The AFL Draft is just a day away! It’s one of my favourite events on the AFL calendar, and I’ve put together everything you need to know to enjoy it to the fullest right here.
» 2017 AFL Phantom Draft top 25, rumours, bolters, sliders
» The top five according to Twitter
» A club-by-club guide to the 2017 AFL Draft
The key info
When is it?
The event gets underway at 6:30pm AEDT on Friday 24 November. However, there’ll be some pomp and ceremony before the actual picking of players begins.
Where is it?
The draft will be held at the Sydney Showground Exhibition Centre which is in Olympic Park, near Spotless Stadium and ANZ Stadium.
Can I watch it?
It’s on TV via Fox Footy, so you can live stream it with the Foxtel App or Foxtel Now, or through AFL live pass. We’ll have a live blog here on The Roar too.
Can I go?
Maybe! Tickets are free, but limited. You can register for a chance to get some here.
Who is going No.1?
Good question! There’s some debate about that this year, but it looks like it will be Cam Rayner. Sam Landsberger reported on Wednesday that Brisbane have settled on him as the No.1 pick, and Cal Twomey has him going there in his phantom draft.
What’s the full draft order?
You can find it here.
Who will my club pick?
Nobody can say for sure, but I’ve taken a stab at a club-by-club guide here.
How about a mock/phantom draft?
Myself and Maddy Friend put one together last week that you can read here, and I’ll be putting out one final stab at a phantom tomorrow morning.
What about the pre-season and rookie drafts?
They’re on Monday 27 November, kicking off at about 5pm AEDT. They won’t be on TV or anything, but we’ll be live blogging them here on The Roar.
The players
Who is the best tall defender?
Aaron Naughton. He’s played a decent run of senior WAFL footy towards the end of the year and acquitted himself well, and could go as early as pick 5 or 6 in the draft.
Who is the best tall forward?
A hard question to answer because there are some swingman types who could settle as forwards or backmen. Of the players who look destined to be forwards, Oscar Allen is probably the most highly rated, but even he is arguably a little short for the job at 191cm.
Who is the best inside midfielder?
It’s hard to split as many of the midfielders in the mix are hybrid players to some degree, but big-bodied Luke Davies-Uniacke is probably the best of the group in terms of ability to win the ball inside the contest. Charlie Constable would be the clubhouse leader when it comes to players who are closer to being purely inside mids.
Who is the best outside midfielder?
In terms of a players whose roles are almost exclusively outside the contest, Lochie O’Brien is probably the leading prospect here, with Ed Richards also a chance to go early.
Who is the best ruckman?
Sam Hayes is widely regarded as the best ruck talent in the pool, but the reluctance of clubs to invest high picks in this area means he is still unlikely to be drafted inside the top 20.
Who is the most versatile?
This draft doesn’t necessarily have that sort of play-everywhere utility that we see crop up every now and then. It might be Jaidyn Stephenson whose height and speed give him the ability to play a number of roles, or defender Nick Coffield who has the attributes to match up on just about any opponent.
Who is the best kick?
There isn’t necesarilly a player who has separated themselves from the pack in this regard as has often happened in years previous. Adam Cerra is widely regarded for being extremely classy user of the ball, Lochie O’Brien would also be in the mix.
Who has the most pace?
Jack Petrucelle is the best sprinter in the mix, running 20 metres in 2.87 seconds. Aiden Bonar, Nick Coffield, Jaidyn Stephenson and Paddy Dow are some other players in the mix that are known for their speed.
Who is the tallest?
208cm Ned Reeves is probably the tallest player with a serious chance of getting selected, though he might wind up needing to take his chances in the rookie draft. Sam Hayes will certainly get picked up by someone and he is 203cm.
Who is the smallest?
Brent Daniels (171cm) and Charlie Spargo (172cm) look to be the smallest players in the mix to get picked up. Daniels is a small forward, Spargo a mid-forward who has drawn a few comparisons to Brent Harvey.
Who has the funniest name?
Aiden Bonar by a country mile. Seriously, if I ever get the sack here at The Roar, it’ll be because of an inappropriate pun headline involving this bloke. Jordon Butts, Alex Martini and Oscar Clavarino are all worth a giggle too.
Father-son and academies
How does it work?
Safe to say the bidding system can be a bit of a headscratcher at times. Check out the first half of this article for a full explanation. On draft night itself the equation will flash up on screen, so you won’t need to have your calculator on hand.
Who are the father-son players?
The only father-son player likely to attract a bid in the early area of the draft is Patrick Naish for Richmond, the son of Chris. He’s a promising wingman but is a bit undersized and will probably attract a bid somewhere in the 20s.
Tyler Brown is the son of former Collingwood captain Gavin Brown and will likely join his brother Callum at the Pies, with a bid probably not coming until the third round or even later.
Jackson Edwards (son of Tyson) will join the Crows as a rookie if he doesn’t get picked up by another club in the national draft.
Who are the academy players?
Connor Ballenden is the highest-rated academy prospect this year, a tall player who was rated high at the start of the season but indifferent form has seen him slide to probably being bid on the 20s or 30s. The Lions may also pick up Jack Payne in this way.
Brayden Crossley to Gold Coast and Nicholas Shipley to GWS are other academy picks that look reasonably likely to happen, while Changkuoth Jiath might make history as the first ‘next generation’ academy player to be taken in the national draft.
Stephen
Guest
Agree Mattician. The industry seems to focus very heavily on drafting & trading. But this is only half the picture. Once the players are recruited - they then need to be developed and maintained. Perhaps its just the media being more interested in the trade/draft side of the equation. But arguably - the developing and maintaining of players by clubs is equally as important. Just ask the two Queensland teams and Essendon (Ryder, Hibberd, Crameri, Melksham, Carlisle). All three clubs have 'donated' several players to opposition clubs - being unable to maintain their services - for various reasons. Not much point in trading/drafting brilliantly if players eventually want to leave.
Macca
Guest
I read 6 months or so ago that the training facilities at TAC cup level are improving all the time (they mentioned the Gippsland team having a dedicated auditorium to watch videos to review the games) and they are getting to a standard where draftees get a disappointing shock when they turn up to a club with poor facilities because they are expecting a massive step up from what they have at TAC level. First impressions count.
Cat
Roar Guru
Totally agree Paul. Until they are built it is hard to guesstimate how much or how little the other potential factors are hurting the Lions. I suspect some kids will always want to move back home, all clubs deal with it to some degree, but having a place to report into work every day that isn't a dark, dank dungeon will certainly be more inviting. There is also the on-field benefit that will trickle down when the players are stronger and fitter due to better facilities.
guttsy
Guest
At 18 or 19 years of age you aren't going to know who the best ruckmen, tall forwards or tall backs is going to be. Its too early in their development to know. What you do know is who are likely to be the good midfielders, good small forwards and good small backs
dave
Guest
If you fix up all the underlying issues at say Brisbane and they become a destination club then you just have to fix up the underlying issues at the next basket case club that the precious youngsters don't want to play for. I agree longer contracts would be a good first step and i'm sure the AFL would be looking at solutions.I hope so because its pretty unfair at the moment. If you pick a guy at number 5 in the draft and lose him 2 years later for another number 5 pick in the draft thats a loss.Even if you got a higher draft pick you would have been better of your original pick stayed. At the moment its the opposite.Where did Brisbane draft Shache and what did they get in return?
Josh
Expert
Always hard to predict. On gut feel, I think Jack Petrucelle is one someone could punt on much earlier than expected.
Mattician6x6
Guest
I think you're bang on there Stephen, a clubs ability to retain talent is directly tied to its off field management as much as anything, can never blame an employee leaving an organization that is a basket case internally.
Mattician6x6
Guest
If port drafts Tyson Edwards kid I will ROFL
Cat
Roar Guru
Afl can’t even get simple FA compo right. They’d screw up something that complicated for sure
Cat
Roar Guru
Correct, he is not nominating
Stephen
Guest
I can understand an amount of cynicism from a Brisbane perspective. How well would the club be placed now if - Docherty, Karnezis, Yeo, Polec, Longer etc were still at the club? However, I have to wonder how well the clubs player management was a few years ago?
Mattician6x6
Guest
I think both wa teams made Hay but also think Weller for pick two and a guaranteed two first round picks next year indicates gcs are laughing as well imo ;)
Dalgety Carrington
Roar Guru
A more intuitive and universally applied formula to the salary cap might help though. Sort of like COLA, only everyone gets it. It could take into account level of participation in the state (or even draft numbers), recent ladder history, time since last premiership, cost of living etc etc. So the most disadvantaged get the highest salary cap across a set range (it could be capped between -10% to +10% as an example).
Dalgety Carrington
Roar Guru
lol How did it contribute? The Suns were scrambling around in the last minutes of the trade period, trying to get a deal that would satisfy Freo and keep their #2 pick, when WC got in their ear. They obviously were so rushed they didn't have time to check with Freo whether they'd be satisfied with a future first rounder. Turns out they weren't and the Suns had to cough up the #2. What Freo knew is that the Suns had godfathered Weller. That deal was always going to happen once Freo dug their heels in, regardless of WC's involvement. And as stated I'm not complaining about the WA media fawnication of WC, developed a comfortable level of detachment from that years ago, hence just having a laugh about it. Also always interested to see what sort of gauge WC fans have of it. ;)
Paul D
Roar Guru
I'll stop blaming the system for the Lions problems once we have the facilities we need. They are the sleeper issue that has totally undermined the club root and branch for a decade. Springfield was first proposed as a solution back in 2013 and that was after a few years of casting around knowing a replacement was needed for the 90's era facilities - end of 2017 and we're still going around cap in hand. Until we have at least a proper work environment relative to other clubs we can never make progress in retaining players we need that other clubs want
Aligee
Guest
Tom O'donnell from West Perth and Liam Martin East Perth probably top 30 2018 draft
steve
Guest
Macca, got my fingers crossed for Cerra or Dow at pick 3, Lachie O "Brien at pick 10, Tim Kelly at pick 38.
Mattician6x6
Guest
Chris Judd won a brownlow, norm Smith and a premiership at wce, he'd done enough at wce to head off back to Vic
Kane
Roar Rookie
First round picks should be a 4 year minimum contract straight up, Second 3 years and the rest 2 years. Club nor player can trade or be traded within this time.
Mattician6x6
Guest
It was a mutually beneficial transaction, wce giving gcs their first rounder next year contributed to freo being able to secure pick two for Weller. Your boys have duffield as a supporter so can't seriously complain about the media bias dalgetty come on man.