As the 2025 AFL season nears, there will be players training ferociously throughout pre-season to perhaps finally break loose from the shackles of years of average performances and officially reach their potential.
Perhaps it's a top draft pick finally coming of age, as Mac Andrew and Tom De Koning showed glimpses of in 2024.
Or maybe it's a player nearing the age of their prime who has teetered on the edge of mediocrity for a while but finally excelled at the top flight. Think Tristan Xerri and Jake Waterman.
Last year, the hype around the potential of De Koning and Ben King ultimately delivered, while players such as Paddy Dow failed yet again to reach their potential estimated in their draft year.
A club's success is often off the back of unheralded players having surprisingly good years.
Hawthorn was fortunate to be on the end of multiple players enjoying breakout seasons in 2024, including first-time All-Australian Dylan Moore, trade recruit Massimo D'Ambrosio and veteran Sam Frost.
Likewise, premiers Brisbane enjoyed the sudden emergence of Kai Lohmann and the eventual fruition of Callum Ah Chee and Ryan Lester's potential.
Those clubs that struggled found their players with glimpses of stardom did not reach their potential. Max King was on and off the field with injuries which again hurt St Kilda's finals chances, while the ineptness of Collingwood's young talent failed to fill the holes of out-of-form veterans, resulting in a failed flag defence for the Pies.
So ahead of the new season, we've named eight players who will be desperate to have a breakout year to either save their career or propel their club further up the ladder in 2025.
Deven Robertson
After being left out of the 2024 premiership side and failing to find a viable trade package out of Springfield, Robertson will be desperate to not have another year stuck playing in the VFL after enjoying a solid 2023 season which included 16 games and a grand final appearance.
However, in 2024, Robertson played just twice at the elite level as he fell out of favour with the team.
A midfielder by trade, Robertson will have a hard time cracking into the side in 2025 if he does not reach his full potential. Brisbane's midfield is stacked with talent, including dual Brownlow Medallist Lachie Neale, Norm Smith medallist Will Ashcroft, his brother and top-five draft pick Levi Ashcroft, Hugh McCluggage and Josh Dunkley.
Robertson's contract ends at the conclusion of the 2025 season, suggesting a breakout year is necessary with the former Pick 22's AFL career on the line.
