By day, I work as an exercise physiologist. By night, I moonlight as an AFL draft fanatic. I'm watching 6-10 games per week, and staying across all the statistics and highlights of games and players I may have missed.
When I watch games, I have my own ranking criteria that I stand by as a measure of a player's impact on the game. Something I can use to separate prospects aside from the stats, and outside of purely football knowledge and intuition.
When it comes to putting together rankings, it's not hard to end up with a huge list of players worth noting. I've limited myself to 100 names for now, but make no mistake, there are upwards of 200 names on my radar. Without further ado, let's get into the current top 100 players in the 2026 AFL draft.
10-6
10. Ethan Drever - MID - GWV Rebels
An awesome combination of size and explosive speed. Drever is at his eye-catching best when he gets the ball at the front of stoppage where he only has one opponent to beat before finding himself in open space. Drever's size is another point of difference at stoppage and around the ground. He
showed last year that he can be effective playing in a half back role using his kicking skills and strong marking ability.
9. Ethan Herbert - RUCK - North Adelaide Roosters
A genuine fourth midfielder with clean hands and elite skills at stoppage and around the ground. Herbert has put up some monster disposal and clearance games at colts and school level. He can also take a strong mark and is developing his forward craft nicely. Herbert has the Ôrip the ball out of the air', clearance-winning modern ruck-craft down and uses his body smartly to position himself to grab the ball and kickstart his team's attack.
8. Koby LeCras - GEN. FWD/UTILITY - West Perth Falcons
In a similar mould to Malady, LeCras doesn't necessarily fit any particular position's traditional description. LeCras excels in a role that gives him the freedom to bring his points of difference which are his agility for his size, ground level skills and elite kicking ability. LeCras is no doubt one of the most talented players in this year's draft class, it'll be important that he is drafted by a club that sees the vision and wants to give him a role with the freedom to thrive.
7. Wil Malady - GEN. FWD/UTILITY - Gippsland Power
Huge upside with so much positional flexibility. Malady has played the previous two years as a low possession, high-impact forward prospect with excellent forward craft and strong hands. This year he has shown another side to his game, moving to a wing at times and spending time on-ball at school level for Caulfield Grammar. Malady will look to continue highlighting his versatility as the year continues, he has shown that he is someone whose impact increases exponentially the more times he gets the ball in his hands.
6. Cody Templeton - FWD/MID - Gippsland Power
Another midfield-/forward hybrid player who makes up for any lack of speed with intensity, smarts and forward craft. Templeton also has excellent stoppage craft and brings a toughness and strong clearance winning ability when playing on-ball. Capable of taking a strong mark overhead and beating his opponent one-on-one with his forward craft. Templeton has had both high-possession games as a midfielder and big goal hauls playing as a primary forward both this year and last year as a bottom-ager.
