The VFL stars AFL clubs will be keeping an eye on ahead of the mid-season draft
With a mid-season AFL draft returning this year, recruiters will be looking closely at state league players who can take the next step. Here’s who to watch out for when the VFL season kicks off this weekend.
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The 2019 VFL season kicks off this weekend — and with the mid-season draft returning AFL recruiters will be watching the state league closer than ever.
Here are a few promising players to watch, as well as three veterans who have made their name in the game and will lend their experience to the up-and-comers around them.
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THE PROMISING
Liam Buxton (Casey Demons): 200cm ruckman new to the VFL scene but has quickly caught the eye of Dees coach Jade Rawlings. Played in Vermont’s premiership team and was the Eastern league’s best player at representative level last year. Will make a powerful one-two ruck combination with Braydon Preuss for Casey.
Campbell Floyd (Geelong): has been with the VFL Cats for three seasons and had one or two AFL clubs nosing around last year after he emerged to play 15 VFL games. Tall and rangy type who runs hard, is versatile and has improved his kicking. His younger brother Ethan, a left-footer, has joined him at the VFL Cats this year.
Nathan Freeman (Frankston): delisted by St Kilda after two matches last season, Collingwood’s 2013 top-10 draft selection linked with the stand-alone Dolphins and has enjoyed an incident-free pre-season. If his fitness holds he’s sure to figure frequently on the best-player list — and get AFL clubs thinking.
Jack Henderson (Werribee): came out of the Geelong Falcons to play 18 games last year as a shut-down defender, earning some lift-off from teammate Sam Collins. The Bees judged him their best first-year player and will look to play him in other roles this season to show his flexibility.
Mitch Hibberd (Williamstown): let go by North Melbourne after three years and four AFL matches, the 190cm Hibberd will play as an onballer with the Seagulls this season, with coach Andy Collins keen to tap his recruit’s endurance and marking.
Campbell Hustwaite (Collingwood): the left-footer joined the Pies after captaining the Dandenong Stingrays to their first Under 18 premiership and streaking off with the best and fairest. Head-down, bum-up midfielder who wins the ball and uses it smartly. Expected to make early appearances as the 23rd man.
Mitch Lewis (Casey Demons): an ankle injury ended his 2018 season prematurely but the neat right-footer had showed enough as a flanker at both ends of the ground to suggest a higher level was within his compass. Runs 2km in six minutes, putting his running ability in the elite bracket.
Luke Meadows (Box Hill Hawks): onballer who arrives at the Hawks with much honours earned in the WAFL. A perky start to the season will have clubs assessing the 24-year-old as a mid-season draft candidate.
Sam Lowson (Coburg): small but powerful forward who is explosive off the mark, keeps his feet and is a terrier of a tackler. Had a couple of scouts running an eye over him in last Saturday’s practice match.
Tom Maloney (Box Hill Hawks): an onballer who could find the ball in a blizzard, Maloney played 10 senior games and in the Hawks’ premiership team last year. No frills about him, but the former Sandringham Dragon thrills his coaches with his team-first focus.
Lachie McDonnell (Frankston): the classy 2018 Dandenong Stingrays premiership flanker/wingman was on the fringes of draft selection (Carlton took a good look at him) and appeals as a player who can come through with a season or two of VFL finishing.
Sam McLarty (Williamstown): somewhat surprisingly delisted after two years with Collingwood, McLarty will be one of Willy’s defensive pillars as he strives for another AFL chance. Strong overhead, approaches the ball fearlessly and fiercely, and likes to attack. “He’s got huge upside,’’ Willy coach Andy Collins said.
Jimmy Miller (Frankston): the Dolphins have already taken calls from AFL clubs about their 198cm first-year forward. Miller is originally from WA but joined the Navy last year and bobbed up for the Cerberus football team in the lower reaches of the Southern league, a bit like Winx showing up at Woolamai.
Brayden Monk (Williamstown): rose to prominence with his run and carry last season as he went from fringe player to 20-game senior regular. Won the reserves best and fairest in 2017 and, at 23, still improving.
Nathan Mullenger-McHugh (Box Hill Hawks): the Heathmont and Eastern Ranges product spent two years on the Western Bulldogs’ rookie list and had some good moments in the VFL. Tall, accomplished at both ends of the ground and capable of winning his way back on to an AFL list.
Marcus Lentini (Coburg): the former Northern Knight could hardly have been more impressive in his first season in the VFL, ending it the equal-highest possession winner, his 509 disposals bracketing him with new Blue Michael Gibbons. Was named in the VFL team of the year and shared the Burgers’ best and fairest. When you deal in the numbers Lentini does, you’ll get attention.
Baxter Norton (Werribee): Tasmania has been fertile recruiting territory for the Tigers (think Ben Brown and three-time club champion Matt Hanson) and left-footer Norton arrives with a good reputation earned at Under 18 representative level (Mariners, Allies) last year.
Jesse Palmer (Northern Blues): amid the flurry of movements through the pre-season supplementary list rule it would have been no surprise to see the three-game Port Adelaide utility find a new AFL home. A class act of the VFL and was named at centre half forward in the 2018 team of the year.
Ethan Phillips (Port Melbourne): tall defender who took the eye last season with his intercept marking and neat left foot. Played in St Kevin’s VAFA premiership and also attended the state combine.
Sam Ralph (Collingwood): 195cm wingman/flanker from Old Xaverians who can take a mark and run like a king tide. Played only two matches last season but expect him to be more prominent this year.
Kyle Reid (Geelong): a 2018 All Australian key defender and TAC Cup team-of-the-year selection with Gippsland Power, Reid has spent time training with the AFL Cats and will feature early in the VFL season as the 23rd player.
Edyn Sibbald (Essendon): 200cm forward who moves with impressive agility and energy, and has vices for hands. Came out of VAFA St Bernard’s and the Dons expect him to improve sharply and build on his four-game tally of 2018.
Charlie Thompson (Richmond): Tigers coach Craig McRae will tell you he has no more professional player on his list than the midfielder and small forward. The former Oakleigh Charger mixed his VFL duties last year with club football at Old Carey and captained the VAFA under 19 team.
Lachlan Walker (Box Hill Hawks): tall midfielder with a lethal left-foot who appeared briefly last season but will gain more senior opportunity in 2019. Won the Oakleigh Chargers best and fairest in 2016 and has played well at senior level for De La Salle in the VAFA. Entering his third year with the Hawks and starting to ripen into a good prospect.
Callan Wellings (Collingwood): the 2017 Greater Western Victoria Rebels best and fairest had an excellent first season with Collingwood, playing 12 matches and standing out with his running ability. But he does a lot of things well.
Alex Woodward (Collingwood): to much cheer the two-game former Hawk came back from yet another knee injury to play seven home-and-away matches last year and, remarkably, poll 16 votes in the JJ Liston Trophy. Enters this season as the Maggies’ co-captain and one of the VFL’s most formidable on-ballers.
THE PROVEN
Sam Gilbert (Sandringham): the stalwart St Kilda defender opted to stay with the Saints’ VFL affiliate after wrapping up his 208-game AFL career. Aside from playing he’ll get a start on the coaching caper under Sandy coach Aaron Hamill.
Michael Barlow (Werribee): the big-bodied midfielder left the Bees at the end of 2009 as a mature-age recruit for Fremantle. He returns a decade on with the experience of 126 games for the Dockers, 15 for the Suns and, at 31, with much good football in him. Came second in the JJ Liston Trophy in 2009. He’d be some chance to win it this year.
Jarryd Blair (Port Melbourne): the premiership Magpie was chased by almost every VFL club and toured a handful of them before settling on the Borough, where his former Collingwood teammate Sam Dwyer is an assistant coach.
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