Twomey tipped the first seven players in order, including where the father-son and Academy bids would fall, as well as Dyson Sharp heading to Essendon with one of its picks, making for eight of his predicted top 10 landing at that club.
He predicted the correct destination for 13 of the first 25 players selected, with 23 of the 25 players taken on Wednesday night in his predicted first 25 picks. The two players who came into the top 25 – Lachie Carmichael and Aidan Schubert – were in Twomey’s top 30 predictions (Schubert at 26 and Carmichael at 29).
As well as Sharp, Harry Kyle (Sydney), Oskar Taylor (GWS), Jai Murray (Gold Coast) and Mitch Marsh (Adelaide) all ended up where Twomey had tipped, albeit with a slightly different numbered selection after live pick trades and father-son/Academy bids took place.
He also tipped three additional bids, but not the eventual result: Western Bulldogs’ bid on Sydney Academy prospect Lachie Carmichael (not matched), West Coast’s bid on Gold Coast Academy’s Beau Addinsall (matched), and Fremantle’s bid on Essendon NGA prospect Adam Sweid (not matched).
In all, Twomey was on the money with 16 of the 25 selections taken on Wednesday night in a draft list that recruiting managers described on Gettable Draft Countdown this week as one of the least predictable in recent years.
The success of his 2025 Phantom Draft continues an incredible history of accuracy from Twomey, who has tipped an average of 8.7 correct picks from the draft’s top 10 since 2013.
It backs up Twomey’s record of predicting the first round of the AFL Draft over the past 13 years, including tipping at least 13 of the first 20 in seven of the past eight seasons.
Even when considering the COVID-affected year of 2020, when North’s surprise pick of Will Phillips at pick No.3 was an unexpected curveball, Cal has averaged 8.5 out of 10 correct predictions for the top 10 of the draft. Take 2020 out of the mix and Twomey’s strike rate soars to an incredible 8.9 out of 10.
CAL TWOMEY’S PHANTOM DRAFT LATE MAIL STRIKE RATE
| Year | Out of top 10 | Out of top 20 |
| 2013 | 10/10 | 14/20 |
| 2014 | 8/10 | 11/20 |
| 2015 | 10/10 | 16/20 |
| 2016 | 8/10 | 13/20 |
| 2017 | 9/10 | 12/20 |
| 2018 | 9/10 | 13/20 |
| 2019 | 8/10 | 13/20 |
| 2020 | 4/10 | 6/20 |
| 2021 | 10/10 | 13/20 |
| 2022 | 10/10 | 15/20 |
| 2023 | 8/10 | 15/20 |
| 2024 | 10/10 | 14/20 |
| 2025 | 7/10 | 13/20 |
| Average | 8.5/10 | 12.9/20 |
*The above scores are based on Cal Twomey correctly predicting player destinations and do not take into account where father-son/Academy/NGA bids and live trades occur
It’s a wealth of knowledge and insight gained by countless hours of watching junior footy, talking to club recruiters, players and their agents, to develop an understanding of the AFL’s talent pipeline that is unrivalled in the media industry.
You can get the latest draft and trade news and analysis each week throughout the season with Gettable, hosted by Cal and Riley, while AFL.com.au‘s team of gun reporters brings you the stories of each year’s draft crop with feature articles throughout the season.
Be sure to tune in for night two of the 2025 Telstra AFL Draft from 7pm AEDT on Thursday, and come back on Saturday morning for an early look at the players most likely to shine next season, when Cal releases his top 10 players to watch for 2025. As a guide, five of the 10 players Cal named this time last year were taken inside the top 15 of the 2024 draft, including four of the first six players selected on Wednesday night.
It all adds up to the best AFL Draft content available anywhere, and you can get it right here on AFL.com.au and the AFL Live Official App, all year round.
