More than 45 of the AFL's retired or delisted talent from the 2026 season have locked in their colours for next year, whether that be at the local level, in the state leagues, or back in the AFL after securing another chance.
There's a whole host of delisted players from the AFL that are set to receive a lifeline in the upcoming national or rookie drafts, as well as get the opportunity over summer to convince their former club they should be on the list.
At grassroots level, there has been a litany of football talent returning to their junior clubs or bolstering a local team.
As for the state levels, over a dozen have signed with one of the three leagues.
Here's where recently delisted or retired AFL players will be pulling on the boots in 2027.
AFL
Jake Stringer (St Kilda)
Wil Parker (Carlton)
Max Ramsden (St Kilda)
Elijah Tsatas (North Melbourne)
Darragh Joyce (North Melbourne)
Samson Ryan (North Melbourne)
Jamarra Ugle-Hagan (Gold Coast)^
Elliott Himmelberg (Gold Coast)^
Riley Garcia (Western Bulldogs)^
Harry DeMattia (Western Bulldogs)^
Dan Butler (St Kilda)^
Ryan Byrnes (St Kilda)^
Koby Evans (Brisbane)^
Luke Lloyd (Brisbane)^
Jaren Carr (Fremantle)^
Ben Camporeale (Carlton)*
Lucas Camporeale (Carlton)*
Nik Cox (Essendon)*
Kayle Gerreyn (Essendon)*
Tom Edwards (Essendon)*
Flynn Perez (Hawthorn)*
Steely Green (Richmond)*
Isaac Keeler (Port Adelaide)*
^ Players to have been delisted with the club's intent to re-draft them
* Supplemental Selection Period train-ons
VFL
Xavier Walsh - Tasmania Devils
George Stevens - Tasmania Devils
Jack Williams - Tasmania Devils
Joel Cochran - Tasmania Devils
Chayce Jones - Tasmania Devils
Aidan Johnson - Werribee Tigers
SANFL
Jakob Ryan - Glenelg Tigers
Noah Howes - South Adelaide
Mani Liddy - Central District
Benny Barrett - South Adelaide
Harry Schoenberg - Woodville-West Torrens
Tyler Welsh - Woodville-West Torrens
WAFL
Kaleb Smith (Richmond) - East Fremantle Sharks
Jed Bews - West Coast WAFL
Zac Walker - West Coast WAFL
QAFL
N/A
Local Footy
Nick Holman (Kyabram Bombers)
Lachie Sullivan (Morewell)
Jack Henderson (Geelong Amateur)
Callum Coleman-Jones (Birchip Watchem)
Adam Treloar (Noble Park)
Liam McMahon (Eltham)
Steele Sidebottom (Wonthaggi)
Tom Liberatore (Geelong Amateur)
Adam Saad (Northern Saints)
Jaime Uhr-Henry (Hurstbridge)
Tom McDonald (Rochester)
Other
N/A
Not listed
Taylor Walker
Sam Switkowski
Rhys Stanley
Jake Kolodjashnij
Tom Campbell
Jake Melksham
Shane McAdam
Will Brodie
Ivan Soldo
Nathan Broad
Dion Prestia
Dougal Howard
Dane Rampe
Taylor Adams
Jamie Cripps
Lachlan Sholl
Luke Beecken
Jordan Boyd
Harry Charleson
Matt Duffy
Lachie Fogarty
Elijah Hollands
Zac Williams
Lewis Young
Flynn Young
Bobby Hill
Mitch Podhajski
Iliro Smit
Harrison Coe
Saad El-Hawli
Jade Gresham
Matt Guelfi
Liam McMahon
Bailey Banfield
Ryda Luke
Ollie Murphy
Sam Sturt
Mitch Knevitt
Keighton Matofai-Forbes
Tyson Stengle
Cooper Bell
Asher Eastham
Caleb Graham
Conor Stone
Cody Anderson
James Blanck
Henry Hustwaite
Andy Moniz-Wakefield
Riley Onley
Kalani White
Brayden George
Robert Hansen Jnr
Bailey Scott
Luke Urquhart
Cooper Harvey
Zac Fisher
Tom Anastasopoulos
Ollie Lord
Will Lorenz
Jackson Mead
Jacob Moss
Liam Fawcett
Oliver Hayes-Brown
Tyler Sonsie
James Trezise
Paddy Dow
Patrick Said
Jack Carroll
Harry Barnett
Tyler Brockman
Clay Hall
Harvey Johnston
Matthew Owies
Oskar Baker
Nick Coffield
Harvey Gallagher
Ryan Gardner
Lachlan McNeil
Lachlan Smith
