One of the favourite pastimes of a football fan is to 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:
Cody Weightman
The Flea returned from his long-term injury troubles this year for 11 games and seven goals. While that doesn't exactly indicate he is ready to take the league by storm, his obvious talent and a full pre-season should give Weightman the best launch pad possible.
Not to mention the fact there will be plenty of Dogs stars (Zak Butters, Marcus Bontempelli, Sam Darcy, Ed Richards) to take the limelight away from him and let him build back into the gun small forward he once was.
When Charlie Curnow finally got over his long-term injury troubles at the end of 2021, he played four games for little effect. Next season he won the Coleman Medal for the first time.
Weightman won't necessarily make that giant of a leap, but expect arguably Luke Beveridge's favourite player to grow in impact in 2027.
Having key forwards Darcy, Aaron Naughton and Jordan Croft to feed off, the Flea will get back close to his best next season.
