The six emerging midfielders who could go to the next level in 2025

Which emerging players could go to the next level as a midfielder in 2025?

We’re looking at those who have played less than 80 AFL games (or the equivalent of around four seasons) and have the scope to really step up in a key midfield role this coming season.

Some of these players might have spent the majority of their time to date outside of the midfield but could potentially find themselves in the engine room more frequently. Some are genuine mids who we believe could truly pop.

See our six picks below:

Sam Durham (Essendon)

Sam Durham broke out during the 2024 season, emerging as one of Essendon’s very best footballers.

The 23-year-old finished third in the Crichton Medal behind Zach Merrett and Nic Martin which was just reward for a campaign that included 470 disposals (at an average of 21.4) as well as comfortable career highs in clearances (91), inside 50s (99) and tackles (97).

Durham, the 2021 mid-season draftee, is now 71 games into his AFL career and could be primed to go to another level in 2025.

He has All-Australian potential, according to Kane Cornes, and if his ascension continues this year then that certainly could be the case in the near future.

Andrew Slevison

George Wardlaw (North Melbourne)

We saw glimpses of what George Wardlaw is capable of during the course of last season.

The no.4 pick from the 2022 draft, who played eight times in his debut 2023 campaign, had Kangaroos fans gushing with excitement through 18 appearances in 2024.

Wardlaw attacks the ball with a maniacal ferocity, putting his head in holes that not many are willing to. He can win his own footy and tackles tenaciously.

His performance against Collingwood when he had 30 touches and was awarded two Brownlow votes is a sign of things to come.

It may be a little early to expect Wardlaw to truly go to the next level in just his third season, but from what we have witnessed so far he certainly has the scope to step up again.

Andrew Slevison

Trent Rivers (Melbourne)

Trent Rivers began to push into the midfield late in Melbourne’s 2024 season as several of the club’s key on-ballers went down with injury.

While he was performing well off half-back before that, he truly began to make a bigger impact once he was shifted to the contest. In his first 14 games of 2024, Rivers averaged 19.79 disposals and 1.2 clearances a game. In his last nine games, those stats ballooned to 23.66 disposals and 4.78 clearances per outing including 25 or more touches on five occasions.

Perhaps the best part of Rivers’ midfield shift is his ball use. While all of Christian Petracca, Clayton Oliver and Jack Viney are midfield guns, they sometimes lack the polish going inside 50 to really hurt teams. Rivers has that aspect of the game covered.

If he continues his upward trajectory around the ball from the back end of his 2024 season, 2025 might just be a real breakout campaign from the 2021 premiership player.

Lachlan Geleit

Jake Soligo (Adelaide)

A player who really began to show some impressive signs in 2024, Jake Soligo will become a genuine gun of the competition if he takes another step in 2025.

The soon-to-be 22-year-old saw big jumps in his per-game averages in disposals (16.5 in 2023 v 22.0 in 2024), inside 50s (2.1 in 2023 v 3.9 in 2024) and clearances (2.5 in 2023 v 3.9 in 2024).

If he can even come close to that kind of increase again this time around, he’ll quickly become one of Adelaide’s best players.

It’s not just on the stat sheet where Soligo shines either with his pace and hard-nosed efforts at the contest catching the eye.

The youngster had some huge games in 2024 including a 28-disposal, 10-tackle, 6-clearance outing in a Showdown win over the Power, a 30-disposal, 11-clearance effort against the Hawks as well as a 27-disposal, 8-tackle, 6-inside 50 effort against Melbourne.

If those performances come a little more regularly in 2025, which we expect they will, then Soligo will well and truly have emerged as a genuine midfield difference-maker at the top level.

Lachlan Geleit

Tanner Bruhn (Geelong)

Tanner Bruhn made a clear leap in his second season at the Cats, even if the statistics look relatively similar. He improved as a midfielder and clearly earned more trust from the Geelong hierarchy at centre bounces as the year went on.

The 22-year-old has a strong midfield core to learn from, with Bailey Smith now joining Patrick Dangerfield and last year’s breakout star Max Holmes.

He jumped from 2.9 clearances per game in 2023 to 5.1 in 2024, despite only averaging one more disposal per game, highlighting his improved work on the inside of stoppages.

Geelong will be hoping he can make another leap, find a bit more of the footy around the ground and become a star midfielder of the competition.

Nic Negrepontis

Will Ashcroft (Brisbane)

Expectations were middling for Will Ashcroft coming into his second season despite bursting onto the scene, simply because he was coming off a torn ACL.

And then he went and won a Norm Smith Medal in his 31st game of footy.

So naturally coming into his third season hopefully off a full pre-season, the sky is the limit for the 20-year-old.

Can he spike from 22 disposals per game, which he has averaged across his first two seasons, up into the high 20s? What kind of damage and spread can he provide around the ground?

Nobody would be surprised if Ashcroft jumps straight into All-Australian calculations in 2025.

Nic Negrepontis