{"id":421591,"date":"2026-01-18T17:12:44","date_gmt":"2026-01-18T17:12:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/421591\/"},"modified":"2026-01-18T17:12:44","modified_gmt":"2026-01-18T17:12:44","slug":"2026-afl-draft-spotlight-ranges-set-for-sustained-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/421591\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 AFL Draft spotlight: Ranges set for sustained success"},"content":{"rendered":"

2026 AFL Draft spotlight: Ranges set for sustained success<\/p>\n


\n \"\" Michael Alvaro
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Image Credit: Rookie Me Central<\/p>\n

AMONG Eastern Ranges\u2019 breakthrough premiership side of 2025 was a booming bottom-age crop, now set to steer the ship in 2026. Nine 2008-born players took the field on Grand Final day last year, with a couple more unlucky to miss out, though they will soon have their chance to chase back-to-back flags.<\/p>\n

We put the Eastern Ranges\u2019 emerging class of 2026 under the spotlight.<\/p>\n

>>\u00a0ONES TO WATCH:\u00a026 draft prospects for 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

THE STAR PROSPECT<\/p>\n

Harrison Chapman<\/a>
Wing | 189cm | 06\/01\/2008<\/p>\n

A new-age athlete moulding into a terrific footballer, Chapman played 18 games in the Eastern Ranges\u2019 breakthrough Talent League premiership last year. The rangy 18-year-old established himself on the wing, where his bounding speed suited the outside expanses. At 189cm, he has the potential to impact aerially and is an effective transitional player who helps deliver the ball from end-to-end. Those kind of versatile link-up players are in high demand, and on pure traits, Chapman has the raw upside AFL recruiters will love. Hence, he\u2019s the lone Ranges player selected in this year\u2019s National Academy.<\/p>\n

\"\"Jordan Knapp chases up a loose ball | Image Credit: Rookie Me Central<\/p>\n

THE ACCUMULATORS<\/p>\n

Role players were integral to Eastern\u2019s premiership success last year, a category which Jordan Knapp<\/a> and Mitch Gillan<\/a> fit into. The former is a versatile small who spent time on both sides of midfield and up forward, where he proved capable of finding the ball at will. Knapp is clean and composed, showcasing great footy IQ to not only win possession, but make full use of it. He was one of three inclusions to last year\u2019s National Futures match on AFL Grand Final day. Gillan, meanwhile, has already established himself as one of the side\u2019s main distributors. He moves the ball out of defensive 50 with great efficiency and is a keen interceptor, able to shut down opponents or get loose to dispel danger.<\/p>\n

\"\"Jaden Lawrence shapes to kick | Image Credit: Rookie Me Central<\/p>\n

THE ONE-TWO PUNCH<\/p>\n

There was a time last year where Eastern struggled for ruck depth, but then-bottom-ager Jaden Lawrence<\/a> stood up to front the tall division. The 199cm prospect cemented his place in the side and maintained it amid the emergence of top-age basketball convert Marcus Krasnadamskis. This year, he is well poised to provide a terrific one-two punch with rover Archie Spencer<\/a>. The latter offers great power and physicality on the inside, but can also drive his legs on the attack and hit the scoreboard. If not Knapp, expect Spencer to take full advantage of the work from his mobile emerging ruckman.<\/p>\n

\"\"Tall forward Charlie Nash is one to watch in 2026 | Image Credit: Rookie Me Central<\/p>\n

THE DEPTH<\/p>\n

There remains a bunch of potential surprise packets among Eastern\u2019s 2008-born crop. A pair of likely bookends are arguably top of that list, in high-flying defender William Waller<\/a> and athletic forward Charlie Nash<\/a>. The former missed out on last year\u2019s premiership success but played 11 games and showcased his strong aerial prowess and two-footed ability. Nash also thrives aerially and while his numbers aren\u2019t mind-blowing, he has the tools to be an effective goalkicking forward the Ranges can push for higher honours. Elsewhere, utility Zac Antonellos<\/a> put his name in lights with three goals in last year\u2019s Grand Final, while Ryan McConnell<\/a> has some potential to work with up forward. Sam Devers<\/a> is another premiership player to keep an eye on. From outside that group, forward Max Bartlett<\/a> has some nice attributes to work with, and Beau Garrett<\/a> is highly rated internally.<\/p>\n

SPOTLIGHT SERIES:
Claremont\u2019s killer Colts<\/a>
Gippy\u2019s gun crop<\/a>
Northern\u2019s tall trio<\/a>
Rucks to run rampant<\/a>
South\u2019s star midfielders<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"2026 AFL Draft spotlight: Ranges set for sustained success Michael Alvaro Image Credit: Rookie Me Central AMONG Eastern…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":421592,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,48524,64,63,55,639,221894,221895,48530,48532,221896,48534,221897,221898,85,221899,221900],"class_list":["post-421591","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-archie-spencer","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-beau-garrett","tag-charlie-nash","tag-jaden-lawrence","tag-jordan-knapp","tag-max-bartlett","tag-mitch-gillan","tag-ryan-mcconnell","tag-sam-devers","tag-sports","tag-william-waller","tag-zac-antonellos"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421591","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=421591"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421591\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/421592"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=421591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=421591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=421591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}