Western Jets top 30 prospect Billy Wigmore is without argument in the top echelon of interceptors in the 2026 AFL Draft class.
He would also feature towards the top of the crop for mindset and perspective.
Having graduated from school in 2025, he made the decision to enter the full-time workforce this year as a carpenter with his dad to give him balance alongside footy – which has proven a masterstroke as his stocks have steadily risen throughout 2026.
He also regularly goes away on camping and four-wheel driving trips, allowing him to switch off from footy at an age where it is often all-consuming for athletes.
While those activities have given him off-field balance, the most pertinent breakthrough for his footy has been a mindset shift to slow him down.
Wigmore, who speaks with a much higher sense of self-awareness than most teens, knew entering 2026 that ball use was an area that needed an uptick and tapped into the wellbeing support at the Western Jets to take him to the next level.
“I talked to the psych at the Western Jets about what I can do to make sure I take a breath and make the right decision when I get the ball this year,” Wigmore told Zero Hanger.
“Footy can be really mental so that's something which I see as an important part of the game. It's been a help for me and something I will keep looking into.
“Coming into the Jets last year I didn't use him as much but this year I found it to be a bit of a weapon because the mental aspect is such a massive part of the game. Anytime I was struggling with my kicking or I'm not too happy with it I chat to him. There are all sorts of mental weapons you can use and it's a pretty interesting thing.”
Sources have linked Wigmore to North Melbourne which needs defensive reinforcement and enters the draft at Pick 33, by which stage leading tall backmen Mitch Harris, Tyson Bradley, Clancy Snell and Jake Soutar are expected to be off the board.
The National Championships boosted Wigmore's stocks as he showed defensive instinct to peel off his opponent and patrol the backline with aplomb, alongside locking down AFL Academy member Gabriel Patterson and Lachie McGlade.
But queries remained over his kicking, so he continued tapping into the mindset of being an elite footballer and found growth late in the year.
“At times I've shown I can be a reliable kick but at other times I can rush, take the mark and without thinking, pull the trigger,” Wigmore reflected.
“It's been something I focused on – when I take a mark, I can take a breath and assess and I feel like if I take my time, I can be a reliable kick.
“I feel like wherever I play footy, I want to keep working on my kicking and become more reliable in that part of my game. That (decision-making) has been the main feedback I have had. There is a little bit of a fundamental thing but I think it is something I can improve at.
“We've got cues to reset if you do make a mistake. Getting into journalling this year has been big for me as well and before this year I never thought I would get into this stuff.
“I do it before every game, going over my strengths and goals I can set which I can control and are achievable and then after the game I look back at it and look at what I can improve on.”
A 16-mark game for the Western Jets late in the year was a synopsis of what the hard-working Wigmore can bring to an AFL club. The rise up draft boards, remarkably, came after he started the year in attack for a Western Jets side lacking key forwards. After a solid start to the year, he was impassable when he returned to his native position and improved his one-on-one defending.
At 189cm, it is particularly pertinent for Wigmore's kicking to continue to develop given he is an in-between size who does not have the toe to match the smalls nor the height to take the key forwards – but it's something Wigmore views as a strength.
“Sometimes my size has been a question mark but I see it as a versatility thing: I can play on people a bit taller than me and also play on smalls and use marking to my advantage,” he said.
“Sometimes on the quicker smalls, it can be tougher for me but I feel I have ways to nullify those players and on the talls, I can nullify them in the air and beat them on the ground.”
