WHEN this time a year ago Collingwood fans pondered what was in store for 2007, most would have figured a good season depended upon the usual suspects, skipper Nathan Buckley's capacity to rise to the challenge again, ditto the likes of resolute defender James Clement.

They would have been hoping that young key forward Travis Cloke could take another step forward in his third season at senior level, and that promising kid Scott Pendlebury could avoid the "second-year blues" after nine games in his first.

To suggest that Buckley and Clement would manage just 18 games between them and the Magpies still finish just six points short of a grand final appearance would have seemed fanciful.

To think that Cloke and Pendlebury would, at the same time, quinella the club's prestigious Copeland Trophy would, frankly, have seemed absurd. Yet that's how quickly the landscape changes these days. And often it's only those closest to the coalface who can see it coming.

The word from inside the Collingwood camp in the build-up to 2007 was that Cloke was set for a big year and that, far from struggle with the extra attention likely to be afforded him, Pendlebury was going to get a lot better in a very short time. It proved to be spot-on.

The Magpies, roundly tipped to finish closer to the bottom of the ladder than the top, nearly went all the way.

And the quantum leaps made by that young Pies pair are very instructive as the crystal ball gazing continues in the lead-up to season 2008.

We know that Chris Judd is going to be a very big presence in Carlton's season; that Gary Ablett and Jimmy Bartel will be two obvious foundations of Geelong's attempt at back-to-back premierships; and new St Kilda stand-alone captain Nick Riewoldt will be a linchpin of the Saints' campaign for that elusive second flag.

But increasingly, it's the capacity of a team's previously rank-and-file players to make what to outsiders can seem a stunningly rapid rise to genuine key player status that will determine how far those clubs will go.

Here's a list of names that to a vast bulk of football fans beyond those sides to which they belong won't ring too many bells. Right now, in mid-March, the thought that any of them could wind up as major elements of a successful season may seem at best unlikely.

But those inside the clubs, the coaches, the officials, the scouts, beg to differ.

They've watched the last six months of pre-season slog intently. And these are the players who they believe can make a huge difference in 2008.

All have sparkled on the track, and stood out in practice matches often in remote locations and well beyond the public glare.

Most have been at their clubs for at least a couple of years now, three seasons in the case of West Coast forward Mark LeCras.

At the other end of the scale, young Brisbane Lions ruckman Matthew Leuenberger, like Pendlebury this time a year ago, has just one season and nine senior games under his belt.

Patrick Ryder showed plenty for Essendon last season, but the good judges believe you can expect more again in 2008.

Shaun Higgins has been touted as a future star for the Western Bulldogs for a while. This year, you may well be able to ditch the qualifier of "future".

And Brent Prismall may well already have been a star at a club other than a Geelong overflowing with playing talent. Yet so good are his credentials and so good has been his pre-season, that even that potentially sizeable obstacle doesn't look likely to stand in his way now.

At this stage, the cynics might call it all idle speculation. Yet another six months down the track, these testimonies could look more like statements of the obvious. The Clokes and Pendleburys of 2008 are champing at the bit, ready to prove their point. These are their sizeable claims.

MATTHEW LEUENBERGER (Brisbane Lions)

In this week's poll of AFL club captains, five skippers plumped for Carlton's No.1 draft pick Matthew Kreuzer as this year's likely Rising Star, and three for exciting Hawthorn draftee Cyril Rioli.

But the only other player to earn multiple nominations, Brisbane Lions beanpole Matthew Leuenberger, might have been a smarter choice.

As good as they look, Kreuzer and Rioli are yet to play senior football.

Ruckman Leuenberger, meanwhile, having played the last nine games of 2007, is still eligible, and his form in those games, a super impressive pre-season, and the retirement of Lion veteran Beau McDonald and trading of Cameron Wood suggest not only that he'll be a weekly regular in 2008, but that he's going to give the prestigious honour a very big nudge indeed.

Leuenberger's natural athleticism, agility and ability to sidestep and clear heavy traffic despite his 203-centimetre frame leaves the good judges drooling.

And already, they believe he shapes as a key player in whatever Brisbane achieves in 2008.

MARK LeCRAS (West Coast)

The small forward established himself as the Eagles' best small forward last year with 36 goals in 19 games.

But a more significant pointer to what could lay ahead came in West Coast's narrow qualifying final loss to Port Adelaide.

With Chris Judd hobbled and Ben Cousins dramatically injured, LeCras was thrown into the midfield, where under the fiercest heat imaginable, he shone, poised, smart and prolific.

With Judd and Cousins now gone, the 21-year-old now shapes as a pivotal and damagingly versatile part of the Eagle machine.

He's starred in pre-season work, improving his fitness base and endurance dramatically in order to spend a lot more time as part of a new-look engine room.

But he'll also remain a key part of the forward set-up, good on the lead and a good overhead mark for his size.

That flexibility will not only see LeCras' name called a lot more often, but prove difficult for opponents to matchup whether it's around the stoppages or closer to goal.

PATRICK RYDER (Essendon)

The mobile and lightly framed tall turned enough heads in 2007, playing 21 of his now 30 senior games and earning a Rising Star nomination in the process.

But be prepared this season for a lot more praise to be heaped on this highly talented West Australian kid, who turned 20 yesterday.

While Essendon kids like Courtenay Dempsey and Leroy Jetta have featured regularly in pre-season testimonies at Windy Hill, experienced track watchers and even opposition scouts are raving about how good Ryder has looked.

Though lacking physical strength, Ryder's exceptional overhead marking ability and agility makes him the perfect foil for the Bombers' defensive key position pair of Mal Michael and Dustin Fletcher sweeping across half-back.

His natural spring makes him capable of pinch-hitting in the ruck, and Ryder proved during the NAB Cup that he can also go forward with effect.

There's more than a touch of former West Australian champion Stephen Michael about Ryder.

And anyone old enough to remember the 1970s and whose football gaze wandered beyond the boundaries of the VFL will tell you that's a sizeable rap.

BRENT PRISMALL (Geelong)

With just 13 AFL games under his belt in two seasons, there's nothing superficially to suggest this smart midfielder is anything out of the ordinary.

Those in the know, however, see it very differently.

Beautifully skilled and a lovely kick, Prismall has shown plenty in each of his bursts of senior football to suggest a long and productive career has awaited before arm and wrist injuries intervened.

Now it could well be the glut of talent on the list of a premiership side getting in the way.

But that hasn't stopped Prismall pressing his claims again this pre-season, so much so that over two NAB Cup games and two subsequent practice hitouts, he's been close to the Cats' most consistent performer.

A good decision-maker and prolific ball-winner, Prismall was already looking like a regular in the best 22 this season.

David Wojcinski's finger tendon injury has probably opened the door of opportunity wider still.

And don't be surprised if Prismall not only barges through it, but kicks it off the hinges altogether by becoming a valuable contributor to the AFL's best side.

SHAUN HIGGINS (Western Bulldogs) There's already a lot to like about this fresh-faced 20-year-old, who played 20 games last year and would have played as many in his debut year of 2006 had it not been for injury.

Higgins, quick and well-balanced, is all class, talent so far shown predominantly forward of the centre square, where he has a happy knack of finding the goals, 26 last season, including bags of four and five, leaving him third on the Bulldogs' goalkicking ladder, and earning him a Rising Star nomination.

But like many before him, that experience now has him primed for a much bigger slice of meaningful action as part of the Dogs' midfield set-up.

Higgins has added several kilograms to his light frame, worked hard on his defensive skills, and, according to those closest to the action, got himself a lot fitter to withstand the greater workload expected in the engine room.

AFL football is filled with young talent.

This guy has more than his share, and, insist seasoned observers, has the capacity to step up to an A-grader as quickly as anyone.