Best Young Player from the Weekend (13.07.2026)

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**Mark Duffield** (1:04)
Yes, it's time for the next vintage, the up and coming players in the AFL that have caught our eye over the weekend. And this comes to you thanks to Forrester Estate, family owned premium Margaret River wine. And Paul Heath is with me in the studio for this one. Heata, welcome.

**Paul Heath** (1:21)
Duff, good morning. Would you like to take the new ball and get your one underway?

**Mark Duffield** (1:25)
I will. And so, I've usually tried to look a little bit further and wider for this segment, but I'm just going home ground advantage here. Willem Dersma, I thought, was super against the Western Bulldogs. So, 20 possessions, 10 kicks, 10 handballs, 3 marks, 7 tackles, 2 clearances, 5 inside 50s, 3 score involvements and a goal. The goal was something to behold. The breakaway from the centre square, the kick from inside the centre square, clearing the goal line.
There are elements that are unique about Dersma. And I'm not quite prepared to say he's going to be better than Harley Reid. But it's going to be very interesting to see where Dersma and Harley Reid sit in relation to each other in the pecking order in the AFL in, let's say, 4 years time.

**Paul Heath** (2:21)
Yeah, it's going to have some good coverage, aren't they, with those two and the areas that they can combine in.

**Mark Duffield** (2:25)
And that's going to be a good thing for West Coast if they're still at the club as well.

**Paul Heath** (2:29)
Definitely. I went with Sullivan Roby from The Bombers, who they were up against it against the Lions yesterday, but he put in a 20 disposal effort, 2 marks, 5 tackles, 5 clearances, including 2 standard clearances, 4 inside 50s, 4 score involvements and 3 intercept possessions. So he will also serve The Bombers quite well with how much he's able to get his hands on the ball at such an early stage in his career.

**Mark Duffield** (2:50)
And he is what Essendon lacks. It's like needle shifting elite AFL talent. So they've got Caddy, forward to centre, and he is that. So and he's just signed on on a long-term deal, which is great for them.
But Roby is that big-bodied monster mid. He's going to be a very good player. He's going to alter the outcome of contests around stoppage, which means he's going to alter the outcome of games. So they need to find probably four to five more of them in the next couple of drafts to really feel like they're bouncing off the bottom.

**Paul Heath** (3:28)
Yeah, definitely. That's the next vintage. Thanks to Forrester Estate, family-owned premium Margaret River wine. Enjoy 25% off online with the code SEN25. That's 25% off online with the code SEN25. Let's head to some new stuff.

**Mark Duffield** (3:41)
We will. Don't forget, we've got a big next hour coming up as well. We're going to be talking State 16s with the coach of the WA16s, Mick Glasbrough. They've got a big game coming up at Carrara tomorrow. Tomorrow morning, that's against Vic Metro.
Back after the news.