One of the favourite pastimes of a football fan is took look at the potential in a player and imagine what they could become in the future. With the 2026 season done, there is now more than four months of fantasising and pondering about what each club and player can do in 2027.
Every season, a player from nowhere makes their mark. This year's version of that was Sydney SSP recruit Jai Serong.
Then there are the young stars ready to emerge as some of the league's best, à la Fremantle's Murphy Reid who claimed his maiden All-Australian at 20.
There are breakout stars to watch, but there are plenty of players who hang in the balance of promising talent and potential but failing to deliver, how will they fare next year?
We at Zero Hanger have listed the 10 players to watch and why in 2027:
Marcus Herbert
West Coast secured a couple of diamonds in the rough last season. Firstly, the Eagles nabbed East Fremantle star Milan Murdock as an SSP signing on the eve of the season.
List manager Matt Clarke then struck gold again a couple months later after mid-season drafting Marcus Herbert out of Geelong's VFL side.
Murdock (who finished fourth in the club's best-and-farest) will improve with a full pre-season under his belt. But the future appears even more exciting for the silky yet tough Herbert.
The 24-year-old fits the Eagles' age demographic perfectly, he is daring and likes to take the game on by foot or with ball in hand.
He will continue his upward trajectory for West Coast off halfback but he could become even more damaging if pushed into the midfield alongside Harley Reid and Willem Duursma.
Herbert averaged 21.6 disposals across his first 10 games, while he had back-to-back outings where he had 36 and 34 touches respectively. Imagine what he can become with a full AFL pre-season under his belt.
