Western Australia’s top prospect and potential 2027 No.1 pick Axel Walsh set to play first game of the year

Western Australia’s top prospect and potential No.1 pick in the 2027 draft will be unleashed this weekend, with Axel Walsh set to play his first game of the year. The 17-year-old will play limited minutes in a State 18s Boys trial match against East Perth reserves at Mineral Resources Park on Saturday, as he builds fitness following a season-ending knee injury last year. Walsh, the younger brother of Port Adelaide’s Xavier, is the state’s leading prospect for 2027 but could be on an AFL list as soon as this year after he was identified as one of 22 underage prospects deemed “players of interest” to Tasmania. WA talent manager Adam Jones described Walsh, who ran a 6.05 two-kilometre time trial at 202cm tall, as a “really rare” talent, comparing him to 202cm Gold Coast wingman Ethan Read. “He ticks a lot of boxes as a footballer,” Jones said of the East Perth product. The ruckman was a standout at last year’s under-16’s national carnival, averaging 21.5 disposals and 27 hit-outs across the first two games before a partial tear of his ACL kept him out of WA’s final game and the remainder of the 2025 season. His pair of strong performances earned him All-Australian honours and a runner up in the Kevin Sheehan Medal, awarded to the carnival’s best and fairest player. Jones said the additional build up to this year’s National Championships — with WA having six trial games, up from three in 2025 — meant they would not need to rush Walsh in. “He’ll play only 50-to-60 per cent game time and we’ll be able to manage that really closely, as he builds up to full match minutes,” he said.