Running defender Andrew McGrath made history on Friday night, joining the Essendon Bombers at pick No.1 in the 2016 AFL Draft.
The Bombers had a good night at the draft table, also picking up some good prospects in Jordan Ridley, Joshua Begley, Kobe Mutch and a possible late bargain in Dylan Clarke at pick No.67.
The GWS Giants came in at the No.2 selection, their hopes of securing McGrath dashed, but picked up Tim Taranto, and then matched bids for three academy players inside the first round – Will Setterfield, Harry Perryman, and Isaac Cumming.
Hugh McCluggage, seen as a candidate for the No.1 pick, then slipped to Brisbane at No.3 overall, and the Lions picked up some great talents with their three other picks in the top 25 – Jarrod Berry, Alex Witherden and Cedric Cox.
Gold Coast, who had four picks in the top ten, look to have added a great smattering of midfield talent, securing Ben Ainsworth, Jack Scrimshaw and Will Brodie before matching a bid for Jack Bowes.
Sam Petrevski-Seton to Carlton at pick No.6 and Griffin Logue to Fremantle at pick No.8 rounded out the top ten.
The draft had a number of surprises to follow, along with some moments that already feel like the making of great stories.
Josh Battle could be considered the big slider of the night, seen as a top 20 chance by many he was not picked up until pick No.39 where he went to St Kilda. He’ll add to a stacked tall forward line there already boasting Patrick McCartin, Josh Bruce, Tim Membrey, and a little-known bloke called Nick Riewoldt.
Willie Rioli added to the legacy of a great AFL name when he joined the West Coast Eagles at pick 52, and certainly deserves it after a remarkable effort to drop 14kg in the last year-and-a-half. Somewhere far away, Bruce McAvaney awoke from his standard 6:30pm bedtime and shouted, “Delicious!”
A discarded Docker got a lifeline when Matt de Boer was picked up to join the GWS Giants with their last pick of the night. Fremantle fans, prepare yourselves for the vision of him winning a flag in western Sydney.
In the most important piece of draft analysis you will read, five players named Josh were drafted – more than any other name, though credit to the Jacks, Wills (or Willems and Willies) and Sams of the world for putting up a good contest.
Finally, to give us all a chuckle, Hawthorn picked up a bloke named Mitchell Lewis with the second-last selection of the night. Sam Mitchell, Jordan Lewis, please, know that you are loved, and you are missed.
Below you can find every pick from the draft, and be sure to come back to The Roar on Saturday morning for more post-draft analysis.
| Round | Pick | Club | Player |
| 1 | 1 | Essendon | Andrew McGrath |
| 1 | 2 | GWS | Tim Taranto |
| 1 | 3 | Brisbane | Hugh McCluggage |
| 1 | 4 | Gold Coast | Ben Ainsworth |
| 1 | 5 | GWS | Will Setterfield |
| 1 | 6 | Carlton | Sam Petrevski-Seton |
| 1 | 7 | Gold Coast | Jack Scrimshaw |
| 1 | 8 | Fremantle | Griffin Logue |
| 1 | 9 | Gold Coast | Will Brodie |
| 1 | 10 | Gold Coast | Jack Bowes |
| 1 | 11 | Sydney | Oliver Florent |
| 1 | 12 | North Melbourne | Jy Simpkin |
| 1 | 13 | West Coast | Daniel Venables |
| 1 | 14 | GWS | Harry Perryman |
| 1 | 15 | Adelaide | Jordan Gallucci |
| 1 | 16 | Port Adelaide | Todd Marshall |
| 1 | 17 | Brisbane | Jarrod Berry |
| 1 | 18 | Port Adelaide | Sam Powell-Pepper |
| 1 | 19 | Western Bulldogs | Tim English |
| 1 | 20 | GWS | Isaac Cumming |
| 1 | 21 | Sydney | Will Hayward |
| 2 | 22 | Essendon | Jordan Ridely |
| 2 | 23 | Brisbane | Alex Witherden |
| 2 | 24 | Brisbane | Cedric Cox |
| 2 | 25 | St Kilda | Ben Long |
| 2 | 26 | Geelong | Brandan Parfitt |
| 2 | 27 | Carlton | Zac Fisher |
| 2 | 28 | Western Bulldogs | Patrick Lipinski |
| 2 | 29 | Richmond | Shai Bolton |
| 2 | 30 | Collingwood | Sam McClarty |
| 2 | 31 | Essendon | Joshua Begley |
| 2 | 32 | Port Adelaide | Joe Atley |
| 2 | 33 | Port Adelaide | Willem Drew |
| 2 | 34 | North Melbourne | Declan Watson |
| 2 | 35 | Collingwood | Callum Brown |
| 2 | 36 | North Melbourne | Josh Williams |
| 2 | 37 | West Coast | Josh Rotham |
| 2 | 38 | Fremantle | Sean Darcy |
| 2 | 39 | St Kilda | Josh Battle |
| 2 | 40 | Geelong | Thomas Stewart |
| 2 | 41 | Fremantle | Brennan Cox |
| 3 | 42 | Essendon | Kobe Mutch |
| 3 | 43 | Geelong | Esava Ratugolea |
| 3 | 44 | Adelaide | Myles Poholke |
| 3 | 45 | Sydney | Jack Maibaum |
| 3 | 46 | Melbourne | Mitchell Hannan |
| 3 | 47 | Carlton | Harrison Macreadie |
| 3 | 48 | Sydney | Darcy Cameron |
| 3 | 49 | Western Bulldogs | Lewis Young |
| 3 | 50 | Collingwood | Kayle Kirby |
| 3 | 51 | Adelaide | Elliot Himmelberg |
| 3 | 52 | West Coast | Willie Rioli |
| 3 | 53 | Richmond | Jack Graham |
| 4 | 54 | GWS | Lachlan Tiziani |
| 4 | 55 | Brisbane | Jacob Allison |
| 4 | 56 | St Kilda | Edward Phillips |
| 4 | 57 | Collingwood | Josh Daicos |
| 4 | 58 | GWS | Matt de Boer |
| 4 | 59 | Carlton | Cameron Polson |
| 4 | 60 | Geelong | Quinton Narkle |
| 4 | 61 | Carlton | Tom Williamson |
| 4 | 62 | Adelaide | Matthew Signorello |
| 4 | 63 | Essendon | Dylan Clarke |
| 4 | 64 | Melbourne | Dion Johnstone |
| 4 | 65 | Carlton | Patrick Kerr |
| 4 | 66 | Fremantle | Luke Ryan |
| 4 | 67 | Gold Coast | Brad Scheer |
| 4 | 68 | Geelong | Timm House |
| 4 | 69 | Geelong | Ryan Abbott |
| 4 | 70 | Western Bulldogs | Fergus Greene |
| 5 | 71 | Brisbane | Corey Lyons |
| 5 | 72 | Richmond | Ryan Garthwaite |
| 5 | 73 | North Melbourne | Nick Larkey |
| 5 | 74 | Hawthorn | Harry Morrison |
| 5 | 75 | Adelaide | Ben Davis |
| 5 | 76 | Hawthorn | Mitchell Lewis |
| 6 | 77 | West Coast | Jake Waterman |
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