The AFL Draft is right around the corner, and 1044 players from all across Australia have nominated themselves in the hopes of being picked up by an AFL club.
Young talent will be selected to AFL clubs based on their form in the U18 National Championships, Coates Talent League and state leagues.
The 2024 AFL Draft takes place over three days. Wednesday, November 20, will see the first round of the National Draft take place, followed by the following rounds on Thursday November 21 and, on Friday November 22, the AFL Pre-Season and Rookie Drafts.
At least 10 players on the list are Greek Australian, and will any see their dreams come true?
Last year Port Adelaide selected Tom Anastasopoulos from Geelong Falcons with pick 48.
Also read: Q&A catch up with Port Adelaide’s Tom Anastasopoulos
Note that there may be more players of Greek heritage, who don’t have Greek names.
From the Coates Talent League there is Peter Adamopoulos, a medium defender playing at Oakleigh Chargers and small forward Aris Moustakas from Sandringham Dragons.
Both 18, this is their first AFL Draft, and even if they aren’t picked up, the opportunity is still there in the years to come.
Moustakas has played for South Melbourne Districts and last year was awarded the Monash University Leader of the Year award for his assistant coaching work with the under 8’s.
In the VFL, Jaelen Pavlidis has had a taste of playing against and with AFL players at GWS Giants before joining Werribee Tigers this year.
Werribee runs in the family as his father John Pavlidis played there and later was a runner, welfare manager and recruiting manager for the club, earning himself life membership with the club.
Over at Box Hill, Nathan Philactides and Andreas Stefanakis have both nominated for the draft.
Neos Kosmos reached out to Box Hill Hawks, and the club told us that both are hoping to be picked up in the Rookie Draft or the pre-season supplemental selection period.
Stefanakis, who will be 20 next month, has shown he can be a dangerous player, winning the best afield medal earlier this year after kicking four goals in the VAFA representative Under 19 Showcase.
Speaking to Neos Kosmos, he said the players he looked up to and modelled his game around are Sydney’s Tom Papley and former Hawthron small forward Cyril Rioli.
“They play the way I want to with their speed and dangerous forward craft,” he said.
“My experience at Box Hill Hawks has been great playing in the VFL, the players and coaches are all next level and everyone is there too get better. Being around the club and the AFL experience has made me a much better player too.”
He also confirmed his goal is to be picked up as a SSP or a mid-season draftee and is “super excited and motivated to start the year” but to also enjoy his time playing.
Philactides featured in this list last year, when he nominated for the draft then.
He is back again, ready to prove he has what it takes to be an AFL player.
The half-back boasts high-end speed. Coming from a hurdling background, athleticism forms the crux of his game and makes him difficult to contain in full flight.
The former Oakleigh Chargers co-captain made his Coates Talent League debut in 2021 and was a mainstay aside from representative commitments. He was one of the few players to turn out for Vic Metro as a bottom-ager in 2022, and backed it up in 2023 having also earned AFL Academy selection.
Last year he was invited to the National Combine, meaning he was highly regarded by recruiters, but suffered a nasty-looking shoulder injury late in the Talent League season and did not participate in testing.
This year he played seven games for Box Hill including the elimination final against Williamstown.
Greek players in the AFL Draft
Peter Adamopoulos – Oakleigh Chargers (Coates Talent League)
Christian Karatzas – Caulfield Grammarians
Felix Katsaros – Sturt
Aris Moustakas – Sandringham Dragons (Coates Talent League)
Haris Orfanos – Ormond AFC
Jaelen Pavlidis – Werribee (VFL)
Nathan Philactides – Box Hill Hawks (VFL)
Andreas Stefanakis – Box Hill Hawks (VFL)
Lucas Vassis – Vermont (Eastern Football Netball League)
Jean-Luc Velissaris – Northern Bullants (VFL)
