# List of VFL debuts in 1988

The 1988 Victorian Football League (VFL) season was the ninety second season of the VFL. The season saw 90 Australian rules footballers make their senior VFL debut and 30 players transferring to new clubs having previously played in the VFL.

## Summary

Summary of debuts in 1988 :
| Club | AFL debuts | Change of club |
| Brisbane Bears | 3 | 7 |
| Carlton | 6 | 0 |
| Collingwood | 4 | 4 |
| Essendon | 7 | 3 |
| Fitzroy | 5 | 2 |
| Footscray | 9 | 3 |
| Geelong | 2 | 0 |
| Hawthorn | 8 | 0 |
| Melbourne | 3 | 3 |
| North Melbourne | 10 | 1 |
| Richmond | 11 | 1 |
| St Kilda | 8 | 3 |
| Sydney | 6 | 5 |
| West Coast | 8 | 1 |
| Total | 90 | 33 |

## Debuts

| Name | Club | Age at debut | Round debuted | Games | Goals | Notes |
| Roger Merrett | Brisbane Bears | 27 years, 350 days | 1 | 164 | 285 | Previously played for Essendon. |
| Scott McIvor | Brisbane Bears | 21 years, 238 days | 1 | 138 | 77 | Previously played for Fitzroy. |
| Rod Lester-Smith | Brisbane Bears | 28 years, 330 days | 1 | 39 | 15 | Previously played for Hawthorn. |
| Warwick Capper | Brisbane Bears | 24 years, 296 days | 1 | 34 | 71 | Previously played for Sydney. |
| Andrew Taylor | Brisbane Bears | 22 years, 295 days | 4 | 31 | 13 | Previously played for Footscray. |
| Rodney Eade | Brisbane Bears | 29 years, 365 days | 1 | 30 | 3 | Previously played for Hawthorn. |
| Michael Kennedy | Brisbane Bears | 21 years, 60 days | 1 | 23 | 3 | |
| Matthew Simpson | Brisbane Bears | 21 years, 36 days | 7 | 9 | 2 | |
| Tony Lynn | Brisbane Bears | 20 years, 28 days | 9 | 6 | 5 | |
| Robert Mace | Brisbane Bears | 29 years, 254 days | 4 | 1 | 0 | Previously played for Hawthorn and St Kilda. |
| Luke O'Sullivan | Carlton | 20 years, 138 days | 20 | 62 | 58 | |
| Steven Da Rui | Carlton | 24 years, 12 days | 1 | 55 | 5 | |
| David Kernahan | Carlton | 22 years, 266 days | 1 | 53 | 8 | Brother of Stephen Kernahan. |
| Gerard Butts | Carlton | 21 years, 170 days | 6 | 3 | 0 | |
| Michael Garvey | Carlton | 22 years, 204 days | 6 | 3 | 0 | |
| Phillip Poursanidis | Carlton | 19 years, 364 days | 6 | 3 | 3 | |
| Damian Monkhorst | Collingwood | 18 years, 232 days | 2 | 205 | 45 | |
| Graham Wright | Collingwood | 19 years, 302 days | 1 | 201 | 107 | |
| Doug Barwick | Collingwood | 26 years, 57 days | 1 | 71 | 90 | Previously played for Fitzroy. |
| Darren Saunders | Collingwood | 22 years, 258 days | 5 | 44 | 2 | Previously played for Footscray. |
| Paul Hawke | Collingwood | 23 years, 274 days | 1 | 41 | 30 | Previously played for Sydney. |
| David Robertson | Collingwood | 25 years, 232 days | 1 | 17 | 9 | |
| Andrew Tarpey | Collingwood | 23 years, 27 days | 21 | 9 | 1 | |
| Tony Elshaug | Collingwood | 27 years, 349 days | 14 | 6 | 4 | Previously played for Melbourne and Essendon. |
| Darren Bewick | Essendon | 20 years, 225 days | 1 | 238 | 332 | |
| Peter Somerville | Essendon | 20 years, 2 days | 15 | 160 | 89 | Son of John Somerville. |
| Greg Anderson | Essendon | 21 years, 324 days | 1 | 103 | 60 | 1986 Magarey Medallist. |
| Bradley Plain | Essendon | 18 years, 337 days | 22 | 46 | 89 | |
| Andrew Rogers | Essendon | 23 years, 231 days | 1 | 8 | 1 | |
| Andrew Merryweather | Essendon | 27 years, 75 days | 1 | 5 | 0 | Previously played for Fitzroy. |
| Paul O'Brien | Essendon | 27 years, 14 days | 5 | 3 | 2 | Previously played for Melbourne. |
| Justin Stubbs | Essendon | 18 years, 267 days | 12 | 3 | 5 | |
| Michael O'Sullivan | Essendon | 26 years, 123 days | 19 | 1 | 0 | Previously played for Melbourne. |
| Peter Bourke | Essendon | 22 years, 82 days | 20 | 1 | 0 | |
| Alastair Lynch | Fitzroy | 19 years, 302 days | 3 | 120 | 173 | |
| Paul Broderick | Fitzroy | 18 years, 167 days | 12 | 93 | 80 | |
| John Ironmonger | Fitzroy | 27 years, 48 days | 1 | 43 | 8 | Previously played for Sydney. |
| Andrew Brockhurst | Fitzroy | 23 years, 264 days | 6 | 38 | 0 | |
| Terry Board | Fitzroy | 19 years, 203 days | 1 | 15 | 1 | |
| Darren Louttit | Fitzroy | 23 years, 28 days | 4 | 2 | 0 | Previously played for Melbourne. |
| Steven Newman | Fitzroy | 22 years, 200 days | 12 | 1 | 0 | |
| Scott Wynd | Footscray | 18 years, 188 days | 18 | 237 | 31 | |
| Mark Hunter | Footscray | 22 years, 214 days | 1 | 130 | 10 | |
| Terry Wallace | Footscray | 29 years, 113 days | 1 | 69 | 20 | Previously played for Hawthorn and Richmond. |
| Matthew Hogg | Footscray | 19 years, 105 days | 1 | 59 | 4 | |
| Stuart Wigney | Footscray | 19 years, 103 days | 18 | 47 | 21 | |
| Darren Davies | Footscray | 22 years, 178 days | 2 | 37 | 35 | |
| Adrian Campbell | Footscray | 19 years, 187 days | 15 | 30 | 31 | |
| Stuart Nicol | Footscray | 21 years, 206 days | 4 | 7 | 4 | |
| Michael Svilar | Footscray | 18 years, 256 days | 8 | 7 | 0 | |
| Gary Irvine | Footscray | 22 years, 299 days | 11 | 7 | 0 | |
| David Allday | Footscray | 23 years, 154 days | 5 | 6 | 1 | Previously played for Melbourne. |
| Russell Shields | Footscray | 25 years, 257 days | 1 | 3 | 7 | Previously played for Hawthorn. |
| Shane Hamilton | Geelong | 17 years, 333 days | 16 | 27 | 40 | |
| Darren Denneman | Geelong | 20 years, 33 days | 4 | 4 | 0 | |
| Stephen Lawrence | Hawthorn | 19 years, 8 days | 5 | 146 | 30 | Son of South African Test cricketer Godfrey Lawrence. |
| Scott Maginness | Hawthorn | 21 years, 251 days | 2 | 131 | 8 | |
| Tony Hall | Hawthorn | 23 years, 199 days | 1 | 97 | 144 | |
| Andrew Gowers | Hawthorn | 19 years, 41 days | 8 | 89 | 54 | |
| Dean Anderson | Hawthorn | 20 years, 364 days | 18 | 83 | 74 | |
| Robert Dickson | Hawthorn | 24 years, 140 days | 1 | 17 | 12 | Australian Survivor winner. |
| Sean Ralphsmith | Hawthorn | 21 years, 250 days | 21 | 4 | 3 | |
| Andrew Demetriou | Hawthorn | 27 years, 38 days | 8 | 3 | 1 | Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Football League. Previously played for North Melbourne. |
| Steven Febey | Melbourne | 18 years, 269 days | 7 | 258 | 40 | |
| Andy Lovell | Melbourne | 17 years, 263 days | 3 | 164 | 166 | |
| Peter Rohde | Melbourne | 23 years, 170 days | 6 | 117 | 22 | Previously played for Carlton. |
| Jamie Duursma | Melbourne | 24 years, 182 days | 7 | 33 | 0 | Previously played for Sydney and Brisbane. |
| David Flintoff | Melbourne | 24 years, 138 days | 9 | 31 | 20 | Previously played for Hawthorn. |
| Jay Viney | Melbourne | 19 years, 224 days | 18 | 23 | 4 | Brother of Todd Viney. |
| Mick Martyn | North Melbourne | 19 years, 222 days | 2 | 287 | 16 | Son of Bryan Martyn. |
| John Longmire | North Melbourne | 17 years, 114 days | 4 | 200 | 511 | |
| Wayne Schwass | North Melbourne | 19 years, 127 days | 1 | 184 | 97 | |
| Anthony Rock | North Melbourne | 17 years, 263 days | 12 | 178 | 138 | |
| Jose Romero | North Melbourne | 17 years, 18 days | 21 | 89 | 98 | |
| Michael Murphy | North Melbourne | 22 years, 207 days | 1 | 3 | 1 | |
| Mark O'Donoghue | North Melbourne | 20 years, 274 days | 2 | 2 | 2 | |
| Darren Ogier | North Melbourne | 25 years, 103 days | 7 | 2 | 3 | Previously played for Carlton. |
| Brenton Harris | North Melbourne | 18 years, 282 days | 16 | 2 | 0 | Brother of Darren Harris. |
| Kevin Hughes | North Melbourne | 25 years, 81 days | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| Brett MacKenzie | North Melbourne | 20 years, 68 days | 19 | 1 | 0 | |
| Matthew Knights | Richmond | 17 years, 299 days | 18 | 279 | 141 | |
| Craig Lambert | Richmond | 19 years, 182 days | 1 | 123 | 53 | |
| Brian Leys | Richmond | 20 years, 90 days | 6 | 110 | 19 | |
| Trent Nichols | Richmond | 18 years, 363 days | 1 | 75 | 65 | |
| Tim Powell | Richmond | 19 years, 361 days | 2 | 64 | 40 | |
| Justin Pickering | Richmond | 20 years, 246 days | 1 | 59 | 54 | Brother of Michael Pickering. |
| David Honybun | Richmond | 26 years, 1 days | 1 | 55 | 39 | Previously played for Carlton. |
| Greg Hamilton | Richmond | 19 years, 326 days | 7 | 29 | 17 | |
| Chris Pym | Richmond | 22 years, 28 days | 8 | 24 | 13 | |
| Mark Summers | Richmond | 21 years, 249 days | 2 | 15 | 4 | |
| Wayne Peters | Richmond | 19 years, 77 days | 21 | 5 | 1 | |
| Paul Barlow | Richmond | 19 years, 149 days | 4 | 4 | 0 | |
| Robert Harvey | St Kilda | 16 years, 351 days | 19 | 383 | 215 | 1997 and 1998 Brownlow Medallist. Brother of Anthony Harvey. |
| Jayson Daniels | St Kilda | 17 years, 57 days | 3 | 115 | 26 | |
| Brett Bowey | St Kilda | 19 years, 67 days | 19 | 85 | 79 | |
| Gordon Fode | St Kilda | 17 years, 22 days | 22 | 52 | 31 | |
| Ian Muller | St Kilda | 22 years, 304 days | 8 | 21 | 2 | Previously played for Carlton. |
| Bob Jones | St Kilda | 26 years, 165 days | 1 | 20 | 2 | Father of Liam Jones. |
| Steve Turner | St Kilda | 27 years, 99 days | 1 | 12 | 1 | Previously played for Melbourne. |
| Sean Simpson | St Kilda | 18 years, 14 days | 5 | 7 | 1 | |
| Peter Freeman | St Kilda | 19 years, 99 days | 15 | 5 | 0 | |
| Mark Dwyer | St Kilda | 23 years, 353 days | 17 | 1 | 0 | Previously played for Fitzroy. |
| Glenn MacMillan | St Kilda | 18 years, 307 days | 21 | 1 | 0 | |
| Mark Eustice | Sydney | 25 years, 160 days | 17 | 46 | 9 | Previously played for Essendon and Richmond. |
| Mark Kellett | Sydney | 27 years, 326 days | 12 | 37 | 1 | Previously played for St Kilda and Footscray. |
| Michael Parsons | Sydney | 27 years, 190 days | 2 | 25 | 14 | |
| David Willis | Sydney | 20 years, 182 days | 15 | 25 | 3 | |
| David Brown | Sydney | 20 years, 266 days | 6 | 12 | 18 | |
| Michael Lockman | Sydney | 24 years, 219 days | 1 | 11 | 1 | Previously played for Richmond and Collingwood. |
| Craig Davis | Sydney | 33 years, 185 days | 1 | 9 | 17 | Father of Nick Davis. Previously played for Carlton, North Melbourne and Collingwood. |
| Adrian Battiston | Sydney | 24 years, 235 days | 1 | 9 | 3 | Previously played for Melbourne. |
| Jim Silvestro | Sydney | 24 years, 322 days | 3 | 8 | 7 | |
| John Brinkkotter | Sydney | 21 years, 334 days | 1 | 5 | 1 | |
| David Cordner | Sydney | 21 years, 334 days | 2 | 5 | 6 | Previously played for Melbourne. |
| Guy McKenna | West Coast | 18 years, 327 days | 1 | 267 | 28 | Inaugural Gold Coast Football Club coach. |
| Chris Waterman | West Coast | 19 years, 223 days | 5 | 177 | 75 | |
| Karl Langdon | West Coast | 20 years, 5 days | 1 | 100 | 107 | |
| Murray Rance | West Coast | 26 years, 68 days | 1 | 57 | 7 | Father of Alex Rance. Previously played for Footscray. |
| Troy Ugle | West Coast | 19 years, 356 days | 2 | 43 | 43 | |
| David O'Connell | West Coast | 25 years, 18 days | 2 | 27 | 6 | Brother of Michael O'Connell |
| Brent Hutton | West Coast | 24 years, 8 days | 4 | 13 | 9 | |
| Joe Cormack | West Coast | 21 years, 257 days | 7 | 10 | 7 | |
| Kevin Caton | West Coast | 22 years, 300 days | 18 | 1 | 1 | |