In recent seasons, teenagers breaking into the Isuzu UTE A-League has become the norm – but we’ve never seen a player like Dylan Leonard before, for a few reasons. aleagues.com.au looks at unique data that should have Australians very excited.
This weekend, 17-year-old Dylan Leonard will line up in an Isuzu UTE A-League Semi-Final in the heart of defence for Western United.
His coach will be legendary Socceroos icon John Aloisi.
That in itself is remarkable, but it’s only half the story.
BUY TICKETS TO THIS FRIDAY’S SEMI-FINAL BETWEEN WESTERN UNITED AND MELBOURNE CITY
Just featuring at this time of the season tends to be a sign that a young player is on the path to an impressive career; Leonard is doing far more than that and the data paints the picture of a teenager who deserves to be attracting far more hype than he currently is.
Traits Insights, an analytics platform used increasingly by Europe’s top clubs, provides a new digestible way to interpret the numbers, weighting metrics that matter in specific positions to deliver a rating comprising four key facets of football – scoring, creating, passing and defending.
MORE SEMI-FINAL READING
WUN v MCY PREVIEW: Aloisi’s 337-minute problem that could define the SF
MVC v AKL PREVIEW: ‘Mouthwatering’ duel to decide Semi-Final as ‘party crashers’ loom
BEACH FEATURE: ‘Rare’ role change that’s created an Aussie rising star
BOZINOVSKI: Grandson of an icon with ‘no ceiling’ fuelling title tilt
VALADON: ‘Unsung hero’ so important Victory are going out of their way to mention
In his rookie season, as a 17-year-old, Leonard (3.00) ranks as the 11th best player in the Isuzu UTE A-League among those who average more than 45 minutes per match, wedged between Brazilian great Douglas Costa (3.02) and Wanderers rising star Zac Sapsford (2.99).
Narrowing the focus to centre-backs, he sits third behind Newcastle’s Aleksandr Susnjar (3.10) and Mariners captain Trent Sainsbury (3.07), who both boast Socceroos experience.
It warrants repeating: this is Leonard’s first season as a professional, and he’s only 17.
Explained: How the Traits Insights rating system works
Traits puts players’ data into context by benchmarking them against other players in their position and competition.Traits’ unique approach to talent evaluation uses a layered framework of statistics which consolidates raw data into each individual metric, which then feeds into a series of ratings – see image below for a detailed breakdown.
A player’s data is benchmarked relative to the competition average and variance of performances in their position.
Ratings at all levels (Overall, and for specific traits and metrics) are set to the same 0-5 scale.; ratings above 3 are considered good, 2.5 is the competition average and anything below 2 is considered somewhat poor.
Each positional model is weighted in accordance with a player’s role within the team. Traits default positional profiles into a robust 433 formation, however clubs can adjust and align the platform with what they value most in each position.
Diving deeper, what is most striking is how well-rounded Leonard is for his age.
Across scoring (2.80), creating (3.26), passing (2.90) and defending (2.94), the Western United defender ranks above average among his positional peers this season.
For context, each of the leaders in these categories has a weaker element to their game that is apparent in data. Tomislav Uskok is most potent in front of goal, but his passing is lacking. Susnjar leads in both creating and passing, but his raw defensive data could be stronger. Roar teenager Lucas Herrington is a defensive beast, but could improve on the ball.
NINJA A-LEAGUE GRAND FINAL THIS SUNDAY
NEWBON V LANGMAN: A Grand Final storyline from a parallel universe
GRAND FINAL MIRACLE: I needed surgery… but got the all clear to ‘f****** send it’
KAYLA MORRISON: My moment was taken from me by the universe. This year, I’ll do it
PREVIEW: Coach’s risky XI call in play as ultimate wildcard looms
TEAM OF THE SEASON: Melbourne City dominate as icon’s record equalled
ULTIMATE GUIDE: What you need to know for the 2025 Ninja A-League Grand Final
EMILY HUSBAND: From ‘not ready’ for NPL to the Grand Final in 4 years
Leonard, the youngest centre-back in the competition this term, ranks 15th for scoring, fifth for creating, seventh for passing and sixth for defending.
In Isuzu UTE A-League history, no teenage centre-back has ever played more minutes in a campaign than Leonard’s 2,241 in 2024-25. In fact, the next highest tally was Melbourne Victory’s Adrian Leijer way back in the inaugural season of 2005-06.
Across the last five seasons of the competition, only two players 20 or under have produced a statistically better season than Leonard’s current campaign, according to Traits.
Nestory Irankunda boasts two (3.16 in 2023 and 3.01 in 2024) and they earned him a move to Bayern Munich. Nectar Triantis (3.04 in 2023) is the other and he was recently named Hibernian’s Young Player of the Year after a stellar campaign in Scotland.
This Friday night’s Semi-Final first leg against Melbourne City at AAMI Park provides another opportunity for Leonard to take his debut season to new heights.
“I can’t remember another 17-year-old show that composure,” Aloisi said of his teenage centre-back after last week’s Elimination Final win over Adelaide United.
