2026 Draft Thread

[Tommy_Wolfe7]

Latest draft chat with Jackson Phillips is live. It's a really good insight into a driven and resilient young man. He's a ripper and it's well worth a read.

[Tommy_Wolfe7]

has any body heard what mcgrogor's deciionis between afl and atthletics. will he attend draft combine?

McGroder ran a 6.39 2km time trial. Placed 25th at the National Combine.

[dejavoodoo44]

McGroder ran a 6.39 2km time trial. Placed 25th at the National Combine.

Good that he's there. I don't know if it means that he's chosen AFL over athletics, but I guess it does mean that he hasn't ruled AFL out.

[Dow]

Good that he's there. I don't know if it means that he's chosen AFL over athletics, but I guess it does mean that he hasn't ruled AFL out.

Has a lot of Athletic ability obviously but from what I have seen and its limited it, he would be a long shot to make at AFL level

[imuninformedtwo]

I get it, and you’re right, but Kyle hadn’t played much footy till three years ago. As accessing Academy talent gets harder, we will need to take the occasional punt.

[Tommy_Wolfe7]

A report today suggests that, while not confirmed, clubs believe McGroder will choose footy.



And in addition to that, I had a chat with Eastern Ranges rebounder Sam Devers about his season. He's an interesting prospect with plenty of upside.

https://readingtheplay.wordpress.com/2026/10/02/draft-chats-8-sam-devers/

[imuninformedtwo]

McGroder won the 20m sprint and vertical jump, and came second in the running vertical jump, at the combine today, according to the Hun.

One other thing on his interview where he said he was leaning towards footy. He effectively said the one thing making him nervous was the risk he might not be guaranteed to stay in Sydney. Hopefully he’s making that clear in his interviews with other clubs.