Levi Ashcroft celebrates a goal during round 16, 2026. Picture: AFL Photos\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
HE WAS drafted as an inside midfielder, but Brisbane has thrown many different roles at Levi Ashcroft, and the teenager has thrived in them all.<\/p>\n
Arriving at the Lions following their first premiership in 2024, it was always likely the younger Ashcroft brother was going to have to bide his time to get minutes in the middle of the ground.<\/p>\n
But it hasn\u2019t bothered the father-son selection, who made his way to Brisbane with the fifth overall pick.<\/p>\n
Ashcroft has played all 45 games available since joining his older brother Will in Brisbane, playing everywhere from half-forward to wing to midfield when the chance arises.<\/p>\n
Levi (left) and Will Ashcroft celebrate Brisbane winning the 2025 Toyota Grand Final. Picture: AFL Photos<\/p>\n
A premiership in his first season included a memorable goal on Grand Final day, but there’s been no second season blues for the youngster who doesn\u2019t turn 20 until the end of the year.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m happy to play anywhere, and it\u2019s been good for my development to learn those different positions,\u201d Ashcroft told AFL.com.au.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been good for my mindset.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAs an inside mid, those roles where you get more opportunity to get the footy, you\u2019re looking at stats and clearances, it\u2019s definitely different playing the wing.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour impact is judged on lots of things. It might be kicking goals, your defensive pressure, tackles, it could be marks.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cFor our offence, it might be the uncontested marks. It\u2019s definitely judged differently.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s good for me now to learn those positions and how important it is to the set-up of the whole team.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s getting your mindset right and knowing it\u2019s not just about possessions, it might be your impact away from the ball.\u201d<\/p>\n
When played in his preferred midfield role, Ashcroft has excelled. Following the calf injury suffered by Hugh McCluggage in round 12 against Fremantle, Chris Fagan and his coaching staff were looking for someone to take more centre ball-ups.<\/p>\n
Ashcroft stepped in. And stepped up.<\/p>\n
In wins over Gold Coast, Richmond, Sydney and Geelong either side of the club\u2019s mid-season bye, he attended around a third of available centre ball-ups and flourished.<\/p>\n
In a pivotal match against the Swans, Ashcroft gathered 24 disposals, 13 of which were contested, along with eight clearances and a goal to show he had what it took when given a chance closer to the action.<\/p>\n
A week later against the Cats it was 21 and five clearances with a goal.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Lions know I can play that role, but it\u2019s just continuing to play the best role I can for the team at the moment,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel confident. I love the challenge of going up against those experienced guys and midfields.\u201d<\/p>\n
Levi Ashcroft in action during round 14, 2026. Picture: AFL Photos\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
With McCluggage back in the past fortnight, it\u2019s been a return to the flanks, but the impact has still been there for everyone to see.<\/p>\n
Brisbane enters Sunday\u2019s match against Port Adelaide at the Gabba entrenched in the top four and with a double chance spot in their own hands.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been a good couple of months for the team to get confidence and momentum.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re just playing as team and playing for each other. I feel like that\u2019s when we\u2019re playing at our best, when we\u2019re playing selfless footy.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Levi Ashcroft celebrates a goal during round 16, 2026. Picture: AFL Photos\/Getty Images HE WAS drafted as an…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":823739,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-823738","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/823738","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=823738"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/823738\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/823739"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=823738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=823738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=823738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}