Theirs is not a glamorous job. At games, you\u2019ll spot them in puffer jackets, perched on camping chairs with binoculars, pen and notebook. Other times, they\u2019ll be hunkered down scrutinising footage, crunching player data. Many fans like to think they could do a better job. \u201cI think every sports fan in Australia is picking their footy team or cricket team,\u201d veteran AFL talent expert Kevin Sheehan tells us. \u201cIt\u2019s a tough business, the business of drafting, and it\u2019s make or break for the careers of not just the boys [and girls] but the scouts who are looking at them.\u201d<\/p>\n
More than 624,000 children and adults<\/a> play football in Australia. Whittling down the best young players takes years, money and skill. The stakes are high: the best players, like artists, can create something out of nothing while players with poor character or decision-making can drag down a whole team for years.<\/p>\n So how do the clubs in the national league (18 men\u2019s, 18 women\u2019s) find the next generation of elite players? What sets a future professional apart from a skillful amateur? And how can young people maximise their chances of playing at the \u2019G one day?<\/p>\n At 205 centimetres, Harry Van Hattum stands out in a crowd. The year 12 student is confident, warm and mature. He also has a massive running leap, 103 centimetres into the air, just a touch higher than West Coast icon Nic Naitanui\u2019s 102 centimetres jump as a junior. High-flying ruckmen are back in vogue after the AFL changed the rules this year to stop other players wrestling them away from the centre bounce, although Van Hattum wants it known ruckmen are about more than their aerial manoeuvres: \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter your size when you\u2019re using it [the ball] well \u2026 I pride myself on having elite skills,\u201d he told ESPN <\/a>in August. In short, the 18-year-old has the makings of a very modern ruckman and, consequently, he\u2019s a top prospect in November\u2019s draft.<\/p>\n \u2018I was definitely pretty nervous the first time I had a meeting with someone from a club, so I was trying to be super-professional and really well-behaved. But you have just got to be yourself \u2026\u2019<\/p>\n Harry Van Hattum<\/p>\n Yet it was only last year that Van Hattum put aside his other sporting pursuit, basketball \u2013 which he played at state level in under 12s and 14s \u2013 to focus on footy, and recruiters became part of his life. \u201cIt was around then I started talking to recruiters a fair bit and getting calls from them and organising home visits and stuff like that over that summer,\u201d he tells us.<\/p>\n On a trip to New Zealand with the AFL national academy squad<\/a>, made up of 50 of Australia\u2019s most talented draft contenders, his every interaction was noted by recruiters, on the field and off. \u201cYou sit down with them and have lunch, dinner and different meetings with them on different days,\u201d Van Hattum says, \u201cso you get a really good sense of what their point of view is and what they are looking for from that. I was definitely pretty nervous the first time I had a meeting with someone from a club, so I was trying to be super-professional and really well-behaved. But you have just got to be yourself, don\u2019t lie, don\u2019t make anything up \u2013 because obviously they will find out.\u201d<\/p>\n Van Hattum has signed up with a manager, a crucial step in a junior\u2019s progress to the AFL, and has, meanwhile, been playing footy for a dizzying array of sides: Ivanhoe Grammar, his school in Melbourne\u2019s east; Vic Metro in the AFL national championships; the AFL academy; and the Northern Knights in the AFL Talent League, Victoria\u2019s top under-18 competition, from which most draft picks are drawn. (Gifted players also come from state leagues, or the northern academies run by Sydney, Greater Western Sydney, Brisbane and the Gold Coast, or from next-generation academies run by all clubs for Indigenous and multicultural youth.) Van Hattum considered an invitation to play for Richmond\u2019s VFL team, too, but enough was enough. \u201cIt\u2019s pretty busy,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Through it all, he is trying to live a normal life: studying, playing golf, hanging out with schoolmates and getting on the tools to help his dad, Rod, build a granny flat in the backyard of his family\u2019s Kangaroo Ground property. He admits he sometimes feels like a lab rat. \u201cIt always lingers in the back of my head that there is an expectation about me and I have to perform well, but I just try to block it out of my mind and try to play to my best level and don\u2019t think about the expectation on me every time.\u201d<\/p>\n Just days after the AFL grand final, Van Hattum and other promising teenage footballers (a total of 102 men and 89 women) will attend an event called a draft combine, either in Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth, where they will talk with clubs and compete in various trials (think sprints, agility tests, vertical jumps from a standing start).<\/p>\n Among attendees will be year 12 student Maddy Meagher, who plays on the wing for the Northern Knights in the Talent League, the top under-18 competition in Victoria. \u201cI base a lot of my game just off my speed,\u201d the 18-year-old tells us. With a background in athletics, Meagher has climbed the footy ranks since she started about six years ago, this year juggling study with two three-hour training sessions a week for the Knights, games on the weekend and private coaching to \u201cfocus on the nitty-gritty\u201d.<\/p>\n Her hard work has paid off: Meagher has signed with a player agent, toured St Kilda\u2019s facilities and met with several clubs. \u201cCollingwood\u2019s was just online, and Carlton\u2019s was going to their club, and Essendon, they came to training to have a 30-minute conversation with me and a couple of other girls,\u201d she explains, \u201cand I\u2019ve got Freo coming to my house.\u201d<\/p>\n She is ready to take the plunge and relocate if she\u2019s drafted interstate. \u201cI understand it would be extremely scary,\u201d she says, \u201cbut the support that you get given is huge and, on top of the salary that you get given as an AFLW rookie, you also get extra money if you go interstate, to pay for your rent.\u201d Clubs sometimes house newbies with a host family, another player, or a coach for a short while. Draft picks will be paid a minimum of $125,000 in 2027 in the men\u2019s game; women will be on a base salary of $72,363.<\/p>\n Recruiters watch players for up to three years before making a move, which they can\u2019t do until the player is 18 by December 31 of their draft year, under both leagues\u2019 rules. Even then, being picked can be down to timing and luck. \u201cOften,\u201d says player agent Alec Morgan, who represents both the men\u2019s and women\u2019s league players, \u201crecruiters will have a whiteboard and they\u2019ll have a whole list of names at the start of the year on that, and then as the year goes, they cross names off and they add names on. So you could be the third-best key-position defender on everyone\u2019s list, but if the other two ahead of you don\u2019t get taken right until the end, you might keep coming second or third. So it\u2019s not necessarily a knock on you, the footballer.\u201d<\/p>\n Scott Clayton has built playing lists for Brisbane, the Bulldogs, Gold Coast, West Coast and North Melbourne. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to have talent,\u201d he says. \u201cWithout that, we can\u2019t help you.\u201d Clayton, who these days is a future talent consultant, shows us a piece of paper on which he\u2019s jotted the qualities he wants in a draft pick.<\/p>\n On the left is FOOTBALL: clean hands to control that odd-shaped ball without fumbling, aerial game (marking), ground game (running) and cue response, which, says Clayton, means, \u201cYou react in instinct and action in super-quick time [to] what is actually happening. Perhaps at times it is predicting the future and making a decision on what action you must actually take.\u201d<\/p>\n Very few players possess all of these attributes at a high level \u2013 now-retired Adelaide Crows champion Erin Phillips, a former basketballer, came pretty close \u2013 but you are better off with a laser kick or elite-standard speed than being average at everything. \u201cIf you watch where even AFL and AFLW was five or six years ago to now, the game is so much quicker,\u201d says Alec Morgan. Walls agrees: \u201cThe distance they\u2019re covering at high speed is just getting bigger and better.\u201d Seven-time best and fairest, Richmond\u2019s Monique Conti, is known for her explosive speed; Joel Wilkinson, who played briefly for Gold Coast then moved to the US National Football League, still holds the 20-metre sprint record (2.75 seconds) at a draft combine in 2010.<\/p>\n As well as athletic flair, recruiters have to predict whether players\u2019 bodies will cope. \u201cWe get our medical department involved heavily because players change so much physically,\u201d says Walls. \u201cSometimes they can\u2019t handle the training loads and their bodies break down and they get injured a lot.\u201d Geelong premiership coach Mark Thompson used to have a theory that if a player was injured often in junior football, they would continue that pattern in the adult game. But with advances in medical science and more nuanced approaches to training, that theory is less fiercely held.<\/p>\n On the right side of Clayton\u2019s ledger is CHARACTER. For many recruiters, it\u2019s what sets apart the most desirable players from those who are merely technically very good. But what aspects of character, in particular, are they looking for?<\/p>\n \u2018I think the biggest thing that we find with clubs is competitiveness, that\u2019s what they love.\u2019<\/p>\n Alec Morgan<\/p>\n Top of Clayton\u2019s list is \u201ccompetitiveness\u201d, and he\u2019s not the only one. \u201cI think the biggest thing that we find with clubs is competitiveness, that\u2019s what they love,\u201d says agent Alec Morgan. \u201cOne of the things recruiters really look out for is, do you compete? And if you\u2019re a competitive person on the ground, you\u2019re going to be doing all the little things off the field to make sure you\u2019re as good as you can be.\u201d David Walls wants players who go all out: \u201cYou know that they\u2019re going to give the same amount of effort, it doesn\u2019t matter what game it is, it doesn\u2019t matter if they start slowly and things aren\u2019t going their way, or if the team\u2019s getting belted.\u201d<\/p>\n Next on Clayton\u2019s list is something less obvious: self-efficacy, a term that describes possessing a belief in your ability to achieve an outcome. In footy, Clayton asks, \u201cDo they go in knowing that they\u2019re going to affect the outcome? Because in a competitive sport, that\u2019s what you need: you need instinctive people who just want it, want to affect the outcome, and they\u2019re bold.\u201d<\/p>\n Take Joel Selwood, now retired but who still holds the league record for games as captain. A troublesome knee deterred some clubs (although not Geelong) from drafting him in 2006, but he devised his own leg-strengthening exercises \u2014 \u201cthe Joel Selwood program,\u201d he\u2019s joked \u2014 which he followed religiously for 16 years, barely missing a game. \u201cPick a player who you\u2019d have in your side,\u201d said Blues coach Mick Malthouse in 2014, after Selwood had kicked the winning goal against his team. \u201cI\u2019d pick Selwood every day of the week.\u201d<\/p>\n Getty Images <\/p>\n Research backs up the importance of self-efficacy and its related traits in everyday life, too. The Dunedin Study, from New Zealand\u2019s University of Otago, has followed the health and fortunes of 1000 boys and girls since 1972 and found<\/a> that their capacity for self-control \u2013 self-discipline and perseverance \u2013 was the single biggest predictor of their success, more than IQ or class. \u201cWe also found that children whose self-control increased with age tended to have better adult outcomes than initially predicted, showing that self-control can change and with desirable results,\u201d wrote research leader Terrie Moffitt in 2011.<\/p>\n \u2018We had a kid who went to the snow … but he wouldn\u2019t ski because he was worried about getting injured. He just trained all day … You go, OK, this kid\u2019s really, really serious.\u2019<\/p>\n David Walls<\/p>\n Similarly, self-motivation appears on Clayton\u2019s list, too, a close cousin of that propulsive inner desire we call \u201cdrive\u201d. \u201cThe players that are really driven to be the best they can be are usually the players that succeed,\u201d says Katrina Gill, AFLW general manager at Melbourne Football Club. \u201cYou obviously need a level of talent, but talent combined with the work ethic tends to be the winning formula.\u201d<\/p>\n That applies off the field, too. Fremantle\u2019s Walls will sometimes quiz aspirants about what they do in their spare time. \u201cWe had a kid who went to the snow [with his family], went to Canada,\u201d he recalls, \u201cbut he wouldn\u2019t ski because he was worried about getting injured. He just trained all day, he worked out where the gyms are, where he could find an oval, where he could get a treadmill. We\u2019re looking for things like that \u2013 where they\u2019re giving you examples of they\u2019re getting up early, they\u2019re doing extra work, they\u2019re doing recovery, they\u2019re doing gym. You go, OK, this kid\u2019s really, really serious.\u201d<\/p>\n A term not on Clayton\u2019s list but that is often heard in Aussie rules circles is \u201cfooty IQ\u201d: the ability to read, indeed predict, the play in all its fast-moving complexities, to understand the game and tactics at a deep level, to make smart decisions in a split second. If footy IQ is tricky to pin down, Walls knows it when he sees it: he drafted Murphy Reid in 2024 after 11 clubs overlooked the youngster. Reid, 20, is regarded as one of the most astute draft selections in recent history, having won the Rising Star award in his first season, and been named All-Australian in his second. Says Walls: \u201cFooty IQ is \u2026 really, really big. Murphy Reid, for us, is one that stands out with how smart he is and how much composure [he has] and how calm he is.\u201d<\/p>\n Can they back themselves to take highly consequential, calculated risks without over-thinking and second-guessing?<\/p>\n Also known for footy nous is Daisy Pearce, who balanced delivering babies (she was a midwife) with playing for the Demons in the early days of the AFLW. After having twins of her own, Pearce led Melbourne to a premiership, and now coaches the West Coast Eagles women\u2019s team. Pearce\u2019s footy IQ was \u201cnothing that I\u2019d seen before,\u201d said football trailblazer Debbie Lee as Pearce was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame. \u201cShe was a player who had so much time, she created so much space for herself, her skills were silky.\u201d<\/p>\n Why is \u201crisk\u201d on Clayton\u2019s list? On a footy field, big risk-takers will be prepared to take the kick that, as Clayton says, \u201cchanges the course of events\u201d, in front of 100,000 people and millions watching on television \u2013 even if a mistake might make them look foolish. He tests a rookie\u2019s risk appetite with a line of questioning that he adapts to them. If they surf, he asks how big a swell they are prepared to paddle out in. If they play golf, he asks which club they would use to attack a par four. Can they back themselves to take highly consequential, calculated risks without over-thinking and second-guessing?<\/p>\n \u2018Are they supportive? Are they encouraging? And it goes the other way too, where you see people speak poorly to teammates and don\u2019t treat them well, and play in a selfish manner.\u2019<\/p>\n David Walls<\/p>\n If many of these qualities suggest ruggedly individual star power, how players relate to others \u2013 being a \u201cgood teammate\u201d, as Clayton puts it \u2013 is a must. Gill agrees: \u201cYou want good people who are going to come in and have a positive impact on your program and be a good teammate as well.\u201d Walls loves going out to huddles and listening to the way players talk to each other. \u201cAre they supportive? Are they encouraging? And it goes the other way too, where you see people speak poorly to teammates and don\u2019t treat them well, and play in a selfish manner.\u201d<\/p>\n Similarly, \u201cability to learn\u201d, or coachability, is another prerequisite: recruiters will observe how a player reacts to instructions, including their body language. Off the field, they\u2019ll check school reports and find out how the kid is with their classmates. Players do need to be able to follow rules. Their ability to do the right thing goes into the recruitment mix, as does whether the club culture and the coach are good matches for them. If the standards in the club, upheld by coaches and senior players, are positive then players, regardless of their proclivities, will generally fall into line. The best coaches can mould all types into elite players while creating an environment where positive decisions are made on and off the field, more often than not.<\/p>\n \u2018\u2026 their coachability, their resilience, their grit, their fire in the belly, their self-confidence, and those things that are a bit more intangible, such as their \u2026 fear factor.\u2019<\/p>\n Elissa Morley<\/p>\n For kids with dreams of excelling in other sports, take note of these insights from Elissa Morley, who is performance pathways manager at the Australian Institute of Sport, which assesses more than 2900 athletes across 46 sports, each with their own \u201cwhat-it-takes-to-win profile\u201d. After a battery of physical tests, athletes are invited to trial with a sport to see if they have the right \u201cpsychological and behavioural factors\u201d. \u201cSo, their coachability, their resilience, their grit, their fire in the belly, their self-confidence, and those things that are a bit more intangible, such as their feel for the water or their fear factor.\u201d She adds there are some characteristics all athletes need, no matter the sport: resilience, persistence, self-belief, self-regulation and being proactive about solving problems.<\/p>\n It\u2019s an impressive alchemical mix that makes up a player\u2019s F.D.P., or future development potential. Kevin Sheehan says the sport gets drafting \u201cright\u201d about 80 per cent of the time. \u201cYou will make errors when you\u2019re trying to assess talent very early. But even the NFL makes mistakes, and their entry age is post-college, 21 or 22,\u201d he says of the US football league.<\/p>\n \u2018I\u2019m always, would you want to work with this guy for the rest of your career, for the next 10 years?\u2019<\/p>\n David Walls<\/p>\n The Demons\u2019 Katrina Gill says recruiting still requires a touch of instinct. \u201cYou\u2019re crystal-balling, to an extent.\u201d Fremantle\u2019s David Walls agrees, and says it makes him \u201csick to his stomach\u201d when his team recruits the wrong player. \u201cWe\u2019ve done it before, where they\u2019re hard work and there\u2019s issues off the field and they cause problems,\u201d he tells us. \u201cI\u2019m always, would you want to work with this guy for the rest of your career, for the next 10 years? Because we\u2019re dropping them off with these players, and is he going to make the most of the opportunity? And is he going to be a great teammate for the players that are already there?\u201d<\/p>\n Being a young footy star can be tough. Living the dream will include strangers critiquing them and their team, yelling over the fence at games, writing negative comments online, and placing bets (literally) on their performance. So there\u2019s another factor that plays into how a player is chosen: their survivability. \u201cIt\u2019s a pretty full-on environment that you\u2019re going into if you\u2019re drafted at 18 and you\u2019re straight out of school,\u201d says Walls. \u201cAre they going to be able to come in and work and be resilient and deal with setbacks? And if they\u2019re playing reserves and developing for two years, are they going to be able to grind for that amount of time?\u201d<\/p>\n One recruiter from a non-Victorian club tells us survivability includes coping with travel: basic self-management, being organised, being able to manage emotions. The Dockers take notice of what sort of company a prospect is over dinner \u2013 after all, they\u2019ll have to spend a lot of time away with teammates. Says Alec Morgan: \u201cSometimes you can get a vibe from players that they\u2019re really big homebodies and the club, if they\u2019re going to bring them interstate, they\u2019re going to have to have a lot of support.\u201d The Brisbane Lions changed their selection process and welfare support program after five young players requested trades back to their home states at the end of 2013. Now, all northern states ensure \u201cresilience\u201d is weighted heavily in assessing players.<\/p>\n Some factors are beyond a player\u2019s control. In a group from the same school-year level, for instance, those born in the first six months of the year tend to have had a head start on their development, are likely to have more confidence and so be elevated \u2013 a much-noted pattern that applies in other areas of education, too.<\/p>\n Also known to help carve a contenders\u2019 path to selection is attending a school with a high-performing footy program, which often offer scholarships to gifted players, too. Twenty-two per cent of last year\u2019s draft attended an Associated Public School in Victoria, such as Geelong Grammar or Scotch College, says Luke Soulos, chief executive of APS Sport. In Melbourne, particularly, school footy is \u201cbig\u201d, says Scott Clayton, with some clashes attracting several thousand fans. The AFLW isn\u2019t yet dominated by APS schools, says Soulos. \u201cWe\u2019re at, I would say, the embryonic stages in regards to girls\u2019 football. We do get one to three players drafted in a given year.\u201d<\/p>\n Some youngsters might also hail from a family of sportspeople, which can confer genetic advantages and\/or the chance to model their parents\u2019 athletic drive; or their father might have played footy, in which case they can be admitted under the AFL\u2019s father-son<\/a> or father-daughter rules. (Close to 100 players arrived at AFL clubs as father-son picks from 1998 through to 2025; over the short history of the women\u2019s league, at least 13 players joined under the father-daughter rule, including sisters Abbie and Sophie McKay, who followed their father Andrew to Carlton.)<\/p>\n \u201cDad taught me the game, Mum took me to all my games,\u201d the Crows\u2019 Erin Phillips said when she was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2025. Phillips\u2019 dad Greg played for Collingwood and Port Adelaide, and she was a \u201ccross-coder\u201d, playing footy until age 13, when pathways for girls ended, then switching to pro basketball before going back to footy for the women\u2019s league\u2019s first season, in her early 30s. \u201cHaving experienced being in an elite environment since I was 16 years old, I feel like I have a good grasp of what makes really successful teams.\u201d<\/p>\n The Darcy family has produced three generations of footballers: the late David Darcy played 133 games, his son Luke notched up 226, and his grandsons Sam and Will are both Bulldogs. Luke, now a podcaster, has warned that hyper-competitive parents are destroying their children\u2019s love of team sport. \u201cThey [teens] actually don\u2019t care that much at 14 about winning or losing, but they get in the car and what happens is Mum or Dad say, \u2018Why didn\u2019t you play harder?\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cYou\u2019re not their coach, you probably weren\u2019t good enough to do it, so why are you trying to overlay your world on to your kids? If they\u2019re there, and with their mates, end of story.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018They\u2019re not going to draft someone who isn\u2019t committed and who isn\u2019t going to do their part.\u2019<\/p>\n Maddy Meagher<\/p>\n The APS\u2019s Soulos offers this: \u201cThe better parents are the ones that stand to the side and don\u2019t interfere and don\u2019t get involved, other than maybe a quiet word in the car of how well they played, or [saying], \u2018It was exciting to watch you play\u2019.\u201d Katrina Gill concurs. \u201cUltimately, it\u2019s going to be the athlete that drives their own career and determines how far they go.\u201d <\/p>\n Maddy Meagher\u2019s dad Steven, who originally coached his daughter, says he has been lucky to \u201cwatch her play a sport that many girls before her simply didn\u2019t have the opportunity to play\u201d. \u201cShe had a dream of playing AFLW, and once we knew how much she wanted it, our role became more about giving her opportunities to develop and see how far she could go,\u201d he tells us. \u201cShe could potentially end up anywhere in the country, or she might not get drafted at all. Whatever happens, it certainly won\u2019t be because she didn\u2019t put the effort in.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Draft](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/b4fa4cfa519abfc55ed70d7f78438385691e3027.jpeg\")
Draft contenders: 18-year-old students Maddy Meagher and Harry Van Hattum.Wayne TaylorWhat\u2019s it like being a potential draft pick?<\/p>\n![\"Harry](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/66bfc8f4755e00542312c09d8ab8935a8c3d6af6.jpeg\")
Harry Van Hattum does a 20-metre sprint test during a talent league testing day in Melbourne in March.Getty Images<\/p>\n![\"Harry](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/6f30620c35ad3ef97a73a3f3e1d5c712565c93c2.jpeg\")
Harry Van Hattum is out of opponents\u2019 reach during an AFL national academy game between the Australian under-18s and Richmond VFL in April.Getty Images<\/p>\n![\"Maddy](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/9ce6d0a4b5a19563aa151dec3675aa6fecc89b07.jpeg\")
Maddy Meagher, front, swoops in during a match between Victoria Metro and South Australia in the AFL national championships under-18s in Adelaide in June. Getty Images <\/p>\n![\"Back](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/6bab4a2ab734b869fddfb91f5d275d3d8750493e.jpeg\")
Back in 2003, Scott Clayton watches the play with Bulldogs then-assistant coach Chris Bond.Shannon MorrisWhat are recruiters looking for? <\/p>\n![\"Scott](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/622ddd45acbb19ade7c1e982ded6dbbd886f3e7b.jpeg\")
Scott Clayton\u2019s notes: football skills include a sharp cue response. Courtesy Scott Clayton<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/b7815975c193b8905ab0f47757a49ba74a16d276.jpeg\")
The other half of Clayton\u2019s list is about character, with competitiveness right at the top. Courtesy Scott Clayton<\/p>\n![\"Talent](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/6cbc4fa7ccf907ee9283e437e0dcd4c8e0ae17d7.jpeg\")
Talent expert Kevin Sheehan, left, and Shane O\u2019Bree, far right, watch a boys\u2019 ALF talent league game in 2023. O\u2019Bree is now recruiting manager at Collingwood. Getty Images <\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/bc5d189f6c0cbc3d151aa6bc98f8bba21a43f196.jpeg\")
The jubilation is plain to see after Cats captain Joel Selwood, right, takes decisive action, kicking a winning goal in the final moments of a 2014 game against Carlton. <\/p>\n![\"Fremantle\u2019s](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/8474165accef6165d2d0786daf8193aa40eaef07.jpeg\")
Fremantle\u2019s David Walls has spent countless hours getting the measure of would-be recruits.Getty Images <\/p>\n![\"Daisy](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/bad6f8da57b483ffc01f4d2883d4f9eb3a5a65c6.jpeg\")
Daisy Pearce in 2013: the first No. 1 pick in the first AFLW draft, when the first exhibition games were played, she is well known for her footy nous. Scott McNaughton<\/p>\n![\"Monique](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/536a937a7e145c1b227b6f03a110d34863089c3a.jpeg\")
Monique Conti, at left, in 2021 is known for her explosive speed. Getty Images<\/p>\n![\"Elissa](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/835d4c5fe3f6e0015c6851998b91ef58329adf03.jpeg\")
Elissa Morley from the Australian Institute of Sport at the Northside Wizards basketball facility in Brisbane. She says elite athletes all need qualities such as persistence and problem-solving, no matter the sport.Dan Peled<\/p>\n![\"Ultimately,](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/b67291d8ea5a7fa4ba34af6d5450acc18d83118f.jpeg\")
Ultimately, this is what recruiters want: future development potential. (The highlighter is added but the circle, underline and red pen are Clayton\u2019s.)Courtesy Scott ClaytonWhat\u2019s survivability? And how can parents help?<\/p>\n![\"Player](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/9140da22f83f8318fd8bab4947200efa6e54d390.jpeg\")
Player agent Alec Morgan: \u201cThe game is so much quicker now.\u201dJames Brickwood<\/p>\n![\"Former](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/eeef33f8164ba818a78c6c3f0f4e46f7d35b70e0.jpeg\")
Former footy (and basketball) player Erin Phillips with her father Greg ahead of her induction into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2025.Getty Images <\/p>\n![\"Harry](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/15b9a5f1d40aef31e45471e0ff69fa064d450b75.jpeg\")
Harry and Maddy are both chasing their dreams while studying hard at school. Wayne Taylor<\/p>\n![\"Maddy](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/34f26fc380184dfea1f5b835453cddd6d817d936.jpeg\")
Maddy Meagher as a girl. Courtesy the Meagher family<\/p>\n
![\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/4cc349c07f55fd4cd1f305fd931410da8a4e93a7.jpeg\")
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