One of the most intriguing players in the upcoming AFL draft class is Dylan Patterson, a speedy half back out of Queensland with Indonesian heritage who received four contract offers from NRL-aligned clubs when he was just 15.
However, he stuck with the Aussie rules pathway and emerged from the pack in 2025 as potentially the best prospect in the entire cohort.
Patterson is entrenched in Gold Coast's Academy and will join the Suns, the only question is where a rival team bids on him to force Gold Coast to match it.
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With blistering pace and an elite sidestep, his rugby league fullback experience and touch is clear for all to see when watching him play.
But he chose the AFL, a sign that the league is now able to compete with the NRL for the top talent available in the Queensland market, something that has developed quickly in the 2020s via the Suns and Lions academies.
Former AFL national talent manager Mick Ablett believes Patterson has all the attributes to be a superstar of the competition.
"He, in my opinion, is arguably the best player in the draft," Ablett told Wide World of Sports.
"I think if you look at the way the game is played now and teams' willingness to put their really strong counterattacking ball-users off half back, that's where I think Dylan's greatest strength is.
"I know people have mentioned about him playing in the midfield, but I look at the damage he can do off half back and he's got elite leg speed, his lateral movement is a joy to watch and when you've got that speed and kicking ability that he's got, I think half back is his go and he's really suited to the way the modern game is played.
"The game is suited to players with power and leg speed and there's no better player in the draft for those two attributes than Dylan Patterson.
"He's an elite kick on both sides of his body, which you don't see as much of these days. He averaged 400 metres gained during the under 18 championships, that's what he is. It's just invaluable."
When asked if Patterson would be heading down the NRL path right now if not for the Suns Academy, Ablett was emphatic.
"1One-hundred per cent he would be," he said.
"This is what people need to take a breath and understand. I'm not saying we don't need to look at the Northern Academy rules, but this is a prime example of it working.
"I'll go back a number of years. The draft had been on the Gold Coast and the National Academy had a camp up there in the days after it and we invited a young Kalyn Ponga into the camp along with Nate Dennis, who was a basketballer, both through the Brisbane Lions Academy.
"Mark Browning up there, who's been an unbelievable advocate of talent in Queensland for a very long time, he asked if these two kids could join the National Academy camp because we were trying to win them across to Aussie rules.
"That's where the mechanism of the northern academies is absolutely crucial in competing with the NRL.
"Now, we lost Ponga. We don't get them all. But when you look at Kalyn Ponga and Dylan Patterson, both full backs, and I think there's a lot in that.
"You look at the lateral movement, the leg speed and the power of NRL players that play that position, I think back to the talk around whether Billy Slater could have played AFL football, I've got no doubt he could have.
"We just need to understand, the AFL needs a mechanism to compete with the NRL, who have the capacity to sign players at 15 and reassure them and their families that they can stay in their home state.
"We won't win them all, but to win the heart of an elite athlete and outstanding young man in Dylan Patterson, that's what makes AFL football great. We get the elite athletes from everywhere around the country, but we've got to have some mechanism to compete in those markets."
The Northern Academies have come on in leaps and bounds since Ponga flirted with the system in the 2010s, with the Suns in particular going all-in on turning it into the club's greatest weapon.
Three of the top five picks in the 2025 draft could very well all be from the Gold Coast or Brisbane academies, including Patterson, while 2023 saw four first round picks all emerge from the Suns Academy.
Had someone like Ponga been in the system now, Ablett feels there's a much stronger chance that he would have chosen the Aussie rules pathway.
"Potentially. If you look at the growth in the Queensland market in the last four or five years, the success of the Gold Coast Suns over the last few years, where the Brisbane Lions are heading, there's no doubt that it is a more attractive market for AFL football now," Ablett said.
"The crowds are there, the money is there and that's another big part of it. You look back to Ponga and you look at the deal he signed with rugby league at such a young age. The Queensland market was probably reluctant to pay anyone that sort of money outside of Gary Ablett Jr.
"You're not going to win them all either. We still lose players to basketball and the rugby codes, but we back ourselves to win the hearts and minds more so than not. I think if the game was in the position it is now back then, I think it probably would've been a harder decision for Kalyn.
"History shows he made the right decision. He's become an outstanding NRL player. We couldn't be happier for him."
As for Patterson, current AFL National Talent Manager Kevin Sheehan had a lofty NRL comparison for the attributes the teenager brings to the table.
"He's a bit like a Reece Walsh, to give you the NRL link," Sheehan told Wide World of Sports.
"I was watching the NRL grand final and saw some of those Walsh sidesteps and thinking 'that's bloody Dylan'. That's what he can do. It's that shrug of the shoulders and it's unique. It's very much an NRL skill.
"It's that ability to shimmy and get past and find the gap where others can't. It's a subtle little sideways look or nudge of the shoulder. It causes the illusion he's going one way and he goes the other, but when he goes the other he's off and bouncing.
"At under age level, you stand up watching it and 'wow, he's away again'. He adds absolute excitement with his run that breaks the game open.
"In a year where three Queenslanders could all go top five and in another era they might have all considered rugby league.
"Dan Annable from the Lions Academy and Zeke Uwland from the Suns, those boys could pretty much play any of the ball sports."
Speaking earlier in the year, Patterson provided some insight into his decision to choose Aussie rules over rugby league.
"I had two avenues, so if I wanted to go and play rugby league, it was definitely an option and AFL was an option," Patterson told Zero Hanger in May.
"Having both pathways was great, but you always come back to what you love, what your family love and what you grow up with.
"I realise it might be the right decision, and I haven't regretted it since.
"I love rugby league and a lot of my close mates are playing it but footy is a bit more entertaining for me.
"When you've got a bit of talent, you enjoy being able to show it.
"I like that people want to watch me and I really thrive off pressure and crowds and team environments, and I like being good at something."
The AFL draft will take place across November 19 and 20, with Patterson likely to be among the first names read out, alongside fellow Suns Academy member Zeke Uwland.
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