Senior Will Ashcroft (2022-)

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Will Ashcroft is officially a Brisbane Lion.

The exciting midfielder was taken at Pick Two in tonight’s 2022 NAB AFL Draft, with the Lions matching a bid from North Melbourne to secure the father-son selection.
Will now follows in the footsteps of his father, triple premiership player and Club legend Marcus Ashcroft, who played 318 games with the Lions.

We sat down with Will Ashcroft to talk about his journey to becoming a Lion

Moments after having his name called out at the Draft, the 18-year-old spoke about the feeling of having his childhood dream become a reality.
“I’m relieved, I’ve known for a little while but it’s still great to hear and I’m excited it’s official,” he said.
“There’s a lot of work to be done, it all resets now, I’ve got a lot of work to do in the preseason. I need to prove myself and earn all of the respect of the playing group.
“I’ll be heading up to Brisbane on Wednesday and will kick straight into gear.”
Ashcroft, a midfielder who wins the ball on both the inside and outside with an exciting burst of speed, was regarded by many as the best player in the Draft.
The talented youngster has drawn comparison to that of Carlton’s Sam Walsh, following an impressive season at all levels in 2022.
“We are enormously excited to officially welcome Will into the Lions’ den,” National Recruiting Manager Stephen Conole said.

“After an outstanding junior career though the pathway system, Will completed this in 2002 with an exceptional under 18 season, leading the Dragons to the NAB League flag and Vic Metro to victory in the National Championships.
“Will is not only a very talented, super competitive player, but a young man who plays with a really strong team ethos and will be a fantastic addition to our squad in 2023 and beyond.
“Prolific across all levels he has competed in this year, I am sure everyone in and around the Club is looking forward to seeing Will pull on the Lions jumper next season.”

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The Ashcroft Name Continues at Brisbane

Will Ashcroft has officially joined the Brisbane Lions.
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“The World Is His Oyster”: Brisbane Footy Boss Blown Away by Ashcroft’s Pre-Season Form

Brisbane Lions GM of football Danny Daly isn’t limiting his expectations for Will Ashcroft’s debut season.

Ashcroft came into the 2022 National Draft as the consensus top prospect and was claimed early on by the Lions as a father-son selection.

After seeing the 18-year-old get some run throughout pre-season training, Daly believes Ashcroft could be capable of having a big impact in his first year of senior football.

“(Ashcroft has) taken some massive steps over the last couple of months to show exactly what he’s like as a player,” Daly told SEN’s The Run Home.

“Everyone is going to see what he can do but we had a practice match on Friday night, and he was probably close to one of the best on the ground.”

While Daly doesn’t want to get ahead of himself, he is confident that Ashcroft is capable of establishing himself in a Lions side with premiership aspirations.

“The world is his oyster, if he performs well he’ll keep playing and keep playing a role for us and get himself into our midfield,” he said.

“We’re also mindful that he’s a young kid and he’s coming into a pretty good outfit at the minute.

“In his own mind, I think he thinks he’s ready to attack the AFL with vigour and have a fantastic season and be part of our 18 and cement his spot in the side, which he’s capable of doing.

“We don’t hold any limitations on what he can do to be honest.”
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5 Players to Watch in 2023

Four words: “the kid can play!”

Since arriving at the Club as a father-son selection, Will Ashcroft has hit the ground running and been in ‘best on’ conversations for three of the Lions four intraclub matches.

Impressing with his clean skills and work inside the contest, Ashcroft has looked comfortable alongside Lachie Neale, Josh Dunkley and Hugh McCluggage and is well placed for a Round 1 debut.

What’s even more exciting for Lions fans is the 18-year-olds ability to damage the scoreboard. Ashcroft has kicked five goals in the last fortnight and will be one not to miss throughout the year.
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Will Ashcroft ‘pleased’ to have made a major contribution to the Lions’ first win of the season

If there were any doubts about Will Ashcroft’s ability to handle the step up to the AFL, they have been quashed after his superb effort at the Gabba on Friday night.

Following a less than “ideal” start to his AFL career, Lions young gun Will Ashcroft was relieved to have played a leading role in Brisbane’s first win of the new season.
Father-son pick Ashcroft was close to best on ground in the Lions’ 11-point victory over Melbourne at the Gabba on Friday night.

The 18-year-old son of Lions great Marcus Ashcroft finished the match with 31 disposals and nine clearances, as well as a goal.

It was far cry from his round one performance in Brisbane’s embarrassing 54-point loss to Port Adelaide when he was part of a Lions midfield that was comprehensively outplayed by their Power counterparts.

“Last week wasn’t ideal individually for me and the team,” Ashcroft said.

“All the mids were down on workrate and not as proactive at the stoppage.

“We just needed to get back to the basics – effort, (and) just all the things that we’re good at, and bring that (against Melbourne).

“I think we did that, and (I was) pleased with my individual stuff.”

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Following a less than “ideal” start to his AFL career, Lions young gun Will Ashcroft was relieved to have played a leading role in Brisbane’s first win of the new season.

Father-son pick Ashcroft was close to best on ground in the Lions’ 11-point victory over Melbourne at the Gabba on Friday night.

The 18-year-old son of Lions great Marcus Ashcroft finished the match with 31 disposals and nine clearances, as well as a goal.

It was far cry from his round one performance in Brisbane’s embarrassing 54-point loss to Port Adelaide when he was part of a Lions midfield that was comprehensively outplayed by their Power counterparts.

“Last week wasn’t ideal individually for me and the team,” Ashcroft said.

“All the mids were down on workrate and not as proactive at the stoppage.

“We just needed to get back to the basics – effort, (and) just all the things that we’re good at, and bring that (against Melbourne).
“I think we did that, and (I was) pleased with my individual stuff.”

Lions coach Chris Fagan was anything but surprised by Ashcroft’s performance.

“That’s how he’s been playing all pre-season,” Fagan said.

“He had a bit of a quieter one last week, along with the other 22, but he was terrific (on Friday night).

“He’s a fine young footballer. He can find the ball and he can set things up for us, so if he can get somewhere near that most weeks, that’d be a terrific result from a first-year player, but there’s a long way in the season to go.”

Ashcroft and Brisbane’s next assignment is on Thursday night against the Western Bulldogs at Marvel Stadium.

The Lions will strive for a four-quarter performance after Melbourne’s fast finish – which included five goals to Brisbane’s none – after play resumed at the Gabba following a power failure that stopped the match for almost 40 minutes.

“It was obviously not what we wanted to do when we came back out (after the break) ... but based off what we did last week, it was just good to come out, play a really good three and a half quarters, and bank the win,” Ashcroft said.

“We’ll just move on really quickly.”

The Lions seemed confident that Jarrod Berry would be fit for the battle with the Bulldogs despite the midfielder suffering a knock to his shoulder in the dying stages of Friday night’s match.

Fagan said: “He just got a ‘stinger’ so he came off late – he’s fine.”
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Wonderful Will: Lions young gun secures Rising Star nomination

BRISBANE young gun Will Ashcroft has been rewarded for his impressive performance against Melbourne with the round two AFL Rising Star nomination.

Ashcroft, the son of three-time premiership player Marcus, had 31 disposals, nine clearances and kicked a goal in the Lions' 11-point win over the Demons.

He joins North Melbourne's Harry Sheezel as the two Rising Star nominations so far this season.

Having made his AFL debut against Port Adelaide in round one, Ashcroft showed on Friday night just why he was considered the best player in last year's draft class.

The 18-year-old's nine clearances were an equal game-high, only Clayton Oliver (37) had more disposals and he also hit the scoreboard.

He is the first player to have a game of 30-plus disposals, nine-plus clearances and one-plus goal inside his first two career games. The previous fastest to that feat was Toby Greene (11th game).
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Will Ashcroft Breaks Club Record

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Will Ashcroft has become the youngest player in Brisbane Lions history to record a 30-possession game and grabbed undeniable bragging rights over his famous 300-gamer father.

Still 43 days short of his 19th birthday and playing just his second AFL game, Ashcroft Jnr was 78 days quicker and 39 games faster than Marcus Ashcroft.

The boom father/son recruit became the first Brisbane player this season to top 30 when he chalked up a team-high 31 possessions in the drama-charged Gabba win over Melbourne on Friday night.

It is a milestone he will never forget, posting his 30th touch in the last minute of a final quarter that went 69min 54sec after a power outage caused a 38-minute delay.

It is the longest recorded quarter in AFL history for a game played on one day.

The outrider was a Saturday night game in 1996 at Waverley between Essendon and St.Kilda which was stopped due to a power failure in the third quarter and, when power could not be restored quickly, was completed on the following Tuesday night.

Ironically, Marcus Ashcroft’s first 30-possession game in his 41st outing in 1991 also has a place in Brisbane club history, albeit for different reasons.

It was Round 20 when the then Brisbane Bears copped a 101-point hiding from Collingwood at Carrara in which Peter Daicos, father of current Magpies stars Josh and Nick, kicked 13 goals. It’s the most ever kicked against a Brisbane side.

Will Ashcroft was no less than 473 days younger than Tom Cutler, the club’s previous youngest 30-possession winner. Cutler was 20 years 65 days when he reached this mark in his eighth game in 2015.

Among players who have begun their AFL career at Brisbane, Ashcroft Jnr is third quickest to a 30-possession game after Danny Noonan (1991) and Bradd Dalziell (2008) topped 30 in their first AFL game. Noonan, recruited from Tasmania, was 22 years 128 days old, and Dalziell, from Perth, was 21 years 126 days.

Other Brisbane players to top 30 in their first 10 games have been Zac O’Brien (5th game in 2014), Nathan Buckley (6th game in 1993), Tom Rockliff (8th game in 2010) and Dayne Zorko (8th game in 2012).

Ashcroft is also the youngest and quickest Queenslander to post a 30-possession game. He slots in two games ahead of ex-Redland junior Adam Oxley, who had 33 possessions in his fourth game at Collingwood in 2015 and is 237 days younger than Dayne Beams when Beams reached this mark for the first time at Collingwood in 2009.

Ashcroft, too, is set to claim a place in club history on Brownlow Medal night this year, when it will be a major shock if he does not poll in the votes.

If so he will slot in behind three Brisbane players who polled on debut – inaugural Bears captain Mark Mickan, WA draftee Brad Rowe and triple premiership player Darryl White.

Mickan polled two votes when he had 18 possessions and 20 hit-outs in the Bears’ 33-point win North Melbourne at the MCG in their first game in Round 1 1987.

Rowe, drafted from East Fremantle with pick #5 in the 1989 AFL Draft, earned one vote for 14 possessions and two goals on debut in a 59-point Bears win over Richmond at Carrara in Round 1 1990 – the first of just 14 games in two years for the club in before he added 51 games at Collingwood (1992-95) and eight games at Fremantle (1996).

And White polled three votes on debut when he had 13 disposals and nine hit-outs as an undersized ruckman in a 24-point Bears loss to Carlton at Carrara in Round 1 1992.

Four other players who debuted in Brisbane colors have polled inside their first 10 games for the club – Dayne Zorko (5th game), Matthew Simpson (7th), Chris Scott (9th) and Michael Voss (10th).
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Ashcroft: Excited to Get Back on Track

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They came to Brisbane following in their fathers' footsteps, but it hasn't taken Will Ashcroft and Jaspa Fletcher long to forge their own reputations and help catapult the Lions into premiership contention.

They may both be only 19 years old, but the duo has added energy and vibrance to Chris Fagan's previously settled outfit.

Ashcroft (taken at pick No.2) and Fletcher (No.12) made their way to Brisbane as father-son selections in last year's AFL Draft, following their fathers Marcus and Adrian.

Their impact has been immediate.

Ashcroft has played all 17 games in a mix of roles between midfield and half-forward and is a Rising Star front-runner, while Fletcher was integrated five games ago and has looked right at home on the wing.

They are well and truly part of a Lions team that is pushing for the top two.

Both scored brilliant goals in last Friday night's one-point loss against Melbourne to illustrate their poise and class.

Speaking on Thursday morning ahead of Saturday's blockbuster against Geelong at the Gabba, Ashcroft said it's been a dream to play alongside his housemate.

"I've loved every second of it," Ashcroft said.

"Seeing his progression from coming back off a few injuries last year and taking the opportunity with both hands and playing really good footy in the AFL, it's been awesome playing alongside him."

Although Ashcroft said the pair, who share a house with rookie selection Shadeau Brain, try to keep the footy talk to a minimum when they're away from the club, he was happy to open up about the back-to-back goals against the Demons.

"It was awesome," he said.

"Playing in a big game on the MCG is everything we've both probably ever dreamed of.

"To be able to combine for my goal and I think he kicked his a few minutes after from a similar spot on the ground, so it was a pretty cool moment.

"I was definitely pretty happy about that 10-minute passage."

Ashcroft says his body is feeling good two-thirds of the way through his first season and is relishing the thought of playing the Cats – the team he supported as a youngster.

"Nigel Lappin was a close friend of Dad's, and I loved Joel Selwood when I was young and he (Lappin) sent me a Selwood jersey when I was young, and that was it.

"I really looked forward to playing them in the practice match and now to play them in the home and away season will be really exciting for me and the team to get back on track.

"The last couple of weeks they've been red hot."

Brisbane will welcome midfielder Josh Dunkley back into its team after missing the past two matches with a calf injury.
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Mane event: How Will Ashcroft’s debut year is surpassing Nick Daicos’

Will Ashcroft has already polled 31 coaches votes this season.

That’s two more than Collingwood’s Nick Daicos had at the corresponding stage in his first season.

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Daicos is now the Brownlow Medal favourite and rated by many as the best player in the game after backing up a brilliant first season with an outstanding sophomore year.

But Ashcroft is quietly keeping pace. He has also kicked a contender for goal of the year, and is heading to the finals as a midfielder in a top-four team.
Ashcroft’s coach Chris Fagan loves him, saying on radio this week that “it’s like he’s [Ashcroft] 25 years of age”.

Despite that maturity beyond his years, the Brisbane Lions coach has nursed the emerging star along, prepared to say no at times to the precocious teenager’s requests to spend more time in the Lions’ star-studded midfield.

But he also acknowledges the work Ashcroft is doing at the coalface is extraordinary for such a young player.

Ashcroft was not your normal 18-year-old entering the AFL.

The man of few words had already made Lions officials take notice when he played at the SCG in a curtain-raiser for their VFL side in his draft year.

It wasn’t just the mane of hair that made him look like the club logo that caught their attention. Ashcroft played with an air of confidence that belied his quiet demeanour off the field.

He had prepared himself to be ready for round one of the AFL under the watchful eye of his triple premiership dad Marcus and a range of junior coaches, so it was no surprise when he starred in the Lions’ pre-season matches, having already become familiar with the group as a father-son nomination.

His teammates did not take long to catch on to his talent with Brownlow medallist Lachie Neale comparing Ashcroft’s outlook to that of his former Dockers teammate and housemate Andrew Brayshaw.

“It’s been well documented that he is a really professional kid so since he walked through the door he put his hand up to play pretty early, and you could tell he was going to be a pretty special talent,” Neale said.

That talent has been on display in a stacked midfield vying for a top-four spot, but there is still more to come from Ashcroft. He knows he belongs, and believes he can give more than he is giving, but the coaches know not to push it.


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He already leads the club for handball receives as he gets in the right spot at the right times, is second for uncontested possessions, third for disposals, fourth for clearances and equal fourth for tackles. He has complemented a midfield that contained Neale, Hugh McCluggage and added Josh Dunkley in the off-season.

His post-clearance work is exceptional with one veteran recruiting official, who preferred to remain anonymous because he wasn’t authorised to speak, saying Ashcroft sees the game quicker than 99 per cent of his peers.

He has that in common with Daicos and his rivals for this year’s Rising Star award, St Kilda’s Mitch Owens and North Melbourne’s Harry Sheezel.

With his younger brother also a future AFL player and his dad Marcus having played 318 games, Ashcroft has always practised at pace, and it shows. Apart from the goal-of-the-year contender against the Dockers, which only special talents would even attempt, he does the basics exceptionally well.

“His contested stuff for a first-year player is unreal,” Neale said.

“[Notice] his ground level work, [he] doesn’t fumble, [he’s] really clean. [He’s] got great vision with his hands as well and his kicking is probably underrated. He sees free players pretty easily. He doesn’t have the most dart-like kicking, but he is really efficient as well.”

In the thriller against Melbourne last round, Ashcroft found teammates inside 50 that gave the Lions two of their first three goals. He kicked a memorable goal in the second quarter of that match – free of the histrionics that nowadays accompanies such goals – and was in the centre square when the game was on the line deep in the last quarter as the Lions hung grimly to a five-point lead.

The loss stung, but he admitted on Thursday that the goal was a highlight, coming moments before his other father-son teammate, and housemate, Jaspa Fletcher kicked an outstanding goal too.

“Playing in a big game on the MCG is everything we’ve both probably ever dreamed of,” Ashcroft said.

“To be able to combine for my goal and I think he kicked his a few minutes after from a similar spot on the ground, so it was a pretty cool moment.”

That loss would have stung but readied him for a battle against the defending premiers Geelong, the team he barracked for growing up that is coached by Chris Scott, who, as a former teammate of Marcus Ashcroft, has known Will since he was a baby.

He’s a long way past being a toddler mucking around among AFL stars.

He has become, through sheer consistency, the most credentialed among a crop of special talents vying for this year’s Rising Star award.

When Neale is asked where Ashcroft rates among the best first-year players he has seen, he is considered in his assessment.

“He’s right up there. I was lucky enough to have Andy Brayshaw live with me in his first year of footy and those two are probably the top two teenagers I have come across, and Will has probably outperformed what Andy did in his first year, but he has probably been given more opportunities through the midfield than Andy was as well,” Neale said.

“Those two are probably the clear standouts, and they are pretty similar with their professionalism and work ethic.”

Somehow Brayshaw wasn’t even nominated for the Rising Star award in his first season, but he finished equal fifth in the Brownlow and was All-Australian in 2022, his fifth season.

Ashcroft is tracking ahead of Brayshaw, which makes him one to watch, while his future battles with Daicos, who you can bet he is eyeing off, and the other emerging stars of the competition make for a mouthwatering prospect.

The debate about whether he, Sheezel, Owens, or even Fremantle’s Jye Amiss at a pinch, deserve the Rising Star will rage for the remainder of the season.

But one thing is for certain, Ashcroft’s team will still be playing after the award is presented, and in his first season he will be playing a key part in the club’s push for a flag.
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Qscan Injury Update: Will Ashcroft

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Scans have confirmed Brisbane Lions midfielder Will Ashcroft ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in yesterday’s win against Geelong.

The 19-year-old sustained the injury to his right knee midway through the final quarter before being subbed out of the match.

“We are all hurting for Will because you never want to see any player experience a serious injury, especially a player in their first season,” Lions General Manager of Football, Danny Daly, said.

“Will is super professional in everything he does, so we know he will do everything he can to recover from this.

“Our main priority is for everyone at the Club to wrap their arms around Will and do everything we can to support him and his family in any way we can.”

Ashcroft has played all 18 matches in his debut season with the Lions and was the AFL Rising Star nominee for Round 2, where he has since averaged 22 disposals.

The number two draft pick is the son of Brisbane Lions triple premiership player Marcus Ashcroft, who played 318 games for the Club.
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Senior Will Ashcroft (2022-)

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