The home-and-away season has concluded for 2025, and with it comes the confirmation of Zero Hanger’s rookie of the year and the makeup of the remaining seven spots inside the Rookie Rankings.

A couple of changes took place in Round 24 as the final top eight rankings took shape, with the trio on the podium officially locked in.

Selection Criteria: Zero Hanger’s Rookie Rankings ONLY consider players who have made their debut this season. Other players who may still be eligible for a Rising Star nomination but have already made their debut before the 2025 season will not be considered. I.e. Rising Star eligible players such as Nate Caddy, Dan Curtin and Connor O’Sullivan are ineligible, having already played an AFL match before Opening Round, 2025. Suspension does not make a player ineligible for our Rookie Rankings.

Honourable mentions:

Cooper Trembath (North Melbourne) – 11 disposals, three goals

Sam Lalor (Richmond) – 12.0 disposals, 4.4 score involvements per game

Hugh Boxshall (-)

Hugh Boxshall’s solid outing against the Giants ensures he holds onto a top-eight spot in our Rookie Rankings, posting 15 disposals at 80 per cent efficiency, seven of those possessions being contested.

The midfielder starred defensively in this game in particular, claiming just shy of a season-high 14 pressure acts, while also taking three intercept marks. It concludes a fantastic 11-game rookie campaign, where the 19-year-old averaged 12.6 disposals, 3.9 tackles and 3.2 marks, though he won’t be the only Saints young gun in this top eight.

Angus Clarke (-)

Clarke concluded his 2025 season with arguably the two best games of his career in the same round, demonstrating plenty of promise against Carlton and Gold Coast in the last week.

Against Carlton, Clarke collected a career-high 27 disposals, looking poised along the wing and in defence. He also managed nine marks, three being intercepts.

Clarke backed up this performance with an impressive individual effort against Gold Coast, despite the Bombers being thrashed by 95 points to end a disastrous season riddled with injuries, earning a hard-fought 21 disposals, with a career-best eight contested possessions.

Clarke has proven to be much more than an AFL-ready footballer these past two weeks, evidently having the capability to be a key part of Essendon’s long-term future, hence his spot inside our Rookie Rankings.

Finn O’Sullivan (-)

Finn O’Sullivan had a statistically perfect game as the Kangaroos gave the minor premiers a mighty scare, recording 17 effective disposals from 17 possessions. It was a sensational effort from the budding star, as he also took 10 marks from half-back.

O’Sullivan concludes his rookie campaign of 22 games as North Melbourne’s fourth-best ball-user (minimum 10 games played), with a disposal efficiency of 82.5 per cent. Among players aged 21 or younger, that rate ranks second in the AFL, behind Fremantle’s Joshua Draper, who admittedly only averages 7.8 disposals per game. O’Sullivan has racked up over 14 per game and hasn’t recorded fewer than 15 in his last seven matches.

North Melbourne fans will probably leave this season disappointed, with just five wins on the board and a measly 16th-place finish. However, with their young guns flashing promise more and more often, like O’Sullivan, there’s still plenty to be excited about.

Max Hall (-1)

Hall’s ability to hit the scoreboard in crucial moments was seen on Sunday afternoon, kicking two pivotal fourth-quarter goals to give St Kilda the lead, priming them to cause an upset. While the win didn’t eventuate, Hall’s presence as a rookie was undeniable at half-forward, contributing six score involvements from his 16 disposals.

His individual effort seals an excellent rookie campaign, featuring in all 23 games for the Saints and averaging a goal a game. At 23 years old, Hall could quickly accelerate into a key player of the Saints’ rebuild alongside the recently recommitted Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera, with Hall’s exciting threat inside 50 enabling him to hold his spot inside the top five of our 2025 Rookie Rankings.

Tom McCarthy (-1)

Unfortunately for Tom McCarthy, he’s fallen off the podium in the final week of the season as the Swans’ midfield depth comfortably outclassed him and the rest of the Eagles’ inexperienced group, with McCarthy recording a season-low 17 disposals and zero clearances.

In saying that, however, the fact that McCarthy’s season-low disposal count is still that high speaks to his impressive ball-winning abilities. In 10 matches, his 23.6 disposals per game lead all rookies this year, and his season-low 17 disposals is a number elite midfielder and winger Levi Ashcroft has failed to register on five occasions this season.

Additionally, McCarthy ranks 24th in the AFL for metres gained per game (minimum 10 games played). He’s already in the upper echelon of AFL talent in that respect, which is a wild thing to contemplate considering he was taken in the mid-season draft a couple of months ago.

In a dismal one-win season, McCarthy’s promise is something Eagles fans can certainly hold onto entering 2026.

Harvey Langford (+1)

Langford returns to the podium in the final week to clinch the bronze medal for 2025 after he dominated the Magpies in Round 24.

The young star claimed a career-high 26 disposals, seven marks and kicked a goal in the thriller, boosting his season averages to 18.0 disposals and 3.2 marks per game.

The Demons had an underwhelming season to say the least, but if there are any positives to take out of it, it’s certainly the rapid development of Harvey Langford into what could eventually be a cornerstone piece of their playing list.

Murphy Reid (-)

Murphy Reid was once again electric for the Dockers as they clinched a finals berth, kicking a goal and contributing to eight scores from his 19 disposals against the Bulldogs.

Reid concludes the home-and-away season as one of the AFL’s best young goal scorers, with his 24 goals ranking fifth for players aged 21 or younger, and also being the only 19-year-old to rank inside the top 10.

If Fremantle are to conquer some of the AFL’s best in the hunt for their first flag, Reid will need to be at his best in tandem with the Dockers’ immense forward line, and based on his rookie campaign, it’s hard to imagine him doing otherwise.

Levi Ashcroft (-)

The younger Ashcroft brother has claimed Zero Hanger’s Rookie Rankings crown, outdoing his brother Will, who finished second in the 2023 rankings.

While Reid pushed hard for top spot, it’s impossible to ignore Ashcroft’s immense talents in a number of positions as the Lions set up a tilt for a second consecutive premiership.

In the absence of elite ball-winners Jarrod Berry and Lachie Neale, Ashcroft has elevated his play in the midfield, recording 21 clearances in the last four weeks. He was elite in the Lions’ clutch 10-point win over Hawthorn to sew up a top-four spot, winning 19 disposals, 10 of which were contested.

In fact, in the last five weeks, Ashcroft has ranked third on the Lions for clearances won (4.6 per game) and contested possessions (9.0). Across the entire season, he ranks sixth in those metrics for Brisbane.

It highlights the talent Brisbane has had waiting in the wings in their loaded midfield group, and suggests what Ashcroft could have produced with more opportunities in that part of the ground.

Reid has been sensational this season, but Ashcroft, like his brother, has Norm Smith-winning potential, and that’s why he claims our Rookie Rankings top spot.