Unveiled: Every young gun invited to this year's AFL draft combine
The league has handpicked 64 prospects from across the country – including 19 from Victoria Metro's national under-18 championships squad, and nine Victoria Country representatives – to attend the combine in Melbourne from October 3 to 5.
Gippsland Power midfielder Duursma is the latest AFL/W prospect from his family, behind siblings Xavier (Essendon), Yasmin (Carlton) and Zane (North Melbourne), and is a genuine contender to be the No.1 pick.
Dean is the son of dual Carlton premiership player Peter and eligible to join the Blues as a father-son selection. Like his father, the 17-year-old is a key defender and his strong championships form means Carlton will almost certainly have to match an early bid for him.
The early favourite to be this year's No.1 selection is classy Gold Coast academy product Zeke Uwland, brother of current Sun Bodhi.
Uwland, who is likened to Sydney star Errol Gulden, missed this year's championships recovering from a back stress fracture, but was an under-18 All-Australian in 2024 and made his return in the VFL last weekend.
Another Gold Coast academy prospect, speedster Dylan Patterson, is also headed to the combine and a potential top-five selection, so the Suns are poised to add two more top-line teenagers to their emerging list.
After securing father-son pair Will and Levi Ashcroft in recent years, the Brisbane Lions are set to add another blue-chip midfielder, Daniel Annable, who finished equal-second with Victoria Metro's Greeves behind South Australian onballer Dyson Sharp for the Larke Medal at the championships.
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7NEWS
12 minutes ago
- 7NEWS
Former Sydney Swans player Brandon Jack unloads on AFL industry in debut novel, Pissants
Far from the roar of the SCG, former AFL player Brandon Jack has found peace leaving selfies with young footy fans behind. Instead, the son of rugby league great Garry Jack and brother of ex-Sydney Swans star Kieren has been visiting bookstores around Australia, signing copies of his debut novel Pissants. 'I've had moments where I've felt like, 'yeah, this is more enjoyable to me than football ever was,'' Jack tells AAP. Looking back, his five-year, 28-game AFL career was not so much the realisation of a childhood dream as a period of intense anxiety. 'I had five years kind of being on the fringe; of being in the team, out of the team, of resenting the team for not being in it,' he says. 'Post-footy and seeing a psychologist for a long time, I realised there's this fear of, 'am I good enough?' 'I was continually just told, 'no, no, no.' That did something to me that I don't think I reconciled or realised until years later.' Those feelings of rejection are at the heart of Pissants, which details the misadventures of a crew of rowdy AFL players who can't find what it takes to win the approval of coaches, teammates and fans. With stardom painfully close but never within reach, the group self-medicate with drugs, alcohol and a shared twisted sense of humour. While Pissants is a work of fiction, the inspiration is obvious. 'The book is almost like different versions of me at different points in my life communicating with each other,' Jack says. Those voices will be familiar to those who read Jack's memoir 28, in which he detailed his attempts to numb the pain of an unsuccessful and unsatisfying footy career with alcohol. But the adage 'comedy equals tragedy plus time' rings true in the case of Pissants, where the absurdity of life in the AFL system is a source of humour above all else. In a series of uncomfortable interactions, players find themselves telling journalists, coaches and club psychologists what they want to hear, while thinking and feeling something completely different. The authenticity will appeal to footy fans sick of hearing about players 'taking things one week at a time'. 'I hate the whole media training thing that happened in footy - I really do,' Jack says. 'I think it deprived us of so many opportunities to have interesting characters.' Jack admits there was nothing interesting about the front he presented during his playing days. 'The way we were at the Swans was club-first: you are not to stand out. So I didn't really have a personality externally. 'I did a lot of writing but I would never share it. I was always very secretive with my stuff.' There were fears of standing out and concerns he'd be seen as uncommitted. 'As a football player, your primary purpose is to play football and to win games for your team. 'In my third year, when I was worried about my contract, I stopped going to uni part-time because I didn't want anything to be a distraction, or for people to think I was distracted.' Like the characters in Pissants, Jack floundered in footy purgatory, unable to win respect in the game but feeling forbidden from finding an identity outside it. Much has changed for him since leaving the Swans in 2017 and the 31-year-old is pleased to see footy is moving forward too. The likes of Bailey Smith and Jack Ginnivan lead a new breed of AFL players praised by fans, media pundits and sponsors for showing their personalities. But one thing remains the same. 'It's a lot easier to be who you are if you're a successful player,' Jack says. Those not performing well rarely speak publicly - and if they do, it's typically to play the clown. 'One of my least favourite things is when a footy player who didn't have a very successful career comes out and just takes the absolute piss out of himself and that becomes their kind of schtick,' Jack says. 'I've been there and it's f***ing tough. It hurts you deeply.' He suspects some players still face the struggles depicted in Pissants. 'At every club, there are five or six guys who are in this spot and I can just so clearly picture them in someone's garage drinking beers while the senior game is on because they just don't want to watch it.' Having explored the complexity of his feelings about football across two books, Jack is ready to move on. He is working on a series of short stories that have nothing to do with sport and is excited to see where writing takes him. 'It'll be interesting to see when the switch sort of flicks from 'football player turned writer' to just 'writer'. That would be nice,' Jack says. 'But I'm not going to crucify myself waiting for it to happen. It'll happen eventually.'
The Advertiser
an hour ago
- The Advertiser
Beers, tears and existentialism: the unseen side of AFL
Far from the roar of the SCG, former AFL player Brandon Jack has found peace leaving selfies with young footy fans behind. Instead, the son of rugby league great Garry Jack and brother of ex-AFL star Kieren has been visiting bookstores around Australia, signing copies of his debut novel Pissants. "I've had moments where I've felt like, 'yeah, this is more enjoyable to me than football ever was,'" Jack tells AAP. Looking back, his five-year, 28-game AFL career was not so much the realisation of a childhood dream as a period of intense anxiety. "I had five years kind of being on the fringe; of being in the team, out of the team, of resenting the team for not being in it," he says. "Post-footy and seeing a psychologist for a long time, I realised there's this fear of, 'am I good enough?' "I was continually just told, 'no, no, no.' That did something to me that I don't think I reconciled or realised until years later." Those feelings of rejection are at the heart of Pissants, which details the misadventures of a crew of rowdy AFL players who can't find what it takes to win the approval of coaches, teammates and fans. With stardom painfully close but never within reach, the group self-medicate with drugs, alcohol and a shared twisted sense of humour. While Pissants is a work of fiction, the inspiration is obvious. "The book is almost like different versions of me at different points in my life communicating with each other," Jack says. Those voices will be familiar to those who read Jack's memoir 28, in which he detailed his attempts to numb the pain of an unsuccessful and unsatisfying footy career with alcohol. But the adage 'comedy equals tragedy plus time' rings true in the case of Pissants, where the absurdity of life in the AFL system is a source of humour above all else. In a series of uncomfortable interactions, players find themselves telling journalists, coaches and club psychologists what they want to hear, while thinking and feeling something completely different. The authenticity will appeal to footy fans sick of hearing about players 'taking things one week at a time'. "I hate the whole media training thing that happened in footy - I really do," Jack says. "I think it deprived us of so many opportunities to have interesting characters." Jack admits there was nothing interesting about the front he presented during his playing days. "The way we were at the Swans was club-first: you are not to stand out. So I didn't really have a personality externally. "I did a lot of writing but I would never share it. I was always very secretive with my stuff." There were fears of standing out and concerns he'd be seen as uncommitted. "As a football player, your primary purpose is to play football and to win games for your team. "In my third year, when I was worried about my contract, I stopped going to uni part-time because I didn't want anything to be a distraction, or for people to think I was distracted." Like the characters in Pissants, Jack floundered in footy purgatory, unable to win respect in the game but feeling forbidden from finding an identity outside it. Much has changed for him since leaving the Swans in 2017 and the 31-year-old is pleased to see footy is moving forward too. The likes of Bailey Smith and Jack Ginnivan lead a new breed of AFL players praised by fans, media pundits and sponsors for showing their personalities. But one thing remains the same. "It's a lot easier to be who you are if you're a successful player," Jack says. Those not performing well rarely speak publicly - and if they do, it's typically to play the clown. "One of my least favourite things is when a footy player who didn't have a very successful career comes out and just takes the absolute piss out of himself and that becomes their kind of schtick," Jack says. "I've been there and it's f***ing tough. It hurts you deeply." He suspects some players still face the struggles depicted in Pissants. "At every club, there are five or six guys who are in this spot and I can just so clearly picture them in someone's garage drinking beers while the senior game is on because they just don't want to watch it." Having explored the complexity of his feelings about football across two books, Jack is ready to move on. He is working on a series of short stories that have nothing to do with sport and is excited to see where writing takes him. "It'll be interesting to see when the switch sort of flicks from 'football player turned writer' to just 'writer'. That would be nice," Jack says. "But I'm not going to crucify myself waiting for it to happen. It'll happen eventually." Far from the roar of the SCG, former AFL player Brandon Jack has found peace leaving selfies with young footy fans behind. Instead, the son of rugby league great Garry Jack and brother of ex-AFL star Kieren has been visiting bookstores around Australia, signing copies of his debut novel Pissants. "I've had moments where I've felt like, 'yeah, this is more enjoyable to me than football ever was,'" Jack tells AAP. Looking back, his five-year, 28-game AFL career was not so much the realisation of a childhood dream as a period of intense anxiety. "I had five years kind of being on the fringe; of being in the team, out of the team, of resenting the team for not being in it," he says. "Post-footy and seeing a psychologist for a long time, I realised there's this fear of, 'am I good enough?' "I was continually just told, 'no, no, no.' That did something to me that I don't think I reconciled or realised until years later." Those feelings of rejection are at the heart of Pissants, which details the misadventures of a crew of rowdy AFL players who can't find what it takes to win the approval of coaches, teammates and fans. With stardom painfully close but never within reach, the group self-medicate with drugs, alcohol and a shared twisted sense of humour. While Pissants is a work of fiction, the inspiration is obvious. "The book is almost like different versions of me at different points in my life communicating with each other," Jack says. Those voices will be familiar to those who read Jack's memoir 28, in which he detailed his attempts to numb the pain of an unsuccessful and unsatisfying footy career with alcohol. But the adage 'comedy equals tragedy plus time' rings true in the case of Pissants, where the absurdity of life in the AFL system is a source of humour above all else. In a series of uncomfortable interactions, players find themselves telling journalists, coaches and club psychologists what they want to hear, while thinking and feeling something completely different. The authenticity will appeal to footy fans sick of hearing about players 'taking things one week at a time'. "I hate the whole media training thing that happened in footy - I really do," Jack says. "I think it deprived us of so many opportunities to have interesting characters." Jack admits there was nothing interesting about the front he presented during his playing days. "The way we were at the Swans was club-first: you are not to stand out. So I didn't really have a personality externally. "I did a lot of writing but I would never share it. I was always very secretive with my stuff." There were fears of standing out and concerns he'd be seen as uncommitted. "As a football player, your primary purpose is to play football and to win games for your team. "In my third year, when I was worried about my contract, I stopped going to uni part-time because I didn't want anything to be a distraction, or for people to think I was distracted." Like the characters in Pissants, Jack floundered in footy purgatory, unable to win respect in the game but feeling forbidden from finding an identity outside it. Much has changed for him since leaving the Swans in 2017 and the 31-year-old is pleased to see footy is moving forward too. The likes of Bailey Smith and Jack Ginnivan lead a new breed of AFL players praised by fans, media pundits and sponsors for showing their personalities. But one thing remains the same. "It's a lot easier to be who you are if you're a successful player," Jack says. Those not performing well rarely speak publicly - and if they do, it's typically to play the clown. "One of my least favourite things is when a footy player who didn't have a very successful career comes out and just takes the absolute piss out of himself and that becomes their kind of schtick," Jack says. "I've been there and it's f***ing tough. It hurts you deeply." He suspects some players still face the struggles depicted in Pissants. "At every club, there are five or six guys who are in this spot and I can just so clearly picture them in someone's garage drinking beers while the senior game is on because they just don't want to watch it." Having explored the complexity of his feelings about football across two books, Jack is ready to move on. He is working on a series of short stories that have nothing to do with sport and is excited to see where writing takes him. "It'll be interesting to see when the switch sort of flicks from 'football player turned writer' to just 'writer'. That would be nice," Jack says. "But I'm not going to crucify myself waiting for it to happen. It'll happen eventually." Far from the roar of the SCG, former AFL player Brandon Jack has found peace leaving selfies with young footy fans behind. Instead, the son of rugby league great Garry Jack and brother of ex-AFL star Kieren has been visiting bookstores around Australia, signing copies of his debut novel Pissants. "I've had moments where I've felt like, 'yeah, this is more enjoyable to me than football ever was,'" Jack tells AAP. Looking back, his five-year, 28-game AFL career was not so much the realisation of a childhood dream as a period of intense anxiety. "I had five years kind of being on the fringe; of being in the team, out of the team, of resenting the team for not being in it," he says. "Post-footy and seeing a psychologist for a long time, I realised there's this fear of, 'am I good enough?' "I was continually just told, 'no, no, no.' That did something to me that I don't think I reconciled or realised until years later." Those feelings of rejection are at the heart of Pissants, which details the misadventures of a crew of rowdy AFL players who can't find what it takes to win the approval of coaches, teammates and fans. With stardom painfully close but never within reach, the group self-medicate with drugs, alcohol and a shared twisted sense of humour. While Pissants is a work of fiction, the inspiration is obvious. "The book is almost like different versions of me at different points in my life communicating with each other," Jack says. Those voices will be familiar to those who read Jack's memoir 28, in which he detailed his attempts to numb the pain of an unsuccessful and unsatisfying footy career with alcohol. But the adage 'comedy equals tragedy plus time' rings true in the case of Pissants, where the absurdity of life in the AFL system is a source of humour above all else. In a series of uncomfortable interactions, players find themselves telling journalists, coaches and club psychologists what they want to hear, while thinking and feeling something completely different. The authenticity will appeal to footy fans sick of hearing about players 'taking things one week at a time'. "I hate the whole media training thing that happened in footy - I really do," Jack says. "I think it deprived us of so many opportunities to have interesting characters." Jack admits there was nothing interesting about the front he presented during his playing days. "The way we were at the Swans was club-first: you are not to stand out. So I didn't really have a personality externally. "I did a lot of writing but I would never share it. I was always very secretive with my stuff." There were fears of standing out and concerns he'd be seen as uncommitted. "As a football player, your primary purpose is to play football and to win games for your team. "In my third year, when I was worried about my contract, I stopped going to uni part-time because I didn't want anything to be a distraction, or for people to think I was distracted." Like the characters in Pissants, Jack floundered in footy purgatory, unable to win respect in the game but feeling forbidden from finding an identity outside it. Much has changed for him since leaving the Swans in 2017 and the 31-year-old is pleased to see footy is moving forward too. The likes of Bailey Smith and Jack Ginnivan lead a new breed of AFL players praised by fans, media pundits and sponsors for showing their personalities. But one thing remains the same. "It's a lot easier to be who you are if you're a successful player," Jack says. Those not performing well rarely speak publicly - and if they do, it's typically to play the clown. "One of my least favourite things is when a footy player who didn't have a very successful career comes out and just takes the absolute piss out of himself and that becomes their kind of schtick," Jack says. "I've been there and it's f***ing tough. It hurts you deeply." He suspects some players still face the struggles depicted in Pissants. "At every club, there are five or six guys who are in this spot and I can just so clearly picture them in someone's garage drinking beers while the senior game is on because they just don't want to watch it." Having explored the complexity of his feelings about football across two books, Jack is ready to move on. He is working on a series of short stories that have nothing to do with sport and is excited to see where writing takes him. "It'll be interesting to see when the switch sort of flicks from 'football player turned writer' to just 'writer'. That would be nice," Jack says. "But I'm not going to crucify myself waiting for it to happen. It'll happen eventually."
7NEWS
an hour ago
- 7NEWS
Australia's Mollie O'Callaghan pipped by Dutch swimmer Marrit Steenbergen in women's 100m freestyle final
Backstroke star Kaylee McKeown and freestyle sprinter Cameron McEvoy will lead the charge as Australia attempt to claw their way back above the US at the swimming world championships in Singapore. A silver and bronze medal on Friday night dropped Australia (five gold, two silver, six bronze) into second spot on the medal tally behind the US (five gold, 10 silver, five bronze). Mollie O'Callaghan started as the hot favourite in the women's 100m freestyle final, but her late charge wasn't enough to beat Dutchwoman Marrit Steenbergen, who prevailed by 0.12 of a second. It means O'Callaghan's bid to surpass Ian Thorpe's Australian record of 11 world championship gold medals will have to wait for another day. 'Look, I'm tired,' O'Callaghan said after the race. 'Like, I'm not gonna lie, last night was a big night. None of those girls did what I did last night. 'I'm happy to walk away with a medal. 'Honestly, I would always love to win. But honestly, to get on the podium after such a s***-show of a year, I'm pretty happy. 'It just shows the strength that I have and the block I can do in the future knowing that I've barely done any training for this.' The only other medal for Australia on Friday night was a bronze to the men's 4x200m freestyle relay team of Flynn Southam, Charlie Hawke, Kai Taylor and Maximillian Giuliani. The quartet entered their final as big underdogs, but they came within a whisker of nabbing silver. Great Britain won gold in a time of 6:59.84, with China (7:00.91) just edging Australia (7:00.98). While day six didn't result in a gold rush for Australia, things could be different on Saturday night. McKeown is a two-time Olympic champion in both the 100m and 200m backstroke. The 24-year-old won the 100m world championship backstroke final ahead of arch rival Regan Smith on Wednesday. And McKeown will have the chance to add the 200m crown to her name on Saturday night when she goes up against the likes of Smith, Xuwei Peng, Anastasiya Shkurdai and Claire Curzan in the final. McEvoy qualified fastest with a time of 21.30 seconds for the men's 50m freestyle final, and the Olympic champion is hoping to come up trumps on Saturday night. 'I can't complain, it's only 0.05 off what I did to win Paris,' McEvoy said of his Friday night semi-final swim. 'It's good, but the job's not done. I've got one more tomorrow. 'I need to let the finals atmosphere kind of lift me up a bit. Don't think about the end time. Don't go down that rabbit hole. Let the body speak for itself and see where I end up.' Australians Alexandria Perkins and Lily Price both qualified for the women's 50m butterfly final, while Matt Temple qualified sixth fastest for the men's 100m butterfly final. During the daytime heats on Saturday, Isaac Cooper will feature in the men's 50m backstroke, Meg Harris and Olivia Wunsch are in the women's 50m freestyle, while Sam Short will be hoping to overcome illness to compete in the men's 1500m freestyle. O'Callaghan said tiredness from a busy schedule meant she wasn't at her best in Friday night's 100m freestyle final. Thorpe is sure it's just a matter of time before the 21-year-old surpasses his record mark of 11 world championship gold medals - possibly even in Saturday night's 4x100m mixed freestyle relay final. 'I'm certain and I can't wait to see Mollie surpass that,' Thorpe told the Nine Network. 'What she has the opportunity to do is create her own legacy in swimming, which will continue to inspire people in future generations … leading into the Brisbane Olympics in 2032.'
