The 2024 National Championships get underway this Sunday, with AFL scouts and recruiters set to get an indication of this year's top bracket of talent.
The carnival sees the best draft stars from across the country looking to flex their value at the highest level in their draft campaign, with the National Championships a stage where the cream rises to the top.
The Allies enter the carnival as the reigning champions after a maiden title win in 2023, with the 'best of the rest' set to be a top contender again this year given their strong list of talent and emerging bottom-age prospects.
Each side has key players in all areas of the field, so we've looked to highlight the players to keep an eye on across this year's carnival, both eligible and bottom-age players.
Here are 56 prospects to watch from each side ahead of the 2024 National Championships...
4. Western Australia
A leaner crop of Sandgropers this year compared to most seasons, with just two prospects representing Western Australia in this year's AFL Academy program.
West Coast Next Generation Academy talent Malaki Champion and Peel Thunder's Bo Allan made the squad but each missed the opening game against Coburg through injury.
Champion is an agile forward threat out of Subiaco and the Mines Rovers who boasts a high ceiling given his unmatched forward craft at ground level. The 172cm goal threat is able to move up the field and open the game up as an outside midfielder as well.
Allan is an athletic 191cm defender who showed more than enough in last year's National Championships for WA, where he played all four games in a difficult year for the state.
The teenager played in two league games for Peel earlier this year, working alongside some of Fremantle's AFl-listed talent for the Thunder.
Claremont's Austin Van Der Struyf has continued to improve over the course of this year with the Tigers at the Colts level, offering run and composure as an outside wing threat.
A member of the team's premiership side last year, working alongside drafted duo Daniel Curtin and Zane Zakostelsky, Van Der Struyf is another WA prospect to keep an eye on across the coming months in the lead-up to the draft.
West Perth's Kale Gerreyn looms as a key prospect who could spearhead this year's WA side, while East Fremantle's Luke Urquhart is a good-sized midfielder who's set to thrive in an undermanned engine room.
Bottom-ager Basil Hart is sure to catch some attention this year alongside Champion after winning WA's MVP title in the U16s last year. Hart is one that will excite Dockers fans given his ties as an NGA prospect.
Western Australia's campaign gets underway on Sunday, June 2 against the Allies at Blacktown ISP.
