Nick Dal Santo believes five young players stood out from the rest and had breakout seasons in 2019.
Speaking on SEN, Dal Santo mentioned he should have included Blues midfielder Sam Walsh in the following list.
However, the following five players have all had outstanding years that have set them apart from the rest according to Dal Santo.
Ryan became a permanent and effective feature of Fremantle's defence this season.
Drafted with pick 66 in 2016, Ryan has developed into an elite intercept defender, ranking second in the league for intercepts per game at the age of 23.
"I think his football spoke for himself and I love the responsibility the coaching staff gave him to be able to roll off and pick and choose when to be a lockdown defender and when he runs and carries," said Dal Santo on SEN Afternoon's, "but I was impressed by the way he accepted that role and executed it."
At the age of just 20, Worpel was forced into an important midfield role in 2019 after the loss of Tom Mitchell prior to the start of the season.
The young midfielder played in all 22 games for the Hawks this season, racking up an average of 26 touches per game.
The inside midfielder ranked 8th in clearances per game and 18th in contested possessions per game in the entire league in just his second season.
"Hawthorn’s best and fairest winner in his second year and we know what style of player is, I’m not sure how much upside he’s got in regards to the flare and winning games off his own boot, but with the absence of Tom Mitchell, for Worpel to come in and play as consistently as he did, he really burst onto the scene," said Dal Santo.
Dunkley is now a bonafide stud in one of the competitions best midfield groups.
The 22-year-old was dominant over the second half of the season, finishing the year with an average of 28 disposals per game across the whole of 2019.
The young Bulldog also became an AFL Fantasy and Supercoach gun, finishing the season ranked 8th for total Supercoach score and 6th for total AFL Fantasy score.
The tenacious tackling presence of Dunkley impress Saints great Nick Dal Santo.
"I think he has had a superb year and he’s burst onto the scene. I think he’s possibly leapfrogged a couple of other elite players in the Bulldogs midfield. He’s now part of a strong collective and is a massive ball winner and uses it relatively well."
Despite Grand Final day ending up being a miserable occasion for the Giants, Taranto - at the age of just 21 - stood up for GWS on the day and finished the game as the club's best player.
Across the whole of the 2019 season, Taranto was a star for the Giants.
He averaged 27 touches per game, was 9th in total score involvements, 2nd in total tackles and 4th in total disposals.
Dal Santo says he is mightily impressed with the job Taranto has done in stepping up into an elite midfield.
"This is a Giants midfield that has lost multiple midfielders. You go back 12 months and Dylan Shiel leaves for Essendon and you wonder how this midfield would hold up. Thankfully they’ve got Tim Taranto. There was no void left by those other midfielders. Between Taranto and Jacob Hopper, they filled the position. Tim Taranto stood up and got the job done."
While Dal Santo's selection of the Saints ruckman may raise some allegations of bias towards the St Kilda midfielder, Marshall's performance over the course of 2019 is certainly worthy of this list.
The 23-year-old ruckman ranked 8th in total hitouts across the 2019 season while also being able to clean up around the contest, averaging 17 touches per game.
"I've kept very close tabs on him. I’d heard huge things going back 18 months. He’s a player the Saints believe could be the best forward-ruck in the competition, but then had to take up the responsibility as the number one ruck," said Dal Santo.
"I think they were pleasantly surprised by the standard he maintained across the year. Now they brought in Paddy Ryder to support him, but he is going to be a star if he isn't already."