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.

      FISCHER McASEY

      It makes sense that Fischer McAsey, who has grown up a lifelong Western Bulldogs fan, would idolise Aaron Naughton.

      McAsey is a versatile, talented tall prospect who can play as a key position at both ends of the ground. Marking, like Naughton, is McAsey's key attribute.

      But it was another Bulldog who first took McAsey's eye as he fell in love with the red, white and blue.

      "I was a really passionate fan with the Doggies when I was about five years old, and I'd just write letters to players in my spare time," he told AFL.com.au.

      "I wrote one to Matthew Boyd and he wasn't a [really] popular player at the time and he wrote back and gave me a hat and scarf. Ever since then we became pen pals and I met him at a few family days and things, which was nice."

      The talented Sandringham Dragons prospect shapes as perhaps the first key-position player picked at next month's NAB AFL Draft.

      But it was the determined midfielder Boyd, an ex-skipper of the club and member of the Dogs' breakthrough 2016 premiership team, who forged a bond with McAsey in his youth.

      "He did remember me from the letters so it was a good experience as a young kid," he said.

      "The impact you can have on young kids [is huge]. They look up to AFL players and he really inspired me, so I'd like to be an inspiration to young kids if I can get onto an AFL list."

      That step is only weeks away.

      McAsey ended the season in a moonboot, suffering a stress fracture in his foot and forcing him to miss the Dragons' end to the NAB League season. He was also sidelined for the NAB AFL Draft Combine. 

      But before that McAsey had established his credentials, starting the year as a key back who could leave his man, cut off forward entries and get things going his side's way. 

      He showed that in Vic Metro's under-18 carnival, where he was named his side's most valuable player ahead of top fancies Matt Rowell and Noah Anderson after averaging 14.5 disposals (at 74 per cent efficiency) and six marks a game.

      But McAsey also shifted forward at stages after the national carnival, showing an appetite for busting packs and throwing himself at the ball.

      "My main strengths are my contested marking. If that's as a back, then I like to roll off and intercept," he said.

      "But if it's as a forward then just try to crash packs and create a contest. I pride myself on being clean with my hands.

      "As far as my best position, I find I'm a bit more consistent as a defender at this stage but maybe my best footy playing as a forward I can impact games more. It really depends on the club's needs in terms of where they put me."

      JOSH HONEY

      Josh Honey was born to play sport.

      What sport, though, is another question.

      Honey's father, Neil, won a bronze medal for pole vaulting at the 1986 Commonwealth Games. His mother, Di, made 17 appearances for the Australian Diamonds netball team and is now an assistant coach with the Melbourne Vixens.

      His twin sister, Olivia, recently represented Victoria at a national athletics carnival in the 100m sprint and the 100m relay. Meanwhile his older sister, Tayla, is a wing-attack for the Melbourne Vixens.

      Then there's his uncle, Gary, who won gold medals for long jump in the 1982 and 1986 Commonwealth Games, as well as a silver medal for long jump at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.

      Honey is desperate to continue his family's rich sporting legacy. His aim, though, is to become the first of the bunch to feature in the AFL.

      The clever and versatile 184cm half-forward has burst into NAB AFL Draft calculations following a strong season with the Western Jets. A move into the midfield has been the driving force behind his impressive campaign.

      Not that Honey has had to look far to find encouragement and motivation when he dreams about potentially making the grade.

      "I look to dad for a lot of my inspiration," Honey told AFL.com.au.

      "He used to have a little river at his grandpa's house and they used to do a decathlon around it. The only event he could beat my uncle at was pole vaulting over the river and he went from there.

      "There's a few tapes of him on YouTube. He doesn't like watching them, but I've had a look. He was pretty good. He had a good mullet back in the day as well, so now I'm trying to rock the same thing."

      Neil Honey representing Australia in 1986 with that mullet. Picture: YouTube 

      However, despite the words of wisdom from his father, pole vaulting was never on Honey's radar.

      "I've never had the guts to do it," he laughed.

      "I've just never done it. I've never picked up a pole in my life. I want to, but I'm too scared."

      His mother, a successful netball coach at the Vixens, Geelong Grammar and with the Victorian Institute of Sport – as well as a handy player herself – also gives Honey some precious advice from time to time.

      "She's always just told me to play hard," he said.

      Josh Honey takes a brave mark in the finals of 2018. Picture: AFL Photos

      It's simple, but it's the advice that Honey has perhaps taken on board the most throughout his final year of junior footy.

      He has significantly improved the physical side of his game this season and has become a far better pressure player in the forward line as a result.

      Josh Honey brings the pressure for the Western Jets. Picture: AFL Photos

      Honey has averaged close to five tackles per game in the NAB League this year, adding another important element to his game after also developing as a midfielder throughout the season.

      "He spent some time this year through the midfield, but he's probably played his most exciting football forward of centre where he is quite creative in the forward line," Western Jets talent manager Luke Williams told AFL.com.au.

      "He can use a combination of his athletic ability and his creativity and it makes him quite dangerous in the forward 50. He kicks goals himself and he creates them for others.

      "The most impressive part of his season has been his ability to impact a game defensively. He's increased his tackle numbers this year, he's quite a physically strong player and he tackles well."

      Honey flirted with other sports and still plays off a handicap of 14 in golf – his best mate plays off scratch, while his girlfriend plays off five – but football, rather than the more exotic sports of his father or uncle, has his attention for the foreseeable future.

      "I've never done athletics or anything else … it's always been footy."

      HUGO RALPHSMITH

      Hugo Ralphsmith's NAB AFL Draft Combine was a clear reminder to recruiters of his athletic attributes.

      But his coach at Haileybury College in Melbourne's school system, Essendon champion Matthew Lloyd, didn’t need his memory refreshed in regard to Ralphsmith's qualities.

      "He [polarises] people and they're unsure about him, but I look at his athleticism, his speed and his ability to go to full forward and take marks on the lead," Lloyd said recently.

      "He runs like Isaac Smith and he'll run for you all day long…he's a guy who could be anything at AFL level."

      Clubs know the 17-year-old wingman/forward can do some special things.

      He can outrun nearly anyone (Ralphsmith finished fifth in the Combine's 2km time trial, running 6:12 minutes) and can also leap high and take spectacular grabs (he was equal fifth in the running vertical jump test).

      But, like one of Ralphsmith's attempts at a screamer, his season had its ups and downs.

      He started slowly for Vic Metro at the mid-year under-18 championships, and had been dropped by the end of the carnival. He wishes he approached the carnival differently.

      "I probably built up the championships as being bigger than they are. I thought it was this be-all end-all type of thing," Ralphsmith told AFL.com.au.

      "I definitely saw it coming because I wasn't playing the best footy that I know I can. My year was a little bit inconsistent."

      Ralphsmith spent much of the end of the Sandringham Dragons' NAB League season playing as a deep forward, where the 186cm prospect could highlight his aerial ability.

      At stages throughout the year he also went into the midfield and displayed his run and carry, averaging 15 disposals in 10 games, and he hopes he can play more of an inside role once his body matures.

      Ralphsmith said growing up competing in athletics events had left an impact on his style.

      "I was a pretty little kid and was always an outside midfielder. Growing up I did a lot of athletics and training with that, so I was always trying to be the quickest out there," he said.

      "As I grew it (speed) was my strength as an outside midfielder, and it's helped me nowadays. 

      "Through the back end of the year I was playing a lot more forward, so I would have liked to be more around the ball. I think I probably should have taken it on a bit more when I had my chance."

      Ralphsmith has had a handy person in his corner during a season that has had its challenges, with his father, Sean, playing 34 games for Hawthorn and St Kilda from 1988-94.

      "He helps me with some little things to get an extra touch here or there," he said. "He was unlucky to be at the Hawks during a great era with a great team, so he played a lot of reserves footy."

      Ralphsmith's talent is likely to see him picked in the first 30 selections at this month's draft, with clubs in the second round considering his place. When reflecting on his season, Ralphsmith would change one key element.

      "Not to be so stressed about it, and to just enjoy it and know why you're playing footy," he said.

      "Throughout the year I definitely built it up to be pretty stressful and was focusing a lot on next year rather than this year. In the back end of the year I focused on what was happening right now."