As the Essendon Bombers confirmed the extension of second-year star Elijah Tsatas, another second-year star is reportedly closing in on a new deal.
According to The Herald Sun, Mattaes Phillipou is set to earn a contract extension with St Kilda, with the Sports Minded player agency negotiating the deal.
Selected with pick ten at the 2022 AFL Draft, Phillipou is one of the handful of second-year top-10 picks who have not yet signed a contract extension with their respective clubs.
Only recently turning 19 in December, Phillipou had a good maiden season with the Saints and showed he has plenty of potential that could see him become one of the game's elite superstars.
Primarily a forward, the youngster showed signs that he could evolve and transition into becoming a big-bodied midfielder in the future.
At the end of his first AFL campaign, former two-time AFL premiership winner David King compared him to a younger version of Marcus Bontempelli.
“I just want to see how far or what the ceiling is for Mattaes Phillipou,” King previously said on SEN Afternoons.
“I think he could be a Marcus Bontempelli type who could just throw the club on his back at some stage down the path.
“It's probably not going to be 2024 … but if he can just do it for a game or two and just show us little snippets that he is the player that I believe he is and many do (it will be huge).
“The good judges at St Kilda are so excited by what he's about to bring to that football club.”
As Phillipou gets ready to extend his contract with the Saints, his 16-year-old brother, Jevon Phillipou, has emerged as a top prospect for next year's draft.
Set to chase his dream of playing in the AFL, Jevon plays high-level basketball and is currently in the midst of qualifying for the Under-20 Athletics World Championships as a decathlete.
It is understood that he is considered a better player than his older brother Mattaes when he was 16 years of age.
