Every week, Craft of the Draft's AFL Draft Watch will bring you the latest news and biggest performances from across the talent pathway.
This week we ponder a star ruck's start to the season, highlight some Academy-tied talent and feature some other impressive performances.
How high can a ruck go?
Not since 2008 when Nick Naitanui was selected by West Coast Eagles with Pick 2 has a top-10 selection been used on a ruck.
Luke Jackson went in the top five in 2019, but is more of a hybrid, likewise Cooper Duff-Tytler last year who is more likely to spend his career forward.
The premium selections are reserved mostly for midfielders, with a smattering of elite small forwards and key forwards, for the most part - a phenomenon that has increased across that time span.
Different list mechanisms, most notably the Mid-Season Draft - have further dwindled the prominence of rucks at the national draft, with arguably no players who will translate into AFL rucks taken at the 2025 intake.
The ruck position has been a fascinating one to track in 2026 as different types of players have thrived, with Adelaide's Lachie McAndrew and Collingwood's Oscar Steene coming in and immediately giving their side a point-of-difference at centre stoppage.
But several teams including Geelong, North Melbourne and Richmond, by circumstance, have been forced to use a makeshift ruck model in 2026 and it has generally affected their dominance at stoppage.
The change in rules has placed an increased emphasis on craft at centre stoppages, which have become such a critical component of a game played at increasingly breakneck speed.
If there is any year to go early on a ruck, this might be it - both because of the way of the game, and the talent.
And Ethan Herbert is doing everything in his power to push his top 10 prospects, arguably starting the season in better form than any other junior in the country.
He backed up a standout first fortnight with 31 disposals, 34 hitouts and 12 clearances in Round 3.
His strengths as a ruck are his ability to give his team ascendancy at clearance to not only win clearances, but also play with skill and get it in the best ball users' hands.
It's exactly what the modern game demands and makes him the type of ruck who may be worth using an early pick on.
It's worth noting, too, that there is a school of thought he could be a marking defender at the next level - further underlining his ball-use and decision-making.
Harry Van Hattum is another ruck and viewed as a top five prospect, with his Round 1 performance a standout before a quad injury ruled him out of the last fortnight.
If either of the pair fall, it will almost certainly speak more strongly about the value clubs place on their position, rather than players themselves.
Richmond NGA prospect absent
Richmond Next Generation Academy prospect Tanner Armstrong was absent from Murray Bushrangers' Round 3 clash.
He pulled up with knee soreness after his Round 2 match, so was held over with an AFL Academy game next weekend, which he is expected to line up in.
His week off follows a strong start to the season where he has led an often under siege Bushrangers midfield, showing adept ball-winning and clean hands.
It comes after Bushrangers teammate Blake Newton ruptured his ACL last week, while gun Murray bottom-ager is set to return from a back injury last week.
The best midfielder?
Is Fremantle Next Generation Academy prospect Lucas Robinson the best pure midfielder in the 2026 draft class?
It seems a ridiculous question to ask given he is not in the AFL Academy, but with most of the players at the top of the crop unlikely to translate into AFL midfielders, there is genuine intrigue about who, at this stage, is leading the midfield race.
A 27-disposal effort on senior debut for South Fremantle on Saturday showcased that he was able to win his own footy and the stoppage craft and clearance-winning he has long shown at juniors translates against senior bodies.
Given the way he played, he will likely get significantly more exposure throughout 2026.
It's casting a long way ahead given how much bearing the U18s National Championships have on the draft, but if he does attract a bid at the pointy end of the draft, Fremantle will have a decision to make.
With the AFL set to make it harder than ever to match bids for tied talent, is Robinson a player the Dockers want to break the bank for?
With Caleb Serong aged 25 and Andy Brayshaw 26, and others like Hayden Young and Murphy Reid pushing for opportunity in the midfield, is another midfielder, albeit with a point-of-difference because of his size, a necessity? One to ponder.
Hawks NGA arrives
Hawthorn-tied draft prospect Keenan Boi ticks all the boxes to thrive in modern footy.
Speedy, athletic, clean, classy, hard working and plays with swagger.
His Talent League club, Gippsland Power, has been singing his praises across a pre-season where he has uplevelled his game, having spent time entrenched in the Hawks program across summer.
And he arrived on Friday, playing the most complete game of his talent pathway career as the clear standout player on the ground, proving a lively front half presence.
Another name for Hawthorn fans to track is Eastern Ranges' Miles Reynders, who played his first game of the season for Eastern Ranges on Saturday and has shown talent when training at the Hawks' Kennedy Community Centre.
South Australian starring
Top-10 fancy Kodah Edwards has started the 2026 SANFL season on fire.
After a sterling Round 1 performance where he lifted to get his side over the line, combining 24 disposals and four goals, he snagged three majors in Round 2 to go with 27 disposals and nine clearances.
He injects great energy when he goes into the midfield and knows when to sneak forward and makes the most of his opportunities in front of the big sticks.
The 183cm AFL Academy prospect and South Adelaide skipper is doing everything he can to lead the South Australian charge of draftees in 2026.
2027 prospects starring
Several bottom-aged players in the talent pathway have had a sizzling start to the season.
Tasmania is closely assessing the talent of those in the 2027 AFL Draft bracket, with the club set to have seven of the first 13 picks in next year's draft - though four of those must be traded - and will be able to access a further four players in a 17-year-old mini draft.
Calder Cannons key forward Nate Jenkins starred for Calder Cannons in Round 3, kicking a bag of seven to reinforce his credentials as a high-leaping, strong-marking forward. It follows a four goal game in the Talent League as a double bottom-ager last year.
Fellow key forward Jake Miller is widely regarded as one of the most talented players in the crop, kicking six goals across the first three games and consistently proving too strong and athletic for direct opponents.
Essendon-tied Koby Bewick had 31 disposals for Calder and looked a class above when he was given time and space against Bendigo.
Gippsland has a strong complement of bottom-agers, headed by Cohen Dent and Oscar Henwood.
Dent is already on Tasmania's watchlist and is viewed as one of the best rucks in the class, standing at a hulking 208cm and blending physicality and skill to impress early in the year.
Henwood, meanwhile, is a clinical and skilled midfielder-forward who applies manic pressure. He missed the Under-16s Development Championships last year due to injury but is considered by some to be in the upper echelon of players.
Leo Stephenson, who represented Vic Country at the Under-16s Development Championships in 2025, is another name to tuck away after a strong start to the season.
Baxter Sruk, Tom Steinfort and Louis Salopek are other highly rated names, with all sidelined currently due to injuries of varying extents.
Rebel rising
Big-bodied GWV Rebels midfielder Ethan Drever was the standout of a seven-point win over Western Jets.
The Vic Country summer squad member has taken a big step forward in 2026, relishing the midfield minutes, using his strength and playing with power.
He kicked what turned out to be the match-winning goal, and finished with 34 disposals and nine tackles.
Bloody brilliant
Diminutive Sandringham forward George Dimer was the clear standout of the Dragons' climatic draw against Dandenong.
A slippery, one-touch player with poise, clean skills and elite athleticism, he was a class above and always made something happen when he had the footy.
It was Dimer's first game of 2026 and came after a pre-season severely interrupted by a back stress reaction.
It was Dimer's breakout game at Talent League level after piecing together promising footy as a bottom-ager for Haileybury College in 2025.
Dates locked in
The details for the AFL Academy games and timeframe for the U18s National Championships have been locked in.
The AFL Academy will take on North Melbourne's VFL side on Sunday at Arden Street, followed by a clash with Richmond VFL six days later at Ikon Park.
It gives the best junior talent in the country exposure against seasoned state league and AFL-listed players.
The U18s National Championships will kick off on Saturday June 13 and will run through until Sunday July 19.
Starring VFL performance
Richmond VFL forward/winger Sam Toner has perennially been thereabouts in draft discussions since the 2024 national intake and looks set to again be around the mark.
The Narre Warren local kicked 6.3 for Richmond's VFL side against St Kilda on Sunday, backing up a three-goal Round 1 performance.
After strong form for Dandenong Stingrays as a 19-year-old in 2024, he struggled for consistency playing a higher forward/winger role in 2025, but has played deeper so far this year and his marking, x-factor and natural forward craft has been exquisite.
In a 20-minute period of the third quarter on Sunday, he turned the game on its head, kicking 5.1.
The Tigers have lauded his work rate since he arrived out of the Talent League 17 months ago, and it looks as though it is starting to come together for the hybrid forward.
