A whopping six players from premiership favourites Brighton Grammar headline Craft of the Draft's Associated Public Schools (APS) team of the year.
Brighton Grammar will host Caulfield Grammar in the inaugural APS firsts football decider on Saturday and will have a bevy of draftable talent on display.
Nine of the 11 APS schools are represented, with only Geelong Grammar and Melbourne Grammar missing out - though bottom-ager Leo Stephenson was right on the cusp.
Most notable is the Tonners owning the full forward line in the team of the year, with potential Tasmanian target Jake Miller alongside Harry Zerna and Quentin Hoffmann inside 50.
Miller started the year with a bang, putting on a marking clinic against Caulfield Grammar in Round 1, and he has continued to impact despite copping heavy attention and getting the best defender each week.
As opponents put their focus on him, Zerna, a Western Jets-listed player, and Hofmann, the younger brother of Geelong's Lennox, part of the Sandringham Dragons, have thrived as potent scoring options.
Top five prospect and Brighton Grammar skipper Arki Butler makes the side despite missing the second half of the season with a collarbone injury sustained at the Under-18s National Championships, with an eight-goal haul against Melbourne Grammar one of the individual performances of the year.
Richmond father-son prospect Archie Daffy has been a standout for a struggling Geelong College side, running through the midfield and regularly hitting the scoreboard, while bottom-aged Collingwood Next Generation Academy prospect Eli Kravic has been Scotch College's barometer.
Daffy and Kravic are among a plethora of options which can run through the midfield, with Haileybury star George Dimer, Xavier College's Noah Hanegraaf and Caulfield Grammar's Ryan McConnell earning the starting midfield spots.
Dimer has been named skipper and has arguably been the biggest difference-maker for any team this year in the competition, and has combined strong school footy form with Talent League and National Championships performances which have him rocketing up draft boards.
McConnell has been a consistent cog for two years at Caulfield Grammar, while Hanegraaf's stoppage work has been handy.
Scotch College's Tanner Armstrong has been relegated to the half-back line but has put up enormous numbers each week and knows how to find the footy cleanly.
Caulfield Grammar's Harper McCullough is strong, creative and crafty and his bullocking skillset is suited to the style of footy often on display. McCullough, and teammate Wil Malady who has played everywhere at school level this season, have been named on the bench given they have missed some school footy through injury and representative footy.
Wesley College's Judd Burgiel deserves a mountain of credit for his sheer work rate and effort in a disappointing year for his school. He can put the team on his back and fight hard when his side has generally struggled through the midfield and been forced to play much of the game in their back half. His captain and Sandringham Dragons draft prospect Lochie Burrows is named on the extended bench having had some big games.
First round prospect Marlon Neocleous has finished the season on fire after a frustrating National Championships, while Haileybury's Luke Leo has complemented Dimer well and been a key reason why a Bloods outfit which is a touch weaker than usual has remained competitive.
Western Bulldogs father-son prospect Levi West is clean in the clinches and gets named on a wing, while St Kevin's College's Albert MacGowan has been the Snakes' Mr Fix It and played a few roles.
In defence, Sandringham Dragons skipper Tyson Bradley picks himself as a competitive intercepting force whose penetrating kicking on Brighton Grammar's small ground is one of the most damaging assets in a potent grand final lineup.
His teammate Jasper Williams was also impossible to overlook, having used his school footy form to springboard onto Sandringham's list and earn a state combine invite as a marking presence behind the ball who can go into the ruck.
Similarly, Haileybury's Ollie Bartal has put himself on the draft radar having taken intercept marks for fun this season.
Hawthorn Next Generation Academy prospect and one of the leading 2027 draft prospects, Zane Adams, gets in after establishing himself as one of the competition's most competitive defenders.
Alongside the aforementioned MacGowan, St Kevin's College duo Louis Lefoe and Alex Dreaver made the lineup too, the latter as a ruck who has regularly been a class above. Lefoe is a lockdown defender whose role on Miller earlier in the year allowed St Kevin's College to really challenge the Tonners.
Charlie Hanegraaf has risen to the significant responsibility he has borne for Geelong College and thus earns selection, Toby Round's hardness and consistency gets him a bench spot, while Josh DeStefanis has had an underrated campaign for Scotch College.
Craft of the Draft APS team of the year
FB: Zane Adams (Xavier College), Tyson Bradley (Brighton Grammar), Louis Lefoe (St Kevin's College)
HB: Ollie Bartal (Haileybury), Jasper Williams (Brighton Grammar), Tanner Armstrong (Scotch College)
M: Levi West (Carey Grammar), Noah Hanegraaf (Xavier College), Albert MacGowan (St Kevin's College)
HF: Arki Butler (Brighton Grammar), Archie Daffy (Geelong College), Eli Kravic (Scotch College),
FF: Jake Miller (Brighton Grammar), Harry Zerna (Brighton Grammar), Quentin Hofmann (Brighton Grammar)
Foll: Alex Dreaver (St Kevin's College), George Dimer © (Haileybury), Ryan McConnell (Caulfield Grammar)
Extended IC: Judd Burgiel (Wesley College), Harper McCullough (Caulfield Grammar), Wil Malady (Caulfield Grammar), Marlon Neocleous (Caulfield Grammar), Lochie Burrows (Wesley College), Charlie Hangeraaf (Geelong College), Toby Round (St Kevin's College), Josh DeStefanis (Scotch College), Luke Leo (Haileybury)
