AFL 2021: The players ready to take the next step at your club
A young North Melbourne midfielder has been likened to Chris Judd and after a strong finish to 2020, this could be his year. Top breakout contenders at every club.
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Before every AFL season there are predictions who will be the next breakout stars.
Christian Petracca, Jack Steele, Cam Guthrie and Liam Ryan ended 2020 season as first-time All-Australians, while Jordan Ridley and Josh Daicos rose to new heights.
At every club there are players who are ready to realise their potential.
We take a look at who could be primed to take their game to a new level this year.
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ADELAIDE
Wayne Milera struck gold last year, signing a five-year deal before COVID-19 hit, but then was struck down with a foot injury for much of the season. Ex-Crows senior coach Don Pyke seemed to not know Milera’s best position, flicking him forward, back and through the midfield at times. When he first got the Crows job, Matthew Nicks said he saw Milera as a midfielder, providing some quality with his speed and skill. Former Adelaide senior assistant Scott Camporeale says he will be like a new recruit for the Crows in 2021 as he seeks to show just why the Crows rated him so highly.
Fogarty also needs a big pre-season ahead of the 2021 season after first getting injured and then dropped by Nicks after his fitness wasn’t up to scratch. With Taylor Walker’s final season looking likely to come in 2021, Fogarty will need to show that he can be the one to replace Tex and bea key part of the Crows forward line for years to come.
BRISBANE
The Lions had been waiting for Jack Payne to kick on and after two frustrating seasons with injury he made his debut and played five games, showing enough to suggest he can put pressure on the back six for selection in 2021.
Young midfielder Tom Berry also debuted this year and while he didn’t rack up big numbers, he can join brother Jarrod in the Lions’ engine room on a regular basis. Like Berry, Keidean Coleman also played five games after debuting this year including the qualifying final and was very impressive.
CARLTON
Where do you start? The Blues need high draft picks Paddy Dow and Lochie O’Brien to play consistent senior football. Dow was the No.3 draft pick in 2017 but managed only three senior matches this year, prompting Blues great Greg Williams to declare he needed to toughen up.
O’Brien, a former No.10 pick who emerged this year as a trade target, has managed only 36 matches in three seasons, including just one this year. He has a year remaining on his contract.
Charlie Curnow is a potential superstar – if he can overcome his knee problems. It doesn’t end there. Sam Petrevski-Seton has had ample time to graduate from his apprenticeship and must become a consistent ball-winner.
Harry McKay shows glimpses of becoming a star key forward, and Tom De Koning looks to have oodles of potential. Consistency is the key. If these mid-range Blues find it, the club rockets into the top eight.
COLLINGWOOD
In 2020, it was Josh Daicos who took the next step. As for 2021, we’re backing the Brown brothers – Callum and Tyler – to follow suit. We have both players in their best 22 and we expect them to get more time in the engine room in 2021.
We’d also love to see more of Will Kelly in 2021. The son of Magpies premiership player Craig Kelly kicked a goal with his first kick on debut this season, but in the same game he dislocated his elbow and missed the rest of the season.
It’s now or never for Brayden Sier. Stamp himself as a regular, or look for another club.
ESSENDON
Young defender Brandon Zerk-Thatcher needs to be given a real chance to prove himself at AFL level. In 2020, the 22-year-old played 10 games, averaging eight disposals, and two contested possessions, he’s one who needs to be blooded in 2021.
FREMANTLE
The Dockers have some exciting youth. Sam Sturt has speed and booted three goals on debut before a syndesmosis injury hampered his season.
Forward Brennan Cox is set to continue his development. Longmuir is also looking towards a young midfield of Caleb Serong,
Darcy Tucker, Andrew Brayshaw and Adam Cerra to become consistent, potentially match winning, stars that can control the stoppages whenever Fyfe is forward.
The underrated Matt Taberner emerged as one of the pre-eminent key forwards and will be pushing for the All-Australian centre half-forward position this year.
GEELONG
This year it was definitely Sam Menegola and Cam Guthrie who flourished. Guthrie won the best and fairest and was All-Australian while Menegola wasn’t far behind him and fully deserved his beefed-up two-year contract extension.
Young playmaker Jordan Clark and developing big man Esava Ratugolea are the next two who can make a big impression in 2021. Clark endured a disappointing second season, playing only three games and knocked back interest from Fremantle in the exchange period. He is one who can add a dynamic edge to the back line and certainly turned heads in the scratch matches up in the hub this year.
Clark is an immense talent and finished fourth in Rising Star voting in his first season, but will have to tighten up his defensive game.
Ratugolea also wasn’t able to settle this year but can contend for the No.1 ruck spot and take a big grab forward.
Jeremy Cameron’s arrival may make things trickier but the Cats like what Ratugolea can do in the ruck.
GOLD COAST
Matt Rowell burst onto the scene like a blazing Haley’s Comet to open season 2020, chalking up three best-on-ground efforts, and then was wiped out for the season with a devastating shoulder injury. So he has shown he has the toolkit to dominate games at the elite level. But can he do it for a season? It will be a fascinating watch. Opposition teams are fully aware of his ability and no doubt they will test his confidence levels with some close-checking and heavy hits on that rehabilitated shoulder.
It will take a cool head to withstand the heat. Ben King is the Suns’ other obvious budding superstar. If he manages a level of consistency, a 50-plus goal season is not out of his reach.
GREATER WESTERN SYDNEY
After being stuck behind Todd Goldstein at North Melbourne and then Max Gawn at Melbourne, Preuss has a fantastic opportunity to become a starting AFL ruck. And with a GWS midfield still boasting plenty of star power the Queenslander could be in for a big 2021 at his third AFL club as he finally gets a clear crack at becoming the No.1 big man.
Tom Green showed promising signs in his first season at AFL level and will be hoping for a sustained run in the GWS side, despite being up against some serious talent in the midfield rotation. If he can make his way into the Giants best 22 then he will certainly add something different to one of the best midfields in the competition given his big-bodied frame.
HAWTHORN
Will Day looks a serious player of the future after an impressive debut season in 2020. Across half-back and at times in the middle, the 19-year-old made the most of his chances. Hawks coach Alastair Clarkson might see Day as the next Grant Birchall as he has great vision, as he is a good decision-maker and user of the ball.
Time is running out for injury-prone ex-Giant Jon Patton to chalk up regular game time, while damaging forward Chad Wingard needs to turn patches of brilliance into matchwinning consistency.
MELBOURNE
Ed Langdon was slow to get going after arriving at Melbourne from Fremantle but became arguably their most important player in the second half of the season. He finished fourth in the best-and-fairest behind Petracca, Steven May and Jack Viney and if he can go to the next level in 2021 can be in All-Australian contention on the wing.
Fellow dashing wingman/defender Jayden Hunt played the last three games of the season and signed a new two-year deal so will be keen to step up and stake a claim for the other regular spot on the wing.
NORTH MELBOURNE
It has taken some time, largely due to some frustrating injuries, but Luke Davies-Uniacke’s finish to the season was one of the highlights of a poor North Melbourne year. The dashing midfielder has endured a frustrating start to his AFL career but some of his darting runs through the middle late showed the onballer’s confidence is rising at the top level. He was even likened to West Coast and Carlton champion Chris Judd for his toe.
There are some superstar qualities there, and when you also consider Tarryn Thomas’s trick bag in the forward half, Cameron Zurhaar and Jed Anderson’s physicality, Jy Simpkin’s class and the run of Bailey Scott, there is plenty to work with already.
Nick Larkey has some Drew Petrie-traits, too. This young crop may have flown under the radar a touch over the past 12 months but there is some developing star power.
North made some savage list cuts by parting with 14 senior players but you can’t have the most 26 to 29-year-old players in the league and finish 17th without taking major action. Like the boldness. North may have been stuck in no man’s land in the middle part of the ladder for a few years but the new administration has set a clear direction.
PORT ADELAIDE
Mitch Georgiades had not played football for 12 months when he landed at Alberton via the 2019 national draft but went on to feature in seven matches this past season, exceeding the expectations of most. That should be a great platform for the high-flying forward to launch himself into 2021 and become a regular in the Port line-up. The West Australian can take a strong mark and ease some of the burden on Dixon by making other defenders wary.
Peter Ladhams is another who can cement a regular role after a season interrupted by a foolish and untimely COVID indiscretion.
RICHMOND
Jake Aarts was stiff not to have a premiership medal around his neck by season’s end after performing well in 14 games in his debut AFL season. He just lost his spot at the wrong time, but took it with good grace. He has won a new deal and can now cement his role as a pressure small forward.
Jack Ross is also contracted until the end of 2022 and will try to lock away a more permanent spot.
This is an extremely tough unit to break into and midway through the year the Tigers would have had expectations that Sydney Stack and Callum Coleman-Jones would be pushing for selection, but both have set themselves a long way back.
ST KILDA
If you’d said 18 months ago that Jack Steele would be one of the premier midfielders of the club — let alone the competition — you would have been shouted down. But he thrived and is hungry for more, potentially taking another step towards the captaincy. Hunter Clark and Nick Coffield will only continue to develop, and expect Callum Wilkie to do the same.
The loss of big man Paddy Ryder pushes a lot of responsibility onto Rowan Marshall. But the 25-year-old has shown a rapid improvement in the past two years and if he continues on that trajectory, he can begin to stamp himself as one of the pre-eminent ruckman in the competition.
SYDNEY
It feels like 2021 may be the year Nick Blakey turns into a genuine star of the competition. The Swans’ top pick of the 2018 draft has all the attributes to regularly have a big influence, including a strong mark, quality left-foot kick and pace. The return of Lance Franklin and addition of Logan McDonald to the forward line should help Blakey.
Kicked 19 goals from 21 games in his debut campaign last year then 8.13 from 16 matches this past season. One poser for Sydney fans is where he plays. He was originally touted as a key forward, but the 195cm Blakey has the speed, smarts and a developing engine capable of pushing him through the midfield. That could be a role he becomes more accustomed of filling now that McDonald has arrived on the scene.
WESTERN BULLDOGS
Bailey Smith is on the brink of stardom after a 382-possession second season that earned him seventh placing in the best-and-fairest. The sky is the limit.
Rhylee West added four games to his total after three in his debut year. He has all the attributes as a clever half forward but this is a hard team to break into.
Tim English enters his fifth season and after 47 games his best is breathtaking but his week-to-week ceiling is still too low. But Dogs fans still believe he can be a Dean Cox-style ruckman if his development continues.
WEST COAST
Oscar Allen stepped up in the forward line in 2020 and expect him to continue to develop yet again.
Nic Naitanui will again have the reins in the ruck — and why wouldn’t he, he’s a superstar — but Bailey Williams continues to sprout under him. Keep an eye on him as a back-up if required.
Tim Kelly will be much more settled after a full year at his new club, while Alex Witherden — if he can cement his spot — has an opportunity to go to the next level out west.
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