NOW that the calendar has flicked over to November, we’ve officially entered draft month.
Increased to a two-day event, Melbourne will enter the draft on November 22 and 23 armed with picks 23, 28, 54, 62 and 91.
With a little bit of history behind every draft pick, we take a look back at some of best players who have been selected in these spots.
Pick Number 23
Former Bomber Michael Long is arguably one of the most influential players selected at pick 23, during the 1988 national draft.
A legend of the game, Long won two Premierships, the 1993 Norm Smith Medal and was named in the All-Australian team in 1995.
North Melbourne spearhead Drew Petrie was also drafted with pick 23 back in 2000.
Named as an All-Australian in 2011, Petrie kicked 444 goals across 332 games for the Kangaroos and West Coast.
Other notable names taken at pick 23 include Geelong’s Tom Lonergan (2002), Essendon’s David Zaharakis (2008) and 2017 All-Australian Matt Crouch (2013) of Adelaide.
Melbourne has used pick 23 once in draft history, taking Matthew MacKay in the 1991 draft. MacKay never played a senior match after two seasons on the list.
Pick Number 28
Five Premiership winners, plus a NAB Rising Star winner were selected at pick number 28.
The Premiership players include Essendon’s Jason Johnson (1996), West Coast’s Rowan Jones (1997), Hawk Brent Guerra (drafted by Port Adelaide in 1999), Magpie Chris Dawes (2006) and Geelong’s Mitch Duncan (2009).
Dawes, a 2010 Premiership forward, later went on to play 50 games for Melbourne between 2013 and 2016.
More recently, Brisbane selected Lewis Taylor with this pick in 2013. Taylor went on to win the NAB Rising Star Award in his debut season in 2014.
This will be the first time Melbourne has held pick 28 at the draft.
Pick Number 54
Pick 54's recent history is impressive, with 2014 All-Australian Cale Hooker being taken by Essendon in the 2007 draft. Carlton's 200-gamer Michael Sexton was also taken at 54 in
Melbourne has used this pick three times before, picking up Daniel Clarke (1992) Cameron Hunter (2002) and James Sellar (2011) who collectively played 25 games at the highest level between them.
Pick Number 62
Several Premiership winners have emerged at pick 62, including Essendon’s Justin Blumfield (1994), Collingwood’s Ben Johnson (1999) and Bulldog Zaine Cordy (2014 father/son selection).
2007 All-Australian Matthew Egan – who now works for Melbourne as head of player development – was selected at pick number 62 by Geelong in 2004.
The Demons have used pick 62 twice in history, selecting Daniel Breese in 2000 and Isaac Weetra in 2006.
Breese’s time at Melbourne was hampered by injury and he never played a game, while Weetra played two matches in the 2008 season.
Overall, Melbourne has had some luck drafting in the 60s, with 100-plus gamers Russell Robertson (pick 68, 1996), Nathan Brown (pick 66, 1997), Cameron Bruce (pick 64, 1999) and Clint Bartram (pick 60, 2005) selected in this range.
Pick Number 91
The final round pick has not been utilised by any club since 2013, with North’s Aaron Mullett the last player to be taken at pick 91 – albeit as a rookie elevation.
Brisbane took Matt Maguire with this pick in 2009 after he was delisted by St Kilda, with Maguire extending his career by 71 games with the Lions.
Melbourne has never used pick 91 in draft history, while they haven’t used a pick in the 90s since Jake Spencer’s rookie elevation at pick 96 in 2010.
