RANKING THE YOUNG CORES OF ALL 18 AFL CLUBS IN 2024
BY SEN
30 November 2023
Which AFL teams have the best young cores in the league?
Some teams like North Melbourne, Gold Coast and Fremantle have a glut of players 23 and under on their list, while the likes of Geelong, Carlton and Collingwood less so given where they are at in their premiership windows.
We’ve gone through each team’s core of players 23 and under, ranked their top five and then ranked every team from 1 to 18 based on the above.
Our ranking from 1 to 18 of all the young cores listed above. The top fives were weighted heavily in these rankings, though depth 23-and-under was also considered.
NOTE: We are only including players who are 23 as of January 1st, 2024
1. Sydney
2. Gold Coast
3. Port Adelaide
4. Fremantle
5. Collingwood
6. North Melbourne
7. Adelaide
8. Hawthorn
9. St Kilda
10. GWS Giants
11. W. Bulldogs
12. Brisbane
13. Essendon
14. Geelong
15. Melbourne
16. Carlton
17. West Coast.
18.
PLAYERS UNDER 24: Jack Ross (23), Rhyan Mansell (23), Jacob Koschitzke (23), Samson Ryan (22), Noah Cumberland (22), Matt Coulthard (22), Thomson Dow (22), Hugo Ralphsmith (22), Jacob Bauer (21), James Trezise (21), Maurice Rioli (21), Tyler Sonsie (20), Sam Banks (20), Josh Gibcus (20), Tom Brown (20), Judson Clarke (20), Steely Green (19), Kaleb Smith (19), Seth Campbell (18), Kane McAuliffe (18) and Liam Fawcett (18)
TOP 5: Josh Gibcus, Jack Ross, Samson Ryan, Judson Clarke, Thomson Dow.
Richmond’s youth stocks are quite hard to decipher.
The success of the club in recent times has somewhat stymied the development of a large chunk of their youngsters which has made it a tricky task in pulling together their top five.
While Noah Balta (who just ticked over 24 in October) finished seventh in the Jack Dyer Medal in 2023, their top best and fairest result of players under the age of 24 was Rhyan Mansell back in 20th spot.
Star Shai Bolton is also outside this list as he’s almost 25.
Jack Ross leads the way from a games perspective with 63. He showed a fair bit last year and is the player from this group that simply has to go to the next level in 2024.
There is a group of players around the 20-22 age bracket who could help the Tigers rebuild on the run, highlighted by Josh Gibcus who is the future of the club. His fellow 2021 draftees Tom Brown, Tyler Sonsie, Sam Banks and Judson Clarke hold the key to any success that comes in the next few years.
The Tigers would love to see the likes of Maurice Rioli Jnr, Thomson Dow, Samson Ryan, Noah Cumberland and Hugo Ralphsmith come on in 2024, while getting more games into shrewd acquisitions Matt Coulthard, Jacob Bauer, James Trezise and off-season recruit Jacob Koschitzke.
It’s a time of change for the Tigers under a new coach in Adem Yze. They have some top-end stars outside of this age scale, but just need plenty of contributions from this emerging group.
League ranking: 18th
- Andrew Slevison
https://www.sen.com.au/news/2023/11/30/ranking-the-young-cores-of-all-18-afl-clubs-in-2024/
