Welcome to Part 1 of the Reserves Rookie Review Recap for 2025. I have included all players that have played less than 3 games this season. Hopefully the decent rookies are held back until next season but like previous years and the last few weeks there will definitely be some debuts in the later rounds. Any questions or extra information please let me know in the comments.
Pricing changed for this season with the addition of the Flex player. This saw players starting prices reduced and some extra discounts to start this season.
In the past discounts have worked like this and they will be similar to this next year with some exceptions.
30% discount for rookies that have played 1 or 2 games that averaged between 50 and 70, 20% if they averaged under 50 and 40% if they averaged over 70. 3 games discount is 20% if they averaged under 50 and 30% for over 50. 4 and 5 games played is 20% and 6 and 7 games played is 10%.
So a player playing 1 game can ruin his price for next season as we have seen with many players this year. Connor O’Sullivan is a great example although he was still cheap enough to pick. In Round 5 last year he played his only game scoring 46. This saw his price for 2025 start at $148,700 which was a 40% discount on his price for an average of 46. The extra 10% discount I would assume is based on the Flex player addition but I could be wrong.
VFL
BRISBANE
| Player | POS | PRICE | AVE/GAMES |
|---|---|---|---|
| James Tunstill | F/M | 119.9 | 102/11 |
| Luke Beecken | DEF | 119.9 | 91/14 |
| Henry Smith | FWD | 169.2 | 83/5 |
| Reece Torrent | MID | 119.9 | 71/14 |
| Darcy Craven | FWD | 119.9 | 67/13 |
| Sam Marshall | MID | 113.5 | 67/12 |
| Brandon Ryan | FWD | 119.9 | 67/11 |
| Ty Gallop | FWD | 113.5 | 55/12 |
| Luke Lloyd | FWD | 119.9 | 54/12 |
| Zane Zakostelsky | D/R | 119.9 | 47/15 |
2026 – Smith has been injured for a big chunk of the season but has performed well when in the side predominantly as a ruckman. Tunstill had another good VFL season but can’t find a regular spot in the team. Beecken was a mid-season draftee last year and has been great again with 23 touches and 5 marks per game.
CARLTON
| Player | POS | PRICE | AVE/GAMES |
|---|---|---|---|
| Billy Wilson | D/M | 119.9 | 86/14 |
| Ben Camporeale | MID | 113.5 | 80/14 |
| Lucas Camporeale | MID | 113.5 | 69/13 |
| Hudson O'Keeffe | RUC | 119.9 | 66/8 |
| Harry Lemmey | FWD | 119.9 | 57/15 |
| Harry Charleson | D/M | 99.1 | 56/15 |
| Rob Monahan | FWD | 119.9 | 40/14 |
| Matt Duffy | DEF | 99.1 | 24/10 |
| Jagga Smith | MID | 194.5 | 0/0 |
2026 – Wilson made his debut a few weeks ago deservedly after his 2nd great season in the VFL across half back. Both of the Camporeale brothers have had decent seasons with Lucas playing the 1st 2 AFL games. Ben has scored better with 22 touches, 5 tackles and 4 clearances a game while Lucas has averaged 18 touches and 5 marks. 2 easy selections next pre-season at this stage. Smith has missed the entire year with a knee injury but is one to keep an eye on next year.
COLLINGWOOD
| Player | POS | PRICE | AVE/GAMES |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harry DeMattia | MID | 119.9 | 80/15 |
| Roan Steele | MID | 99.1 | 78/5 |
| Jakob Ryan | DEF | 119.9 | 71/12 |
| Wil Parker | DEF | 181.0 | 70/12 |
| Oscar Steene | F/R | 119.9 | 65/14 |
| Charlie West | R/F | 113.5 | 62/10 |
| Tew Jiath | DEF | 119.9 | 61/9 |
| Joel Cochran | DEF | 113.5 | 54/14 |
| Ash Johnson | FWD | 134.0 | 51/2 |
| William Hayes | M/F | 113.5 | 50/11 |
| Noah Howes | FWD | 99.1 | 47/7 |
| Iliro Smit | RUC | 119.9 | 35/14 |
2026 – DeMattia has had a great year playing in the midfield but in this role it is tough to break into the AFL side. Steele the mid-season draftee made his debut and looked good in his short time at the club. Ryan has backed up his previous year with another good one as had Parker who had a taste of AFL action earlier this year.
ESSENDON
| Player | POS | PRICE | AVE/GAMES |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lewis Hayes | DEF | 119.9 | 105/4 |
| Vigo Visentini | RUC | 119.9 | 93/9 |
| Oskar Smartt | FWD | 99.1 | 66/10 |
| Liam McMahon | FWD | 99.1 | 60/6 |
| Jayden Nguyen | D/M | 99.1 | 54/8 |
| Alwyn Davey Jnr | FWD | 146.6 | 53/14 |
| Kayle Gerreyn | RUC | 113.5 | 48/13 |
| Rhys Unwin | MID | 113.5 | 44/14 |
| Thomas Edwards | FWD | 99.1 | 0/0 |
2026 – A horrible year for injuries for the Bombers with just 4 rookie priced players not playing a game for the year which might even windle down further in the remaining weeks. Hayes joined this injury list in his debut game after performing well for 2 years. Visentini won’t be rookie priced next season but has been excellent and looked good in his 2 AFL games to date. Edwards suffered an ACL injury early in the season so should be back to start the year.
GOLD COAST
| Player | POS | PRICE | AVE/GAMES |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ben Jepson | DEF | 99.1 | 79/13 |
| Jy Farrar | DEF | 119.9 | 73/11 |
| Max Knobel | RUC | 119.9 | 66/6 |
| Asher Eastham | FWD | 99.1 | 64/14 |
| Caleb Graham | DEF | 119.9 | 61/6 |
| Caleb Lewis | FWD | 99.1 | 59/4 |
| Lachlan Gulbin | FWD | 99.1 | 57/11 |
| Zak Evans | MID | 99.1 | 52/12 |
| Cooper Bell | D/F | 113.5 | 42/11 |
2026 – Jepsen has had a great year and made his debut last week and is a good chance to keep his spot and be ruled out of rookie contention next year. Farrar has taken plenty of intercepts this year playing down back averaging 14 touches and 5 marks.
GEELONG
| Player | POS | PRICE | AVE/GAMES |
|---|---|---|---|
| George Stevens | MID | 119.9 | 95/11 |
| Patrick Retschko | MID | 99.1 | 76/15 |
| Joe Pike | RUC | 99.1 | 67/14 |
| Oliver Wiltshire | F/M | 119.9 | 61/10 |
| Xavier Ivisic | MID | 99.1 | 59/10 |
| Jacob Molier | RUC | 113.5 | 54/3 |
| Jay Polkinghorne | FWD | 113.5 | 50/14 |
| Keighton Matofai-Forbes | FWD | 113.5 | 41/10 |
| Mitchell Edwards | RUC | 119.9 | 41/4 |
| Lennox Hofman | DEF | 113.5 | 38/2 |
| Cillian Burke | DEF | 99.1 | 28/6 |
2026 – Stevens has been one of the best VFL performers over the last 2 years with 26 touches, 6 tackles and 8 clearances a game. Retschko has been good in his 1st season on the list with 21 touches a game. Polkinghorne is their leading rookie goal kicker with 22.
GWS
| Player | POS | PRICE | AVE/GAMES |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jack Ough | MID | 113.5 | 91/9 |
| Wade Derksen | FWD | 119.9 | 87/13 |
| Josh Fahey | DEF | 119.9 | 86/13 |
| Nathan Wardius | FWD | 119.9 | 83/10 |
| Harrison Oliver | DEF | 122.5 | 74/14 |
| Phoenix Gothard | FWD | 119.9 | 69/9 |
| Oliver Hannaford | M/F | 127.0 | 57/3 |
| Logan Smith | RUC | 113.5 | 49/7 |
2026 – The Giants continue to be great scorers in the VFL with a number averaging fairly high once again. Ough has been injured for a couple of weeks but before that he was putting together a nice year with 24 touches, 6 tackles and 7 clearances a game. Derksen played down back with 20 touches and 9 marks a game. Fahey also in defence has continued on from last year with 22 touches a game. Wardius has kicked 30 goals from his 10 games.
HAWTHORN (BOX HILL)
| Player | POS | PRICE | AVE/GAMES |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jai Serong | DEF | 185.4 | 86/14 |
| Mitch Lewis | FWD | 178.9 | 86/3 |
| Bodie Ryan | DEF | 119.9 | 78/9 |
| Cody Anderson | MID | 113.5 | 70/14 |
| Noah Mraz | DEF | 113.5 | 57/11 |
| William McCabe | DEF | 119.9 | 55/14 |
| Jasper Scaife | FWD | 119.9 | 51/14 |
| Matt Hill | DEF | 99.1 | 34/12 |
| James Blanck | DEF | 119.9 | 27/13 |
| Jaime Uhr-Henry | RUC | 99.1 | 26/2 |
2026 – Serong has had an excellent year and been unlucky to not get a game averaging 21 touches, 7 marks and over 5 intercepts. Lewis is a talented player returning from injury, he kicked 10 goals in his 3 games but won’t be rookie priced next year. Ryan has gone under the radar a bit but has had a good season. Scaife has kicked 22 goals after being a mid-season draftee last year.
Thank you all for reading the Reserves Review in 2025, part 2 of the recap will be out at the usual time next Wednesday.