Brisbane rookie Ty Gallop could prove to be one of the stories from Saturday's 2025 AFL Grand Final should he help lead the Lions to a second-straight premiership.
The Queensland native and Lions Academy product has been a shining light this September, booting his first career goal in the semi-final win over the Suns before piling on three goals against Collingwood in just his fifth game to help Brisbane book their spot in the season decider.
The teenager is one win against Geelong away from lifting the premiership cup in half a dozen career games, but grand final week could've been very different for the Kawana Park junior.
Gallop's selection at Pick 42 last November was a "big surprise" on draft night, with the 194cm forward viewed as an unlikely National Draft selection, instead tipped to land at the Lions as a rookie.
The shock early bid that arose for Gallop would come from none other than Geelong, who attempted to draft the Lions-tied prospect and force Brisbane's hand.
The Lions already had their draft hand depleted on night one after matching bids for Levi Ashcroft and Sam Marshall in the first round of the count, perhaps filling the Cats with some confidence that a bid for Gallop might be too much for the Lions to conjure.
"A little fun thing about Ty Gallop...," analyst Mitch Keating said on this week's episode of The Hitout.
"He was Pick 42 in last year's draft. Nobody was expecting him to be taken in the draft (that early). Out of every teenager who got drafted last year, he was the only one who didn't get a combine invite. Everyone else tested, or was invited to test.
"So he was a big surprise last year. In the draft room where all the journos were, when his name came through, it was like 'wow'. Pick 42, even though it's not that early in the draft, it was early for him.
"The club that bid on him was Geelong. Brisbane had already had to cough up a bit for Levi Ashcroft and Sam Marshall, and I think the Cats would've been somewhat confident there was a chance they could've gotten Ty Gallop, just given where Brisbane's points had to sit on night one for those other two boys.
"(Cats recruiter) Stephen Wells said he really liked the big, tall forward after they lost (Tom) Hawkins.
"A little tidbit for this week that the Cats were keen to get him."
You can watch the full episode of The Hitout below, or via Zero Hanger's YouTube channel.
