Herald Sun: AFL's 40 Best Rising Stars Under 24 Years Of Age Ranked (as of September 1st 2024)

[Meteoric Rise]

You want to compare a 24 year old Jack Ross, who is an inside midfielder / utility with a 20 year old wingman? What exactly would that accomplish? Other than indicating Hollands is statistically equivalent to Ross despite playing in a leaner position with more responsibility and being 4 years younger?

You don't know your footy players too well. Ross was 22yo in every game he played in 2023. He attended all of about 6 centre bounces for the season, because he played...wing.

But come on, you put Ross's "below average" stats up in his injury ravaged 2024 season when he never played a game older than 23, despite you claiming he was 24 years old.

Now put up his 22yo season and compare it like for like with Dempsey 2024, Cottrell(who was actually 24yo in every game) 2024, O Hollands 2024. All wingmen more or less.

Or is there a reason you are not so hasty in supplying these comparisons? I presume you had a sneaky peak and thought "oh shit." So give s th stats that made you think "oh shit."

 

[FlowersByIrene]

You don't know your footy players too well. Ross was 22yo in every game he played in 2023. He attended all of about 6 centre bounces for the season, because he played...wing.

But come on, you put Ross's "below average" stats up in his injury ravaged 2024 season when he never played a game older than 23, despite you claiming he was 24 years old.

Now put up his 22yo season and compare it like for like with Dempsey 2024, Cottrell(who was actually 24yo in every game) 2024, O Hollands 2024. All wingmen more or less.

Or is there a reason you are not so hasty in supplying these comparisons? I presume you had a sneaky peak and thought "oh shit." So give s th stats that made you think "oh shit."

You're the only one talking about 2023.

 

[PhatBoy]

Blame Meow fapping over the 40th best young player in the AFl in 2024, "Big Moments" Dempsey, and trying to justify it on the basis he did better than the wooden spooner's best youngsters, most of whom(including Ross) missed most of 2024 injured.

This is literally after you brought up Ross beforehand

 

[Mr Meow]

This is literally after you brought up Ross beforehand

"Jack Ross: Best Young Player In The AFL? How A National Conspiracy Denied A Tiger Legend" by Meteoric Rise.

 

[Meteoric Rise]

This is getting really, really weird.

Nobody rates Jack Ross. 24 year old plodder with a ceiling of "solid, workmanlike depth".

At 21 and with his first full season in the seniors a resounding success, Dempsey has a lot more going for him.

Get over it and leave the thread. There likely won't be Tigers on this list for 3 more years.

You wanted to bring the Tigers youngsters into it. Now I give you one who lost most of the year injured but who has previously done some things "your latest" Dempsey doesn't look like matching or bettering and you are in panic mode.

Just admit you are fapping over a Cats player who has nothing to boast about over a Tiger player you rate as a plodder with a ceiling of "solid, workmanlike depth"

Ross finals v Dempsey against the top 4 teams bar Geelong makes a very interesting comparison imo. Similar role. It just shows how distorted supporters can get when assessing their own young players before they are actually proven.

 

[Meteoric Rise]

This is literally after you brought up Ross beforehand

I was answering Meow's point about Richmond should have <24 yo players in the top 50 player ratings. Ross is a legitimate example of a player who would likely have been, and it is based on solid relevant evidence(he did it last year when not disrupted so much by injury).

If you Cats supporters don't want to read about Richmond players, then don't bring them up in the conversation.

 

[Meteoric Rise]

"Jack Ross: Best Young Player In The AFL? How A National Conspiracy Denied A Tiger Legend" by Meteoric Rise.

Now I know you are in panic mode, you are straw-manning to try to divert.

 

[AlwaysHawks15]

This is a great top 10, hard to argue with any of these

10th. Will Day
9th. Max Holmes
8th. Caleb Serong
7th. Jamarra Ugle-Hagan
6th. Chad Warner
5th. Jason Horne-Francis
4th. Harry Sheezel
3rd. Errol Gulden
2nd. Zak Butters
1st. Nick Daicos

Day will be higher next year if he can stay on the park.

 

[Meteoric Rise]

You're the only one talking about 2023.

Errr...if I was talking about 2023 and you thought it wasn't relevant, why did you respond to me?

And where are the 2024 stats for O Hollands, M Cottrell and Dempsey? Why won't you post those?

 

[Mr Meow]

You wanted to bring hte Tigers youngsters into it. Now I give you one who lost most of the year injured but who has previously done some things "your latest" Dempsey doesn't look like matching or bettering and you are in panic mode.

Just admit you are fapping over a Cats player who has nothing to boast about over a Tiger player you rate as a polder with a ceiling of "solid, workmanlike depth"

Ross finals v Dempsey against the top 4 teams bar Geelong makes a very interesting comparison imo. Similar role. It just shows how distorted supporters can get when assessing theor own young players before they are actually proven.

"Panic mode", yep that must be it. Apologies for not gushing over a player who in his best season, as a 23 year old, received 1 coaches vote. And this is your best example of Richmond having any under 24s worthy of this list. That is incredibly dire. Thank you for so neatly illustrating my point.

 

[Mr Meow]

Now I know you are in panic mode, you are straw-manning to try to divert.

*Mocking to ridicule delusions

 

[M Malice]

Kai Lohmann rising with a bullet.

 

[Meteoric Rise]

"Panic mode", yep that must be it. Apologies for not gushing over a player who in his best season, as a 23 year old, received 1 coaches vote. And this is your best example of Richmond having any under 24s worthy of this list. That is incredibly dire. Thank you for so neatly illustrating my point.

You brought Richmond's young players up, not me. I am just correcting your misconceptions about Ross, who actually has a pretty tidy record in the games that have mattered mostin his career, and actually had a very decent season in the one year he has been able to get his time on ground up to near full scale. You didn't know any of that when you made your statement about Richmond youth that triggered the conversation. If you had anything about you you would just say that and move on. It is not like it is important.

 

[Mr Meow]

You brought Richmond's young players up, not me. I am just correcting your misconceptions about Ross, who actually has a pretty tidy record in the games that have mattered mostin his career, and actually had a very decent season in the one year he has been able to get his time on ground up to near full scale. You didn't know any of that when you made your statement about Richmond youth that triggered the conversation. If you had anything about you you would just say that and move on. It is not like it is important.

Ross is your best 18-24 year old. He is sort of okay. Moving on.

 

[Meteoric Rise]

Ross is your best performed 18-24 year old. He is sort of okay. Moving on.

I fixed that for you as they are two different concepts.

Let's see how many top 30 picks we get for all the 25-27yo's you weren't so taken by not so long back. The market for those players will be telling for our medium to longer term future. And also see how our young guys look if the team becomes a bit more stable and we can normalise our injury issues. Only then can we properly judge Richmond's youth.

 

[Mr Meow]

I fixed that for you as they are two different concepts.

Let's see how many top 30 picks we get for all the 25-27yo's you weren't so taken by not so long back. The market for those players will be telling for our medium to longer term future. And also see how our young guys look if the team becomes a bit more stable and we can normalise our injury issues. Only then can we properly judge Richmond's youth.

Nah we can judge them now, and hope in a few years they are better.

Starting from scratch with a handful of 18 year olds is the first step of the rebuild.

Good luck!

 

[Meteoric Rise]

Nah we can judge them now, and hope in a few years they are better.

Starting from scratch with a handful of 18 year olds is the first step of the rebuild.

Good luck!

Lol it might be if we hadn't taken 5 players in the top 30 of the 2021 draft. And if Balta, Mansell, Ross, Maurice Jnr, of our under 25s were also not already entrenched in the best 22 at the club. And if Lefau, Campbell, Miller, had also not looked comfortable at the level. And several others like Ralphsmith, McAuliffe, Green, Bauer hadn't shown significant promise in their roles. And if our 8-10 round 1 picks in the next 2 drafts weren't going to be playing with up to 8 multiple flag players to start their careers.

You are the Richmond Chicken Little.

 

[Mr Meow]

Lol it might be if we hadn't taken 5 players in the top 30 of the 2021 draft. And if Balta, Mansell, Ross, Maurice Jnr, of our under 25s were also not already entrenched in the best 22 at the club. And if Lefau, Campbell, Miller, had also not looked comfortable at the level. And several others like Ralphsmith, McAuliffe, Green, Bauer hadn't shown significant promise in their roles. And if our 8-10 round 1 picks in the next 2 drafts weren't going to be playing with up to 8 multiple flag players to start their careers.

You are the Richmond Chicken Little.

Good luck with that.

This thread is for under 24s who are actually good.

Come back in a year if anything changes.

 

[Meteoric Rise]

Good luck with that.

This thread is for under 24s who are actually good.

Come back in a year if anything changes.

Good luck to you too because Geelong does not have a single one who has nailed down a full time key position like inside mid, key defence or key forward. And you won't have the draft picks to get the players who are a high likelihood to nail those spots. Gulp.

 

[Mr Meow]

Good luck to you too because Geelong does not have a single one who has nailed down a full time key position like inside mid, key defence or key forward. And you won't have the draft picks to get the players who are a high likelihood to nail those spots. Gulp.

Blah blah blah.

40/18 = 2.2 players expected per club. Geelong is doing fine with 3 players in this list. Humphries finished top 5 in first year players, Ollie Henry has 73 goals (and counting) over the past 2 seasons, Dempsey won the Rising Star, Neale is going at 1.6 goals per game in 2024 and Holmes is a good shot at winning a B&F in a top 4 team.

By the way, SDK is used wherever we need him (KPD or ruck), Bruhn is a first choice midfielder and Neale has overtaken Hawkins. Conway was best 22 before injury. Try again.

 

[bluespooner]

Exactly. I'm glad someone gets it.

Also... you left out Mills & Rampe

Theres too many swans players.

 

[Meteoric Rise]

Blah blah blah.

40/18 = 2.2 players expected per club. Geelong is doing fine with 3 players in this list. Humphries finished top 5 in first year players, Ollie Henry has 73 goals (and counting) over the past 2 seasons, Dempsey won the Rising Star, Neale is going at 1.6 goals per game in 2024 and Holmes is a good shot at winning a B&F in a top 4 team.

By the way, SDK is used wherever we need him (KPD or ruck), Bruhn is a first choice midfielder and Neale has overtaken Hawkins. Conway was best 22 before injury. Try again.

The problm is when we scratch below the surface:

Holmes is having to be accommodated to his advantage and is not a full time inside mid at this stage. He is playing really well, but is not yet shouldering the full burden you will need for your midfield to get competitve against the best.

Dekoning was struggling as a key defender before being moved to the ruck where his only high player rating came against his brother, who absolutely smashed him and got 7 coaches votes. Dekoning I would say was a net loser for you this year on him v opponent basis. He is 23 and got 8 coaches votes, the measure you were happily using to judge players before. He conceded 7 to his opponent in just 1 game. He got 7 coaches votes in 1 match and 1 coaches vote in his last 37 matches beside that.

Oli Henry's 73 goals sounds impressive until you realise that is from 43 games and he did almost nothing else and was playing deep forward for a high scoring team all that time. He rates way down the list of AFL forwards.

Dempsey Rising Star doesn't even need any explanation from me, he is max age and rated around the 15th best player 21 or under in a year where everything has gone smoothly for him. If he improves he will be genuinely good. If this is his level then he is nothing to write home about.

Bruhn is indeed a 1st choice midfielder for you sometimes, but he is also probably losing his position for you at this stage.

Neale is 22 and is doing ok but doing little more than showing some promise. He is outside the top 120 rated players 24 or under this year. Overtaking Hawkins, you say that as if it is something. This is not peak Hawkins, this is 36yo cooked Hawkins who has missed most of the season injured.

Conway played 5 games and whilst showing promise, you are a long way off claiming him as a player who can win their position long term. He won his position twice, once when McInerney went off early injured. Once against Meek who destroyd him in the hitouts but for some reason did nothing else of use. No different from what we expect from almost any promising 21yo ruck, but also nothing to write home about.

So from your exhaustive list you probably have Holmes and Dempsey winning their positions this year. Both have had totally uninterrupted seasons. If we have to wait until the rest are 24+ before they start winning their positions, well this says they are no different from anyone else's young players.

 

[SC_Power]

AFL Player Ratings for 2024 season only puts players turning 24 this year or younger in the following order(only those who played 10+ games included):

1. Serong 16.99
2. N Daicos 16.8(not number 1, in a tight cluster of 4 near the top)
3. Butters 16.74
4. Rankine 16.64(top forward)
5. Rowell 16.15
6. Young 16.14
7. Anderson 15.77
8. Warner 15.45
9. Sheezel 15.21
10. Gulden 14.96(Top non inside-mid though h attends 36% centre bounces)
11. Newcombe 14.84
12. Flanders 14.7
13. Holmes 14.6
14. T Green 13.99(career high 15.43 2023)
15. Walsh 13.72(career high 14.02 2021)
16. Rowbottom 13.57
17. Blakey 13.41(top genuine defender)
18. Jackson 13.12(top ruck/forward)
19. N Martin 12.73
20. Durham 12.64
21. Wardlaw 12.26
22. Horne 12.2
23. Rozee 11.91
24. T Powell 11.72
25. K Pickett 11.70
26. Wang-Milera 11.55
27. D'Ambrosio 11.44
28. Weddle 11.41(top player designated key position - hybrid?)
29. Caldwell 11.32
30. H Reid 11.28
31. Day 11.17
32. Idun 11.04
33. Rivers 11.03
34. J Treacy 10.68(top genuine key position)
35. Soligo 10.54
36. Wilmott 10.53
37. J McInerney 10.4
38. J Clark 10.29
39. L Henry 10.23
40. M Keane 10.11
41. Darcy Jones 10.04
42. Dempsey 9.99
43. E Holland 9.91
44. Sam Darcy 9.69
45. Rachele 9.52
46. J Jeffrey 9.49
47. M Bergman 9.43
48. Comben 9.9
49. Ash 9.38
50. Bruhn 9.36

Some notables not in top 50

68. Weightman 8.58
89. B Hill 7.86
94. C McKercher 7.61
101. L Mcdonald 7.28
112. J Ginnivan 6.97


Rucks

1. L Jackson 13.12
2. B Williams 8.78

No other ruck who qualifies by age has played 10 games+

Key Position Players

1. Weddle 11.41
2. Treacy 10.68
3. Keane 10.11
4. Sam Darcy 9.69
5. Comben 9.40
6. S DeKoning 9.31
7. Worrell 9.19
8. M Andrew 8.65
9. B Kemp 7.98
10. Georgiades 7.58

Notable omissions from top 10:

11. Log Mcdonald 7.28
13. J Hagan 7.02
16. B King 6.78
19. Van Rooyen 6.41
20. M King 6.39
21. O Henry 6.16
22. Cadman 6.15
29. Amiss 5.56
30. N Caddy 5.5
31. C Dear 5.43
33. J Walter 2.73(he is the last of the qualifiers.)

Not your ranking i know but
Yeah I’d agree, Jason Horne Francis not in the top 20 of an U 24 list is about right.
Really needs to lift his game to be considered a good enough AFL footballer to be alongside such luminaries as Durham, Holmes and Newcombe.

 

[OnceWeWereKings]

Errr...if I was talking about 2023 and you thought it wasn't relevant, why did you respond to me?

And where are the 2024 stats for O Hollands, M Cottrell and Dempsey? Why won't you post those?

Don’t Hollands & Ross’s career stats stack up very similarly? Despite Ross having four more seasons to improve upon them from that of a second year player?

 

[STPer18]

Can Jack Ross

5

Jack Ross

Age

24

Ht

187cm

Wt

87kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

16.2

4star

K

7.8

3star

HB

8.4

5star

M

2.2

2star

T

2.7

4star

CL

3.0

4star

D

13.7

3star

K

6.7

3star

HB

7.0

4star

M

1.7

2star

T

1.7

3star

CL

2.0

4star

D

17.8

5star

K

8.0

3star

HB

9.8

5star

M

2.6

3star

T

2.8

5star

CL

3.0

5star

be the GOAT?