AFTER a whirlwind opening round on Wednesday evening, the 2025 National AFL Draft concluded with an additional 45 selections made on night two. Among them were 43 fresh faces, a quartet of mature-agers, and plenty more surprises throughout the order with many highly regarded talents left overlooked.

>> EVERY PICK: 2025 National AFL Draft
>> NIGHT ONE: All the fallout | Press conferences
>> 100+ PROFILES: View the 2025 AFL Draft Guide

North Melbourne kicked off proceedings with a dream fit, nabbing South Australian key defender Blake Thredgold with pick 26. The Sturt product became the eighth player taken from SA within the top 30, after the state broke ground with seven first round draftees the night before.

Things continued to go to plan as the Bulldogs followed through on their link to 199cm prospect Louis Emmett, before Carlton added spice by trading out of pick 28. It allowed Gold Coast to take a look at the open pool after matching four bids on night one, taking Tasmanian defender Avery Thomas.

The Blues were able to trade out once more at pick 50, gaining valuable future picks in anticipation of 2026 father-son gun Cody Walker. That left them to select powerhouse small forward Talor Byrne at pick 45, before matching for smooth moving NGA member Jack Ison two selections later – a great result.

The Ison bid was eventually sprung by North Melbourne, who had also called out Suns Academy member Koby Coulson. He became Gold Coast’s fifth academy graduate to walk through the door. North then selected crafty mid-forward Hugo Mikunda as an open draft choice to round out their haul of three.

Brisbane and West Coast were central to the bidding tit-for-tat. The Lions lost out on academy midfielder Tyan Prindable (pick 32) to Collingwood, but would later nab the Eagles-tied Koby Evans (38) in an opportunistic swoop. St Kilda also cashed in on West Coast father-son nominee Charlie Banfield, whom the Eagles didn’t have an open list spot to match for.

West Coast was able to match for Tylah Williams at pick 39, as the Fremantle bid touted for night one came a touch later. Earlier, the Eagles were also among the clubs to call out big bolters, securing athletic wingman Sam Allen to bolster a haul of four Victorian recruits.

Melbourne was another, calling out largely unsighted Gippsland Power captain Thomas Matthews directly after Allen with pick 30, while Richmond nabbed South Australian pocket rocket Zane Peucker to continue the streak. That left Geelong to make good on a strong link to bring in Hunter Holmes, the brother of current Cats star Max.

Bids got a little easier to match for down the track, with the likes of Kye Fincher (St Kilda), Hussien El Achkar (Essendon), Max King (Sydney) and Zac McCarthy (Collingwood) all landing at their aligned clubs. McCarthy was an outlier in the Magpies’ haul, being the key position player among three midfielders.

Prolific West Australian Sam Swadling joined Prindable and late mature-age bolter Angus Anderson in black and white, signalling the club’s need for midfield depth. Anderson wasn’t the only over-age talent to earn an opportunity, with Norwood’s Billy Cootee landing at Sydney.

Fremantle also looked outside the conventional talent pool to secure Geelong VFL small forward Tobyn Murray, while Brisbane called out Southport wingman Tai Hayes with one of its back-to-back picks in the 40s. Jake Stringer (GWS) and Ryan Byrnes (St Kilda) were re-drafted by their clubs with late picks.

The final pick of the draft was Western Bulldogs father-son recruit Will Darcy. The son of Luke and brother of Sam comes with big shoes to fill, but the Dogs are buoyed by his traits and consider him a special long-term talent likely to slot in as a key defender.

There was an overarching theme of sliding talent, perhaps headlined by new Adelaide key forward Archie Ludowyke. Plenty of highly regarded prospects remain on the board heading into today’s rookie draft – stay tuned for a list of players to consider in that intake.