Oakleigh Chargers midfielder Sam Grlj confirmed his status as a potential top 10 draft selection with a strong draft campaign in 2025.
Clean, quick and silky-skilled, Grlj's volume may be a touch lower than some of his counterparts, but he has the athleticism, execution and work ethic to put him right in the frame to be selected on night one of November's draft.
When he takes off and gets to the outside, he's near impossible to stop, gaining metres quickly and frequently getting multiple possessions in a chain, always taking the most direct route into attack.
A late-season stint with Richmond's VFL side spotlighted his ruthless aggression, with his competitiveness to win the hardball and lay bruising tackles another underrated attribute to his game.
A quiet National Championships was about Grlj's only misstep in 2025, but it's important to contextualise that he came into the highest standard of footy in his career off the back of AGSV school footy – a lower standard of school footy in the state.
While he didn't have the same confidence and strut about him at the carnival, he was voted Vic Metro's co-captain and still had moments where he showed his competitive streak and class.
Plenty of others are higher volume than Grlj, but few have the damage factor with the footy.
| 10 RANK | | Sam Grlj Oakleigh Chargers Midfielder HEIGHT: 182cm | â–¶+ |
Strengths
Speed
Line-Breaking
Leadership
Draft Range
Pick 5-15
Potential Landing Spots
Richmond (Picks 2 and 3)
Essendon (Picks 4 and 5)
St Kilda (Pick 7)
Hawthorn (Pick 8)
GWS (Pick 12)
