“Pick of the bunch”: The biggest steal of the AFL Draft

• Each first-round pick of the 2025 AFL National Draft

The first round of the 2025 AFL Draft took place on Wednesday night.

25 players were selected with Willem Duursma the first of those, selected by West Coast with Pick 1.

As is normally the case with the draft, there were steals, bolters, diamonds in the rough and some were even snubbed.

Former No.1 pick Adam Cooney has assessed the draftees and believes Essendon grabbed the steal of the first round by taking South Australian gun Dyson Sharp with Pick 13.

The steal

Dyson Sharp (Essendon)

“I think it’s Dyson Sharp,” Cooney said on SEN Breakfast.

“He might end up being the pick of the bunch from the first round.

“I think he’s got great leadership qualities and might end up being the best overall pick in terms of the package - how he plays, body size, uses the ball really well.

“He might be the one I reckon.”

Cooney also put forward his safe pick, the biggest risk, the ratbags and the snubs.

The safe pick

Willem Duursma (West Coast)

“He’s been on the radar for a few years and he’s been ultra consistent.

“He’s the safest no.1 pick, I think. He might not end up being the best player out of this draft haul but I reckon the Eagles have gone with the safer option.”

The boom or bust risk

Sullivan Robey (Essendon)

“It has to be Robey. He hadn’t spoken to an AFL club halfway through the year, couldn’t get a Coates League game and then exploded with 40 and 3 goals.

“He had some massive games at the back end of the year. He’s either going to be a superstar, which I think he’ll end up being and hopefully uses that drive and motivation to become a real star.

“Or he might drop off in the next few years. We just don’t know because the sample size is smaller than most of these other guys who we’ve seen for a few years now.”

The ratbags

Xavier Taylor (Melbourne) & Lachy Dovaston (North Melbourne)

“I think there’s a couple of rat packers.

“Xavier Taylor was the first one who said he was best on ground during the game and also during the post-match celebrations. I think he’s going to be a bit of a ratbag.

“Lachy Dovaston is the other one. He said Nick Watson bases his game off Lachy. I think he said at one stage, don’t quote me on this, that I’ll be sighted at Crown later this evening.

“There’s a couple with a bit of life in them.”

The snubbed

Lachlan Carmichael (Western Bulldogs) & Adam Sweid (Fremantle)

“For all the talk of Academies, Sydney didn’t even want their Academy player. The Dogs swooped in with Lachie Carmichael.

“Then the last pick of the first round was Adam Sweid who was being developed in the Essendon NGA and they said no, they’re going to take their pick in the 30s.

“A couple of snubs there. A point to prove for those two players who grew up and went through those Academies only to be snubbed by their clubs who have put years of development into them.”