By Aaron Cordy
EVERY November, hundreds of talented young Aussie Rules Footballers eagerly await draft night in bated anticipation, hoping to hear their name called out by an AFL club to make their dream of becoming an AFL footballer a reality.
The 2025 Telstra AFL Draft will be held over two nights on Wednesday and Thursday, November 19 and 20, followed by the rookie and pre-season drafts. Murray Bushranger and Shepparton United young gun, Riley Onley, is this year’s top prospect to come out of the region.
Riley is a beast of a midfielder, standing at 195cm, who uses his height and reach to excel around stoppages and has a good burst of speed to break the game open. He is known as a powerful player who covers the ground extremely well.
A graduate of the Marsh AFL National Academy, he won All-Australian honours this year, though he missed testing at the Draft Combine due to a hamstring injury.
Another AFL Draft hopeful is Jessie Johnstone from Tongala, who played for the Bendigo Pioneers this year. An athletic wingman/defender, Jessie is extremely well balanced and uses his speed, neat left-foot kicking skills, and outside run to penetrate inside 50m. His standout performance was against the Murray Bushrangers in Round 17 when he picked up 33 disposals.
Other Murray Bushrangers to watch out for are Zac Harding from Wodonga, Liam Hetherton from Albury, and Harry Dean and Harrison Wilson from Lavington.
