Former AFL national talent manager Mick Ablett isn’t prone to outrageous statements. So when in September last year he labelled Dylan Patterson “a potential superstar” it was time to take notice.

“In my opinion he is arguably the best player in the draft," Ablett told Wide World of Sports in the lead-up to the 2025 National Draft.

So when Patterson makes his AFL debut for the SUNS against Collingwood at People First Stadium on Saturday afternoon the eyes of local fans will zero right in on his #30 jumper.

Ablett’s lavish praise for the StreetSmarts SUNS Academy product is built on how he is so well-suited to the modern game, and where he expects Patterson to play long-term.

"If you look at the way the game is played now and teams' willingness to put their really strong counterattacking ball-users off half back, that's where I think Dylan's greatest strength is.

"I know people have mentioned about him playing in the midfield, but I look at the damage he can do off half back and he's got elite leg speed, his lateral movement is a joy to watch and when you've got that speed and kicking ability, I think half back is his go.

"The game is suited to players with power and leg speed and there's no better player in the draft for those two attributes than Dylan Patterson. And he’s an elite kick on both sides of his body.”

Patterson will be the fourth StreetSmarts SUNS Academy graduate to debut this year after Zeke Uwland, Jai Murray and Beau Addinsall in what is another big win for Aussie Rules over rugby league.

Born in Gatton to an Australian father and an Indonesian mother, he joined the StreetSmarts SUNS Academy at 13 but split his junior time between the codes. And at 15 he was offered a contract by several NRL clubs.

"There’s a lot more variety in it (Australian Rules). Things can happen all the time," Patterson told Fox Footy. "I feel like in rugby league, there might be an occasional linebreak or something and then everyone’s up, which makes it exciting.

“But in footy, there’s just always something happening – and you don’t get that in rugby league. Scores are low, but that’s why when they score it’s so exciting. But in footy, the momentum changes all the time.

"I'm not taking anything away from rugby league because there’s very skilled players and I’m friends with some very skilled contracted players at my age. But I think AFL, you need to be so much more skilled and it just requires a more overall athletic profile. You can’t just get away with being only good at one thing, you have to be capable of doing your job."

Patterson has always been ahead of his time. In May 2023, at 15 years, he was best afield in his QAFL debut with Palm Beach Currumbin, and in April 2024 at 16 he was among the SUNS’ best in his first game against Oakleigh Chargers in the Coates Talent League. In April 2025 he impressed with his skills and speed playing for the AFL National Academy, and on AFL Grand Final Day he played in the National Futures Game at the MCG.

He won All Australian honours at Under 16 and Under 18 level, and it was never a question of if he’d be drafted, but when he’d be drafted.

Despite Ablett’s overwhelming recommendation, Patterson slipped through to Pick 5 in the Draft behind West Coast’s Willem Duursma, SUN Zeke Uwland, Carlton's Harry Dean and West Coast's Cooper Duff-Tytler.

Richmond bid on Patterson at Pick 5, forcing the SUNS’ hand before they subsequently added StreetSmarts SUNS Academy pair Jai Murray and Beau Addinsall at #17 and 18, Tassie Devils’ Avery Thomas at Pick 28, and Koby Coulson, yet another StreetSmarts SUNS Academy product, at Pick 46.

Powerfully built and lightning fast, he is a very confident young man, and impressed AFL recruiters and media personnel with his honest self-assessment and ambitions pre-draft.

Ben Waterworth of Fox Sports described Patterson’s confidence as ‘refreshing and admirable’ after he said “only a limited number of people can catch me”, and that he’d rather take on a tough attacking kick than a safe defensive kick.

Asked if he was ready for the AFL, Patterson replied: “I’ve been ready, mentally, since I was like 10 years old. Physically, I think I’m ready now, but obviously that’s up for a coach to decide and the people around them. But me knowing me, I just know I’m ready.

“When you've got a bit of talent, you enjoy being able to show it. I like that people want to watch me and I really thrive off pressure and crowds and team environments, and I like being good at something.”

Patterson, who will love the sell-out People First Stadium crowd on Saturday afternoon, models himself on his favourite AFL player – St Kilda’s Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera.

“He (Wanganeen-Milera) is unreal. Against Melbourne when he won that game (last year), it just reminds me that I want to be at that stage and I want to be able to do the same types of things and win games.”

Patterson spent much of the 2025 pre-season training with the SUNS AFL squad and followed ex-captain Touk Miller closely.

“I was matched up on (Miller) at times, so I was chucked in the deep end and told to stick with him, and it makes you realise how hard he works and how many extras he actually does,” he said in the lead-up to last year’s draft.

“I think it's just to give us an insight into what happens in the AFL system so we can see how much hard work goes into it – it's not just like getting paid to kick a footy.

“When you watch the players who get good stats every single game, you think they must just be freak athletes but you don't realise how much they're doing to get to that stage and in the gym,” Patterson noted.

“No one works harder than Touk – he's always in there first getting everything done and he's always doing extras and making sure everyone around him is accountable.

“You feel honoured to be in his presence. It's people like that who you want at your club and it made us all strive to be better. My work rate increased heaps and now it's coming out in Under 18 football.”

Needing to take his fitness level up another level this year, Patterson has played every game in the VFL, and has impressed despite being a young player in an undermanned side that has gone 2-9.

He had 18 possessions, one goal, 12 tackles and five clearances in a six-point loss to Port Melbourne in Melbourne last weekend after 23 possessions, three tackles and nine clearances in a 97-point loss to Box Hill at People First Stadium in Round 13, and has topped 20 possessions six times in 11 games.

He’ll be player #161 on the SUNS all-time list and the 11th StreetSmarts SUNS Academy product to debut in the last three years behind, in order, Jed Walter, Sam Clohesy, Will Graham, Ethan Read, Jake Rogers (2024), Leo Lombard, Lachie Gulbin (2025), Zeke Uwland, Jai Murray, Beau Addinsall and Patterson (2026).