{"id":269173,"date":"2025-11-07T16:45:19","date_gmt":"2025-11-07T16:45:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/269173\/"},"modified":"2025-11-07T16:45:19","modified_gmt":"2025-11-07T16:45:19","slug":"2025-afl-draft-preview-brisbane-lions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/269173\/","title":{"rendered":"2025 AFL Draft Preview: Brisbane Lions"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>                2025 AFL Draft Preview: Brisbane Lions<\/p>\n<p>                    <a class=\"article-meta\" href=\"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/author\/michael_alvaro\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><br \/>\n                        <img loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1762533917_737_07f3325770d830aa95fc030f8c8859b8dc20db6430c6fe6e0c4cc1365e6689cd\"  class=\"avatar avatar-32 photo lazy\" height=\"32\" width=\"32\" decoding=\"async\"\/>                        Michael Alvaro<br \/>\n                    <\/a><\/p>\n<p>                <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Daniel-Annable-Brisbane-Lions-Academy-2025.jpg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Image Credit: via Brisbane Lions<\/p>\n<p>TWO-TIME reigning premiers Brisbane Lions are once again set to benefit from their club-tied talent come draft time, with a leading Academy graduate bound for the top five. Elsewhere, there are plenty more local prospects vying for promotion to the current most dominant club in the land.<\/p>\n<p>&gt;&gt; FREE: <a href=\"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/2025-afl-draft-guide\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">View the 2025 AFL Draft Guide<\/a><\/p>\n<p>2025 RECORD:\u00a0Premiers | 16-6-1 | 114.2%<br \/>2025 PICKS:\u00a017, 23, 44, 51, 59, 68, 79<br \/>FUTURE PICKS:\u00a0\u201926 R1, \u201926 R2, \u201926 R3, MEL \u201926 R3, \u201926 R4 | \u201927 R1, \u201927 R2, \u201927 R3, \u201927 R4<br \/>CLUB-TIED PROSPECTS:\u00a0Daniel Annable, Harrison Bridge, Fergus McFadyen, Tyan Prindable, Isaac Waller (all Academy)<\/p>\n<p>FIRST PICK:<br \/>Pick\u00a017<\/p>\n<p>While the Lions\u2019 first pick is officially listed at 17, it will end up being wiped out in order to match a bid for <a data-type=\"player\" data-id=\"132502\" class=\"_dc_spo\" href=\"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/player\/daniel-annable\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Daniel Annable<\/a>. That could land anywhere within the top 10, likely even among the top five, with the Academy star consensually considered one of the draft\u2019s best and most consistent midfielders.<\/p>\n<p>Annable is the type who rarely plays poorly and looks destined to be a 200-game lock. Boasting clean hands on the inside and strong running capacity on the outside, he contributes along several links in the scoring chain. He will also be familiar with the Lions\u2019 system having managed eight VFL games this year.<\/p>\n<p>Already boasting a stacked midfield, perhaps Brisbane can find a spot for their latest Academy recruit on the wing or at half-forward. He\u2019ll compliment a brimming on-ball group and can take confidence in the likes of Jaspa Fletcher, Sam Marshall, and the Ashcroft brothers making immediate impacts of late.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"578\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ALL-Isaac-Waller-2-1024x578.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-204664 lazy\"  data-\/>Isaac Waller clunks a grab | Image Credit: Rookie Me Central<\/p>\n<p>REMAINING CROP:<br \/>Picks 23, 44, 51, 59, 68, 79<\/p>\n<p>The Lions\u2019 draft hand is mostly geared around matching the early bid for Annable, along with a few more potential additions down the line. Shadeau Brain and Bruce Reville will earn upgrades from the rookie list, while the club has committed to re-listing veteran Lincoln McCarthy as a rookie.<\/p>\n<p>A few outgoing players can directly be replaced by Academy graduates. While free agents Oscar Allen and Sam Draper bolster Brisbane\u2019s tall stocks, <a data-type=\"player\" data-id=\"166669\" class=\"_dc_spo\" href=\"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/player\/isaac-waller\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Isaac Waller<\/a> looms as a long-term option with genuine upside. At 204cm, he adds depth in the wake of the Sam Day and Oscar McInerney retirements.<\/p>\n<p>Along similar lines, over-ager <a data-type=\"player\" data-id=\"132336\" class=\"_dc_spo\" href=\"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/player\/fergus-mcfadyen\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Fergus McFadyen<\/a> broke out at VFL level this year with 37 goals in 19 games. He could be promoted to the senior or rookie list as a likely replacement for Callum Ah Chee, whose trade to Adelaide fell through, but is likely to get to West Lakes via the pre-season draft.<\/p>\n<p>With the Lions poised to make three or four selections, perhaps one of <a data-type=\"player\" data-id=\"166654\" class=\"_dc_spo\" href=\"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/player\/harrison-bridge\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Harrison Bridge<\/a> or <a data-type=\"player\" data-id=\"188159\" class=\"_dc_spo\" href=\"https:\/\/central.rookieme.com\/afl\/player\/tyan-prindable\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Tyan Prindable<\/a> will be considered. The former is a decorated junior whose year was scuppered by injury, while the latter is a mid-forward with efficient skills. Both will have a level of interest from other clubs, but remain solid rookie choices should they slip through the National Draft, or over-age candidates to develop in the VFL.<\/p>\n<p>KEY QUESTIONS:<\/p>\n<p>\u2013 How early will the Annable bid land?<br \/>\u2013 Will the Lions get active with live trades, or fall into points deficit?<br \/>\u2013 Which other Academy graduates are in the offing?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"2025 AFL Draft Preview: Brisbane Lions Michael Alvaro Image Credit: via Brisbane Lions TWO-TIME reigning premiers Brisbane Lions&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":269174,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,3429,155412,19336,19338,85,19346],"class_list":{"0":"post-269173","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-daniel-annable","14":"tag-fergus-mcfadyen","15":"tag-harrison-bridge","16":"tag-isaac-waller","17":"tag-sports","18":"tag-tyan-prindable"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269173","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=269173"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269173\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/269174"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=269173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=269173"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=269173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}