already has the tools athletically to press his claims for the draft.

“He hasn’t played school footy for a few years. He played school footy the last couple of years and one of our other players who goes to the same school – Tom Wheaton – rang me up and asked if he could come and trial over pre-season, which he did,” Clayton said.

“Our first night we did some draft camp testing… His height stands out straight away and he did the 20m and he was quicker than everyone else. So we worked it out pretty quickly that athletically he has got everything he needs.”

Goad has had a modest start to the SANFL under-18 season, averaging seven touches and 10 hitouts, but shapes as a prospect with significant upside.

VIC DUO BURST ONTO THE SCENE

Geelong Falcons forward Tom Anastasopoulos has put himself on the map with a barnstorming start to the Coates Talent League.

Anastasopoulos, who wasn’t named in the initial Vic Country squad, has booted a league-high eight goals in the opening two rounds, including a stunning five-goal haul in their win over the Oakleigh Chargers.

The 176cm goalsneak finished with 18 disposals, seven tackles, nine score involvements and 142 SuperCoach points, with his speed, deadly accuracy and classy finishing around goal standing out.

Tom Anastasopoulos has started the season with a bang. Picture: Josh Chadwick/AFL Photos via Getty Images

Sandringham Dragons midfielder-forward Harvey Johnston is another who has caught the attention of recruiters in the last fortnight.

Touted as a surprise packet by Dragons talent manager Mark Wheeler following a stellar pre-season, Johnston has impressed through the midfield and up forward, averaging 20.5 disposals, 109 SuperCoach points and kicking three goals.

Johnston is a player capable of improving his standing further with his agility in traffic, which allows him to dodge tacklers with ease, and his power - two valuable traits in the modern game.

Talent League draft rankings: Top 50 rankings after round 2

— Lauren Wood

It only took two rounds, but the first double-century of the Coates Talent League season has been cracked.

And as the AFL continues to deliberate on the fate of a Tasmanian team, it happened on the Apple Isle.

CHECK OUT THE TOP 50 COATES TALENT LEAGUE DRAFT RANKINGS BELOW

Launceston’s Tom Beaumont – skipper of the Tasmania Devils – delivered a dominant display in the team’s win over the Western Jets in Penguin, notching a whopping 220 rankings points in the team’s first outing for the season on Saturday evening.

Beaumont, a midfielder whose work at the contest was particularly noted after kicking a goal from the first centre bounce of the game, had spoken pre-game of his pride at leading the team on its home deck and he delivered in spades.

Fourteen debutants lined up for the Devils on Saturday, where Beaumont’s teammates Beau Nash and Jack Callinan also featured in the game’s top five points-winners.

Tasmania Devils skipper Thomas Beaumont (right) celebrates a goal. Pic: Solstice Digital

“It’s a little bit different to the TSL game style so it can come as a bit of a shock at times but I think the most important thing is just playing your role,” Beaumont had told The Examiner before the clash.

“Just being able to play your role and do what you need to do for the team is really important.

“That’s what got us so far last year – we were a team, we weren’t a group of individuals trying to get drafted. We were an actual Tasmanian team that was playing a good brand of football.”

And play his role he did.

The performance rocketed Beaumont to the top of the season averages, followed by son of a gun Indhi Kirk – son of Swans great Brett Kirk, who notched 146 rankings points in the Sydney Academy team’s narrow lost to the Greater Western Victoria Rebels to sit on an average of 166 points from two games played.

Hotly-tipped potential No. 1 draft pick Harley Reid sits just inside the top 10 for average ranking points after another impressive performance for Bendigo Pioneers, collecting 130 points and booting a goal in the team’s big win over the GWS Academy.

Indhi Kirk in action for the Swans. (Photo by Morgan Hancock/AFL Photos/via Getty Images)

TOP SUPERCOACH SCORES FROM ROUND 2

CALDER CANNONS 10.9.69 def. by SANDRINGHAM DRAGONS 11.9.75

178 – Ryley Sanders (Sandringham Dragons)

127 – Hugo Garcia (Calder Cannons)

120 – Archie Roberts (Sandringham Dragons)

111 – Vigo Visentini (Sandringham Dragons)

110 – Harvey Johnston (Sandringham Dragons)

Ryley Sanders of the Sandringham Dragons in action during the 2023 Coates Talent League Boys Testing Day. (Photo by Josh Chadwick/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

GWV REBELS 9.12.66 def SYDNEY SWANS ACADEMY 9.8.62

184 – George Stevens (GWV Rebels)

157 – Sam Lalor (GWV Rebels)

146 – Indhi Kirk (Sydney Swans)

144 – Oscar Gawith (GWV Rebels)

130 – Caiden Cleary (Sydney Swans)

BENDIGO PIONEERS 19.10.124 def GWS GIANTS ACADEMY 6.6.42

137 – Tom Evans (Bendigo Pioneers)

134 – Eli Pearce (Bendigo Pioneers)

130 – Harley Reid (Bendigo Pioneers)

124 – Hugh Byrne (Bendigo Pioneers)

103 – Jackson Savage (GWS)