Beau Addinsall was the fourth member of the SUNS’ first-round quadrella in the National Draft last year which made the AFL world stand up and take notice, behind Zeke Uwland, Dylan Patterson and Jai Murray.
It went Zeke Uwland at #2, Dylan Patterson at #5, Jai Murray at #17 and Addinsall at #18.
But according to a man who should know, Addinsall, who will debut against Hawthorn at People First Stadium on Friday night, might just be “the most complete package” of the four.
“He’s an absolute jet,” says Stuart Harrison, who coached the 182cm midfielder/running utility from age six at the Burleigh Bombers and is now in charge of the club’s Under 17s.
“For as long as I can remember he’s been living for this day. From a very early age his want to make it and his willingness to do whatever it took – and more – was something else.
“You’d watch him play in the Under 8s and Under 10s and want to check his birth certificate because he was so driven.
“It didn’t all come easily to him. He wasn’t a great runner in his younger days but he worked and worked at it, and now he blows up the 2km time trial. When he was drafted he was among the elite in his age group.”
The Addinsall CV includes one very special highlight which none of the others have – he was best afield in the AFL National Futures Game at the MCG on AFL Grand Final Day 2024.
He dominated for ‘Team Sloane’ (coached by ex-Adelaide star Rory Sloane) against ‘Team Heppell’ (coached by ex-Essendon star Dyson Heppell) in a trial which brought together the best Under-17 players in the country.
He won the Alan McLean Medal as the best player in division two at the 2023 Under 16 Championships, won All-Australian selection at Under 15 and Under 16 level, and was a member of the 2025 AFL Academy which included five Queenslanders – Uwland, Murray, Addinsall and Kilani White from the StreetSmarts SUNS Academy, and the Lions’ Daniel Annable.
He won the StreetSmarts SUNS Academy MVP as a bottom-ager in 2024 before injury disrupted his top-age year in 2025, and has handled beautifully the step up to VFL level in the past two years.
His Pre-Draft Profile read most impressively: “As well-rounded as midfielders come. A clean contested ball-winner who thrives in stoppage situations. His extraction work is one-touch, and he prides himself on being able to remain poised in traffic before releasing teammates into space.
“He is generally flawless by hand and sets a strong tone around the ball with his clearance craft. He gets involved in transitional chains, will run in waves to support teammates, and works hard contest to contest.”
Experts say only Addinsall’s injury problems last year pushed him outside the top 10 in the draft, and scuttlebutt across the industry says he was the target of an audacious if unsuccessful plot on draft night.
As the story goes, West Coast were so keen on Addinsall that they bid on Murray at #17 in the draft hoping that the SUNS would use enough draft points on him so that they could not match a subsequent West Coast bid on Addinsall at #18.
The Eagles bid on Addinsall as soon as the Murray selection was confirmed, but the SUNS had done the numbers and was able to complete the draft quadrella before adding Koby Coulson, a fifth Academy graduate, at #46.
Oddly, Murray and Addinsall were born on the same day – 9 March 2007. Now, after being drafted with consecutive picks, they’ll make their AFL debut a fortnight apart, with Addinsall to debut in Murray’s third game.
But in the lead-up to the draft last year Addinsall was realistic enough to admit he was no certainty to get to the SUNS. “Obviously I’d love to play for the SUNS but any team that puts their trust in me, that’s the team I want to be at,” he said.
So focussed on being prepared for a possible move interstate was he that in the lead-up to the draft he started doing his own washing and cooking the family meals.
It’s a fanatical football family. Father Rick, owner of Addinsall Constructions, is a lifetime AFL man and sponsor of the Burleigh Bombers, and wife Marie, originally from Sydney, is a total convert and has served in various roles on the Bombers committee. And brother Kai is an AFL prospect in waiting and eligible for the 2027 draft.
Set to wear jumper #38, Beau Addinsall attended Caningeraba Primary School, located about 200m from the Burleigh Bombers home ground, and All Saints Anglican School at Merrimac, which boasts a sporting alumni the equal of any school in Queensland.
Among the AFL graduates from All Saints are current teammates Lachie Weller, Bodhi Uwland and Zeke Uwland, Alex Davies, Lachie Gulbin and Koby Coulson, SUNS Academy graduate turned Melbourne rookie White and ex-SUNS Jack Bowes, Trent Nicholls, Piers Flanagan, Maverick Weller, Joel Tippett and Taylor Hine.
Adelaide/Sydney forward turned SUNS board member Kurt Tippett is another AFL star from All Saints, along with Nick Riewoldt, Will and Levi Ashcroft, Steven Lawrence and Marc Woolnough.
The school also boasts ex-Test cricketer Andrew Symonds, swimming great Giaan Rooney, motor racing ace Broc Feeney, Matildas pair Tameka Yallop and Leah Davidson, ex-Socceroo Thomas Oar, entertainer Cody Simpson, ex-rugby internationals Ben Daley and Sam Norton-Knight, mixed martial artist Megan Anderson, and the third member of the all-sporting Tippett family Gretel.
