ON FRIDAY night, and for the second successive year, the NAB AFL Draft will be held in Sydney.
In recent times, the Draft has been a travelling show, with Adelaide staging it in 2015, while it was held on the Gold Coast from 2010-14, except 2011 when it was in Greater Western Sydney.
Back the late 1990s, the Draft was held in Adelaide, but otherwise it’s predominantly been in Melbourne at VFL/AFL House, then function rooms at Rod Laver Arena and then Etihad Stadium.
It's just another part of the evolution of the Draft, which has come a long way from the ‘forgotten’ VFL drafts, which were held at VFL House in Jolimont in 1981-82, and then at the same venue from 1986, when the first of the National Drafts – as we know it today (albeit with some tinkering) – started.
Although trade and free agency has become a significant recruiting player in recent years, the Draft remains a significant event on the AFL calendar.
For Melbourne, given its not participating in this year’s NAB AFL Rookie Draft (it already has a full complement of rookies: Lochie Filipovic, Declan Keilty, Corey Maynard and Tim Smith), the club will fill its squad of 44 on Friday night.
Last year, Melbourne had just two picks – Mitch Hannan (No.46) and Dion Johnstone (No.68) – but on Friday night, it has four selections at No.29, No.31, No.36 and No.47.
Hannan proved to be a fine played in 2017, playing most of the season in the AFL, while Johnstone showed promising signs with the Casey Demons in the VFL.
Although the 1981-82 ‘forgotten’ drafts are rarely mentioned, it’s fascinating to note that much-loved Demon Alan Johnson was the first player selected in 1981. He became a star with Melbourne, winning the club’s 1983 and 1989 best and fairest awards. Melbourne fans will always remember his 1988 elimination final performance against the West Coast Eagles at a wet Waverley Park.
Danny Hughes, who was picked at No.13 in that same 1981 meeting, later became vice-captain of the club and won the 1986 best and fairest.
And in 1982, Keith Thomas – a former Fitzroy player and now Port Adelaide’s chief executive – was claimed by Melbourne at No.5, although he never played for the club. The other player picked up was Ray Holden from West Perth. He was chosen at No.17 and played three games for the Dees.
When the first National Draft was held in 1986 – regarded as the first by the AFL – Melbourne landed some fine players.
The club’s recruiting manager was former chief executive Cameron Schwab, who selected some excellent players back in 1986-87.
It was at a time when the draft was speculative and difficult to lure prominent players from the SANFL and WAFL.
The one that got away, though, was superstar Darren Jarman, who was claimed by the Demons at No.55. He never played for Melbourne and instead became a three-time premiership player with Hawthorn (1991) and Adelaide (1997-98).
Jarman would’ve been a brilliant sight in the red and blue, but couldn’t be lured from South Australia.
Steven Febey, who sits behind only David Neitz, Adem Yze, Robert Flower and Jim Stynes for the most Melbourne games played, was claimed at No.3 in 1986. He is regarded as Melbourne’s first ever Draft pick since it became an annual meeting. His twin brother Matthew Febey was also a fine player, notching up 143 matches for the Dees.
In 1987, Andrew Obst (150 matches), Stephen Tingay (162) and Jay Viney (23) – the brother of Melbourne great Todd, and the uncle of Jack – were also recruited, showing just how fruitful those drafts were for the Demons.
One of Melbourne’s most successful drafts came in 1999, when Craig Cameron, who recently left GWS Giants for the Gold Coast Suns, was at the helm of Melbourne’s recruiting. It produced 764 games for the Demons.
Former captain Brad Green played the most with 254 matches, followed by Cameron Bruce (224 for Melbourne, before he added 10 with Hawthorn in 2011-12), Matthew Whelan (150), Paul Wheatley (135 games) and Michael Clark (one). Shannon O’Brien was the only player not to play a senior game from that meeting.
Tenacious and popular ball-winner Guy Rigoni – Melbourne’s leading possession winner in the 2000 Grand Final – remains arguably the club’s best bargain recruit in the Draft.
Rigoni, who was selected at No.77 in the 1997 AFL Draft, played 107 matches for the Demons. He played 80 matches in his first four years – including 70 in his first three seasons – before a serious back injury forced him to miss the 2002 season. He was then delisted and redrafted in the Pre-Season Draft in December 2002 and managed to add another 27 matches, before retiring.
Father/son choice Tom Kavanagh, selected at No.111 in 1988, is the highest Melbourne draftee to have played an AFL match. He managed two games for the Demons in 1989, before adding eight with Fitzroy.
But Damon Munt, who never played an AFL match, was Melbourne’s highest overall selection at No.122.
In the AFL Draft years, Melbourne has had seven recruiting managers: Schwab (1986-87), Jim Durnan (1988-90), Richard Griffiths (1991-95), Craig Cameron (1996-2007), Barry Prendergast (2008-2011), Todd Viney (2012) and now Jason Taylor, who had his first draft meeting with Melbourne in 2013.
Taylor, was Derek Hine’s right-hand man at Collingwood, before joining the Demons. He will call out the names for the fifth consecutive year on Friday night.
He has already been an influential figure in reshaping Melbourne’s list since he first called out Christian Salem’s name at No.9 in 2013.
He has also called out: Jay Kennedy-Harris, Jayden Hunt, Christian Petracca, Angus Brayshaw, Alex Neal-Bullen, Billy Stretch, Oscar McDonald, Clayton Oliver, Same Weideman, Mitch King, Hannan and Johnstone to help shape Melbourne’s future.
On Friday night, four more players will have joined Melbourne.
The club’s recruiting team has again undertaken a mountain of work to find the best young talent in the country and it will be fascinating to see how it continues to evolve in 2018 and beyond.
Every Melbourne player selected in the AFL Draft since 1981-82 and 1986-2017
1 – Alan Johnson (1981)*, Travis Johnstone (1997), Jack Watts (2008), Tom Scully (2009)
2 – Jack Trengove (2009), Christian Petracca (2014)
3 – Steven Febey (1986), Darren Kowal (1991), Colin Sylvia (2003), Angus Brayshaw (2014)
4 – Cale Morton (2007), Jimmy Toumpas (2012), Clayton Oliver (2015)
5 – Keith Thomas (1982)*, Jason Norrish (1991), Brock McLean (2003)
6 – Allen Jakovich (1990)
9 – Martin Pike (1992), Luke Molan (2001), Christian Salem (2013), Sam Weideman (2015)
10 – Andrew Lamprill (1991), Twe3rent Ormond-Allen (1993)
11 – Tim McNeil (1987), Donald Cockatoo-Collins (1995), Brent Grgic (1996), Jordan Gysberts (2009)
12 – Nathan Jones (2005), James Frawley (2006), Lucas Cook (2010)
13 – Danny Hughes (1981)*, Darren Bennett (1989), Chris Lamb (1998), Matthew Bate (2004)
14 – Daniel Bell (2002), Jack Grimes (2007)
15 – Nicholas Smith (2002), Lynden Dunn (2004)
16 – Matthew Febey (1986), Adem Yze (1994), Scott Thompson (2000)
17 – Ray Holden (1982)*, Sam Blease (2008)
18 – Luke Tapscott (2009)
19 – Garry Merritt (1990), Phil Gilbert (1991), Brad Green (1999), James Strauss (2008)
20 – Paul Wheatley (1999)
21 – Addam Maric (2007)
22 – Alistair Nicholson (1996), Troy Longmuir (1997)
23 – Matthew MacKay (1991)
24 – Mark Ducker (1987), Brett Jeffrey (1992)
25 – Paul Rouvray (1989), Steven Armstrong (2001)
26 – Aaron Rogers (2001), Jared Rivers (2002), Jack Viney (father/son – 2012)
27 – Rod Keogh (1988), Brad Hall (1993)
29 – Craig Walker (1986), TBC (2017)
30 – Hayden Lamaro (1996), Ricky Petterd (2006)
31 – Haydon Kilmartin (1991), TBC (2017)
32 – Micah Berry (1991)
33 – Jeremy Howe (2010)
34 – Michael Polley (1994), Max Gawn (2009)
35 – Jamie Bennell (2008)
36 – Jason Dullard (1991), Chris Johnson (father/son – 2003), Rory Taggert (2011), TBC (2017)
37 – Andrew Obst (1987)
39 – Matthew Kluzek (1992), Matthew Blake (1997), Gary Moorcroft (2002)
40 – Nick White (1991), Jay Kennedy-Harris (2013), Alex Neal-Bullen (2014)
41 – Michael Hobbes (1988)
42 – Andy Lovell (1986), Michael Prentice (1993), Michael Clark (1999), Billy Stretch (father/son – 2014), Mitch King (2015)
43 – Michael Newton (2004)
45 – Clayton Gardiner (1996)
46 – Colin Garland (2006), Liam Hulett (2015), Mitch Hannan (2016)
47 – TBC (2017)
48 – Dean Kent (2012)
50 – Stephen Tingay (1987), Luke Ottens (1997), Matthew Whelan (1999), Jack Fitzpatrick (2009), Troy Davis (2010)
51 – Clay Sampson (1994), Neville Jetta (2008)
52 – Josh Tynan (2011), Matt Jones (2012)
53 – Simon Buckley (2005), Kyle Cheney (2007), Tom McDonald (2010), Oscar McDonald (2014)
54 – Daniel Clarke (1992), Cameron Hunter (2002), James Sellar (2011)
55 – Darren Jarman (1986), Andrew Ford (1988), Mark Bradly (1995), Brad Miller (2001)
57 – Tim Moreland (1989), Jayden Hunt (2013)
59 – Anthony McDonald (1996)
60 – Darren O’Brien (1995), Luke Speers (1998), Clint Bartram (2005)
62 – Daniel Breese (2000), Isaac Weetra (2006)
63 – Jay Viney (1987), Fabian Francis (1990), Shannon O’Brien (1999)
64 – Cameron Bruce (1999), Rohan Bail (2008), Dion Johnstone (2016)
66 – Nathan Brown (1997), Ryan Ferguson (2002), Tom McNamara (2007)
68 – Luke Norman (1994), Russell Robertson (1996), Heath Neville (2005), Dean Terlich (2012), Dion Johnstone (2016)
69 – Matthew Mahoney (1988), Scott Simister (1992)
71 – Glenn Wilkins (1989), Daniel Nicholson (rookie elevation – 2012)
72 – Ashley Gehling (1995), Luke Taylor (1998), Michael Evans (rookie elevation – 2012)
73 – Ross Funcke (2000)
75 – Robert Panozzo (1990), Mark Winterton (1996)
76 – Todd McHardy (1994)
77 – Niall Buckley (1990), Guy Rigoni (1997)
80 – Mitchell Craig (2000)
81 – Jordie McKenzie (rookie elevation – 2010)
82 – Duncan O’Toole (1996), Mitch Clisby (rookie elevation – 2013)
83 – Brian Stynes (1988), Ashley Gehling (1996)
84 – Damien Gaspar (1992)
85 – Anthony Tohill (1989)
96 – Jake Spencer (rookie elevation – 2010)
97 – Tom Grehan (1988)
99 – Jeff Hilton (1992)
111 – Tom Kavanagh (father/son – 1988)
122 – Damon Munt (1992)
Notes:
- The 1981-82 drafts are considered the ‘forgotten’ drafts and are often not recognised. But four players: Alan Johnson (No.1, 1981), Danny Hughes (No.13, 1981), Keith Thomas (No.5, 1982) and Ray Holden (No.17, 1982) have been included for recognition.
- The Demons have never had the No.7 or No.8 pick, but have had every selection from No.9 to No.27. It has never had picks at No.28, No.38, No.44, No.47, No.49, No.56, No.58, No.61, No.65, No.67, No.70, No.74, No.78 to No.79, No.86 to No.95, No.98, No.100 to No.110 or No.112 to No.121.
- Melbourne has had 23 top 10 draft picks: No.1, Alan Johnson (1981)*, Travis Johnstone (1997), Jack Watts (2008), Tom Scully (2009); No.2, Jack Trengove (2009), Christian Petracca (2014); No.3, Steven Febey (1986), Darren Kowal (1991), Colin Sylvia (2003), Angus Brayshaw (2014), TBC (2015); No.4, Cale Morton (2007), Jimmy Toumpas (2012); No.5, Keith Thomas (1982), Jason Norrish (1991), Brock McLean (2003); No.6, Allen Jakovich (1990), No.7, TBC (2015); No.9, Martin Pike (1992), Luke Molan (2001), Christian Salem (2013) and No.10, Andrew Lamprill (1991), Trent Ormond-Allen (1993).
