2018 FINISH: 11th (2-16 record)

2018 BEST AND FAIREST: 1. Mitch Mellis / 2. Kye Quirk / 3. Joel Burleigh

FORMER PLAYERS ON AFL LISTS:

  • Selected in 2002: Kade Simpson (Carlton) 307 games
  • 2007: Matthew Lobbe (Port Adelaide/Carlton) 92/6
  • 2008: Liam Shiels (Hawthorn) 186, Rory Sloane (Adelaide) 177
  • 2010: Aaron Young (Port Adelaide/Gold Coast) 76/22, Paul Seedsman (Collingwood/Adelaide) 49/39
  • 2011: Jonathon Patton (GWS) 89, Hayden Crozier (Fremantle/Western Bulldogs) 69/17
  • 2013: Tom Boyd (GWS/Western Bulldogs) 9/52, Daniel McStay (Brisbane) 79
  • 2014: Christian Petracca (Melbourne) 63
  • 2015: Sam Weideman (Melbourne) 20, Ryan Clarke (North Melbourne/Sydney) 40/0, Blake Hardwick (Hawthorn) 44, James Parsons* (Geelong) 31
  • 2016: Jordan Gallucci (Adelaide) 17, Joshua Begley (Essendon) 8, Callum Brown (Collingwood) 13, Jack Maibaum (Sydney) 0, Dylan Clarke (Essendon) 1
  • 2017: Adam Cerra (Fremantle) 21, Jaidyn Stephenson (Collingwood) 26, Sam Hayes (Port Adelaide) 0, Tyler Brown (Collingwood) 0, Ryley Stoddart (Sydney) 2, Joel Garner (Port Adelaide) 0, Tom North (Fremantle) 0, Dylan Moore (Hawthorn) 0, Jackson Ross (Hawthorn) 0, Trent Mynott* (Essendon) 0

2019 AFL ACADEMY:

  • Level 2 (18yo): Jamieson Rossiter

2019 HEAD COACH: Darren Bewick (10th season)

2019 SEASON START: vs Oakleigh Chargers @ RSEA Park, Sunday March 24 

TOP 2019 AFL DRAFT PROSPECTS

Jamieson Rossiter (local club – Rowville Hawks): "Jamieson only played two games last year due to foot injuries, but he kicked six goals in one match and two in the other on limited game time. He's pretty much back to full fitness now. We'll probably use him in a goalkicking role combined with some time as a big-bodied midfielder this year. He's very mobile, a very smart player and he uses the ball extremely well."

Mitch Mellis (Boronia): "Mitch won our best-and-fairest as a bottom-ager in 2018 playing predominantly on a wing. He's in the mid-170s (centimetres) for height, so he probably has to push forward more this year to impact the scoreboard and show his forward pressure. We think he’s creative and smart enough to have an impact as a small forward."

Lachlan Stapleton (Rowville Hawks): "Lachlan is a midfielder who finished in the top five of our best-and-fairest as a bottom-ager last year. He quite easily averaged more tackles per game than any other player in the competition in 2018, so he’s a tackling machine but also really good in tight with his hands and his vision. He's the ultimate professional off the field as well."

Cody Hirst (19yo in 2019, Lilydale): "Cody had a big bottom-age season two years ago but his top-age year in 2018 was hampered by shoulder and knee injuries. He's a strong-running midfielder/half forward who has pace to burn and his intensity at the footy and the man is 100 per cent. He broke (Fremantle AFL player) Stephen Hill’s agility-test record late last year coming off that knee injury." 

James Blanck (19yo, Park Orchards): "James tested really well at the AFL Draft Combine last year but 2018 was his first year with us, so he was coming from a fair way back and learned a lot about what’s required at this level. Intercept-marking is his strength; he reads the ball really well and backs himself to take marks. He's had to work on bulking up to match it with big, strong key forwards."

POTENTIAL DRAFT SURPRISE PACKET

Mihaele Zalac (Donvale): "Mihaele played 10 games for us last year and his pre-season has been first class. He’s around 190cm tall and can play forward or defensively in key positions and also on a wing or through the midfield. He's a really athletic, explosive player and has put some bulk on his frame this year. His intensity at training has been on another level at times." 

BOTTOM-AGER TO WATCH

Salele Feagaimalii (Vermont): "Salele played for the Vic Metro under-16 team last year and has been having a really strong pre-season. He’s a big, strong-bodied midfielder of Pacific-islander background. His skills on both sides of his body are sublime and his composure in close and ability to find a teammate in traffic is as good as I've seen. He's not easily tackled or knocked off the ball either." 

LEADERSHIP MATERIAL

"James Ross (18yo, Vermont – see tweet below) is our captain for this year and the rest of the leadership group consists of Jonte Duffy (18yo, Rowville Hawks), Jamieson Rossiter (see above), Chayce Black (18yo, Waverley Park Hawks), Billy McCormack (18yo, Donvale) and Jarrod Gilbee (18yo, Mooroolbark)."

FAMOUS FOOTBALL RELATIONS

Chayce Black (see above): Son of former AFL player Heath Black – 138 games for Fremantle/54 for St Kilda.

Billy McCormack (see above): Son of former AFL player Brendan McCormack – 44 games for Fitzroy/12 for Brisbane.

Todd Garner (18yo, Wandin): Brother of 2017 Port Adelaide draftee Joel Garner.

Jarrod Gilbee (see above): Nephew of former AFL player Lindsay Gilbee – 206 games for Western Bulldogs. 

TEAM STRENGTHS

"I think we’ll be a lot stronger physically across the board this year – that’s definitely been a focus. We got manhandled sometimes last year, as we were pretty lightly-framed as a group. Getting the conditioning to run out games has been a focus as well; we dropped away in the second half consistently in 2018. We were also very bottom-age-heavy, but we’re a lot more top-age-heavy this year. I'd definitely be expecting a few more wins than in 2018."