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AFL Draft Wrap: Saints prospect 'Biggy' on the rise after strong showing

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

Stepping up as the No. 1 ruckman after Bailey Schmidt left the field early, Bigoa Nyuon more than filled the void. The younger brother of former Essendon rookie Gach, 'Biggy' is a St Kilda Next-Generation Academy prospect with the capability of filling a key position post or pushing through the ruck.

Biggy's brother Gach was a high leaping, athletic tap ruckman who appeared unstoppable at centre bounces but offered little else. While Biggy isn't as tall at 196cm, what makes him intriguing is the fact he can play through the ruck and outleap opponents to tap the ball to advantage, as he showed in Dandenong's loss to Gippsland. But he also has good agility, leads up at the ball, has the capability to push forward and hit the scoreboard or play in defence. The athletic tall managed 14 disposals, six marks and a game high 22 hitouts.

Having been asked to play all over the field and given little opportunity to gain continuity in one position, there is an untapped feel to Biggy who has a game most comparable to Swans defender Aliir Aliir.

Likely to be selected late draft or as a rookie by St Kilda, Biggy has looked most at home in defence where his combination of athleticism which will help him shut down opposition forwards, reading of the drop of the ball and intercept marking suggest he has significant scope to develop.

NAB League

Leading the way through Gippsland's midfield, Sam Flanders won the ground balls, burst out of stoppages, placed kicks out in front of targets to lead onto, demonstrated composure, evasion and precise execution under pressure and gathered the ball cleanly off the bounce. The powerful midfielder secured 19 disposals, 13 contested possessions and five clearances.

Splitting his time between midfield and defence, Hayden Young was Dandenong's best with 26 disposals, 13 contested possessions, five tackles, eight clearances and one goal. Young won first possession at stoppages, hit meaningful targets by foot and marked strongly both one-on-one and aerially. Young's best play was a desperate final-quarter smother diving onto an opponent's boot in a great showing of courage, which he followed up with a tackle on the second effort.

Performing strongly for Dandenong, Ned Cahill won first possession at stoppages, connected on some important tackles and provided a burst of speed out of stoppages. His evasion, agility and the way he turned opponents inside out were highlights. The nimble midfielder contributed produced 23 disposals, five clearances, six inside 50s and two score assists.

Playing a central midfield role for Murray in their win against Western, potential top-five choice Lachlan Ash collected 26 disposals, four marks (two contested), six clearances, one goal and two score assists.

Performing strongly for Western through the ruck, athletic overager Will Kennedy posted 19 disposals and 52 hitouts. What makes Kennedy intriguing is his mobility and the way he covers the ground and finds the football.

Working hard and covering a lot of ground for Greater Western Victoria in two-point loss to Calder, Jay Rantall was his side's most prolific through the midfield with 35 disposals, 13 contested possessions, eight marks, eight tackles and seven clearances.

Coming off an impressive month of football, Jackson Davies is one of the in-form players in the NAB League. His early reading of the ball in flight and intercept marking has been as good as any in this draft pool and is a translatable strength. The Northern captain posted 24 disposals, 10 marks (three contested) and six rebound 50s for Northern in their loss to Bendigo. While not invited to the national combine, Davies is likely to receive strong draft consideration on the back of his recent performances.

Running hard and using the ball cleanly, Sandringham overager Angus Hanrahan was his side's best for the second successive week. Featuring prominently for his side in their win against Tasmania, Hanrahan amassed 33 disposals, seven marks, five inside 50s and three goals.

Leading the way around the ball for Sandringham, Ryan Byrnes did his best work at stoppages with 28 disposals, 15 contested possessions, eight clearances, nine inside 50s and one goal.

Leading up at the ball strongly and hurting the opposition with his work by foot, Miles Bergman was one of Sandringham's most influential. The damaging forward posted 19 disposals, 11 contested possessions, eight marks (two contested), five clearances, one goal and four score assists.

SANFL

League

Continuing his strong vein of form, Dylan Stephens is looking more confident with each League game. The hard-running midfielder amassed 26 disposals, eight tackles, five inside 50s and one goal for Norwood in their convincing win against North Adelaide.

Reserves

Classy outside midfielder Joshua Shute played a pivotal role for Sturt in their two-point win against Woodville-West Torrens with 25 disposals, eight marks and six inside 50s.

Under-18s

After showing promise during the Under-18 Championships as a marking presence inside 50m, Daniel Sladojevic continues to go from strength to strength. The strong-marking key forward secured 15 disposals, eight marks (six contested), six tackles and six goals for South Adelaide in a convincing win against Glenelg.

NEAFL

Livewire forward Malcolm Rosas Jr showed flashes of brilliance around goal for NT Thunder in their seven-point win against Redland with 16 disposals and two goals.

Gold Coast Academy forward Hewago Paul-Oea furthered his draft chances, impacting the game for Gold Coast in their convincing win against GWS with 24 disposals, 10 marks and two goals.

Gold Coast's highest rated Academy prospect Connor Budarick, who was MVP of the Academy series, contributed strongly with 19 disposals and five marks.

Proving a highlight around goal, Joshua Gore was damaging with every touch, managing 10 disposals and four goals for Gold Coast.

AFL Draft Combine Invite List

NSW/ACT
Liam Delahunty (GWS Academy) Tom Green (GWS Academy)

NORTHERN TERRITORY
Malcolm Rosas (NT Thunder)

QUEENSLAND
Connor Budarick (Gold Coast Academy) Noah Cumberland (Brisbane Lions Academy) Will Martyn (Brisbane Lions Academy)

SOUTH AUSTRALIA
Will Day (West Adelaide) Karl Finlay (North Adelaide) Will Gould (Glenelg) Dyson Hilder (North Adelaide) Jackson Mead (Woodville-West Torrens) Josh Morris (Woodville-West Torrens) Callum Park (Glenelg) Kysaiah Pickett (Woodville-West Torrens) Harry Schoenberg (Woodville-West Torrens) Josh Shute (Sturt) Dylan Stephens (Norwood) Cameron Taheny (Norwood)

TASMANIA
Mitch O'Neill (Tasmania Devils)

VIC COUNTRY
Lachlan Ash (Murray Bushrangers) Riley Baldi (Gippsland Power) Ned Cahill (Dandenong Stingrays) Darcy Chirgwin (Sandringham Dragons) Jesse Clark (Geelong Falcons) Charlie Comben (Gippsland Power) Sam De Koning (Dandenong Stingrays) Thomson Dow (Bendigo Pioneers) Sam Flanders (Gippsland Power) Brodie Kemp (Bendigo Pioneers) Flynn Perez (Bendigo Pioneers) Fraser Phillips (Gippsland Power) Jay Rantall (GWV Rebels) Brady Rowles (Bendigo Pioneers) Caleb Serong (Gippsland Power) Brock Smith (Gippsland Power) Cooper Stephens (Geelong Falcons) Isaac Wareham (GWV Rebels) Cody Weightman (Dandenong Stingrays) Lachlan Williams (Dandenong Stingrays) Hayden Young (Dandenong Stingrays)

VIC METRO
Noah Anderson (Oakleigh Chargers) Jack Bell (Sandringham Dragons) Miles Bergman (Sandringham Dragons) Trent Bianco (Oakleigh Chargers) Nick Bryan (Oakleigh Chargers) Louis Butler (Sandringham Dragons) Ryan Byrnes (Sandringham Dragons) Darcy Cassar (Western Jets) Josh Honey (Western Jets) Emerson Jeka (Western Jets) Harrison Jones (Calder Cannons) Oscar Lewis (Sandringham Dragons) Finn Maginness (Sandringham Dragons) Jack Mahony (Sandringham Dragons) Fischer McAsey (Sandringham Dragons) Daniel Mott (Calder Cannons) Sam Philp (Northern Knights) Hugo Ralphsmith (Sandringham Dragons) Matt Rowell (Oakleigh Chargers) Cooper Sharman (Oakleigh Chargers) Ryan Sturgess (Northern Knights) Dylan Williams (Oakleigh Chargers) Josh Worrell (Sandringham Dragons)

WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Riley Garcia (Swan Districts) Mitch Georgiades (Subiaco) Liam Henry (Claremont) Jai Jackson (East Fremantle) Luke Jackson (East Fremantle) Callum Jamieson (Claremont) Ben Johnson (West Perth) Ronin O'Connor (Claremont) Jake Pasini (Swan Districts) Jaxon Prior (West Perth) Trent Rivers (East Fremantle) Deven Robertson (Perth) Trey Ruscoe (East Fremantle) Jeremy Sharp (East Fremantle) Elijah Taylor (Perth) Chad Warner (East Fremantle)