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2023 AFL Draft

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Harley Reid with Nic Naitanui after being selected by West Coast with pick one in the 2023 AFL draft. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

The 2023 AFL Draft began on Monday, November 20 and concluded on Wednesday , November 22.

Night one saw the first round of draft picks selected, with night two featuring all other selections, while the final night will feature the pre-season and rookie drafts.

Victorian young gun Harley Reid, as expected, was taken by the West Coast Eagles with their prized pick 1.

Check out the full draft order here.

2023 AFL National Draft order

Round 1

Pick Club Player
1 West Coast Harley Reid
2 North Melbourne Colby McKercher
3 Gold Coast Jed Walter
4 North Melbourne Zane Duursma
5 Hawthorn Nick Watson
6 Western Bulldogs Ryley Sanders
7 Melbourne Caleb Windsor
8 Adelaide Daniel Curtin
9 Gold Coast Ethan Read
10 Essendon Nate Caddy
11 Geelong Connor O’Sullivan
12 GWS Phoenix Gothard
13 Melbourne Koltyn Tholstrup
14 Gold Coast Jake Rogers
15 Western Bulldogs Jordan Croft
16 Sydney Will Green
17 GWS James Leake
18 St Kilda Darcy Wilson
19 Hawthorn Will McCabe
20 North Melbourne Taylor Goad
21 Adelaide Charlie Edwards
22 North Melbourne Wil Dawson
23 North Melbourne Riley Hardeman
24 Sydney Caiden Cleary
25 Collingwood Harry DeMattia
26 Gold Coast Will Graham
27 Adelaide Oscar Ryan
28 St Kilda Lance Collard
29 Carlton Ashton Moir

Round 2

Pick Club Player
30 West Coast Archer Reid
31 Brisbane Logan Morris
32 Geelong Mitch Edwards
33 St Kilda Angus Hastie
34 Carlton Billy Wilson
35 Fremantle Cooper Simpson
36 Geelong Shaun Mannagh
37 Collingwood Tew Jiath
38 West Coast Clay Hall
39 Essendon Luamon Lual
40 Richmond Kane McAuliffe
41 Fremantle Ollie Murphy
42 Brisbane Luke Lloyd
43 Richmond Liam Fawcett
44 GWS Joseph Fonti

Round 3

Pick Club Player
45 Western Bulldogs Joel Freijah
46 Hawthorn Bodie Ryan
47 Western Bulldogs Lachlan Smith
48 Port Adelaide Thomas Anastasopoulos
49 West Coast Harvey Johnston
50 St Kilda Hugo Garcia
51 Brisbane Zane Zakostelsky
52 Port Adelaide Lachlan Charleson

Round 4 onwards

Pick Club Player
53 Sydney Patrick Snell
54 Essendon Archie Roberts
55 Western Bulldogs Aiden O’Driscoll
56 Hawthorn Calsher Dear
57 Port Adelaide Will Lorenz
58 Geelong George Stevens
59 GWS Harvey Thomas
60 Fremantle Jack Delean
61 Geelong Oliver Wiltshire
62 St Kilda Arie Schoenmaker
63 Geelong Lawson Humphries
64 Brisbane Reece Torrent

National Draft Picks by club

Adelaide 8, 21, 27
Brisbane 31, 42, 51, 64
Carlton 29, 34
Collingwood 25, 37
Essendon 10, 39, 54
Fremantle 35, 41, 60
Geelong 11, 32, 36, 58, 61, 63
Gold Coast 3, 9, 14, 26
GWS 12, 17, 44, 59
Hawthorn 5, 19, 46, 56
Melbourne 7, 13
North Melbourne 2, 4, 20, 22, 23
Port Adelaide 48, 52, 57
Richmond 40, 43
St Kilda 18, 28, 33, 50, 62
Sydney 16, 24, 53
West Coast 1, 30, 38, 49
Western Bulldogs 6, 15, 45, 47, 55
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2023 AFL Rookie Draft order

Round 1

Pick Club Player
1 West Coast Loch Rawlinson
2 North Melbourne Finnbar Maley
3 Hawthorn Cooper Stephens*
4 Gold Coast Sam Clohesy
5 Fremantle Odin Jones
6 Richmond Pass
7 Geelong Emerson Jeka
8 Essendon Vigo Visentini
9 Adelaide Will Hamill*
10 Western Bulldogs Lachie McNeil*
11 Sydney Sam Reid*
12 Melbourne Jake Melksham*
13 Port Adelaide Xavier Walsh
14 GWS Adam Kennedy*
15 Carlton Matt Carroll
16 Collingwood Pass

Round 2

Pick Club Player
17 North Melbourne Pass
18 Gold Coast Will Rowlands
19 Fremantle Pass
20 Adelaide James Borlase*
21 Western Bulldogs Taylor Duryea*
22 Melbourne Kynan Brown
23 Collingwood Pass

Round 3

Pick Club Player
24 Gold Coast Jack Mahony
25 Western Bulldogs Pass
26 Melbourne Pass
27 Collingwood Pass

Round 4

Pick Club Player
28 Gold Coast Pass

Round 5

Pick Club Player
29 Gold Coast Pass

* Delisted and re-drafted as a rookie

2023 AFL Pre-Season Draft order

Pick Club Player
1 Hawthorn Chad Wingard*
2 Gold Coast Sam Day*
3 St Kilda Riley Bonner

* Delisted and re-drafted

History
Back in its VFL days, the national draft was introduced in 1981, allowing the Victorian teams to acquire interstate players depending on where they finished on the ladder.

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It has since been expanded to include players from all locations, and is now the primary source of new talent for every AFL club.

The draft order is determined each year by awarding the clubs their draft picks in reverse finishing order – the club that finished last receives the first pick, and so on.

However, these picks can then change hands during the trade period and the final draft order is often quite different to the original one released after the end of the season.

After originally being held in 1981 and 1982, the draft was then not held again until 1986, but has been held in some form every year since.

For much of its early history, it was held in Victoria each year, but in recent times it has regularly been held interstate.

The draft was brought to the Gold Coast for the 2010 event, then to Sydney for 2011, and then returned to Gold Coast for several years, before being moved to Adelaide in 2015 and to Sydney again in 2016, and was then shifted around the country during the COVID years.

The draft has returned to Melbourne for 2022 and 2023.

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The No.1 draft pick is always a prized possession, though clubs have gotten smarter about using it in modern times than they were in the past.

1987 No.1 pick Richard Lounder, for example, only ever played four games for his club, Richmond. But in recent times No.1 picks like Nick Riewoldt, Luke Hodge and Adam Cooney have won premierships, Brownlows, and become legends of the game.

In the table below is every No.1 draft pick in VFL/AFL history, from 1981 onwards.

Draft Player Selected by Recruited from
1981 Alan Johnson Melbourne Perth (WAFL)
1982 Andrew Purser Footscray East Fremantle (WAFL)
1986 Martin Leslie Brisbane Bears Port Adelaide Magpies (SANFL)
1987 Richard Lounder Richmond Central District (SANFL)
1988 Alex McDonald Hawthorn Ballarat YCW (Ballart League)
1989 Anthony Banik Richmond Won Wron Woodside (Alberton League)
1990 Stephen Hooper Geelong East Perth (WAFL)
1991 John Hutton Brisbane Bears Claremont (WAFL)
1992 Drew Banfield West Coast Eagles Subiaco (WAFL)
1993 Darren Gaspar Sydney South Fremantle (WAFL)
1994 Jeff White Fremantle Dandenong Stingrays (TAC Cup)
1995 Clive Waterhouse Fremantle Port Adelaide Magpies (SANFL)
1996 Michael Gardiner West Coast Eagles Claremont (WAFL)
1997 Travis Johnstone Melbourne Dandenong Stingrays (TAC Cup)
1998 Des Headland Brisbane Lions Subiaco (WAFL)
1999 Josh Fraser Collingwood Murray Bushrangers (TAC Cup)
2000 Nick Riewoldt St Kilda Southport Sharks (QAFL)
2001 Luke Hodge Hawthorn Geelong Falcons (TAC Cup)
2002 Brendon Goddard St Kilda Gippsland Power (TAC Cup)
2003 Adam Cooney Western Bulldogs West Adelaide (SANFL)
2004 Brett Deledio Richmond Murray Bushrangers (TAC Cup)
2005 Marc Murphy Carlton Oakleigh Chargers (TAC Cup)
2006 Bryce Gibbs Carlton Glenelg (SANFL)
2007 Matthew Kreuzer Carlton Northern Knights (SANFL)
2008 Jack Watts Melbourne Sandringham Dragons (TAC Cup)
2009 Tom Scully Melbourne Dandenong Stingrays (TAC Cup)
2010 David Swallow Gold Coast Suns East Fremantle (WAFL)
2011 Jonathon Patton GWS Giants Eastern Ranges (TAC Cup)
2012 Lachie Whitfield GWS Giants Dandenong Stingrays (TAC Cup)
2013 Tom Boyd GWS Giants Eastern Ranges (TAC Cup)
2014 Paddy McCartin St Kilda Geelong Falcons (TAC Cup)
2015 Jacob Weitering Carlton Dandenong Stingrays (TAC Cup)
2016 Andrew McGrath Essendon Sandringham Dragons (TAC Cup)
2017 Cam Rayner Brisbane Lions Western Jets (TAC Cup)
2018 Sam Walsh Carlton Geelong Falcons (TAC Cup)
2019 Matt Rowell Gold Coast Suns Oakleigh Chargers (NAB League)
2020 Jamarra Ugle-Hagan Western Bulldogs Oakleigh Chargers (NAB League)
2021 Jason Horne-Francis North Melbourne South Adelaide (SANFL)
2022 Aaron Cadman GWS Giants GWV Rebels (NAB League)
2023 Harley Reid West Coast Eagles Bendigo Pioneers (Talent League)

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