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...
Metro could be home to a large majority of the top 5-10 selections at this year's draft, with midfield trio Levi Ashcroft, Josh Smillie and Jagga Smith each a strong shout as the leading prospect in this year's class, while Sandringham Dragons defender Luke Trainor is emerging as a potential top five selection also.
Smillie's 2024 campaign so far for the Eastern Ranges has significantly grown his bid as the leading midfielder in an onballer-heavy draft, while Ashcroft rivalled Trainor as the best performer across both games for the AFL Academy.
Smith, while undersized, makes up for his frame with his agility and clean ball work through the middle of the field, with Vic Metro a force to be reckoned with this year in the middle of the field.
Add in Smillie's Ranges teammates in Christian Moraes - another likely top 10 draft chance - and bull Cody Anderson, as well as Northern Knights gun Zak Johnson, Dragon Murphy Reid and Oakleigh's Tom Gross, and it'll be hard to see may sides getting past Metro's prolific midfield pack.
Trainor will be a commanding presence behind the ball, with his aerial dominance and clean ball movement as a 194cm backman sure to be enticing for AFL clubs this year. Calder Cannons defender Harry O'Farrell is another key defender who has the size and leap to shut down some of the leading key forwards in the country.
At the other end of the field, tall forward Thomas Sims is an imposing threat who will look to help lead Metro's offensive structure after a strong start to the year with the Northern Knights.
At his feet, Essendon Next Generation Academy talent Isaac Kako will often be the lively ground-level presence who can create a goal out of nothing, with the Cannons gun likely to step up alongside South Melbourne Districts jet Bailey McKenzie in the absence of the sidelined Taj Hotton, who will miss due to an ACL injury.
The likes of Reid, Gross, Smillie and Johnson will also float through the forward third as coach Rob Harding looks to rotate his stacked midfield group.
Metro's first game of the year comes against the Allies on Sunday, June 9 at IKON Park.
Headlining this year's Vic Country crop is Oakleigh Chargers and Koroit midfielder Finn O'Sullivan, who was among the side's best performers last year in a bottom-age campaign.
The silky inside-outside threat will be accompanied by attacking midfield assets Sam Lalor and Harvey Langford, who have both been prolific this year and shape as key components for Vic Coutntry given O'Sullivan's ongoing injury concerns.
The pair will likely be joined by fellow AFL Academy ace and Gippsland Power midfield-defender Xavier Lindsay, who is a known ball winner through the middle of the field or across half-back when required.
Like Lindsay, Bendigo's Tobie Travaglia - who took out the Pioneers' best and fairest last year ahead of No.1 pick Harley Reid - will float between the defensive and middle lines of the field.
The elite service provided by the engine room will fall in the lap of a likely dominant attacking third for Country, who have an exciting balance of tall and small forward options.
Shepparton native Jack Whitlock is emerging as one of the premier key forwards of 2024 and will look to partner GWV Rebels spearhead Jonty Faull in attack, while Archer Day-Wicks looms as a lethal medium-sized option.
Wangaratta's Joe Berry has been in scintillating form to start this year, booting four goals in five of his appearances for the Murray Bushrangers in 2024 to emerge as a promising pure small forward.
Matt Whitlock, Jack's twin, is also doing his prospects no harm at the other end of the field for the Bushrangers and the AFL Academy. Whitlock earned a call-up to the representative side in place of Dandenong Stingrays tall Noah Mraz, who is another leading key defensive option for Vic Country this year.
An ankle injury for Mraz has him placed on the sidelines for the time being, with his absence set to place more of a reliance on bottom-ager Willem Duursma, the younger brother of AFL/W-listed trio Xavier, Yasmin and Zane.
Duursma looms as one of the top 2025 draft prospects and could be among this year's top carnival performers.
Vic Country's opening game at the National Championships will be held at IKON Park against South Australia on Sunday, June 9.
Following a one-win campaign in 2023, the Croweaters will have a strong chance at the title this year given their range of top-age ball winners and attacking threats.
A winner of the state's MVP title in his bottom-age carnival, South Adelaide's Sid Draper recently returned from injury and will suit up for South Australia this weekend when they open the National Championships against reigning champions the Allies at Therbarton Oval.
Draper looms as a potential Pick 1 selection and is among the top crop of midfielders in the country with his ability to run at games at a high standard, offering an edge at the coalface with his ability to weave out of the contest with his pace and agility.
Draper added to his strong 2023 campaign with a number of appearances at the SANFL level with the Panthers' senior while also leading the club's U18s side to the title.
Fellow South Adelaide talent Phoenix Hargrave is another midfield prospect who looms as a key piece for SA this year, able to play across the middle and forward lines as a smaller-framed onballer who still packs a punch.
Carlton-tied father-son twins Ben and Lucas Camporeale will also be critical through midfield, with Ben seen as the leading option given his inside and outside ability.
The Glenelg pair complement each other nicely, with Lucas an outside wing option who can also slot onto the half-backline to offer some run and movement from defence.
Woodville-West Torrens talent Kade Herbert is another outside midfield option and has experience at senior SANFL level with the Eagles, already making three appearances this year after five in 2023.
Central District's Dyson Sharp, a bottom-age prospect, could follow in the steps of Draper and take out South Australia's MVP title as a 17-year-old.
The strong ball-winner claimed a Kevin Sheehan Medal last year in the U16s and looks likely to bring a good level of prowess to SA's engine room for his first stint in the U18s.
Forward of the ball, Adelaide father-son gun Tyler Welsh will spearhead SA's attack, with the big-bodied key forward potentially finding this year's carnival opposition easier than most given his role in the Crows' SANFL side to start the year.
Welsh is among a big crop of father-son prospects in South Australia's squad, with defensive pair Rome Burgoyne (son of Peter) and Louie Montgomery (son of Brett) both eligible to join Port Adelaide, while the Camporeale twins are sure to land at Princes Park this November.
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.
Coming off a maiden National Championships title, the Allies have a good chance to make it successive carnival crowns given the strength of this year's squad of both eligible and bottom-age prospects.
Academy guns, those with family ties and glowing Tasmanians make up a large portion of this year's 'best of the rest' side, with none more promising than Gold Coast Academy midfielder Leonardo Lombard.
Lombard made headlines last year after breaking into the Suns' VFL side as a 16-year-old before holding his own at the level to play a part in a grand final win over Werribee last September.
The hard-nosed onballer is sure to follow in the footsteps of now ex-teammate Jake Rogers as the defensive-minded midfielder in Mitch Hahn's team, and he won't be short of assistance.
Brisbane Lions Academy prospect Sam Marshall is another first-round draft chance, while fellow AFL Academy selections Ricky Mentha, Jobe Shanahan, Oliver Dean and Joel Cochran add to an exciting Allies crop.
Shanahan is proving to be one of the better key forwards in the class of 2024, while Dean is arguably Tasmania's leading prospect and features among the best options.
Sandringham Dragons talent Nathaniel Sulzberger is another big name out of the island state, while over-ager and Mid-Season Draft chance Geordie Payne might not feature in the championships after this weekend if he earns an expected AFL chance.
Midfielder Cochran leads Sydney's Academy crop, while bottom-age assets Noah Chamberlain and Lachlan Carmichael are damaging in the forward and defensive ends respectively and also have ties to the Swans with great promise.
Gold Coast will be equally excited with their bottom-age Academy prospects as Kalani White, Zai Millane and Zeke Uwland each prepare to hold key roles for the Allies.
White, a rangy key defender at 198cm, is also tied to Melbourne as the son of Demons great Jeff White, while Uwland is the younger brother of current Sun Bodhi and Millane is the nephew of late Collingwood champion Darren.
GWS Academy ruckman Logan Smith is another large presence for the Allies, while the likes of Nick Andreacchio and Ben Kennedy each hold integral roles in defence.
The Allies open their season with a trip to South Australia this weekend.