AFL draft watch: Clay Hall, Coen Livingstone, Presley Campbell, Lance Collard, Luke Kelly, Evan Smith and more

The West Australian’s draft writer Jordan McArdle takes a look at what’s happening with the best prospects from around the State. Peel-dominated State 18s squad revealed Reigning WAFL colts premiers Peel have the most players in the 32-player State 18s squad with six, headlined by 205cm first-round draft prospect Mitch Edwards and son of a gun Clay Hall who’s made an instant impact at league level. Hall, the 17-year-old son of former Geelong and West Coast forward Derek, joins Edwards, Ethan Logan, Reece Torrent and bottom-agers Bo Allan and Deian Roberts as the Thunder contingent. Hall’s breakout performance came in a losing cause against South Fremantle in round three, amassing an equal team-high 27 disposals to go with 12 contested possessions, five clearances and five tackles playing mainly inside mid. Peel senior coach Geoff Valentine likened the hard-working midfielder, who’s averaging 19 disposals and four tackles in across his three matches, to Fremantle gun and top-10 pick Neil Erasmus. Subiaco speedster Robert Hansen Jnr will get a golden opportunity to impress AFL scouts if he misses out in this month’s Mid-Season Draft after getting named as an over-ager. The 19-year-old small forward/winger, who has been linked with Fremantle’s vacant list spot, is one of four Lions to make the 32-player squad including livewire Lance Collard, fresh off a stunning six-goal hail against last year’s grand finalists West Perth. In-form Claremont forward Sam van Rooyen, the younger brother of Melbourne gun Jacob, and Perth winger Aiden O’Driscoll, whose older siblings Emma and Nathan are both at Fremantle, both made the cut after a hot start to the year. Van Rooyen has booted a competition-high 10 goals for the season in just three games to go with an average of seven marks, while O’Driscoll is averaging more than 17 possessions for the unbeaten Demons. O’Driscoll is joined by fellow Demons and West Coast Next Generation Academy pair Coen Livingstone, the form ruck of the colts competition, and ball magnet Oscar Hine-Baston. Edwards is one of a quartet of AFL Academy talents named alongside Koltyn Tholstrup (Subiaco), Riley Hardeman (Swan Districts) and Daniel Curtin (Claremont). Tholstrup and Hardeman have both been rewarded with early-season senior debuts for their respective WAFL clubs. Subiaco key forward Luker Kentfield is another player with league experience picked for the Black Swans. South Fremantle midfielder Jacob Whan is one to watch from a Fremantle point of view as he’s part of their NGA. A small train-on group ‘train-on’ group has also been invited to join the squad twice a week, made up for six bottom-aged players - Austin Van Der Struyf (Claremont/Christ Church), Will Hayes (Claremont), Zane Zakostelsky (Claremont), Cooper Moore (Perth), Malakai Champion (Subiaco) and Thomas Cathcart (Swan Districts). Players can still be added to the squad with strong performances in the WAFL or PSA competitions. WA’s campaign gets underway against the Allies in Adelaide on June 11. PSA season kicks off Captain Ashton Bryant (40 disposals and 13 clearances) and forward Hamish Davis (eight goals) led Hale School to a dominant 132-point victory over Guildford Grammar - 23.20 (158) to 4.2 (26) - to open their season in style. Ruckman Aiden Riddle (24 hitouts, two goals and 16 disposals), forward Bailey Peacock (4.4) and Tom Massey (24 possessions, five clearances and a goal) were also dominant players for Hale. State 16s representative Blake Kelly (31 disposals and five clearances), skipper Oliver Sills (30), and Ned Reiger (28 and six clearances) fought hard for Guildford. Scotch College’s quest for a fourth straight Alcock Cup started with a hard-fought 25-point win over Trinity College. Sullivan Moody led the way in the midfield with 26 possessions, 10 inside 50s and seven clearances, with Oscar Dees (23 and a goal) also playing an important role. Adam De Masi put up a remarkable 40 disposals and seven clearances in a losing side as Trinity fought their way back from an early deficit to make a game of it, while Zaiden Ladyman had 37 possessions and 11 rebound 50s. Prolific Aquinas College midfielder Presley Campbell celebrated his State 18s call-up with a massive performance in his school’s season-opening win over Christ Church Grammar on Saturday. Presley racked up a game-high 35 disposals in the 47-point win - 14.10 (94) to 7.5 (47) - with strong support from Nash Naesulter (27 and eight clearances), Chaz Foss (21 and six clearances) and captain Mitch Keene (21 and a goal). It comes after East Fremantle product Presley’s stunning first fortnight of WAFL colts, where he amassed 36 and 37 possessions. Bailey Morgan and Deacon McGuire did the damage on the scoreboard with three goals apiece. Will Wildberger had a team-high 26 touches for Christ Church, skipper and WA under-18s train-on Austin van der Struyf had 22, seven clearances and a goal and Preston Browne-Cooper kicked three majors. Coen’s hot colts form continues for unbeaten Dees West Coast prospect Coen Livingstone’s stunning start to the season has continued with another dominant performance as Perth made it four wins from as many starts. The 200cm nephew of Hawthorn premiership player Chance Bateman has been making a splash in the WAFL colts this season for the unbeaten Demons. Holding down the ruck and spending time foward as well, the teenager has kicked six goals while averaging 18 touches and 27 hit-outs. He had 28 hit-outs, 19 disposals and three majors in Saturday’s big win over East Fremantle at the WACA Ground. As a member of their Next Generation Academy, the Eagles will have priority access to draft Livingstone at the end of the year - provided no other club calls his name in the first 40 picks. If his form holds for the rest of the season, that may prove an issue. “He’s started the year well but he’s really intent on getting better,” Demons colts coach Scott Moore said. “He’s done some work one-on-one with Fraser McInnes over the pre-season and the first part of the season off his own bat and he’s reaping the rewards. “I’m sure West Coast would love to have him and he’d like to stay home being a WA boy, but I’d dare say there would be a fair few other recruiters looking at him closely.” State 18s train-on and 2024 prospect Cooper Moore was another big performer for the Demons with 30 possessions, eight inside 50s and two goals, while Eagles NGA and WA under-18s addition Oscar Hine-Baston and ball magnet Connor McDonald also found plenty of it. For East Fremantle, James Spadanuda was the stand-out and continued his hot form with 32 disposals. Electric small forward Lance Collard booted six goals in a 45-minute burst to inspire Subiaco to an easy win over last year’s grand finalists West Perth. Ben Steinmann (20 disposals and three goals), Ethan Barbieri (27 and one) and Riley Wills (34 and one) also starred, while tall Jye Skender (16 and seven marks) and defender Kyle Wilcox (20) were decent in a losing cause for the Falcons. Kelly the tackling machine A pair of WA under-18s squad members - midfielder Luke Kelly and ruck Evan Smith - impressed as Swan Districts accounted for South Fremantle. Kelly laid a staggering 19 tackles to go with a game-high 27 possessions, while Smith was everywhere with 42 hit-outs, two goals and 11 disposals. It was his third game in a row of 25-plus disposals and he’s unsurprisingly laid the most tackles in the competition with 40 in four games. It’s been a big week for the Kelly family with Luke’s younger brother Blake making the WA under-16s squad. Ashton Ferreira (21 and a goal) and Callum Copeland (26) were among the most influential for the Bulldogs. In-form on-baller Will Cassidy helped East Perth to a big win over the Thunder with a best-afield performance including 29 possessions, nine tackles, seven inside 50s and a goal. Bailey Harbour was important down back with eight marks among his 21 touches, while first-round draft prospect Edwards did his bit for the Thunder with 34 hit-outs and 19 disposals, showcasing his follow-up work around the ground. Speedster Kaed Collard (two goals from 19 disposals) also showed some exciting signs for the Peel, with key forward Xavier Walsh (2.3 and seven) nearly having a huge day for the Royals on debut.

AFL draft watch: Clay Hall, Coen Livingstone, Presley Campbell, Lance Collard, Luke Kelly, Evan Smith and more

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