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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
>> EVERY PICK:<\/strong> 2025 National AFL Draft<\/a> North Melbourne kicked off proceedings with a dream fit, nabbing South Australian key defender Blake Thredgold<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Things continued to go to plan as the Bulldogs followed through on their link to 199cm prospect Louis Emmett<\/a>, 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<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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<\/strong>. That left them to select powerhouse small forward Talor Byrne<\/a> at pick 45, before matching for smooth moving NGA member Jack Ison<\/a> two selections later – a great result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Ison bid was eventually sprung by North Melbourne, who had also called out Suns Academy member Koby Coulson<\/a>. He became Gold Coast’s fifth academy graduate to walk through the door. North then selected crafty mid-forward Hugo Mikunda<\/a> as an open draft choice to round out their haul of three.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Brisbane and West Coast were central to the bidding tit-for-tat. The Lions lost out on academy midfielder Tyan Prindable<\/a> (pick 32) to Collingwood, but would later nab the Eagles-tied Koby Evans<\/a> (38) in an opportunistic swoop. St Kilda also cashed in on West Coast father-son nominee Charlie Banfield<\/a>, whom the Eagles didn’t have an open list spot to match for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n West Coast was <\/em>able to match for Tylah Williams<\/a> 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<\/a> to bolster a haul of four Victorian recruits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Melbourne was another, calling out largely unsighted Gippsland Power captain Thomas Matthews<\/a> directly after Allen with pick 30, while Richmond nabbed South Australian pocket rocket Zane Peucker<\/a> to continue the streak. That left Geelong to make good on a strong link to bring in Hunter Holmes<\/a>, the brother of current Cats star Max.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bids got a little easier to match for down the track, with the likes of Kye Fincher<\/a> (St Kilda), Hussien El Achkar<\/a> (Essendon), Max King<\/a> (Sydney) and Zac McCarthy<\/a> (Collingwood) all landing at their aligned clubs. McCarthy was an outlier in the Magpies’ haul, being the key position player among three midfielders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Prolific West Australian Sam Swadling<\/a> joined Prindable and late mature-age bolter Angus Anderson<\/a> 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<\/a> landing at Sydney.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fremantle also looked outside the conventional talent pool to secure Geelong VFL small forward Tobyn Murray<\/a>, while Brisbane called out Southport wingman Tai Hayes<\/a> with one of its back-to-back picks in the 40s. Jake Stringer <\/strong>(GWS) and Ryan Byrnes <\/strong>(St Kilda) were re-drafted by their clubs with late picks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The final pick of the draft was Western Bulldogs father-son recruit Will Darcy<\/a>. 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There was an overarching theme of sliding talent, perhaps headlined by new Adelaide key forward Archie Ludowyke<\/a>. 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n
>> NIGHT ONE: <\/strong>All the fallout<\/a> | Press conferences<\/a>
>>\u00a0100+ PROFILES:<\/strong>\u00a0View the 2025 AFL Draft Guide<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n