Swan Districts pair ready to chase AFL dreams

Blake Kelly and Leon Kickett have followed distinctly different paths but have come through the ranks at Swan Districts, have been colts teammates and now are right on the radar across the country ahead of the AFL National Draft.

Kelly had a tremendous colts season with Swan Districts in 2025 winning the EJ McManus Award as the fairest and best while Kickett also starred and was exciting with his speed and natural talents, which he also showcased in the last two league games.

Now the pair are looking to chase their AFL dreams by hearing their names read out on Thursday November 20 in the AFL Draft. Both Kelly and Kickett chat to SEN last week.

BLAKE KELLY

Kelly ended up having a brilliant start and finish to the colts season while playing for WA at the National 18s Championships in between, and then ending up with a strong showing in the reserves preliminary final.

“In some parts I was happy with my year and I was happy with how my season ended, and with the back half I was pretty happy with how that went,” Kelly told SEN WA.

“I thought I gave it my all in the back sort of two or three months of the season especially after the championships which is when I thought I played some good footy.

“Then at the Combine, I trained pretty hard with all the boys that did that and was pretty happy with how the testing went considering I’m not an amazing athlete in terms of the jumping and agility.”

His pure ball winning ability has put him on the radar of AFL teams after winning the colts fairest and best award at Swan Districts, and now as the draft approaches, he’s feeling a whole mix of emotions but would be happy to move anywhere.

“I am feeling a bit of everything really right now, there’s a bit of uncertainty and a bit of hope too so all the emotions are coming through,” he said.

“Just to get the opportunity would obviously be a dream come true and obviously it’s a possibility to go interstate, and I’ve definitely thought about it and would love to do it.”

Kelly is also thankful to the support of his whole family as he chases his football dreams which includes his father, Peter, who played 128 games at Swan Districts up to the end of 2003 while also having a stint at South Fremantle including the 1997 premiership.

“My family has been great for me and my dad, Peter, played a lot of footy and he was sort of in the same boat as me as a kid,” Kelly said.

“It didn’t go his way unfortunately, but he played a lot of WAFL footy for Swannies and won a flag for South Freo as well so he’s really good.

“He doesn’t put too much pressure on me and he’s never really on me after a game or something, but I can be pretty hard on myself. I try to forget about it the best I can if I play a bad game or anything because that’s really all you can do.”

Kelly also played with his bother Luke, who also won the reserves fairest and best in 2025, in the reserves preliminary final loss to East Perth where he was impressive in his first taste of senior football with 17 possessions and a goal.

He enjoyed the chance to play with his brother and to get that chance of senior football too once the colts season was over to start the finals.

“My brother came back to the reserves after playing a fair bit of the season in the league and he’s obviously another big influence on me,” Kelly said.

“He’s only 18 months older than me and he’s been nothing but helpful to me, and that reserves final was with him and we had done that a few times before.

“It was a lot of fun but it’s definitely different football to playing colts or junior footy, and I found it was quite a bit more open and I’ve also got close with a lot of those senior boys at Swans. So it was a lot of fun to get to play some senior footy.”

LEON KICKETT

Kickett is another 18-year-old Swan Districts talented youngster who has burst onto the AFL Draft scene with the exciting football he produced in both the colts and at league level in 2025.

Being a chance to be drafted felt like a far away dream for the Bunbury youngster, but things have progressed quickly since thanks to the exciting football he has produced and he’s embracing everything that goes with it.

“At the start of the year I just wanted to build my way up to play seniors at Swannies and then when I had all this interest from AFL teams it kinda surprised me and I just had to work through it all,” Kickett said on SEN WA.

“Hayden Cobley is the one who reaches out to me every time I have a team who wants to talk to me or whatever so he’s the first bloke that reaches out to tell me I’ve got someone interested.

“A lot of it is then just footy questions and all that, and some outside stuff like family or what I like to do and all that, and what it would potentially look like if I got treated. I’ve probably talked to seven teams now.”

After an impressive run of form in the colts and with Swan Districts’ league team out of finals contention, Kickett was thrown in the deep end to make his league debut in Round 19 against the West Coast Eagles.

He also played the week after against Peel Thunder and across the two games had some impressive moments finishing with 19 possessions, four tackles and three goals, and he enjoyed the experience and feels it will help him immensely moving forward.

“The bodies were a lot bigger obviously but I would say it was a lot funner than colts,” Kickett said.

“It was just a lot more free flowing and the bodies are flying everywhere, and you’re just there seeing everything and thinking everyone wants to kill each other. It was a lot better than colts I’d say.

“Playing them two league games has built my confidence up a lot more and it pretty much didn’t take me scared anymore of it. I just put my head down and pretty much just saw ball, get ball and that’s all I kinda worried about.”

After Kickett did impress late in the season with Swan Districts in the colts and then with his couple of league appearances, he was just happy to be invited along to the WA Talent Combine.

But then he was blown away when invited to the AFL Combine in Melbourne and was especially relieved to have Swan Districts teammate Tylah Williams there with him.

“It was a bit surprising too because I was pretty much just working to try and make the State Combine, and when I made that I was like real happy and pretty speechless when I found out and was doing laps around the kitchen,” Kickett said.

“Then about a week later I got told I made the national one and had some pretty happy tears for that. Then when I got there, it was a lot different than the WAFL one because I can just go there and go straight home.

“But I was a few hours away from Perth and away from my family and all that so it was a whole different feeling.

“I was just happy I had some of the boys I knew there and me and Tylah shared a room the whole time, and he made everything a whole lot more comfortable for me so that was wicked.”

It doesn’t feel like long ago where Kickett was happy to just be thinking about doing a pre-season at Swan Districts to get himself ready for a first full WAFL season with the senior team in 2026.

However, it’s all come about quickly that AFL teams have become interested in him and now that boyhood dream is within reach.

“I’ve always dreamed of playing AFL ever since I was a kid and had a footy in my hands almost everywhere i went no matter if it was to the park or the shops or wherever,” Williams said.

“It didn’t matter, I just always had a footy in my hands and have kept them all so I have about 20 footies under my bed. I’ve always just loved it ever since I was little.

“It feels like it was just a few weeks ago when I was just worried about getting ready for pre-season at Swans so it’s all happened quick, and all these team meetings have made the whole year feel like it’s running fast and it’s unreal feeling really.”