WHO WILL be the diamond in the rough for 2026?
The annual summer signing period - the pre-season supplemental selection period (SSP) - is over for another year, with 17 players signing rookie deals before the start of the new season.
Outside the trade and draft periods in October and November each year, the SSP and Mid-Season Rookie Draft are the only opportunities clubs have to sign players during the year.
And while SSP signings might not be established names now, recent history suggests there will be several who will develop into mainstays of the competition.
In the past three seasons, the likes of Mark Keane, Patrick Voss and Liam Stocker have become established players at their clubs, while Oleg Markov and Conor McKenna became premiership players after being SSP signings.
In all, 48 players on club lists this season are SSP signings, showing what a valuable list mechanism it has become for clubs around the country.
Over this off-season, three clubs moved quickly to sign recently delisted players when the SSP window opened last November, with Greater Western Sydney picking up delisted Essendon defender Jayden Laverde, Fremantle signing Mason Cox after he was let go by Collingwood and West Coast signing three players - Deven Robertson, Finlay Macrae and Harry Shoenberg - with AFL experience.
Essendon gave Will Setterfield another chance after Nic Martin was ruled out for 2026 with a knee injury.
A raft of players were then invited to train with AFL clubs over the summer in the hope of impressing enough to win a rookie contract, while clubs successfully lobbied the AFL to shift the signing deadline back to March 2 from February 20, allowing more time for players to impress before final list calls were made.
The Dockers were the first to move as the deadline approached, signing small forward Chris Scerri, who had been invited to Perth to train having signed with Richmond's VFL side.
Carlton then locked in Elijah Hollands, who had been delisted by the Blues at the end of 2025 with a year remaining on his contract amid off-field issues. The 23-year-old was then invited back to Ikon Park and impressed enough to win his spot back, while delisted Greater Western Sydney tall Wade Derksen won the race for the second vacant spot at the Blues.
Port Adelaide invited four players to train over the summer, including former Rising Star winner Jaidyn Stephenson and delisted Geelong midfielder Ted Clohesy, but two players without AFL experience got the nod. Tough defender Balyn O'Brien joined from Norwood in the SANFL and East Fremantle product Mitch Zadow also signed after he kicked 12 goals from the final seven WAFL games last season to put his name on the radar.
Four clubs then moved quickly to sign players late in the SSP window after injury and sudden retirements allowed them to open a list spot.
West Coast signed 25-year-old Milan Murdock from East Fremantle in the WAFL, taking the place of youngster Noah Long, who suffered a season-ending knee injury.
North Melbourne then filled the vacancy left by the injured Jackson Archer by signing Tom Blamires, who starred for Frankston in the VFL last year and won the Fothergill-Round-Mitchell Medal as the best young player in the competition.
On the final day of the signing window, Western Bulldogs signed forward Will Lewis from its VFL program to replace the retired James Harmes, while Melbourne grabbed Paddy Cross - also from its VFL program - just a day after the sudden retirement of Steven May opened a list spot.
Hawthorn, which had two vacant list spots, gave an AFL return to former North Melbourne defender Flynn Perez, who impressed over summer after helping Sturt win the premiership in the SANFL last year, while young defender Thomas Burton won the race at Richmond for its final list spot.
Adelaide and St Kilda also invited players to train over summer, but neither club signed a player before the end of the SSP window.
2026 SSP signings
Carlton - Wade Derksen, Elijah Hollands
Essendon - Will Setterfield
Fremantle - Mason Cox, Chris Scerri
Greater Western Sydney - Jayden Laverde
Hawthorn - Flynn Perez
Melbourne - Paddy Cross
North Melbourne - Tom Blamires
Port Adelaide - Balyn O'Brien, Mitch Zadow
Richmond - Thomas Burton
West Coast - Finlay Macrae, Milan Murdock, Deven Robertson, Harry Schoenberg
Western Bulldogs - Will Lewis