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The players from each AFL club who fans would love to see succeed in 2025
Andrew Slevison, SEN • February 5th, 2025 7:28 pm
Which players in particular do you want to see succeed at your club in 2025?
We know who the absolute stars are, we know the ones that deliver each and every week, we know the ones that are developing nicely and we understand which ones are establishing themselves.
But we want to talk about the ones who supporters would love to see succeed because they’ve either had bad luck, they deserve to flourish, or simply because it would make a good story.
Obviously you want to see every player do well at your club, but these guys stand out due to their circumstances current and previous.
For various reasons, these are the players we believe fans from each club would want to see do well this year.
Crows fans are very, very thirsty and they are desperate to be quenched by Riley Thilthorpe.
2024 was going to be his year but he injured his knee. Then he returned looking like a beast and showed plenty in the back end of the season.
Four years and 53 games in, the time is now for ‘Filthy’. If it all clicks with him then the Crows play finals (you’d think).
No immediate expectations but it would be great to see highly-rated draftee Sid Draper get some minutes and hopefully in the midfield.
What could be more exciting than seeing the highly-rated younger brother of the reigning Norm Smith Medallist step straight in and have an impact.
Levi Ashcroft, who graced the MCG turf with Will after the Lions won the flag, is one of the most talented draftees from the class of 2024.
If he can play in a similar vein to Will in his debut season then the Brisbane faithful will be salivating.
Lions fans would also love to see Keidean Coleman bounce back from an ACL injury. They’d be keen for Oscar McInerney to enjoy some success after missing the premiership win.
Ashton Moir showed just enough in a small body of work in 2024 to get Blues fans excited.
The athletic forward has plenty of developing to do but the ceiling is quite high. His raw edges need knocking in but there is plenty to work with.
The most pragmatic Carlton supporters will know not to expect too much from a second-year forward but if he can play increased minutes then they’ll have another excitement machine to watch inside forward 50.
A full year free from injuries for Jesse Motlop would be ideal too.
Dan McStay has had an unlucky few seasons since crossing from the Brisbane Lions.
He missed Collingwood’s 2023 premiership because of a knee injury suffered in the prelim before hardly featuring last year due to the ACL injury he sustained in pre-season.
Then he had to watch on as his former teammates won the 2024 flag.
McStay has done a pretty good job in most of his Pies outings and the faithful would love to see him get some continuity so he can spearhead the club’s expected bounce-back season in 2025.
Please, can we just see Zach Reid play some regular games?
That’s what most Bombers fans would be saying after witnessing him play just nine times at AFL level since he was drafted with Pick 10 in 2020.
Reid is an undoubted talent who just needs some luck with his body. The Dons would love his presence as a key defender to help big-money recruit Ben McKay.
The 22-year-old Reid is highly rated. Now it’s time to see this precocious talent actually play.
There’s been so much talk surrounding Sean Darcy, especially when Luke Jackson’s name is mentioned.
The lumbering ruckman took a while to get his career going but it all clicked in his fifth season when he won the Doig Medal and made the extended All-Australian squad.
Now that the Dockers are stacked with talent, (most) fans would love to see Darcy overcome his recent injury problems, work in tandem with Jackson, lead Freo to finals and stop all the negative chatter.
It’s time to show why the Cats took you with Pick 8. It’s time to prove you truly belong.
That’s the narrative surrounding Jhye Clark in 2025, especially with the Matt Rowell link sitting there in the background.
Cats fans are keen to see Clark flourish at the elite level and will hope he can do after putting together some decent performances last year.
They’d love to see the ‘next Joel Selwood’ tag really come to fruition. Prove you’re a gun, Jhye.
For Suns supporters it would be fun to see Jed Walter kick a few bags in 2025.
The No.3 draft pick gained some invaluable experience last season and looked good in patches.
It’s always going to take time for a young key forward to develop so we’re not expecting 40+ goals. Just a few handfuls here and there to get the juices flowing.
It would also be nice to get some more minutes under the belt of Ethan Read and a sneak peak at Leo Lombard at AFL level would be fascinating.
We’ve been waiting for Finn Callaghan to explode.
A quick comparison to Tom Green. In his fourth season, Green took his game to the next level by racking up over 700 disposals, attracting 16 Brownlow votes and finishing equal second in the Giants’ B&F. That came after he had over 500 touches and finished third in the B&F in season three.
Last year, in his third campaign, Callaghan amassed 550 disposals and improved his game in most areas.
We know he’s not the same player as Green, but he’s a high draft pick who plays in the midfield, so it’s time for him to take his game to the next level.
Giants fans would love it. Especially if he kicked it more.
He’s been going along ok, but the Hawks faithful would want to see a bit more from Josh Ward.
The No.7 draft pick from 2021 has three seasons and 42 games to his name and it would be nice for him to become another midfield weapon for Sam Mitchell.
He somewhat regressed in 2024 and if the Hawks want to improve on last year’s Semi Final finish, then they’ll need high draft picks like him having more of an impact.
It would also be heart-warming to see Changkuoth Jiath get a clear run at it after struggling with injury over the last few years.
Dear Clayton Oliver,
We have had enough. We want you back playing as an All-Australian gun again.
Get yourself super fit, find happiness and dominate like you did a few years ago.
Step up.
Please and thank you,
Dees fans.
Something North fans got a taste for last year was Charlie Comben as a key defender with intercept prowess.
They liked what they saw and would no doubt want more.
The addition of Jack Darling to support Nick Larkey up forward will give Clarko the added luxury of playing Comben in defence all year.
He’s had some misfortune early in his career with multiple injuries so hopefully Comben can put that behind him and find his niche in defence.
Zane Duursma certainly has some tricks which the Roos supporters love. Now build in a bit more substance and find some consistency to add to the sparks. Any Will Phillips believers still out there?
If a first-round draft pick has played 10 games in three seasons, and is not a key position player, fans would usually want more.
Josh Sinn has battled various injuries so far and once he’s fit Power fans will want him to deliver.
Sinn went at Pick 12 in the 2021 draft. He’s already seen fellow 2021 draftee Jase Burgoyne have a massive impact in a big final.
It’s time for Sinn to join in on that trajectory.
Following the retirement of Charlie Dixon and Todd Marshall’s achilles injury, there is a clear void for promising tall Ollie Lord to fill.
Power fans would be hoping he can take control of the forward line alongside Mitch Georgiades.
Fans of whichever club gets the No.1 draft pick always want that player to have an immediate impact in his rookie year.
Sam Lalor is that player for Richmond in 2025. The Dusty comparisons are already there.
The expectations are that the Tigers won’t win too many games this year but the excitement and hope will come from the draft haul, of which Lalor is the face.
Tigers supporters just want to see the kids play well so throw in Josh Smillie for good measure... oh and fingers crossed for Tom Lynch.
No injuries, a clean run at it and better delivery inside 50. Pretty please.
Can Max King just break it open and kick 60-plus goals?
He is so capable of it. Saints fans desperately want to see it.
There’s nothing that would make a Sainter happier than seeing King grab the league by the scruff of the neck in 2025 and truly fulfilling his enormous potential.
Last year was a complete disaster for Callum Mills.
A Mad Monday mishap wrecked his shoulder and derailed his season. A hamstring injury forced him out of the Grand Final.
Following another disastrous showing in the season’s most important match, Swans supporters will want to see Mills force his way back into the best 23, lead by example and guide them back to the promised land
It’s also about time that Logan McDonald delivered. He’s creeping up slowly but the Swans need him to explode.
Oscar Allen’s first campaign as co-captain couldn’t have gone worse.
He was coming off a career-best 2023 and expectations were high, but he copped an early knee injury and couldn’t get going until the end of 2024.
Allen is clearly a jet but he just needs to get his body right. Most West Coast supporters would be desperate to see him star as a goal-kicking forward.
Eagles fans would also be eager to see the immensely talented Elijah Hewett break out in 2025 and they’d be hoping Harley Reid can build on his exciting debut season.
The thought of Jamarra Ugle-Hagan sitting on heads, taking one-handers, snapping goals and converting long bombs..............
..................sorry, was just daydreaming.
That’s what Dogs fans would have been thinking about all summer after Jamarra’s at times sumptuous 2024 season.
There is so much more to be unlocked once he sorts his personal issues out.
It would also be nice to see top 2022 draftee Jedd Busslinger play some senior footy as a tall defender in 2025.
