West Coast select Willem Duursma with pick No.1 but Essendon Bombers make a splash selecting Sullivan Robey and Dyson Sharp; Richmond Tigers pick Sam Cumming and Sam Grilj
However, Tigers’ recruiting manager Rhy Gieschen later revealed that they settled on Cumming and Grlj about a week and a half ago and were happy to keep their plans a secret.
Grlj’s two standout performances for Richmond’s VFL side convinced them he had good intentions before his superb tests at the combine effectively sealed the deal. The Tigers drafted nine players in the top 30 in the last two drafts as their rebuilding efforts under Adem Yze continue rapidly.
“Last year we selected three key forwards, two of them Luke Trainor, who are inside mids and centre-backs, and then Taj Hotton, who is a bit of a hybrid mid-forward,” Gieschen said.
“Sam Grlj gives us the ability to jump and run. We think he can start as a halfback; he’s got speed, he’s got lateral movement and then he came out and ran 5:59 over 2km. [trial]and gave us great confidence that he could play centre, back. [or] wing.”
Richmond selected nine players for the first time last season and Gieschen believes both Grlj and Cumming can make an immediate impact in 2026.
Loading
Cumming finished third in the best and fairest award for NSW club Wentworth’s senior team when he was just 14, and also played senior SANFL football for North Adelaide this year.
The Grlj selection meant new possibilities for Essendon, who had already secured Carlton’s ninth pick (before the bids), giving them three first round selections. Last time in 2020, the Bombers selected Nik Cox, Archie Perkins and Zach Reid.
The Bombers also did a good job of keeping their cards close to their chest, but they gleefully drafted Robey, who no one wanted at the start of the year.
The strapping youngster, who has grown 17 centimeters in the last two years, has gone from dominating Rowville’s senior team to setting games on fire for the Eastern Ranges after the Dandenong Stingrays continually ignored him.
They then selected West Australian Jacob Farrow; He, like Robey, was off-Broadway in pre-season — he wasn’t even in the state cast at the time — but his name had come up long before Robey.
Essendon came away with excitement in the first round, including Sullivan Robey.Credit: Justin McManus
Essendon also wanted Larke medalist and midfield tyrant Dyson Sharp but had to wait for two Demons selections first.
Melbourne rated Cumming, Robey and Taylor very highly, so they were always going to take on any of those trio if they got through.
The Dees favored Taylor, who finished 11th and was the best of the field in Eastern Ranges’ grand final victory. Evaluating this performance, Melbourne’s new dashing defender declared that he was the standout player both on and off the field that day.
Essendon’s first round selections are Jacob Farrow, Robey and Dyson Sharp.Credit: Justin McManus
That confidence piqued the interest of Demons recruiting manager Jason Taylor.
“He is a player who plays with real spirit and aggression. He has real pace and agility, he gets past the first line of defense and turns defense into attack – and that’s really important in today’s football,” the recruiter said.
Latrelle Pickett was selected by the Demons with the 12th pick, the same pick as his cousin Kysaiah.Credit: Justin McManus
“He’s got some grit in him, the way he presents and plays and a real desire to win. He’s got good confidence and we think he plays football in a way that fosters success.”
Melbourne then opted for speedy striker Latrelle Pickett, cousin of All-Australian forward Kysaiah Pickett, who started out as a 19-year-old in the SANFL this year.
Taylor said the Pickett selection fills a list need, but it certainly makes “Kozzy” happy. The Devils were so focused on him that they made sure he was in the draft and organized for his cousin to present him with his red-and-blue sweater.
South Australian wing forward Cameron Nairn, who was on Melbourne’s shortlist, reached Hawthorn at pick 20.
But back to Essendon. With Sharp moving over to the Demons, the Bombers were able to continue to fill their midfield stockpile with someone who looks like a ready-made player.
Loading
Essendon flirted with gaining the West Coast’s No. 2 pick and held talks with the Eagles, but listing boss Matt Rosa (who was tasked with leading the Bombers’ recruitment after the departure of Adrian Dodoro) was happy to have a strong presence in this draft.
It wasn’t always pleasant things to say about the 2025 crop, but people at four clubs in dire need of a change of fortune walked away happy.
The Eagles have landed highly-rated Victorian players Duursma, Duff-Tytler and Josh Lindsay, while Richmond, Essendon and Melbourne have also added top talent to suit their needs.
“We really believed in the top end of this draft,” Rosa said.
“We wanted as much access to the top of the draft as possible and we wanted to pick as high as possible… and we feel like we came out with really good balance.”
Keep up to date with the best AFL coverage in the country. Sign up for the Real Footy newsletter.
