Top AFL young talent aplenty as Tasmania eyes players for 2028

They are the crop of talented players that incoming AFL team the Tasmania Devils already has a very close eye on.

Many of the leading draft prospects for 2027 can be snapped up by the Devils as early as this year under the club’s list-build rules.

Tasmania has the ability to sign as many as a dozen fresh faces across this year and next, plucking players out of next year’s draft pool* before the Devils kick off their first AFL season in 2028.

Eligible players must be turning 17 this year or turn 16 in the first half of this year.

“Those boys become their target, where they can sign up to 12 over that period of time,” AFL talent ambassador and draft expert Kevin Sheehan said.

“That’s if the players agree. In some cases they’re part of other academies and might choose to stay there and pursue that, or they can pursue an open draft*. So that option’s there for those boys that are identified by Tassie as fairly elite*.”

WHO THE DEVILS HAVE AN EYE ON
Tasmania put together a list of 22 “players of interest” earlier this year, but not all of them will be putting up their hands to join the new club in Hobart.

Among next year’s top draft prospects are some exciting father-son and Academy prospects, who already have links to other clubs.

The Herald Sun sat down with AFL talent ambassador Kevin Sheehan to discuss his top 30 draft prospects for 2027. Here is a selection of those picks.

JAMES ARTEMIS
Club: Western Australia/ East Fremantle/Hammond Park Hurricanes FC
Height: 177 cm
DOB: 05/02/09

Bio: James won Western Australia’s MVP award and earned All-Australian honours at the under-16 national championships in 2025 after averaging 17.3 disposals* and applying great pressure on the opposition with 8.7 tackles per game. James also featured in nine WAFL Colts games as a 16-year-old last year, averaging 11.4 disposals and 3.6 tackles. He started 2026 in good form, averaging 17.3 disposals and 3.3 tackles from his first three games for East Fremantle.

JAKE BEAMS
Club: Tasmania/Glenorchy FC/St Virgils College
Height: 181 cm
DOB: 22/12/09

Bio: Jake has gone on to start this season playing as a high halfback at under-18 level, where his attacking run and precision kicking have been put to great use. He has been in outstanding form, averaging 29.3 disposals (79 per cent efficiency) and kicking three goals across his four matches in the Talent League. Jake is the son of former Melbourne star Ben Beams, who featured in the 2000 Grand Final for the Demons and was both a star player and coach at state level, having been inducted into Tasmania’s Australian football Hall of Fame.

KOBY BEWICK
Club: Victoria Metro/Calder Cannons/Strathmore FC
Height: 178 cm
DOB: 10/01/09

Bio: Koby was a star player throughout the under-16 national championships in 2025, averaging 23 disposals (71 per cent efficiency), eight inside-50s* and 2.3 rebound 50s*, highlighting his work on both sides of the ball as he earned All-Australian honours. He is the son of two-time Essendon premiership star Darren Bewick, who played 238 games for the Bombers and has been a successful development coach at youth level over many years.

TAJ GARRETT
Club: South Australia/Sturt/Unity College
Height: 183 cm
DOB: 05/01/09

Bio: An excellent ball-winning midfielder who can play on the inside or outside, Taj uses his high footy IQ and work ethic to win the ball consistently whenever he plays. He starred for his state throughout the under-16 national championships last year, averaging 27.7 disposals (13 contested), 4.7 clearances and 2.7 tackles as he used his elite running capacity to get from contest to contest. Taj was rewarded with All-Australian honours at the tournament.

DUKE MARSHALL-ORR
Club: NSW-ACT/Sydney Swans Academy/Coffs Harbour FC
Height: 186 cm
DOB: 03/04/09

Bio: A powerful medium forward who is both strong in the air and quick off the mark, Duke also has natural goal sense. Those traits were all on display during the under-16 national championships last year, where he averaged 18 disposals (10 contested), 6.3 marks and two goals per game to be among the Swans’ best players in each game and earn All-Australian honours.

TAJ MURRAY
Club: Queensland/Gold Coast Suns Academy/ Burleigh Bombers FC/Palm Beach Currumbin SHS
Height: 181 cm
DOB: 09/02/09

Bio: An extremely talented midfielder, Taj missed last year’s under-16 national championships through injury. However, he had shown enormous promise at the tournament in 2024, averaging 18.3 disposals (82 per cent efficiency) as a bottom-age under-16 player. Taj made a sound start to his bottom-age campaign this season, averaging 15.9 disposals across his first four matches in the Talent League. He is the younger brother of Jai Murray, who was selected by the Suns at pick 17 in the 2025 national draft.

ZEMES PILOT
Club: South Australia/South Adelaide/ Port Noarlunga FC
Height: 190 cm
DOB: 08/06/09

Bio: At the under-16 national championships, Zemes starred in South Australia’s narrow loss to Western Australia as well as its close win over Vic Country. He averaged 19 disposals (11 contested), 4.5 marks and kicked three goals across those two games, earning All-Australian honours despite missing the state’s third match with a calf injury. Zemes, who was awarded the AFL Life Members scholarship in 2025, is part of Port Adelaide’s Next Generation Academy program given his Indigenous and African-American descent.

LOUIS SALOPEK
Club: Victoria Country/Dandenong Stingrays/Beaconsfield FC
Height: 184 cm
DOB: 16/02/09

Bio: Louis topped off his development in his 16th year by featuring in three games at under-18 level for the Stingrays, averaging 11.7 disposals. He is the son of former Port Adelaide star Steven Salopek, who played 121 matches with the Power. Louis is therefore eligible to join Port Adelaide under father-son rules in 2027.

TEVITA RODAN
Club: Victoria Metro/Calder Cannons/Aberfeldie FC
Height: 180 cm
DOB: 18/02/09

Bio: Tevita played with energy and creativity throughout the under-16 national championships in 2025. Featuring in defensive and midfield roles, he averaged 20 disposals (7.7 contested), 3.3 clearances and four tackles on his way to earning All-Australian honours. Tevita has also starred for the AFL Multi-Cultural Academy in two matches against the AFL Indigenous Academy last year and earlier this year, averaging 27 disposals across those games. Tevita is the son of former Richmond and Port Adelaide star David Rodan, who played 185 AFL games. He is eligible to join Port Adelaide under the father-son rule in 2026, given his dad played 111 of his games for the Power.

POLL

GLOSSARY

• draft pool: all the eligible players available for selection by clubs in the yearly draft of new players
• open draft: being picked by any team rather than through the academy they are playing through
• elite: best of the best
• disposals: legally getting rid of the ball through a kick or handpass
• inside-50: a stat that measures the number of times a team moves the ball from the midfield into their attacking 50m arc
• rebound 50s: when a player or team moves the ball out of their defensive 50m arc and into the midfield

EXTRA READING
Tassie AFL deal’s devilish dilemma
Tasmania locks in first AFL recruit
Tassie storms into the AFL

QUICK QUIZ
1. How many people are on Tasmania’s “players of interest” list?
2. When will the Devils play their first season of AFL?
3. How many players can they draft each year until then?
4. What age restrictions are in place for players being drafted to the Devils?
5. How many players featured in the article are eligible to join certain clubs based on the father-son rule?

LISTEN TO THIS STORY

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Why an age limit?
Why do you think there is an age limit for players in the draft pool? List as many reasons as you can think of.

Time: Spend at least 10 minutes on this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Health and Physical Education

2. Extension
Many of these promising young players do not play for Tasmanian clubs. What do you think the Tassie Devils should do to make sure that the players can settle into the Club, and life in a new state with the support that they need? Write a report for the club that explains your ideas on this question.

Time: Spend at least 25 minutes on this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Health and Physical Education, Personal and Social Capability

VCOP ACTIVITY
Read with Kung Fu punctuation
Pair up with the article between you and stand up to make it easy to demonstrate your Kung Fu punctuation.

Practise reading one sentence at a time. Now read it again, while acting out the punctuation as you read.

Read and act three sentences before swapping with your partner.

Take two turns each.

Now ask your partner to read a sentence out loud while you try and act out the punctuation. Can you keep up? Swap over?

Try acting out two sentences – are you laughing yet?