Saint and Demon rise as debutants impress: AFL Rookie Rankings – Round 8

Zero Hanger's Rookie Rankings after Round 8 have seen more movement among the top six, with two starring performances from first-year midfielders shaking up our rankings.

A Saints young gun and a Demons wingman have both jumped up our rankings, forcing a Suns backman to fall back two spots.

Round 8 saw a handful of players feature in their first games, three of whom have earned honourable mentions for the weekend.

Collingwood's Lachie Sullivan impressed in his maiden outing after coming into Friday's thriller as the sub, while Brisbane's Bruce Reville and Hawk Calsher Dear were also strong in their debuts.

Selection Criteria: For our Rookie Rankings, we are ONLY selecting players who have made their debut this season.

Other players who may still be eligible for a Rising Star nomination but have already made their debut before the 2024 season will not be considered. I.e. Rising Star eligible players such as George Wardlaw, Angus Sheldrick and Sam Darcy are ineligible, having already played an AFL match before Round 1, 2024. 

Honourable Mentions
Lachie Sullivan (Collingwood)
Calsher Dear (Hawthorn)
Bruce Reville (Brisbane)
Mykelti Lefau (Richmond)

Will Graham (-)

The Suns youngster was kept to just nine possessions in the loss to Brisbane but was once again among the best Suns players on the defensive side of the game.

Graham laid a further eight tackles to sit second for tackles per game in the competition this season.

The Suns utility has been a positive addition to Damien Hardwick's lineup over the past month and remains a chance to rise up our Rookie Rankings over the coming weeks.

The likes of Darcy Jones, Harvey Thomas, Hugo Garcia, Blake Howes and Zane Duursma are all in the chasing pack however, while Round 8 saw seven new debutants enter the fray.

Sam Clohesy (-2)

It wasn't necessarily a poor performance for Clohesy in Sunday's QClash, but the form of two other rookies has seen the Suns defender drop two places in our rankings after Round 8.

There weren't many Gold Coast players who could've come away from the weekend's loss with their heads held high, as the Lions managed to cruise to victory despite their limited bench options.

Like most of his teammates, Clohesy got off to a slow start but managed to get into the game in the second half, ending the night with 17 possessions and over 360 metres gained.

The Suns will be hoping to bounce back in Round 9 when they host North Melbourne in Darwin this weekend.

Darcy Wilson (+1)

Wilson put forward one of the best games we've seen from a rookie this year in Saturday's win over North Melbourne.

The aerobically gifted Saints wingman booted three goals from five scoring chances and recorded 21 disposals, eight marks and 11 contested possessions to add to his purple patch of form.

A big collision with North Melbourne's George Wardlaw wasn't enough to disrupt his performance, with Wilson seeing out the 38-point victory in style.

The Saints will be looking to make it back-to-back wins this weekend when they head to Tasmania to face Hawthorn on Saturday.

Caleb Windsor (+1)

The Demons wingman is the only player to have featured in our Rookie Rankings across every round in 2024, having quickly cemented himself in Simon Goodwin's side and in the Rising Star race.

Windsor firms as the leading chance to earn the Round 8 nomination for his 18-disposal game against Geelong, with his fourth-quarter goal a big moment in the eight-point victory.

The teenager also collected six marks, seven contested possessions and laid six tackles to earn himself a spot higher in our Rookie Rankings.

The Demons return to the MCG on Thursday night to face Carlton, where Windsor will face the likes of Blake Acres and Ollie Hollands on the big stage.

Colby McKercher (-)

The Roos young gun backed up a strong Round 7 performance with another 30 disposals in Saturday's loss to St Kilda.

The Tasmanian looks to have found his groove in the blue and white across half-back, which has allowed fellow Roos sensation Harry Sheezel more time through the midfield.

McKercher moved the ball at 90% efficiency in Round 8 and continued to offer pace and dash from the defensive half.

With the Roos still chasing their maiden victory of 2024, McKercher could have a critical role to play in Saturday night's bout with the Gold Coast Suns.

Harley Reid (-)

While it wasn't at the level Reid had put up in his past two appearances, Saturday's performance against Essendon was still more than enough for the talented teenager.

Including two brutal fend-offs on Zach Merrett and Ben Hobbs, Reid's outing in Round 8 saw the youngster have four score involvements from his 14 possessions, as well as two clearances and five tackles.

A minor hamstring concern interrupted Reid's return, but the No.1 pick managed to see how the close finish.

Reid is now set to go head-to-head with Collingwood star Nick Daicos this weekend when West Coast fly east to face the reigning premiers at Marvel Stadium on Sunday.