AFL Draft Combine 2025: The biggest takeaways from the weekendJasper Chellappah
ESPN
Oct 6, 2025A star from the country has tightened his grip on the No. 1 pick mantle across the AFL Draft combine, while it was a big weekend for a pair of speedsters.
Eastern's Oskar Taylor continues to rise up boards after his scintillating finish to the season and now looms as a potential top 15 pick after dominating testing on Sunday. But he wasn't the combine king with an Oakleigh stud producing elite numbers to claim his own slice of combine history.
Prospects who didn't test included Dyson Sharp, Ollie Greeves, Dylan Patterson, Noah Hibbins-Hargreaves, Archie Ludowyke and Riley Onley through injury or illness.
You could also forgive Sullivan Robey for skipping testing given he played out the season with a fractured collarbone, but the bolter completed the 2km in 6:45 minutes and the 20m dash in 3.118 seconds as he solidifies his top 10 credentials.
2025's combine kingSam Grlj (pronounced Grill) didn't claim any combine titles but he proved himself as the premier athlete in this year's draft class.
On Friday, the dashing midfielder trailed only Jack Dalton in the 2km time trial at AIA Centre, breaking the line at 5:59 to sneak under the six-minute mark. It was a time that would have taken out the test in last year's stacked pool.
On Sunday, Grlj backed up his endurance feat with a fantastic 2.931 seconds in the 20m sprint. No prospect has combined for a sub-six minute 2km and sub-three second 20m sprint at the national combine in the past two years.
His acceleration is backed up on-field -- Grlj takes on all-comers and burns away from his direct opponents in space. Clubs have had concerns around his contested work and damage by foot but Grlj's athletic profile and attacking mentality give him massive upside in time.
Others to impress across the days of testing included Ranges halfback Oskar Taylor who blitzed the 20m sprint with 2.823 seconds and finished second in the agility test, behind teammate Lachy Dovaston whose 7.794 places him equal-third all-time.
West Coast NGA prospect Tylah Williams finished top five in both the 20m sprint and agility test to show off his athleticism. Cooper Duff-Tytler was impressive with a 2.922 second 20m sprint, rangy tall Louis Emmett flew through the 2km in 6:07 minutes, and South Australian key defender Blake Thredgold continued his rise up boards with a strong showing across the weekend.
The draft's most polarising prospectThere have been few more polarising prospects to come through the pathways in recent years than Dyson Sharp.
Some clubs have the SA captain right in that top echelon of talent after winning the Larke Medal at the championships, averaging 27 disposals and 1.3 goals as his state went undefeated. It's his combination of leadership, character and elite contested ball-winning that clubs love, but his detractions mean there's a wide range in which clubs would take the midfielder.
Sharp's athletic profile is concerning for clubs and he wasn't able to allay those fears this weekend after not testing at the combine. He has great strength through the hips but it's his speed and transition running outside of the contest that has other clubs overlooking him in top 10 discussions.
Despite producing one of the best junior careers in recent memory, there's a chance that Sharp slides past West Coast, Richmond and Essendon at the top of the board and into the next rung of clubs.
Given the shallower nature of 2025's crop compared to the past two seasons, it's difficult to see Sharp sliding too far. But he may become a needs-based decision with West Coast and GWS two such clubs looking for depth through the midfield.
https://www.espn.com.au/afl/story/_/id/46493202/afl-draft-combine-2025-sam-grlj-willem-duursma-gold-coast-suns-dyson-sharp
