{"id":951703,"date":"2026-11-04T01:00:23","date_gmt":"2026-11-04T01:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/951703\/"},"modified":"2026-11-04T01:00:23","modified_gmt":"2026-11-04T01:00:23","slug":"tasmania-devils-re-sign-talented-forward-as-afl-golden-ticket-edges-closer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/951703\/","title":{"rendered":"Tasmania Devils re-sign talented forward as AFL ‘golden ticket’ edges closer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tasmania has re-signed Brandon Leary for the 2027 VFL season as a promotion to the inaugural AFL<\/a> side looms.<\/p>\n

Leary joined the Devils ahead of their introduction to the state-league competition, playing 19 games and finishing third in the club’s best and fairest.<\/p>\n

His form as a high-flying forward garnered interest from AFL<\/a> clubs during the season, including Adelaide, Geelong and Collingwood, with coach Jeromey Webberley noting his traits were ready for the top-flight.<\/p>\n

Related Coverage<\/p>\n

“I believe he’s had a couple of AFL<\/a> clubs reach out to him,” Webberley told\u00a0Zero Hanger\u00a0in August.<\/a><\/p>\n

“So he’s been in some really good form. He’s sort of built throughout the year as well. Like, we started him as a small dynamic forward, and he’s moved himself up into the midfield, and he’s starting to become a consistent threat through there.<\/p>\n

“I think it’s like his speed, power, and vertical leap are top-end. I think he’s AFL<\/a> already in that space, like his ability to swoop on ground balls or take pack marks for his height and win one-on-ones, and then finish is AFL<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"HOBART,HOBART, AUSTRALIA – MARCH 21: Brandon Leary of the Devils reacts after missing a goal during the round one VFL match between Tasmania Devils and Coburg Lions at North Hobart Oval on March 21, 2026 in Hobart, Australia. (Photo by Steve Bell\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

“He’s got the speed, power, and vertical leap, and athleticism to play AFL<\/a> footy.<\/p>\n

“There are some areas of his game that he needs to continue to tidy up, but I feel like, I think he may be 22 now, but he’s just at an age now where he’s built on his body. He’s now a young man. He’s worked on his endurance engine, so he seems ready to go and get that opportunity.”<\/p>\n

Leary looks set to skip the AFL<\/a> draft later this month, having locked himself away at the Devils next year.<\/p>\n

Tasmania has on offer a ‘golden ticket’ for aspiring AFL<\/a> and AFLW players, guaranteeing at least two rookie list spots<\/a> for those participating in the VFL and VFLW programs across 2026 and 2027, with the potential for up to four.<\/p>\n

Leary was overlooked in the 2022 AFL Draft<\/a> but was a train-on prospect at Hawthorn that summer.<\/p>\n

He returned home (Tasmania)\u00a0and starred for North Launceston, kicking 58 goals in 15 TSL games in 2025 before joining the Devils’ inaugural VFL squad.<\/p>\n

Leary’s re-signing follows the likes of Jye Menzie<\/a>, Jed Hagan<\/a>, Lachy Hay, Nick Williams, Zach Adams, Harry Elmer and Maddox Iverach all recommitting to Tasmania.<\/p>\n

Former AFL<\/a> trio George Stevens<\/a> (Geelong), Jack Williams<\/a> (West Coast) and Xavier Walsh<\/a> (Port Adelaide) have also signed with Tasmania for 2027.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tasmania has re-signed Brandon Leary for the 2027 VFL season as a promotion to the inaugural AFL side…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":951704,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-951703","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\/951703","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=951703"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/951703\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/951704"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=951703"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=951703"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=951703"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}