AFL Draft 2025: All the reaction and every pick from the first round
A draft-shaping top 10 surprise, special family moments, teenage tears and emotional group celebrations, the first night of the AFL Draft had it all. See every pick, all the action as it happened.
A bird watching enthusiast has landed at the Eagles with the No.1 pick in the AFL national draft, with West Coast swooping in on Willem Duursma.
The Victorian had his new jumper presented to him by former No.1 pick and long-time family friend Harley Reid, as he became the fourth sibling in his family to reach football’s highest level.
A week after starring in an end-of-year dance concert in his hometown of Foster, Duursma was dancing for joy at Marvel Stadium on Wednesday night.
He was told of the news in a meeting with West Coast coach Andrew McQualter and the club’s recruiting team in the hours before the draft.
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“It’s pretty special it’s finally happened,” Duursma said.
“It’s something you dream about all your life and this year seeing West Coast down the bottom I was just hoping that I could get the chance to go there.
“Wherever I’m needed, I’m happy to just do whatever.
“I’m ready for a big pre-season, so we’ll see what happens after that.”
Duursma has discussed moving in with Reid when he first heads to Perth, with the Eagles onballer having encouraged him to “come over” to West Coast all year.
“He gave me a big hug on stage, so we’re ready to get cracking, us two,” Duursma said.
“I think we’ll complement each other really well. He gets his hands dirty under there and I’ll help him on the outside a fair bit for the start at least and then the sky’s the limit, I think.”
Known to his parents as ‘Lemma’ – and to his brothers as ‘Worm’ – Duursma counts dancing, surfing, comic books and even bird watching among a suite of hobbies and interests.
There is no more powerful bird than the Eagle, which is commonly known as ‘The Kings of the Sky’.
“You could pick pretty much any bird that’s native to Australia and I reckon I could name it to you,” Duursma said recently.
“I’m really good at that sort of stuff with birds. I do like a bit of bird watching. I’m pretty good with my reptiles and snakes and stuff as well.”
Duursma joins older siblings Xavier (Essendon), Yasmin (Carlton AFLW) and Zane (North Melbourne) in the AFL landscape, with proud parents Dean and Susie set to add another club’s colours to their collection.
Willem shared a special handshake with Zane as soon as his name was read out.
One of Duursma’s former opponents on the basketball court will be his teammate on the football field, with Cooper Duff-Tytler also joining the Eagles at pick 4.
Unlike Duursma, Duff-Tytler became the first player from his local club, Woodend-Hesket, to be drafted to the AFL.
A ruckman-forward who looks up to Fremantle’s Luke Jackson, the 201cm tall chose to narrow his focus on football only last year after being part of Australia’s under-16 team which claimed gold at the 2023 FIBA Asia Cup.
THE SPEED SET TO SUPERCHARGE RICHMOND REBUILD
It is the ‘supercharge’ list build strategy which Richmond hopes will drive the club to its next premiership.
List boss Blair Hartley has built a flag-winning squad before and has seized the opportunity to try and do so again ahead of Tasmania’s looming admission to the AFL.
After grabbing seven top-30 draft picks in 2024, the Tigers pounced on two more this year – putting the turbo boosters on their rebuild in more ways than one.
Rivals had long expected the Tigers to select forward Sullivan Robey and defender Xavier Taylor.
But in the end the club decided it had a need for speed through the middle and secured two players who can provide that in South Australian midfielder-forward Sam Cumming and Victorian halfback or midfielder Sam Grlj.
Asked what they would bring to Richmond, both Cumming and Grlj replied: “A bit of speed”.
“Probably Sam (Grlj) more than me (with the speed),” Cumming added.
“But hopefully a bit of toughness as well. I’ll just crack in and get it done.”
Cumming has been likened to former Adelaide champion Rory Sloane as a fierce competitor who also brings power, speed and plenty of class.
Grlj has watched Western Bulldogs dasher Ed Richards closely in recent years and ranked ninth in the 20m sprint at the national draft combine last month with a time of 2.926 sec.
Richmond’s total of nine top-30 picks in 2024 and 2025 is the most of any club across a two-year period since a newly-minted Greater Western Sydney had 16 high-end selections across 2011 and 2012 drafts.
The Tigers handed last year’s No.1 pick, Sam Lalor, the famous No.4 jumper on Tuesday – previously worn by superstar Dustin Martin – and gave key forward Jonty Faull the No.8 once worn by fellow three-time premiership hero Jack Riewoldt.
That shows just how highly those two prospects are rated inside the four walls at Punt Rd.
Taj Hotton also excited late in his debut season after missing the first half of the year with an ACL, while Luke Trainor only missed two games and Harry Armstrong and Thomas Sims had their moments at senior level.
Josh Smillie was the only 2024 draftee not to debut at AFL level this year due to a wretched injury run, but there are high hopes for the big-bodied onballer heading into 2026.
“It’s probably one of the most exciting clubs there is around with all the young players they’ve got,” Grlj said.
“I think both of us are just excited to get down there.”
Recruiting players is just the first part of the premiership puzzle.
Now it is about coaching and development as Adem Yze prepares to enter his third season as senior coach in 2026.
Good things take time and these Tigers won’t be an overnight sensation.
But if Hartley and his team have picked right, Richmond could be a formidable force again by 2030.
Originally published as AFL Draft 2025: All the reaction and every pick from the first round
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