As the 2025 AFL season nears, there will be players training ferociously throughout pre-season to perhaps finally break loose from the shackles of years of average performances and officially reach their potential.
Perhaps it's a top draft pick finally coming of age, as Mac Andrew and Tom De Koning showed glimpses of in 2024.
Or maybe it's a player nearing the age of their prime who has teetered on the edge of mediocrity for a while but finally excelled at the top flight. Think Tristan Xerri and Jake Waterman.
Last year, the hype around the potential of De Koning and Ben King ultimately delivered, while players such as Paddy Dow failed yet again to reach their potential estimated in their draft year.
A club's success is often off the back of unheralded players having surprisingly good years.
Hawthorn was fortunate to be on the end of multiple players enjoying breakout seasons in 2024, including first-time All-Australian Dylan Moore, trade recruit Massimo D'Ambrosio and veteran Sam Frost.
Likewise, premiers Brisbane enjoyed the sudden emergence of Kai Lohmann and the eventual fruition of Callum Ah Chee and Ryan Lester's potential.
Those clubs that struggled found their players with glimpses of stardom did not reach their potential. Max King was on and off the field with injuries which again hurt St Kilda's finals chances, while the ineptness of Collingwood's young talent failed to fill the holes of out-of-form veterans, resulting in a failed flag defence for the Pies.
So ahead of the new season, we've named eight players who will be desperate to have a breakout year to either save their career or propel their club further up the ladder in 2025.
Ivan Soldo
After falling behind Jordon Sweet in the ruck rankings at Port Adelaide and a potential trade request swept away, Soldo is under pressure to perform in 2025.
Soldo has been a solid ruckman for multiple years since his AFL debut, but has never become one of the league's best. With Sweet dominating in the latter stages of 2024, Soldo needs a breakout year to ensure he continues playing AFL, or else he will play as an understudy to Sweet or ply his trade in the SANFL.
Despite Sweet's eye-catching form, a breakout year is not out of reach for Soldo. He enters 2025 as a 28-year-old, effectively in his prime years as a footballer, after having a season where he averaged the second-most hitouts in his career.
It will be a tight battle for the number one ruck spot, and all eyes will be on Soldo to put away the negative media attention by starting to play his best football.
