Sullivan Robey’s astronomical rise up the draft boards is as unprecedented as any jump in draft history.<\/p>\n
Failing to make a draft board until September, the Eastern Ranges midfielder\/forward has exploded onto the scene following an exceptional close to the 2025 Coates Talent League season.<\/p>\n
Cut from the Dandenong Stingrays prior to this season, Robey trialled with the Ranges before returning to local football, and is now just weeks away from hearing his name called inside the top 10 of the AFL National Draft.<\/p>\n
Earning his opportunity in the Talent League, Robey has hardly taken a backwards step, dominating against top opposition before a four-goal Grand Final performance solidified his place amongst the best prospects in this year’s crop.<\/p>\n
And while a number of clubs have the 18-year-old firmly on their radars, it’s expected that the Ranges’ talent will be snapped up before 14 teams reach their first selection.<\/p>\n
Robey’s Ranges coach Lauren Morecroft provided some insight into his incredible rise to a potential top-10 pick.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe bolter of the decade, he\u2019s been labelled,\u201d Morecroft told SEN Sportsday.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s an interesting story, he came in and trialled early in the year, and we didn\u2019t really know much about him. He went back and played a bit of local footy, and we kept an eye on him.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was playing seniors at Rowville footy, kicking consecutive twos and threes as a 17-year-old so we thought it was probably time to bring him in. He came in and trained for a couple of weeks and played and he didn\u2019t come out of our side since then.\u201d<\/p>\n
After trialling with the Eastern Ranges, the club decided not to guarantee him a spot on the list, determined to ensure Robey could perform at a consistent level before committing a list spot for the season.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe wasn\u2019t in our initial squad,\u201d she continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis dad had called up, he was in the Dandenong Stingrays region, but they had him as a 16-year-old and he didn\u2019t make their 18s squad.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith their permission, after having a look at him and playing footy in our region, it kind of all worked. He trialled in a pre-season game in February, but we just didn\u2019t want him to leapfrog other kids that were already in the squad.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe wanted to go and watch him at local level and see if he could do it consistently, and he could. We always leave two to three spots open per year, and he grabbed his spot mid-year and not come out of the team.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe has grown a fair bit since he was a 16-year-old at Dandenong, he\u2019s grown 10-12 cm and he\u2019s put on a lot of size, gone away and he\u2019s worked on his game so he\u2019s going to get his reward on draft night.\u201d<\/p>\n
Being cut from one side and rejected from another can have serious implications on the confidence of young players, however Robey refused to give up on his determination, forcing his way into the side and up the draft board.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a kick in the guts to not be invited in first in the initial squad in Dandenong, and then for us to have a look at him but to say, go away and play consistent footy,\u201d Morecroft admitted.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut he went away and did it, at senior level too. From there coming in, his confidence grew with us, and we obviously put a fair of trust in him.<\/p>\n
\u201cEarly days with any kid, I try to say, \u2018try to play your best, showcase your strengths as much as you can\u2019 and he did that to a tee. He\u2019s got a great set of hands, his lead-up, his work rate, he\u2019s really clean with the footy too, all of those things.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe belief just keeps growing as well, kept playing on really good opponents, really good levels through the finals and now he could be a top 10 draft pick. It didn\u2019t take long (before the club calls came in).<\/p>\n
\u201cHe played one at Gippi (Gippsland) and Melbourne called on Monday, and it probably only took two or three more. By the end of the season, he had 15 club interviews.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe kicked four in the Grand Final, so I think he well and truly earnt it. Because we\u2019ve only seen a small sample size, the upside is really there.\u201d<\/p>\n
A half forward\/midfield combo, Robey has earnt comparisons to an elite premiership Pie.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think he\u2019s got a bit of Jordan De Goey \u2013 that forward\/mid mix and obviously impact in big games.<\/p>\n
\u201c(He is) kind of a high half-forward, connecting type player that also has stints in the middle where he can show his burst and really nice speed, he gets out of contests really well, he\u2019s clean and he\u2019s going to be a really good talent for years to come. 192cm at the moment, but I can see him getting up to 195.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe can flush it form 50, he can take strong marks inside 50, he can go inside in the midfield and burst through and connect up as well. That\u2019s what I see at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
The National Draft is set for November 19 and 20.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sullivan Robey’s astronomical rise up the draft boards is as unprecedented as any jump in draft history. Failing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":254981,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-254980","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\/254980","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=254980"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254980\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/254981"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=254980"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=254980"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=254980"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}