Expert
For the second year in the row Carlton have shaken up the first night of the draft with some live trading, making two deals to shift their picks during the night.
The first four picks went as expected with Matt Rowell and Noah Anderson joining Gold Coast at the first two selections, Luke Jackson to Melbourne at pick 3, and Lachie Ash to GWS after.
However Sydney then dropped one of the first surprises of the night by picking Dylan Stephens at pick 5, setting off a chain of events that saw Sam Flanders, their expected pick, slide down the order.
Adelaide and Fremantle went with their expected picks – Fisher McAsey to the Crows, and Hayden Young and Caleb Serong to the Dockers – leaving Flanders still on the board for the Blues.
Carlton made bids on Liam Henry and Tom Green, matched by Fremantle and GWS respectively, then swapped their selection for two from Gold Coast, with the Suns jumping up to add Flanders to their list.
Will Day landed at Hawthorn, Miles Bergman at Port Adelaide, and Cody Weightman at the Bulldogs, as had been widely expected ahead of time.
However Geelong lobbed another surprise by taking Cooper Stephens a few picks earlier than expected, and Carlton took a slider in Brodie Kemp thereafter.
Probably the biggest shock of the night came at the next pick, as Port Adelaide picked up Mitch Georgardies, a key forward prospect who missed the entire year with injury.
Geelong picked a key defender in Sam De Koning before Carlton made another trade, giving Port Adelaide the first pick of Day 2 to move up to pick 20, and select something of a bolter in Sam Philp.
Richmond had the final pick of the evening and selected Thomson Dow.
The big slider of the evening was Deven Robertson however who was invited to the first night of the draft but will go home still not knowing which AFL club he will land at.
Robertson was linked to potentially go to Fremantle as early as pick 8, but the prolific inside mid surprisingly saw a number of players of his type in Stephens, Philp and Dow taken ahead of him.
Clubs would not have expected Robertson to still be available tomorrow and with Port holding the first pick of the day, the Power can expect to field offers from sides who’d love to move up the order and snag him.
Teams like Hawthorn and Essendon in particular are known to be willing to move on their 2020 first-round pick to get back into this draft, and would be keen to land a player like Robertson.
2019 AFL Draft | ||
---|---|---|
1 | Gold Coast | Matt Rowell |
2 | Gold Coast | Noah Anderson |
3 | Melbourne | Luke Jackson |
4 | GWS | Lachie Ash |
5 | Sydney | Dylan Stephens |
6 | Adelaide | Fisher McAsey |
7 | Fremantle | Hayden Young |
8 | Fremantle | Caleb Serong |
9 | Fremantle | Liam Henry |
10 | GWS | Tom Green |
11 | Gold Coast | Sam Flanders |
12 | Melbourne | Kysaiah Pickett |
13 | Hawthorn | Will Day |
14 | Port Adelaide | Miles Bergman |
15 | Western Bulldogs | Cody Weightman |
16 | Geelong | Cooper Stephens |
17 | Carlton | Brodie Kemp |
18 | Port Adelaide | Mitch Georgiades |
19 | Geelong | Sam De Koning |
20 | Carlton | Sam Philp |
21 | Richmond | Thomson Dow |