Each week, ESPN.com.au AFL draft expert Chris Doerre casts his eye over the country's best junior footballers to give readers an early insight into the next generation of AFL stars.
As well as attending live games, Doerre pores through match vision, analyses the stats and talks to industry sources to ensure he can offer the most insightful draft analysis.
Aside from the weekly wraps, Doerre will also unveil his power rankings at the end of each month and as we get closer to November's national draft, Doerre will also predict who goes where with his annual phantom draft.
Player Focus
Potential No. 1 overall selection Sam Walsh starred in Geelong Falcon's convincing win against Eastern at the weekend. He amassed 38 disposals, 11 contested possessions, six marks, nine tackles, four clearances, six inside 50s, one goal and three score assists.
It has been an incredible start to the season for arguably this year's best midfield prospect, racking up 100 disposals from his first three TAC Cup matches. Walsh is a rare midfielder who is just as good around the ball as he is on the outside. His explosiveness, endurance and work rate really stand out.
Against Eastern, Walsh won the ground balls cleanly, exploded away from contests, spun out of the grasp of would-be tacklers and stopped on a dime to manoeuvre through traffic.
Walsh is a ready-to-go footballer and possesses a game not dissimilar to Collingwood star Adam Treloar. As with Treloar, the area for improvement in Walsh's is his kicking, as he is prone to missing targets by foot. Of Walsh's 31 kicks on Saturday, only 16 were effective. Many of his kicks were not placed precisely enough for his teammates to mark. On the season, only 35 of Walsh's 63 kicks have been effective.
TAC Cup
Stoppage specialist and ready-made midfielder Jack Bytel led the way for Calder in their win against Greater Western Victoria. The 188cm, 82kg midfielder amassed 37 disposals, 15 contested possessions, nine tackles, eight clearances, five inside 50s, one goal and three score assists.
In a breakout performance, underage prospect Jake Van Der Pligt was one of Gippsland's best players in their draw against Northern. The 188cm, 77kg midfielder gathered 27 disposals, 15 contested possessions, seven marks, 11 tackles and five clearances.
Spring-heeled ruckman Bailey Williams played a big part up forward in Dandenong's convincing win against Western. The 198cm, 95kg ruckman who will spend most of the season up forward for Dandenong due to their deep ruck division, amassed 17 disposals, 12 contested possessions, eight marks (four contested), seven goals and three score assists.
Putting forward a strong effort for Western through the midfield, Jaden Rice was one of his team's strongest performers. The 185cm, 88kg midfielder accumulated 28 disposals, 18 contested possessions, 10 clearances and four inside 50s.
Making a major difference at stoppages in Geelong's win against Eastern, Baxter Mensch, a 178cm, 70kg midfielder, collected a whopping 34 disposals, 23 contested possessions, 14 clearances and four inside 50s.
Overager Brayden Ham for the second consecutive week kicked three goals for Geelong while finishing amongst his side's best players. The classy 181cm, 69kg forward managed 16 disposals, six marks (one contested) and three goals. Ham at times looked like the most talented player on the field. At one stage he picked up the ball inside 50m off hands, hitting the ball at speed and converted a freakish checkside goal from the boundary on the move.
Ham's acceleration was exceptional, often receiving the ball at full flight and finishing on one occasion for a goal from 35m after a 15m run with ball in hand.
Ham's work in traffic also was noteworthy, stopping and propping unexpectedly, selling candy in traffic. He also possesses a promising mix of ground ball-winning and overhead marking including in one-on-one contests. Look for Ham to be one of this year's hidden draft gems if he can continue his impressive form.
Tapping the ball down to the advantage side for his teammates to win easily, Sam Conway was one of the tone setters early in the contest for Geelong. The 202cm, 89kg ruckman not only dominated with his tap work but also took a very strong mark out in front before playing on immediately and kicking the pin-point pass into the space out in front of a leading forward to lead onto. Conway secured 10 disposals, three marks (one contested), 36 hitouts and one goal in Geelong's win.
Promising midfielder Riley Collier-Dawkins after weeks of being forced to play a more outside role finally received more minutes around the ball which paid instant dividends. The 193cm, 88kg midfielder put forward his strongest performance for the season with 28 disposals, 12 contested possessions, five marks (one contested), four clearances and five inside 50s for Oakleigh in their win against Bendigo.
Also figuring prominently for Oakleigh was James Rowbottom, who was again strong at the coalface with 25 disposals, 18 contested possessions, eight tackles, eight clearances and seven inside 50s.
Making the most of Ben King's absence for Sandringham, Hudson Garoni took over for Murray in their win against Sandringham. The 195cm, 91kg key forward collected 20 disposals, nine marks (five contested) and eight goals.
APS
Helping Haileybury to a 156-point win against Geelong Grammar, Ben King starred up forward kicking 11 goals.
While 11 goals would normally be the major news coming out of a game, all the talk was around Victoria's top key forward prospect and Ben's twin brother, Max King. It has been confirmed that Max will miss the remainder of the season due to a torn ACL. Fortunately for King, it is unlikely to affect his draft chances with the imposing forward still expected to feature inside the top-10 on draft day given key forwards are drafted on who they will develop into four years from now rather than what they can do in their first season.
SANFL
League
Boosting his draft stocks with each passing week, ready-to-go midfielder Jackson Hately stood up for Central Districts in their win against Adelaide. The strongly build midfielder amassed 25 disposals, seven marks, six tackles and two goals.
Continuing his strong vein of form, Jack Lukosius, who may be the best draft prospect in modern times, starred in the Eagles convincing win against Glenelg. The top-rated prospect collected 19 disposals, 11 marks, four tackles, three goals and four behinds.
Damaging forward Izak Rankine in his return from a three-match suspension starred for West Adelaide in their two-point win against South Adelaide. Rankine secured 12 disposals, six marks and a match high four goals.
Reserves
Potential top-10 draft choice Connor Rozee performed solidly for North Adelaide in their loss to Norwood. The exciting midfielder gathered 18 disposals, four inside 50s and one goal.
WAFL
League
Vying for the title of the best player outside the AFL, Shane Nelson who has starred for several years in the WAFL, amassed a whopping 47 disposals, nine marks and one goal in West Perth's win against Swan Districts. This follows 41 disposals last week for the 24-year-old midfielder. Incredibly through the first four rounds Nelson is averaging a competition-high 41 possessions.
Colts
Demonstrating promising signs, Luke Foley led the way for Subiaco in their four-point win against Claremont. The 189cm, 73kg midfielder secured 36 disposals, six marks, 13 tackles, four inside 50s and two goals. Foley is averaging 27.5 disposals and 1.5 goals per game through his first four matches.
For Subiaco, Rylie Morgan performed strongly with 36 disposals, six marks and four inside 50s. The 181cm, 80kg midfielder is averaging 31 disposals, seven marks and one goal per game through his first three matches.
AFL Under-18 Academy Series
Starring for Sydney in their win against Greater Western Sydney, Nick Blakey was for the second week the most notable performer. He amassed 20 disposals and booted seven goals. In 2017 Blakey won the Harris Medal for the best player during the Under-18 Academy Series and early indications are that he should go back-to-back.
Younger brother of Greater Western Sydney Giant Harry Perryman, Edward Perryman, who is part of the GWS Academy, was named the Giants' best player with 15 disposals and one goal. Standing at 177cm and 60kg, Perryman is still in the early stages in his physical development. With promising speed and agility he appears a potentially developable player.