Round 21 presented a wealth of classy performances from this season's batch of rookies, several of whom made notable impacts in big wins for their respective clubs.
Brisbane's prized father-son selection dominated in extra midfield minutes while a Bombers youngster earned the respect of his peers in a valiant effort at the Cattery, as the Rookie Rankings reach the home stretch.
Selection Criteria: Zero Hanger's Rookie Rankings ONLY consider players who have made their debut this season. Other players who may still be eligible for a Rising Star nomination but have already made their debut before the 2025 season will not be considered. I.e. Rising Star eligible players such as Nate Caddy, Dan Curtin and Connor O'Sullivan are ineligible, having already played an AFL match before Opening Round, 2025. Suspension does not make a player ineligible for our Rookie Rankings.
Honourable mentions:
Taj Hotton (Richmond) - 10 disposals, three marks, three score involvements
Cooper Trembath (North Melbourne) - Six disposals, three goals
8Sam Lalor (-1)
Lalor has slipped to the fringe of our Rookie Rankings, with players around him excelling in recent weeks.
Despite this, it's hard to eliminate Lalor from the top eight, considering his impact in 11 games with the Tigers. If you exclude his two matches against Essendon and Geelong, where he exited the game early with injury, Lalor averaged 14.4 disposals and 5.2 score involvements per game, similar to the levels of production seen by first-year stars Murphy Reid and Max Hall.
It highlights how damaging Lalor can be at full strength, so while it's unfortunate his rookie year has not gone to plan, his small sample size is certainly enough to get excited over for the Richmond faithful.
