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.
Finn Callaghan
Callaghan is on the cusp of becoming an AFL superstar and leading the charge of a Giants premiership push. The 2021 Pick 3 is albeit just 21 years old but has already been a consistent part of GWS' midfield.
Behind the media attention of Toby Greene, Jesse Hogan and Tom Green, Callaghan quietly increased his output in 2024, with improvements in disposals, tackles, inside 50s, clearances, and contested possessions per game.
After a heartbreaking finals campaign, Callaghan should be burning to exact revenge on the competition in 2025 with a breakout campaign finally worth taking note of.
The Giants seem to be missing just one piece to the puzzle to break through for a second grand final appearance, and an All-Australian year for Callaghan could be the big difference-maker come September this year.
