Brothers alike: Draft prospect Jevan Phillipou backs himself in as AFL’s top pick at the 2025 draft
He hails from a three-generation AFL family, but draft prospect Jevan Phillipou has followed in the confident footsteps of his Saints-playing brother, Mattaes, declaring he should be the No.1 pick.
It was the most eye-opening comment of the build-up to this year’s draft.
Jevan Phillipou was asked like pretty much every other potential top prospect – who would he select at No. 1 if he was making the pick.
Others nominated someone else such as a Willem Duursma or Cooper Duff-Tyler but Phillipou got straight to the point.
He would select himself as the No. 1 pick.
“I’ve just got a lot of confidence in myself and a lot of belief in myself,” he told this masthead.
“At the end of the day I have been working for this for my whole life pretty much.
“I feel like I have the athleticism that is needed for the next level, I feel like I have the skills required and I feel like I have the professionalism and the mindset as well.
“So that gives me a lot of confidence. I feel like I have good support around me as well. So I’m pretty lucky in that sense.”
If you feel like you have heard something like this before you are right.
Three-years ago his older brother Mattaes had a similar answer when asked, prior to him being selected by St Kilda with the 10th pick of that draft.
So where does this seemingly innate confidence come from?
“Well for me if I’m ever asked the question I am always going to back myself in,” Jevan said.
“I’m not just out there blabbering my mouth saying it. I am going to back myself in.
“I feel like it is a good trait to have.”
How does he feel like this has gone down with club recruiters?
“It is hard to judge,” he said.
“Some probably appreciate the confidence and some might not.
“Who knows what they think, I don’t think they will openly say whether they like it or not to my face.
“Maybe a few get scared off, I don’t know.”
ANOTHER PHILLIPOU AT THE SAINTS?
The competitive juices flowed between Mattaes and Jevan growing up and they loved it.
“It was awesome, he (Mattaes) is such a competitive character as well so we kind of came through competing in everything,” Jevan said.
“Basketball, football, tennis, boxing, whatever it was we were always competing.
“As we got older I guess it got to the stage where we were helping each other be the best we can.
“He has dedicated a lot of time to helping me become the athlete and player I am now and I credit a lot of my abilities to him.”
So how do the two compare when it comes to footy now?
“He probably has an edge in terms of size, he is a bit bigger than I am,” Jevan said of his older brother.
“But we are very similar athletes, very similar players, both very skilled so I would say especially at the same age we are pretty similar.”
Jevan concedes that Mattaes did have the edge when it comes to basketball.
But even then, he reckons it was good for him.
“I think that can also be very valuable, going through that with someone who is bigger than you,” he said.
“And having that exposure at a young age is good as well.”
So the prospect of being drafted by the Saints, senior coach Ross Lyon has spoken to him a few times, does have Jevan excited.
“I think about it all the time,” he said.
“When he got picked up I wrote it on my wall that I would get taken by the Saints in this draft just as a little goal and something to aim for.
“So it is on my mind and I’d absolutely love that opportunity if it comes.
“It does seem a bit unlikely at the moment (because of St Kilda’s lack of high picks) but you never know.
“I’ve spoken to Ross a few times, he was in my combine interview and I spoke to him at open training...he gave me a few pointers.”
THE GOAL SINCE HE WAS A KID
There’s plenty of footy history among the Phillipou family.
Before Mattaes was drafted by the Saints, dad Sam played three AFL games for Footscray in 1995 and had a decorated SANFL career in which he played at both Woodville-West Torrens and Port Adelaide.
While grandfather Peter played 272 games for the Eagles between the 1960s and 1980s.
Jevan played basketball and competed in athletics at a high level as a junior growing up.
But to get drafted by an AFL club would realise a dream he has believed he could achieve since he was a kid.
“When Mattaes got picked up it kind of cemented that and in the last couple of years I have done everything I can to make sure I do,” he said.
“I took athletics pretty far to the national level and won a bronze medal in the decathlon at the 2023 national champs and I just played division one basketball for North Adelaide as well.
“Growing up and seeing dad play amateur league when I was a toddler and then seeing tapes of him playing SANFL and obviously my granddad had a long SANFL career as well.
“So their careers and I guess dad had a footy in my hands pretty quickly when I was a little fella so it just stemmed from there and cemented that goal that I wanted to play AFL.”
Sam coaches athletics as well.
“He’s been training me since I was a kid as well with my athleticism and my overall athletic profile,” Jevan said.
What about the advice handed down?
“I guess the main ones this year has been 100 per cent effort all the time, whether it is training or games,” he said.
“Have the work ethic, you need to have a high work ethic and be really driven.
“So I just kind of instilled those values in myself, especially over the last couple of years it has been about using them to set myself up as well.”
This came in very handy when he suffered a pretty gruesome broken arm that meant he didn’t play at all in the national championships.
“It was pretty intense at first,” he said.
“A snap of both bones in the forearm but once I had my operation I was all good.
“I had a cast on for six weeks and did a lot of running in that period and had time to improve parts of my game that I might not have had if I wasn’t injured so it was good.
“I was able to develop a bit more of the smarts, I spent time with the state guys and watched a lot of vision and went through their structure a lot.
“So that game IQ stuff I would say.”
Ten weeks after the injury Jevan returned for the Eagles’ under 18 side.
He was soon in the seniors, making his SANFL debut.
“I was disappointed that I was going to miss out on the national champs but I quickly got out the calendar and asked the doctors when I could possibly come back,” he said.
“Once I got those dates I was very focused on making sure I was going to give myself the best chance to be back as soon as possible.
“And I got back on the earlier side which was good.”
HIS SPECIAL SKILL AND THE SECRET BEHIND IT
Whatever club does get the younger Phillipou will not only get a confident young man but they will get a player who has plenty in his arsenal.
“As a player I am pretty versatile for my size,” he said.
“I can play all three positions on the ground, spent a lot of time at half-back as a junior as an intercepting attacking defender but this season I’ve been a mid-forward.
“An explosive midfielder who can go forward and kick a goal and take a mark.
“I think I’m an athletic player as well, I’ve spent a lot of time building that athleticism and I feel like it shows on the ground.
“I feel like I can also hit targets going inside 50 as well, which a lot of players can’t do and I can do it off both feet.
“So I feel like it is a point of difference.”
There is a backstory behind this point of difference.
“Not many people know the answer, I like to keep it a bit of a secret,” Jevan said.
“Everyone thinks I am ambidextrous but I am not, I was originally a right footer.
“Dad and my grandfather would always say I should kick off both feet so I would practise both and with Mattaes being a left footer there was a period where I would only kick off my left because I wanted to be like him.
“So that is probably another reason why it has gotten as good as my right.
“They both feel natural now.
“It definitely is (an advantage) and I feel like I feel that on game days, I can turn either way if I am trapped on one side and I feel like I can get myself out of trouble.”
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Originally published as Brothers alike: Draft prospect Jevan Phillipou backs himself in as AFL’s top pick at the 2025 draft
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