ACL battles haven't halted these AFL draft hopefuls

Thu, 3 Sept, 8:10 pm, Final score, Dockers 40, Hawks 72

Fri, 4 Sept, 7:40 pm, Final score, Cats 107, Blues 74

Sat, 5 Sept, 3:15 pm, Final score, Swans 141, Lions 88

Sat, 5 Sept, 7:35 pm, Final score, Crows 90, Bulldogs 68

Fri, 11 Sept, 8:10 pm, Final score, Dockers 120, Cats 106

Sat, 12 Sept, 7:35 pm, Final score, Lions 144, Crows 91

Fri, 18 Sept, 7:40 pm, Final score, Swans 71, Dockers 83

Sat, 19 Sept, 5:15 pm, Final score, Hawks 122, Lions 131

Sat, 26 Sept, 2:30 pm, Final score, Dockers 89, Lions 96

After Gus White did his ACL during a game this year, the 18-year-old sought advice from another AFL draft hopeful who has experienced the same injury.

Like White, Memphis Webb suffered an ACL rupture — but both have worked hard on recovering.

Both White and Webb are prepared for all eventualities as they set their sights on the draft, which will be held over two nights later this month.

In just the second game of this year's footy season, Gus White did not realise he had suffered an ACL injury when he hurt his knee.

"I landed a bit funny and hyperextended my knee … it didn't hurt that bad," he said.

The 18-year-old is one of many teenage footballers vying for a chance in the AFL draft later this month — and is hopeful he will be in contention, despite only playing one full game of football this year.

"I'm obviously really nervous, not having much control over my playing this year," he said.

White said he initially sat in the emotions of the injury but quickly shifted his focus.

"I just gave myself 24 to 48 hours to sit in my thoughts and really feel it and from then move on and accept that it's happened," he said.

The South Adelaide product just hit the six-month milestone of recovery, a significant halfway mark of an injury that sidelines most players for about a year.

When the injury first happened, White spoke to someone who had trodden the same path a year earlier.

It was round 2 of the 2025 SANFL season when North Adelaide's Memphis Webb injured his ACL.

"The 12 months was long, but I made strategies and figured out ways to get through it," he said.

Webb decided to step away from football for the year as he recovered.

"I learnt a lot about myself, because before that my life had pretty much just been football," he said.

The 18-year-old said the recovery process had given him a lot of time to reflect, and had reignited his love for football when finally returned to playing in round 4 this year.

"I was like a little kid again, playing footy for the first time," Webb said.

The midfielder said he was at the match, but not yet back playing, when White did his ACL against North Adelaide in round 2.

White said Webb was one of the first people he went to about his injury.

"I asked him how he dealt with things and what worked for him, what didn't," White said.

White, who is also a midfielder, said seeing someone else experience the same injury and return to the field after such a hard time was motivating.

"It sort of opens that light at the end of the tunnel," he said.

White was invited to the AFL Draft Combine, where top junior prospects undergo physical testing and interviews, but was unable to be involved.

He was hopeful his junior years of footy had been enough to show prospective AFL clubs what he could achieve.

Webb was also invited to the national combine but instead featured at the state event due to sickness.

While feeling nervous ahead of the draft, he was grateful for the experience so far.

"Not many people my age get to experience this journey that I've been on," he said.

The AFL draft will be held over two nights on November 19 and 20.