READ UP ON THE 2019 DRAFT CLASS

      Callum Twomey and Riley Beveridge from AFL.com.au profile some of the top draft prospects heading into the 2019 NAB AFL National Draft.

      LACHIE ASH

      The club that wants the next Adam Saad will need to act quick.

      Vic Country co-captain Lachie Ash shapes as a possible top-10 pick at next month's NAB AFL Draft, with Melbourne, Greater Western Sydney, Fremantle and Carlton all looming as possible homes for the Murray Bushrangers prospect. 

      Ash's pace is central to his game, allowing him to burst out of defence, cut through traffic and find a teammate long down the line. 

      "I never used to be as quick as I am now. I did some sprint training a couple of years ago that probably helped build that up," he told AFL.com.au.

      "As soon as I take a mark or get the ball I scan the field and see anyone then I'll try to hit that kick straight away. 

      "But if there's nobody there then I have a licence to run and create, and I'll try to run around someone and make it up as I go. It's usually a calculated risk. I try to have a bit of fun with it." 

      Ash's dash is fun to watch, too. The 18-year-old hit top form throughout Vic Country's carnival, including a brilliant late run against South Australia with only seconds left on the clock that led to his side's last-gasp win.

      Ash had the ball on half-back but spotted some space to jet through the middle of the ground and send his kick long to teammate Brodie Kemp, who marked strongly and then kicked the set-shot from long range to win the game for his side. 

      "I nearly stuffed it up for us two minutes before that, kicking it inboard, so I wanted to make amends for that. I got it and backed my strengths," he said. 

      "Our coach Leigh Brown was pretty big on that, and it's probably one of mine. I just tried to bang it and get it deep. I'm thankful 'Kempy 'was there and took an unreal mark and then he went back and clutched up." 

      Ash looks up to Essendon speedster Saad, and although he isn't at the same level of speed (he ran the 20m sprint in three seconds flat at the recent Draft Combine), the pair play in the same frenetic, aggressive style.

      Clubs considering Ash do so seeing him as being ready to play at AFL level, particularly given his athletic mix – he was in the top-10 at the Combine for the aerobic Yo-Yo test, reaching level 21.4. 

      Ash completes the agility test at the NAB AFL Draft Combine. Picture: AFL Photos

      He has had senior experience before – he debuted for local side Shepparton as a 15-year-old – and feels like he will be able to step into an AFL club and make an impact. 

      "I think I am ready to play in round one next year. My body shape has come a long way this year but I think there's still a lot of room for improvement. I'm willing to work as hard as I can to prove that I'm ready for it, but personally I feel I am ready to go," he said.

      COOPER STEPHENS

      Lying in the emergency ward of the Bendigo hospital, a bundle of thoughts, concerns and feelings frantically raced through the mind of Cooper Stephens.

      He was devastated, but optimistic. He was fearful, but hopeful.

      Stephens, who entered the season as one of the best midfield prospects in this year's NAB AFL Draft pool, had earlier in the day arrived at a contest fractionally before his Bendigo Pioneers opponent. It was typical of his appetite and desire to win the footy.

      The Geelong Falcons youngster scooped up the loose ball, was tackled almost instantaneously and noticed his feet becoming tangled into an awkward position as his opponent's body weight slipped from his waist and collapsed across his legs.

      He heard the crack and felt the pain. But while that clearly indicated that something wasn't quite right, he almost instantly allayed the immense worry filling his mind and turned the unease into positive thoughts.

      "It was very painful at the time, but I was also optimistic," Stephens told AFL.com.au.

      "By the time I got to the hospital, the pain had really settled down. I thought I might have only sprained it, but the X-ray came back and it was evident straightaway that there was a pretty big crack through it."

      Stephens had fractured his fibula. It would put an end to his final year of junior footy, just three games into the season.

      Yet reminiscent of the manner in which his first thoughts post-injury turned to the best-case scenario, the diagnosis left him wondering how he could make the most of an otherwise disappointing situation.

      Stephens had set aside two major goals for the year – playing on the MCG with the NAB AFL Australian under-18 team and representing Vic Country at the NAB AFL Under-18 Championships shortly after.

      Stephens in action during the 2018 Under-17 All Stars match.

      His injury meant he would miss both.

      But rather than wallow in the frustration of being sidelined, Stephens searched for other ways of staying involved. He began taking line meetings, offering advice at training sessions and fixing the whiteboard for the intervals between quarters on match days.

      During some games, he would relay messages to his Vic Country teammates from the bench. During others, he would sit in the box alongside midfield coach Jayden Pitt with the headset on.

      It ensured the big-bodied onballer still eked the most out of a defining year in his football journey.

      "My off-field work with my leadership has never been my strength, speaking in front of the group and stuff," Stephens said.

      "Getting the opportunity to do that a bit more and explain a few more things in front of the group – taking a few coaches meetings and stuff like that – I think it's really improved my game and improved my leadership.

      "I absolutely loved it in the coaches' box. You see it from a completely different perspective, from that higher ground. You see the running patterns of the better players and I learnt heaps.

      "Hopefully I can translate that to my footy next year and use that in the future. Then (the injury) definitely would have helped me in the long run."

      It's impossible to say where Stephens might currently sit in the draft's pecking order, had his season not ended abruptly in April. However, even despite that setback, the tough 188cm midfielder is still seen by a number of recruiters as a top-25 prospect.

      That standing was enhanced at the recent NAB AFL Draft Combine, where Stephens returned from his long-term injury to reach level 21.8 on the Yo-Yo test – the joint-highest score of any prospect.

      He also finished the 2km time trial in an impressive six minutes and 17 seconds the very next day.

      The assessment that Stephens may subsequently be taken within the first 25 picks on draft night is therefore one that Leigh Brown, his coach at Vic Country, strongly agrees with.

      "He's suited to be an inside midfielder," Brown told AFL.com.au.

      "He's got a strong body, he wins the contested ball and that's obviously a real strength in his game. He can also sneak forward. It was actually what he was going to work on this year, having that impact as a resting midfielder that can go forward.

      "But, in saying that, he also played some really good footy off half-back last year – particularly against South Australia as a bottom-ager in the champs – so he's actually got some real versatility in his game."

      Still, despite the constant reassurances and the positive messages that have flooded in via friends, family and coaches, Stephens concedes it has been hard not to sometimes let the doubts creep in this year.

      However, even so, the youngster finds a way to put a typically positive slant on things.

      "It definitely goes through your mind that you're going to be that forgotten man," Stephens said.

      "But talking through it with the staff at Vic Country and the Falcons, they give you that reassurance that you've done enough with your bottom-age year.

      "Plus, there's always that other pathway if you don't get drafted as an 18-year-old. There's the VFL, the under 19s, going back to the Falcons … all of those are different pathways where hopefully I can achieve my goal in the end."

      MILES BERGMAN

      Miles Bergman used to play cricket, and some tennis. He swam, played basketball for fun (there's a hoop in his backyard next to the boxing punching bag), and also loved the competitive nature of athletics, going head to head with other boys his age and battling it out.

      At school, he even took up volleyball and hockey, almost just to complete the set of sports.

      "I did a bit of everything, really," Bergman told AFL.com.au. "In the end I had to drop some off." 

      Football was never in danger of getting the chop. Bergman has wanted to be an AFL player since he started playing in his older brother's under-9s side as a seven-year-old.

      Now he's only a month away from having his name called by a club, with Bergman one of the draft's big risers. His championships for Vic Metro was exciting, his form for the Sandringham Dragons at the end of the year showed his talent and his performance at the NAB AFL Draft Combine, under injury duress, was also excellent.

      Put it all together and Bergman could be a first-round pick in November, with a number of clubs interested in the half-forward/wingman. Few would have predicted that at the start of the year. 

      It hasn't been a straightforward passage for the Sandringham Dragons prospect. Bergman missed almost all of his under-16s season with a stress fracture in his foot.

      Then, having tried to catch up with his teammates last year he overdid it and suffered a stress fracture in the other foot. It meant everything went into getting himself ready for his crunch draft season. 

      "My big toe was really stiff and inflexible, so my foot was rolling around to get around it. That's why I started getting pressure on the outside of my feet. So that's why I was getting the stress fractures. After that I started running a bit straighter and didn't have any problems," he said.

      MilesBregman2Oct25.jpg

      After being sidelined for so long, Bergman wasn't sure how his 2019 season would pan out. When he was first called up to Vic Metro's under-18 squad, he had doubts he was good enough to be in that company.

      "I didn't really expect it. I thought I was just a roundabout OK footballer. So I was really surprised and I didn’t know how I'd fit in. My confidence had gone from not playing a lot of footy. I missed all of the under-16s and half of the under-17s season," he said.

      "Maybe I've lost what I had? But the more I trained and played it came back. But definitely at the start I was thinking 'Do I fit in here?'"

      He did. With every game he started to show more of what he could do – take things on, kick it long (perhaps longer than any other in the pool), fly for marks, and play all over the ground. 

      Clubs started to visit his house (all bar one has come for an interview across the season) and it has made him reassess his goals.

      "I thought if anything I'd be lucky to go in the rookie draft. I knew I definitely had the talent from the past but I didn't know whether it was still going to be there because I had been out so long. And just that confidence I needed to get back. I started to believe," he said.

      Bergman isn't a big possession winner – he averaged 14 touches in 13 games for the Dragons this year – but clubs think he'll pick up more disposals as he demands the ball more and grows in self-belief.

      Injury limited him towards the end of the season, with shin splints seeing Bergman play as a deep forward late in Sandringham's season. He was able to piece together a best-afield four-goal effort against the Geelong Falcons in round 18, and also show flashes of his skill in the Dragons' finals series.

      The injury meant he was restricted at the NAB AFL Draft Combine, but he was still able to win the vertical jump test (77cm). After the Combine, he was on crutches for a week to rest his shins, and was made to take two weeks off all training to rest.

      He's back now, swimming daily, and expects to be ready for the start of pre-season.

      "I'm getting wrinkles every day from the water and go to school and everyone says 'Jeez you smell of chlorine'," Bergman said.

      Bergman's time dealing with injuries had led to other things. The 18-year-old is about to start his year 12 exams, with plans to start a medicine degree next year. His father is a physiotherapist and his mum a nurse, but it's time in waiting rooms that has shaped his ambitions.

      "Caring and wanting to help people comes in my nature from my parents. Then I did work experience at the vet and really enjoyed that but thought I'd prefer to work with people than animals," he said. 

      "I've always listened in to the doctors and what they're talking about while I've been waiting for appointments, so I've picked up some insight from that.

      "It's helped me too along the way, too. I listen in and study it myself a bit and I might know what's best for me and it drives me to get back as quick as possible."