The silly season has arrived and with it rises the intrigue surrounding the 2025 AFL Draft.
Craft of the Draft has followed the talent pathways all season, with this the latest instalment of our monthly rankings.
There is a standout seven players who have created a gap on the rest of the draft class, with plenty of variety across what will be a highly compromised first round that could extend towards 30 picks.
Several bolters have emerged late in the season, headlined by Sullivan Robey and also including Oskar Taylor, Avery Thomas, Blake Thredgold and more.
The 2025 crop has widely been discussed as a weak draft and there is a school of thought among many that, after the established talents, clubs may be more likely to take a speculative punt than go after a known commodity.
Xavier Taylor is a big riser after a sterling finals series capped a big season, while Jack Ison, too, continues to capture attention late in the season.
Taj Murray was the unluckiest omission - a mobile tall who fits the profile perfectly of being high upside, but less proven players who could be selected earlier than typical.
Others around the mark included Fremantle Next Generation Academy prospect Toby Whan, West Coast-tied Charlie Banfield and Western Jets forward Oskar Ainsworth.
SEE: 2025 PROSPECT POWER RANKINGS FOR SEPTEMBER
3. 40-36
40. Jack Dalton - Sandringham Dragons
No one finished the Coates Talent League season in hotter form than Jack Dalton. Played in Sandringham Dragons' midfield and, despite playing just half a season, took out the club's best and fairest, underlining his consistency and star power. A running machine, Dalton ran the quickest two-kilometre time trial of any player at the National AFL Draft Combine with a time of 5:53 minutes.
| 45 RANK |  | Jack Dalton Sandringham Dragons Midfielder HEIGHT: 178cm | ▶+ |
39. Liam Hetherton - Murray Bushrangers
The Murray Bushrangers forward has been missing for most of the season with injury but he showed more than enough at the end of last year and start of 2025 to suggest that he has plenty of traits transferable to an AFL list. Can take a big contested mark, has power, is damaging at ground level and is a dead-eye set shot. May prove the bargain pickup of the 2025 draft crop.
| 44 RANK |  | Liam Hetherton Murray Bushrangers Forward HEIGHT: 197cm | ▶+ |
38. Cam Nairn - Central District
Performed when it mattered, with a seven-goal haul against Western Australia, shooting him up draft boards. The 189cm talent proved his aerial prowess and ability to find pockets of space inside 50 and clunk some contested grabs. Likely spends much of his career high up the ground where his decision making and execution going forward will come to the fore.
| 31 RANK |  | Cam Nairn Central District Utility HEIGHT: 189cm | + |
37. Harry Kyle - Sydney Swans Academy
Versatile, dynamic and athletic, Kyle's bounce out of the backline has been eye-catching across 2025 and has him firmly in discussions as high as late in the first round. He's been afforded opportunities in the midfield for the Swans Academy and also performed strongly for the Allies. It's Kyle's first full season in the talent pathway so he has plenty of upside and his rugby union background provides him with a point of difference.
| 35 RANK |  | Harry Kyle Sydney Academy Defender HEIGHT: 188cm | + |
36. Avery Thomas - Tasmania Devils
An athletic interceptor who was a late addition to the Allies squad, Thomas has the ability to lock down and play as a third tall. Tasmania's leading prospect, Thomas has an athletics background and takes the game on with his kicking, making him an appealing package as a diverse defender. Two separate concussions punctuated an otherwise terrific rise in his first full season focused on footy.
| 33 RANK |  | Avery Thomas Tasmania Defender HEIGHT: 186cm | ▶+ |
