ACL battles haven't halted these AFL draft hopefuls

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.

"I went and got scans a couple of days later, the result came back with the ACL, which was really devastating."

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.

"'Control the controllables' was the main goal — and [to] just stay as positive as I could."

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.

'Every journey's different'

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.

"Obviously it wasn't great not playing footy for a year, but it was almost a blessing as well."

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.

"We had a good chat about things to expect for him — I just said, 'Every journey's different, don't try and compare to other people',"

he said.

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.

'Dream to play AFL footy'

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.

"Ever since I was four years old, it's been the dream to play AFL footy, so if my name were to be called out on draft night, I'll be over the moon,"

he said.

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.

"I'm just looking forward to it, whatever happens will happen."

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