Analysis by Paul
At a glance
Top 5 Scorers
| Player | Games | Average | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jye Caldwell | 11 | 103.6 | 15 |
| Darcy Cameron | 23 | 102 | 19 |
| Andrew Brayshaw | 23 | 101 | 22 |
| Tom Liberatore | 23 | 99.6 | 27 |
| Will Setterfield | 13 | 95.9 | 37 |
Season Summary
As has become emblematic of the Vipers, it was a season of ups and downs. Some may see this as a season of underachievement, given the top end talent on this list and the years of re-tooling. However others may see this as overachievement given they finished 3rd to bottom in scoring across the season but defied pre-season survey predictions to make their 4th finals appearance in the past 5 years, all while their best player (Caldwell) was injured for most of the year. In true Vipers fashion they found ways to win important games going undefeated against the Defenestrators (Rnd 2, 12 and 21) with a combined margin of only 124 points (definitely pencilling these matchups in for 2026)! Also victories against the Pukekos (Rnd 10 and 19) and Midnight (Rnd 4) meant they could always stay that one win ahead of their competition. They exceeded expectations and they have a good draft hand, so I’d be in the camp of counting it as a win, with some optimism for the future.
Season Grade: B
All-Australians
1: Andrew Brayshaw
DangerGawn Votes
| Rank | Player | Votes |
|---|---|---|
| 11 | Tom Liberatore | 12 |
| 12 | Andrew Brayshaw | 12 |
| 21 | Darcy Cameron | 9 |
| 25 | Jye Caldwell | 8 |
| 39 | Aaron Naughton | 6 |
| 44 | Will Setterfield | 5 |
| 46 | Lachie Neale | 5 |
| 76 | Touk Miller | 3 |
| 116 | Luke Ryan | 1 |
| 118 | Mitch Hinge | 1 |
| 124 | Liam Duggan | 1 |
Pre-Season Draft
| Round | Pick | Player | GP | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 13 | Isaac Kako | 10 | 44.1 |
| 5 | 43 | Jack Ross | 20 | 71.15 |
| 6 | 53 | Isaac Cumming | 14 | 62.64 |
| 6 | 57 | Saad El-Hawli | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | 63 | Toby Bedford | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | 66 | Mitch Duncan | 8 | 59.63 |
| 7 | 67 | Tom Atkins | 21 | 86.71 |
| 8 | 73 | Aidan Johnson | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | 83 | Tom Doedee | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | 93 | James Harmes | 11 | 74.82 |
| 11 | 103 | Zak Johnson | 6 | 57.33 |
| 12 | 113 | Ben Jepson | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | 123 | Joe Berry | 1 | 40 |
| 14 | 133 | Hayden McLean | 1 | 41 |
| 15 | 143 | Liam Henry | 1 | 46 |
| 16 | 153 | Tom Sparrow | 18 | 60.17 |
| 17 | 163 | Jayden Hunt | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | 173 | Peter Wright | 12 | 76.83 |
| 19 | 183 | Deven Robertson | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | 193 | Nat Fyfe | 1 | 37 |
Most Inspired Selection
Pick 67 – Tom Atkins
Easy choice here and arguably the best pick of the entire draft. In what appeared to be a murky inside midfield mix coming into the season, Atkins was a mainstay for the Cats midfield and found a brilliant balance between extractor and defensive mid which complemented their pure negators (e.g Oisin Mullins) and their pure offensive players (e.g Bailey Smith). Ross was a worthy pick and probably the best player picked in the 5th round. Kako is a keeper and Johnson showed some good signs. Overall an okay draft but I’d suggest coach Nathan would’ve wanted a few more games from his mature draftees and to see more promising signs from his drafted rookies.
Trades
| 27 July 2025 | Vipers | Joel Jeffrey Max Hall Aaron Cadman Love Sparkles Round 1 pick |
| Soldiers | Lachie Neale Ben Keays |
| 12 June 2025 | Vipers | Darcy Fogarty |
| Soldiers | Lethal Vipers Round 5 pick |
| 22 January 2025 | Roughnecks | Lethal Vipers Round 4 pick (pick 33) |
| Vipers | Jeremy Sharp Roughnecks Round 7 pick (pick 66) |
After a couple of low key trades, coach Nathan made a clear statement of intent shipping off key pieces of the Vipers midfield and forward line in Neale and Keays to bring in some very interesting pieces. I’m a big fan of this trade for the Vipers as I think Cadman can be a star in the GWS forward line in time, Hall and Jeffery are both worth fliers as they have shown fantasy chops to date and an extra 1st to boot sets them up nicely for next year. And I’d suggest the Viper’s think so too as all have been kept. Even though they made finals, they read the writing on the wall (ergo that no one was beating the top 4 on the ladder this year) and pivoted in a savvy move for the future
List at end of 2025 season
| Player | Age | GP | AVG | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jye Caldwell | 24 | 11 | 103.6 | 15 |
| Darcy Cameron | 30 | 23 | 102 | 19 |
| Andrew Brayshaw | 25 | 23 | 101 | 22 |
| Tom Liberatore | 33 | 23 | 99.6 | 27 |
| Will Setterfield | 27 | 13 | 95.9 | 37 |
| Touk Miller | 29 | 21 | 91 | 53 |
| Tom Atkins | 30 | 23 | 87.8 | 68 |
| Mason Redman | 28 | 19 | 85.8 | 82 |
| Luke Ryan | 29 | 23 | 81.9 | 106 |
| Liam Duggan | 28 | 21 | 79 | 119 |
| Joel Jeffrey | 23 | 23 | 75.7 | 140 |
| Jack Ross | 25 | 23 | 73.1 | 161 |
| Aaron Naughton | 25 | 23 | 71.8 | 168 |
| Jamie Elliott | 33 | 23 | 67.8 | 199 |
| Mitch Hinge | 27 | 22 | 67.1 | 201 |
| Wil Powell | 26 | 23 | 66.9 | 205 |
| James Harmes | 29 | 13 | 66.8 | 207 |
| Max Hall | 23 | 23 | 66.1 | 214 |
| Jayden Laverde | 29 | 14 | 65.6 | 219 |
| Nathan O’Driscoll | 23 | 13 | 64.4 | 228 |
| Sean Darcy | 27 | 16 | 64.3 | 230 |
| Isaac Cumming | 27 | 22 | 61.4 | 273 |
| Tom Sparrow | 25 | 22 | 61.1 | 277 |
| Oliver Florent | 27 | 16 | 60 | 289 |
| Mitch Duncan | 34 | 8 | 59.6 | 292 |
| Aaron Cadman | 21 | 23 | 59.4 | 294 |
| Darcy Fogarty | 25 | 22 | 59.3 | 296 |
| Toby Bedford | 25 | 22 | 56.2 | 340 |
| Noah Balta | 25 | 13 | 52.7 | 394 |
| Archie May | 21 | 7 | 51.3 | 413 |
| Zak Johnson | 18 | 9 | 50.4 | 425 |
| Jeremy Sharp | 24 | 14 | 48.1 | 448 |
| Isaac Kako | 19 | 23 | 47 | 465 |
| Tom Doedee | 28 | 1 | 47 | 468 |
| Saad El-Hawli | 24 | 9 | 44.2 | 495 |
| Max Heath | 22 | 4 | 43.8 | 504 |
| Alixzander Tauru | 18 | 10 | 42.1 | 525 |
| Cooper Simpson | 20 | 3 | 41 | 537 |
| Liam Henry | 24 | 6 | 30.3 | 613 |
| Jamarra Ugle-Hagan | 23 | 719 |
Player to watch in 2026
Max Hall
He had plenty of good games from round 16 onwards, scoring a high of 124 and had a patch as one of the highest rated players in the league. Definitely a strong base to build on, it all depends on how the swath of new recruits at Moorabin affects Hall’s role and market share of the ball. Talent wins out, so I’ll make a sneaky tip that he surpasses some of his team mates to snag some midfield minutes. Definitely one to watch.