The 2025 AFL Draft looks to be one of the more difficult to predict for some time, with the strength of the class, the amount of expected bids and the profile of players on offer set to offer plenty of twists and turns once clubs are actually on the clock.
With four clubs sharing the first eight picks, and five having access to the first 11, there'll be some key players at the top of the order that are set to heavily impact how the rest of the count might take shape.
West Coast will get things underway with Picks 1 and 2, and could be looking at multiple bids on rival-tied talent, while Richmond and Essendon may follow suit with their subsequent selections.
After the top 10, several sides look to be waiting on how the picks before them unfold before they too make key calls that will have a ripple effect on the rest of the draft.
Here we look at the selections set to significantly shape how the draft order unravels...
1West Coast - Pick 2
Several sides will be sweating on how the Eagles use their second pick, which is set to follow the expected selection of Gippsland's Willem Duursma at first overall.
West Coast could be preparing for multiple bids between adding Duursma and the likely addition of Calder Cannons tall Cooper Duff-Tytler, most likely at Pick 4.
The second overall pick is tipped to be Suns Academy talent Zeke Uwland, with a selection that early set to force Gold Coast to cough up over 2,230 draft point in a single bid, equating to a trio of later first-round selections.
With the Suns also set to prepare for a rival's bid on Dylan Patterson, potentially in the top five, Gold Coast will be forced to trade more picks into their 2025 draft hand, depleting their range of 2026 and 2027 selections in the process.
Early bids from the Suns will swallow up several later 2025 selections, with the Queensland club likely losing all of their selections - 15, 18, 24, 28, 29, 36, 52 - within those two bids.
Then at Pick 3, West Coast are believed to be preparing a bid for Carlton father-son prospect Harry Dean, forcing the Blues to shuffle their top two selections - which sit at Picks 9 and 11.
Those trades open the door for other clubs to get into the first half of night one as benefactors of trades that see Carlton boost their points total to match a bid for Dean, and prepare for a bid later into the count on NGA talent Jack Ison.
