Wil Malady

Australia · 20 Oct 2026Spelling mistakes and sincerity: How a rogue email won AFL prospect a scholarship

Wil Malady, a top AFL draft prospect from Bairnsdale, secured a scholarship at Caulfield Grammar after sending an email to several private schools with spelling mistakes that admissions staff found charming and sincere. The 18-year-old, expected to be selected inside the first 15 picks of next month's AFL draft, said he wrote the email after realising scholarship deadlines had passed, telling this masthead he included spelling mistakes because he rushed to send it.