Who is the best emerging talent at your club?

Beyond the halfway mark of the 2026 AFL season, a number of top young talents have established themselves amongst the senior team, locking down important roles and playing well beyond their years.

Whether first or second year, teenager or mature, these recruits have stepped into the premier competition with ease, flaunting their top potential well ahead of time.

See your club's best young talent below!

Not technically a second or first-year player - despite this being only his second season playing AFL games - but 26-year-old ruckman Lachie McAndrew has been a revelation since joining the Crows.

McAndrew spent three and a half years on Sydney’s list after being taken in the 2021 Mid-Season Rookie Draft, playing twice at senior level in 2023. He has become Adelaide’s No. 1 ruck in 2026 and is sitting in the top four League-wide for average hit-outs (32.3) and top five for total hit-outs to advantage.

Toby Murray, picked up in the 2024 mid-season draft, has had a big moment or two, especially in the Showdown with two crucial goals.

Andrew Slevison

One of the best youngsters in the game, Levi Ashcroft is well on his way to following older brother Will into stardom.

Taken at pick No. 5 in the 2024 National Draft, Ashcroft played a quality role as an outside ball-winner in the 2025 Grand Final win in year one and has already seen statistical increases in year two.

He was joined by wingman Sam Marshall and key option Ty Gallop who both also became premiership players in their rookie years, while Daniel Annable debuted early and Cody Curtin has shown flashes as a first-year player in 2026.

The Lions are well set-up going forward.

Lachlan Geleit

Jagga Smith might have stolen the attention leading into the 2026 season, but Harry Dean has well and truly earned his flowers.

The key defender selected with the third overall pick in the 2025 Rookie Draft has proven to be a stalwart in the Blues defence, taking on lockdown defensive jobs and tackling them with ease.

At just 18, Dean has already established himself as one of the game’s best young defenders and remains a firm chance for this year’s Rising Star award.

With continued success at AFL level, Dean will prove a problem for key forwards for many years to come.

Jaiden Sciberras

One of the biggest issues facing Collingwood has been a lack of youth coming through alongside Nick Daicos, although that could soon be changing with some players beginning to make an impact.

Second-year options Will Hayes and Charlie West have broken through for AFL games after dominating VFL footy up forward, while the likes of Ed Allan and Harvey Harrison are also beginning to work out senior midfield and wing roles after completing apprenticeships themselves.

We’re yet to see any of last year’s draft crop, although Samuel Swadling will debut this weekend after racking up eye-catching VFL numbers as an outside ball magnet.

Lachlan Geleit

After 23 games last season, Isaac Kako was allowed some midfield time early this season, attending 30-plus per cent of Essendon’s centre-bounces in rounds three and four before, he then returned to the forward line in the following two rounds, and kicked multiple goals in each before suffering a back injury on ANZAC Day.

Archer May had a purple patch of six multiple-goal hauls from seven games in rounds four through 11 prior to his shoulder injury.

All three of Essendon’s first round picks from last year’s national draft have debuted.

Jacob Farrow has impressed with his trusty left-foot kicking while Sullivan Robey has become a permanent fixture in Essendon’s forward/midfield mix.

Eddie Cook

Since being selected with the 17th overall draft pick in 2024, Murphy Reid has gone from strength to strength, developing into far more than just a good young player.

Awarded the Rising Star in 2025, Reid has grown exponentially, with his elite ball use, superior game IQ and damaging influence forward of centre proving crucial to the Dockers’ premiership charge.

Averaging 24 disposals and over seven score involvements a game, the young Docker could find himself in an All-Australian blazer come season’s end.

Jaiden Sciberras

The Cats’ depth has meant stockpiling young talent in the VFL for the time being which has provided some long-term benefits.

Geelong’s VFL team is flying at the top of the ladder and midfield bull George Stevens is knocking the door down.

Stevens, who made an impressive AFL debut in 2025 against Richmond, is leading the VFL coaches’ votes.

Mitch Edwards, the Cats’ only debutant in 2026, looks the club’s future No. 1 ruckman (10 games, averaging 8.6 disposals and 20 hit outs).

From the 2025 National Draft, Hunter Holmes is developing in the VFL, and first-round selection Harley Barker is still rehabbing from an ACL injury.

Michael Lovett

Already with a plethora of small forwards to choose from, the Giants have added another to the mix in Phoenix Gothard.

Taken in the 2023 draft, it took until this season for the 20-year-old to break through into the AFL side after multiple injuries in his first two years.

But the wait has been worth it. Playing in all 13 games this season, the boy from Albury has been superb on both sides of the ball, averaging 3.4 tackles per game alongside his tally of 17 goals (fourth highest in the side).

Nicholas Quinlan

One of many Suns players to come through their academy, Leo Lombard has emerged as one of its latest graduates into their best 23.

With his ability to win ground balls and put opponents under immense pressure, Lombard has nailed down a spot in the forward line in 2026 after suffering a shoulder injury in his debut season.

As a result of his form, the 19-year-old received a nomination for the Rising Star in Opening Round and was given a three-year contract extension, seeing him remain with Gold Coast until 2030.

Zeke Uwland has shown a bit in 10 games, while Lachie Gulbin and Jai Murray have been given senior chances.

Nicholas Quinlan

The Hawks made League history in 2025 by becoming the first team not to blood a debutant across the season. That has changed quickly in 2026, with Jack Dalton, Will McCabe, Bodie Ryan and Cameron Nairn all earning their first taste of AFL football.

Ryan has been a standout so far, showing in four games that he can use the ball well and hold up strongly in contests as a mid-sized defender.

Nairn, taken with pick No. 20 Taken with pick No. 20 in last year’s national draft, he arrived with high expectations and has shown his class in three games as an outside midfielder.

He already looks close to cementing a place in Hawthorn’s best 23.

Ashley Browne

Pick 6 in the 2024 National Draft, Harvey Langford, picks himself as Melbourne’s top up-and-comer.

The 190cm 20-year-old played all but one game in his maiden season last year, where he averaged 18 disposals in the midfield, finishing fourth in the AFL Rising Star.

Since then, Langford has continued to develop his game, playing more forward, allowing him to average 2.1 shots at goal, 3.5 marks and 16.2 disposals this season.

Kozzy’s cousin, Latrelle Pickett, is also showing promising signs for the Dees.

After being picked up in the 2025 National Draft as a first-round selection, Latrelle has played 12 games for Melbourne this year and is showing glimpses that he could develop into an electric fan favourite once he hits his straps.

Connor Scanlon

In what continues to be a roller coaster of a season for the Roos, Finn O’Sullivan has been a consistent source of positivity.

After a decent debut season, the former second overall pick has developed into a top talent, shifting into the midfield and proving a serious threat with and without the ball.

With an elite level tank, O’Sullivan has been utilised as a lockdown tagger on numerous occasions this season and has done so incredibly well.

When freed up, the young gun is a force in the midfield, covers the ground both ways and can hit the scoreboard.

A special mention is owed to key forward Cooper Trembath, who has also excelled in his second season.

Jaiden Sciberras

Having not using a single pick in the 2025 draft, Port Adelaide has relied on second-year recruits and a mid-season draftee to provide a youthful taste to the side this year.

Joe Berry and Ewan Mackinlay have added the ability to hit the scoreboard to their game more often, with the latter kicking two genuinely elite goals when backing himself to surge through contest and take on the responsibility that is often lacking in a second-year player.

Christian Moraes has found more of the footy since returning to the senior side and is getting closer to being a more consistent and reliable AFL-level player.

Ethan Clark

Sam Grlj has shown plenty of promise in his debut season after being taken with Pick 8 in last year’s draft.

The rebounding 18-year-old defender has already tallied 12 senior games with a mix of dash, dare, pace and poise. He picked up a Rising Star nomination in Round 7.

Bargain recruit Patrick Retschko has had some big games, landing the Rising Star nomination for his 27-disposal Dreamtime outing in Round 11.

First-year midfielder Sam Cumming and classy forward Jasper Alger have shown signs as well. Alger has kicked seven goals in his past two outings, resulting in the Round 14 Rising Star nomination.

Andrew Slevison

Picked up in the 2024 mid-season draft, coach Ross Lyon told Max Hall that he needed to change his lifestyle to make it at AFL level.

Hall made his senior debut in last year’s opening game and has yet to miss since.

Clearly fitting into the Lyon prototype as a coachable, gritty and malleable player, Hall has flourished as a high half-forward who has pinch-hit in the midfield.

He is now one of the key midfield playmakers for St Kilda. One must imagine Campbell Lake has been picked up in the hopes of following the same trajectory.

Ethan Clark

Sydney’s draftees in the past two years have only managed 52 matches between them, but 29 of those have been played by the club’s latest drafting masterstroke.

Plucked from VFL club Werribee with pick 41 in the 2024 draft, mature-aged draftee Riley Bice has been a revelation for the Swans in the past season and a half, averaging 17.6 disposals and 4.9 marks as a rebounding half-back, including a career-best 34 possessions against Geelong a couple of weeks ago.

In the 23 games he wasn’t subbed in or out, that disposal average rises to 20.4.

An honourable mention to small forward Tom Hanily, who has played 10 games since the 2024 mid-season draft.

Brendan Rhodes

Taken with the first pick at last year’s National Draft, Willem Duursma flew relatively under the radar during his maiden pre-season, but he marked his territory instantly – across his first five games, the brother of Xavier and Zane averaged 17 disposals and 1.2 goals.

Since then, the 18-year-old has drawn Marcus Bontempelli-like comparisons and looks set to become one of the competition’s best players once his body develops.

Tom McCarthy, Josh Lindsay, Cooper Duff-Tytler, Jobe Shanahan and Bo Allan are all getting regular games for the Eagles as well and promise to hold West Coast in good stead moving forward.

Connor Scanlon

Mature-aged 2025 mid-season pickup Michael Sellwood has taken giant steps in recent weeks.

The former Peel Thunder WAFL star had his ‘Leo Barry moment’ - although not quite as significant - in the recent nail-biting win over Collingwood with a massive mark deep in defence.

He then walked the walk while also talking the talk when keeping Hawks star Nick Watson quiet in the second half of the Doggies’ come-from-behind win in Round 13.

First-round draft pick Cooper Hynes is building nicely evidenced by his Rising Star nomination in Round 13.

Andrew Slevison