The AFL silly season for early 2025 predictions is in full swing — meaning optimism for fans of all 18 clubs should be at an off-season high.
From high-end draft picks to maturing youngsters, every team boasts players ready to blossom after another gruelling summer of pre-season under their belts.
Foxfooty.com.au predicts the next wave of breakout stars ahead of a new campaign.
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ADELAIDE CROWS
Riley Thilthorpe
If Thilthorpe can get through the 2025 season unscathed and free of injury, he is as good a chance as any player on this list to turn heads like never before. A torn lateral meniscus reduced the West Adelaide product to just six full games this year, but he still managed to average more than two goals a game in a side that didn’t contend for the finals. With next season seemingly the last for veteran star Taylor Walker, Thilthorpe looms as the long-term replacement alongside the more mature and recently re-signed Darcy Fogarty. At just 22 years of age and with his physical strength as good as any key forward in the competition, the 53-gamer is all but certain to impose himself next year.
BRISBANE LIONS
Will Ashcroft
It’s genuinely remarkable to think that a Norm Smith medallist is still yet to have a breakout season, but here we are. Granted, Ashcroft’s first two seasons in the league have hardly been the norm, but 2025 is set to be his first full year at the top level. The 20-year-old played 18 games in his debut season before he ruptured his ACL, returning in Round 16 this season — and hardly skipping a beat, averaging 22.9 disposals per game across 13 senior matches. His 30 disposals and a goal — for already the third time in his short career — gave him best-on-ground honours in the grand final, but if his ceiling is as high as most think it is, that sort of output will become what we expect of him on a weekly basis.