Former Sydney Swans defender Ryley Stoddart has emerged as a potential Mid-Season Draft target for AFL clubs following a hot start to the 2023 VFL season with Frankston.
Stoddart played six games for the Swans between 2018-2020, managing two games in each season before being delisted. The ball-winning backman has since plied his trade in the VFL with Carlton and currently the Dolphins.
Frankston has been a hotbed for mature-aged AFL recruits, with Kye Turner (Melbourne), Brodie McLaughlin (Gold Coast), Liam Reidy (Frankston) and Mitch Cox (Brisbane) all earning top flight contracts in the past 15 months.
Stoddart's stellar start to this year, averaging 29.8 disposals, 5.8 marks and 4.3 inside 50s for the Dolphins, has seen him emerge as a potential draft option for this month's mid-season intake, with a second chance in the AFL a live chance for the 23-year-old.
"He's played some reasonable footy in the VFL," AFL reporter Cal Twomey said of Stoddart when speaking to SENย on Thursday.
"He's a player that will get looked at.
"I think it's going to be an interesting mid-season group, it hasn't been the COVID (effected) sort of players that have come in and out of the system that have been overlooked.
"Last year was probably a pretty full draft, whereas COVID sort of saw a few players slip through the cracks. That hasn't happened as much this year.
"Ryley Stoddart has come through the system already for the Swans."
Stoddart was among the 200-plus players that nominated for the 2022 Mid-Season Draft - a count that saw former Kangaroo Sam Durdin and ex-Bulldog Will Hayes both earn second chances at Carlton.
The ex-Swan isn't the only former AFL player finding form in the VFL ahead of the Mid-Season Draft, with former Hawk James Cousins currently atop the competition's coaches votes leaderboard after six rounds thanks to a dominant season-to-date with Williamstown.
Axed Collingwood midfielder Callum Brown (Box Hill), former Sun Jacob Dawson (Southport), ex-Demon Oscar McDonald (Williamstown) and former Port Adelaide forward Boyd Woodcock (Southport) have also been among the VFL's best performers in 2023.
The 2023 Mid-Season Draft will take place remotely on Wednesday, May 31.
