AFL Draft prospect Max Kondogiannis has spent his career on the fringes of selection.
More specifically, he's well accustomed to missing out.
The 190cm defender missed Vic Metro's U16s squad, the AFL Futures game and the 2025 Vic Metro summer training hub.
Kondogiannis maintained a healthy self-belief through that period which has finally borne fruit in 2025.
But those constant queries have steeled Kondogiannis with a perseverance which sets him up well for his transition into an AFL system if selected at November's AFL Draft.
There is a widespread expectation that if he were listed, Carey Grammar's 2025 captain would be a project player, given an opportunity to build his body and develop in the background through the early stages of his career.
He showed a willingness to do that ahead of this season, putting on six kilograms and improving his two-kilometre time trial time between the last game of 2024 and first of 2025.
Kondogiannis also became more damaging with ball in hand across pre-season - a necessary addition to his skillset given his frame projects as a hybrid defender.
Fuelled by the expectation of being a slow burn, Kondogiannis believes he is well equipped to make the step up and doesn't put a limit on what he can achieve.
“I think it's just been my whole journey, really, just working hard and not getting that immediate recognition,” Kondogiannis told Craft of the Draft.
“I don't think that would faze me.
“But I think there's a sense of nourishment seeing boys like Angus Clarke and Tobie Travaglia, who have a similar frame to me, go out and play AFL and play well in their first year.
“I think it just shows that, although, yes, they still have to build that physical body, if you do that, the size of your body doesn't really matter.
“You just have to be ready to go out and compete and I think having footy IQ so that if someone's stronger or quicker than you, you're smarter means you're already halfway there and more often than not, you're going to beat them.
"So I know I'll have to work hard but I don't see any boundaries to playing in the first year as long as I'm willing to compete.”
Also an excellent cricketer at schoolboy level, the Kew junior is well accustomed to high performance environments and has held leadership positions in both sports so would slot into a new environment seamlessly.
He did so at the U18s National Championships, playing a consistent role in defence for Vic Metro as he competed above his weight grade and height and was willing to take the game on.
A rare shining light in Vic Metro's opener against South Australia, Kondogiannis then played no footy in the month between Vic Metro's first and second games due to a finger ligament injury but didn't look like he'd missed a beat upon return, strengthening his stocks as a reliable defender.
“That ‘Champs' period was probably my strongest football,” Kondogiannis said.
“It was pretty good to be able to perform at the highest level in U18s.
“I think just keeping that principle of consistency leads to confidence, and if you do the work, you'll get the rewards which held me in good stead.
“I wanted to be the best and to do that you've got to beat the best so that was the mentality.”
Kondogiannis has also spent time ahead of the footy in 2024 and this year for Carey Grammar but there is now a consensus that his best footy is played as a backman - where he has played his best footy for Oakleigh Chargers in 2025.
Averaging six intercept possessions, including two intercept marks per Coates League game, and eight intercept possessions and two spoils per U18s National Championships game, he has proven incredibly difficult to beat in one-on-one contests despite regularly giving up height.
“I wanted to make intercept marking a weapon," Kondogiannis said of his pre-season.
"I just went to work on that and put heaps of work into my contested marking and bring in-game intensity when I was training my marking which I think has been my biggest improvement this year, and also my kicking which I see as a weapon.”
A popular figure among teammates, there is a striking duality about Kondogiannis' personality, with the teenager mixing cheeky teen wit and spirit with a more deep-thinking nature, revealed though his sophisticated eloquence.
After learning off the likes of Jagga Smith, Finn O'Sullivan and Tom Gross last year, the latter of whom Kondogiannis maintains contact with, he's learned about the character traits needed to make an AFL list and is confident he would be able to make the step up.
"I think I've developed as a leader over time," Kondogiannis said.
"I've gone from more of a leader that says to a leader that does and a leader that wants to bring along teammates with him.
"I think no one really likes to be told what to do but if, if they see someone doing it, they see someone doing it at a level, it drives them, and I think it pulls everyone up with them.
"So I think the biggest thing I've learned in leadership, is you've got to set the tone yourself and be the example and being a good mate is important: if you've got that, more often than not, the people will follow the standards that you set."
