AFL 2025: Ed Bourke looks at footy’s latest on-field trends and the personalities setting them
Footy – and the people who make the game – is changing like never before. ED BOURKE discovers the AFL’s trailblazers at the forefront of a new era.
The game is getting faster, the obsession with big-bodied midfielders is waning, and elite kicking skills have never been more in vogue.
But the on-field trends sweeping the AFL by storm in 2025 are not confined to open play.
More than ever, players are being encouraged – or at the very least, allowed – by their clubs to show off their personalities on the ground.
Here are some of the trailblazers at the forefront of football’s cultural evolution.
FACE THE CROWD
The age of modest goal celebrations is well and truly over – Hawthorn took good care of that last year.
The Hawks’ mosquito fleet remain at the cutting edge of getting around their own work, a position which must require hours of planning and research in the lead up to games.
Jack Ginnivan is yet to fully hit his straps this season but has already presented a diverse array of celebrations including one against Essendon which appeared to be a callback to an obscure Kylie Minogue-Bollywood song “Chiggy Wiggy”.
Elsewhere, Adelaide’s Josh Rachele was sublime in the Crows’ first two games before hurting his ribs in a nasty collision on Sunday, and at every opportunity has opted to celebrate with both arms fully outstretched – perhaps this has become his personal trademark.
Before Rachele spread his wings against Essendon in round 1, Bombers ruckman Sam Draper resorted to the almost unprecedented step of attempting to silence his own fans.
Draper – who was debuting what has so far been a ruthlessly accurate, albeit ungainly set shot technique – did not appear pleased with the murmurs of apprehension from the MCG crowd before he lined up for his first goal of the season.
The subsequent celebration put him in rare air – how many players in league history have had to shush their own supporters?
SALAD DRESSING
Kamdyn McIntosh’s headband drew opinion from almost as many talking heads as Richmond’s stirring upset of Carlton did itself.
It was spotted in the pre-season, but few, including the Tigers veteran himself, expected the accessory to be used in the hunt for premiership points.
“I don’t reckon it’ll come out in round 1, but I’ve needed it so far to keep the sweat and sunscreen out of my eyes,” McIntosh told this masthead last month.
The headband has become core to his on-field identity – and it doesn’t just come in black.
McIntosh has sourced a fluorescent yellow clash headband to match the Tigers’ away kit.
Casting the eye back to players with hair, the mullet continues to go from strength to strength as the sport’s dominant hairstyle.
Last year an ABC Sport analysis found 150 players across the 18 clubs sported a form of mullet, with hair visible from front-on below the ears.
A thorough assessment of this year’s official player photos found that number has swelled to 250, meaning almost a third of the 800-plus AFL-listed players were sporting the hairstyle at least during the pre-season.
The Western Bulldogs boasted the most mullets in 2024 according to the ABC study, and retained that title with 20 ahead of strong competition from Hawthorn (18) and West Coast (18).
Despite stirling contributions from the Ashcroft brothers, Brisbane had the fewest in the competition with eight.
Players with dreadlocks are also on the rise this season thanks to the additions of Essendon’s Isaac Kako and Hawthorn’s Cody Anderson, as well as Mabior Chol’s change in style.
THE BEARD IS BACK
After a clean-shaven look took hold of the competition for a good while, Riley Thilthorpe stuck out like a sore thumb last year when he returned from a long injury lay-off sporting a bushy beard.
But the 22-year-old Adelaide gun might have been ahead of the times, because he has been joined in the beard ranks by dashing Magpie Oleg Markov, Gold Coast fullback Sam Collins and GWS halfbacks Lachie Ash and Conor Stone.
Beard stalwarts Max Gawn and Luke McDonald now have plenty of company, and keep an eye out for those ranks to expand further over winter.
WEDDLE’S WORLD
This is something we have not seen before – Josh Weddle’s textured mouthguard is one of the most bizarre innovations in recent football history.
The exciting Hawthorn swingman is enjoying showing his “diamond-encrusted” guard at any opportunity.
Will it catch on? Unlikely, but it is always good to see footballers investing in their dental health.
Perhaps one day society will expect footballers to spend two to three months’ salary on sequined mouthguards.
SOCKS STAYING DOWN
Patrick Dangerfield, Jason Horne-Francis and legions of shin-pad wearing ruckmen are sticking to their guns, but if anything socks are trending down and not up across the league.
The barometer is Dangerfield’s Geelong teammate Max Holmes, who emulated his captain last year but has mostly kept his socks around his ankles in 2025.
Holmes had them up for a while against St Kilda, but after he was tagged relentlessly by Marcus Windhager in a frustrating defeat, they came back down again as he was the Cats’ best player against Brisbane at the Gabba.
BOOT BRAND DEBUTS
Not since the advent of Gryan Miers’ father’s creation, XBlades, has a footwear brand been introduced to the AFL with as much hype as Dylan Moore’s new Skechers boots.
The Hawthorn vice-captain is the first in the league to join Skechers as an ambassador, after the Hawks initially partnered with the US footwear giant as their apparel sponsor in 2022.
Australian primary school kids used to get made fun of if they wore Skechers to school, but the brand has come along way, with Moore’s footwear deal believed to be one of the most lucrative in the AFL and more players likely to follow him into the stable.
The brand is known for its orthotic support – maybe in time there will be open competition with the Asics “career-savers”.
COACHES STILL SPLIT
Where is the best spot to coach from? The jury remains out among the game’s elite minds, and coaches are not deviating from their longstanding habits.
Craig McRae and Michael Voss spend most of their time on the bench, as does GWS mentor Adam Kingsley.
But as Voss’ Blues struggle to gain a foothold in the season, could he be pressured to return to the box.
The three dominant sides in the early rounds – Hawthorn, Adelaide and Gold Coast – all have coaches who predominantly direct from the box.
But Kingsley’s Giants, Chris Fagan’s Brisbane and McRae’s Pies have been no slouches either.
One thing all coaches would agree on is that it would be helpful for the AFL to sort out the airconditioning situation in the boxes at Marvel Stadium.
Brad Scott had to navigate sauna-like conditions as he masterminded the Bombers’ upset win over Port Adelaide on Thursday night.
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