![\"Grlj](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/7f3663055ca354e750c5df1589be63987302b5b3.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nThey deal not only with the pressure they place upon themselves to perform in their draft year, but also the sudden extra attention in the media, and from well-meaning friends, family and schoolmates, plus the potential of leaving home to relocate interstate.<\/p>\n
Everyone handles that experience differently, particularly as players bounce between club, school and state commitments, all of which bring their own scrutiny.<\/p>\n
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Grlj can impact the game as a midfielder or at half-back.Credit: AFL Photos<\/p>\n
Chargers coach Ash Close and Grlj\u2019s Camberwell Grammar School friends were crucial, along with Buttifant, in helping the AFL prospect emerging from his mid-season form battle, when he was frustrated with his inability to impact matches like he wanted to.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a great learning opportunity because that\u2019s the first time I\u2019ve been faced with something like that,\u201d Grlj said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m pretty proud of myself for being able to come through it and play some decent footy \u2026 [but it] definitely can be pretty challenging, especially when things aren\u2019t going your way, and you really want footy to work out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Grlj\u2019s Victorian draft peer Josh Lindsay remembers when he started noticing his own name being mentioned more publicly, and thinking it was \u201cpretty cool\u201d.<\/p>\n
But Lindsay promised himself he would never lose his passion for the game, even as his commitments increased, and the pressure heightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a lot of pressure that comes with it, but you\u2019ve got to still enjoy the game. This year, I\u2019ve enjoyed each game I played \u2013 I just love playing footy,\u201d Lindsay said. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to balance all your teams that you\u2019re playing for and just try to achieve your best each week.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was a different situation again for Sandringham Dragons key forward Archie Ludowyke.<\/p>\n
Like Grlj, Ludowyke started the season well and had a strong reputation as a leading forward prospect, only for him to fail to kick a goal at the mid-year championships before suffering a season-ending knee injury.<\/p>\n
![\"Josh](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/98a189d18f1bffb7740f9541ae2b1579e1b20c1f.jpeg\")
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Josh Lindsay is in the mix to be a first-round selection in the AFL draft.Credit: AFL Photos<\/p>\n
\u201cI was thinking, \u2018How far will I drop?\u2019 and \u2018Where will I end up?\u2019,\u201d Ludowyke said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had no control over it, so I could drop 40 spots, I could drop three spots, or I could even go up three spots. I would never know. But, in the end, I had the mindset that I don\u2019t really care, even if I\u2019m in the top 60. As long as I get drafted, I\u2019ll be happy. That\u2019s the main goal.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Grlj, Lindsay and Ludowyke will all get drafted, and potentially as first-round selections on Wednesday night. If not, they should find a home early on Thursday night.<\/p>\n
However, the wait to find out, like the football season itself, promises to be an emotional rollercoaster.<\/p>\n
Grlj, who has Macedonian and Slovenian heritage, is linked as early as Richmond\u2019s top-10 picks, after making a strong impression for the Tigers\u2019 VFL team late in the season.<\/p>\n
Hawthorn, GWS and West Coast are other potential landing points after he finished top 10 at the draft combine in the two-kilometre trial and 20-metre sprint.<\/p>\n
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\u201cBecoming an AFL player is everything I\u2019ve ever wanted in my life since I can remember,\u201d Grlj said.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo have the opportunity to maybe get picked up is pretty exciting for me.\u201d<\/p>\n