The biggest event of this year is finally upon us.<\/p>\n
Yes, the 2025 AFL Grand Final Telstra Half-Time Sprint is here, and the field has been announced with a different twist.<\/p>\n
For the first time, the sprint wont feature runners from all 18 clubs and there will be no heats leading into the race.<\/a><\/p>\n So, lets take a look at each individual runner and why they can win.<\/p>\n MORE:\u00a0The matchups that will define the 2025 AFL Grand Final<\/a><\/p>\n Maurice Rioli ($4.50 on Sportsbet)Why he can win:<\/p>\n Rioli this season has joined Lebron James as two of the best chase down specialists in world sports, and he can thank his blistering pace for it.<\/p>\n Rioli’s unrivaled acceleration was the reason he was able to chase down West Coast<\/a> Eagles midfielder Brady Hough in Round 19, a tackle that elevated himself into chase-down folklore.<\/p>\n Rioli also clocked in the second\u00a0fastest top speed of the season, reaching 35.9 km\/h in Round 18.<\/p>\n Jed Walter ($5)Why he can win:<\/p>\n He can’t, right?<\/p>\n A big, powerful six foot five key forward isn’t the prototype for a sprinter, but Walter may shock the world.<\/p>\n It has been well reported that his top speed will rival anyone in the competition – and his odds reflect that – but can he sustain it over 100 meters?<\/p>\n Toby Greene ($26)Why he can win:<\/p>\n I’m not so sure he can, and Greene himself doesn’t think so.<\/p>\n “I’m a good bet for last,” Greene said on Fox Footy.<\/p>\n Greene has established himself as one of the best players in the league for the last five plus years, but his top speed as a now 32-year-old may have left him.<\/p>\n “They (Telstra) think I am quick, but I have made it clear I will not win,” Greene said.<\/p>\n “McCreery, he might beat me by 20 meters.”<\/p>\n Beau McCreery ($2.75 Favourite)Why he can win:<\/p>\n He absolutely can.<\/p>\n As the defending champion, McCreery has established himself as one of the fastest players in our league, and his 2024 Grand Final sprint victory justifies that.<\/p>\n According to Collingwood<\/a>‘s social media team, McCreery won last year’s sprint in a blistering 10.18 seconds.<\/p>\n McCreery is a justified favourite to go back to back.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Nick Blakey ($3.75)Why he can win:<\/p>\n The Lizard was named the Telstra Tracker 2025 Fastest Footballer, after notching a top speed of 36.1 km\/hr.<\/p>\n While we are yet to see Blakey’s speed over a 100-meter sprint, his scintillating top speed may be enough to power him through and take out this year’s sprint.<\/p>\n Jack Higgins ($26)Why he can win:<\/p>\n Higgins is extremely well respected for his great goal nous and ability to kick goals not many other players could.<\/p>\n But speed has never been his best attribute.<\/p>\n “Unlike some of the other small forwards on offer in the AFL, Higgins doesn’t possess elite speed,” was Higgins draft analysis, and he will need a lot to go right to win this sprint.<\/p>\n Murphy Reid ($13)Why he can win:<\/p>\n An incredible rookie season for Reid was capped off on Monday night, taking out the 2025 Telstra AFL Rising Star award.<\/p>\n Could he add another award to his stellar rookie season?<\/p>\n Reid possesses speed to burn, which he has shown time and time again this season, and he will be right there at the finish.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Harry Garside ($15)Why he can win:<\/p>\n Olympic boxer Harry Garside will add a different dimension to this year’s sprint.<\/p>\n Well known for his endurance inside the ring, Garside’s endurance outside the ring is also outstanding.<\/p>\n In August 2025, Garside ran a blistering personal best of 2:39:22 at the Sydney<\/a> Marathon, but will his short distance speed be enough to take down some of the AFL’s best?<\/p>\n 2025 Telstra Half-Time Sprint<\/p>\n Maurice Rioli (Richmond<\/a>)
Jed Walter (Gold Coast<\/a>)
Toby Greene (Greater Western Sydney)
Beau McCreery (Collingwood)
Nick Blakey (Sydney)
Jack Higgins (St Kilda<\/a>)
Murphy Reid (Fremantle)
Harry Garside\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The biggest event of this year is finally upon us. Yes, the 2025 AFL Grand Final Telstra Half-Time…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":171583,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-171582","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-afl","8":"tag-afl","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-australian-football-league","12":"tag-australianfootballleague","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171582","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=171582"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171582\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/171583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=171582"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=171582"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=171582"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}