The AFL pre-season draft is the drafting of uncontracted players to teams in the Australian Football League (AFL). The draft is conducted after the national draft and before the start of the next AFL season. It is conducted at the same time as the rookie draft. The pre-season draft is a place for any uncontracted players to nominate that missed the national draft or who were delisted after it was held.

The pre-season draft was first held in 1989, and more than 50 selections were made in each of its first five years.[1] However, its importance has gradually diminished over the time, and pre-season drafts are now routinely cancelled due to every club opting against making a selection.[2] It was considered that the pre-season draft only existed to protect the league from writs for restraint-of-trade,[3] but due to the introduction of free agency in 2012, there have been calls to scrap the pre-season draft and extend the free agency period.

Eligibility

Clubs receive selections in the draft based on where they finished on the AFL ladder during the year, generally in reverse order. Teams have the choice of whether to participate in the pre-season draft; many clubs fill their playing roster at the national draft, and hence do not participate in the pre-season draft. Also, unlike the national draft, picks in the pre-season drafts cannot be traded between clubs.

Players

Historically, the pre-season draft has involved mostly recycled players. Until 2008, due to the standard players contract expiring at the end of November, players who did not wish to sign a new contract with their current club were forced to enter the pre-season draft if they were unable to be traded to another club during the trade week held prior to the national draft. There was no free agency in the AFL to allow uncontracted players to easily move clubs until after the 2012 season; delisted players had the option of nominating for either the national or pre-season drafts. In 2008, the rules were changed to also give uncontracted players the option of nominating for either draft.[4] However, the number of players being selected after being delisted or coming out of contract is diminishing, as most teams are not prepared to pick them ahead of younger players.[5]

The lack of free agency was a powerful bargaining tool during trade week, as the team with the first pick could refuse a trade for a current uncontracted player at another club, and then recruit the player that wants to join their team for free with the first pick in the pre-season draft without giving anything to the other club.[6] Conversely, the threat of losing a player for nothing into the pre-season draft could force a team to trade him for less than the player's true value.[7]

Number-one draft picks

A total of 27 players have been selected at pick number one in the pre-season draft. Not every pre-season draft contains a number-one pick, as clubs may choose to pass on their selection for various list management reasons. As the pre-season draft was originally held towards the end of the pre-season in January or February, the naming of the draft is based on the following season. This is different from the naming of the national draft (which occurs in November), which is named according to the season just completed.

The following is a list of number-one pre-season draft picks since the draft's inception in 1989:

Draft Player Selected by Recruited from League recruited from
1989 Brian Winton Essendon St Kilda VFL
1990 David Cloke Richmond Collingwood VFL
1991 Michael McLean Brisbane Footscray AFL
1992 Ashley Green Brisbane Essendon AFL
1993 Richard Osborne Sydney Fitzroy AFL
1994 Dermott Brereton Sydney Hawthorn AFL
1995 Paul Roos Sydney Fitzroy AFL
1996 Brian McInnes Fitzroy Cairns Cairns Australian Football League
1997 Stephen Paxman Port Adelaide Fitzroy AFL
1998 Jamie Shanahan Melbourne St Kilda AFL
1999 David Calthorpe Brisbane Lions Essendon AFL
2000 Shane O'Bree Collingwood Brisbane Lions AFL
2001 Brett Voss St Kilda Brisbane Lions AFL
2002 No selection[lower-alpha 1]
2003 Stephen Powell St Kilda Melbourne AFL
2004 Jade Rawlings Western Bulldogs Hawthorn AFL
2005 Trent Knobel Richmond St Kilda AFL
2006 Dylan McLaren Carlton Brisbane Lions AFL
2007 Cain Ackland Carlton St Kilda AFL
2008 David Gourdis Richmond Subiaco WAFL
2009 Liam Jurrah Melbourne Yuendumu Central Australian Football League
2010 Joel Macdonald Melbourne Brisbane Lions AFL
2011 Nathan Ablett Gold Coast Gold Coast VFL
2012 No selection[lower-alpha 2]
2013 Bret Thornton Greater Western Sydney Carlton AFL
2014 Jed Lamb Greater Western Sydney Sydney AFL
2015 No selection[lower-alpha 3]
2016 No selection[lower-alpha 4]
2017 No selection[lower-alpha 4]
2018 Cam O'Shea Carlton Northern Blues VFL
2019 No selection[lower-alpha 4]
2020 Jack Martin Carlton Gold Coast AFL
2021 Jackson Hately Adelaide Greater Western Sydney AFL
2022 No selection[lower-alpha 5]
2023 No selection[lower-alpha 4]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ St Kilda had the number-one pick but chose to pass. The first player selected was at pick number two, where Geelong recruited Aaron Lord from Hawthorn in the AFL.
  2. ↑ Greater Western Sydney had the number-one pick but chose to pass. The first player selected was at pick number seven, where Gold Coast recruited Aaron Hall from Hobart in the TSL.
  3. ↑ Greater Western Sydney had the number-one pick but chose to pass. The first (and only) player selected was at pick number two, where Carlton recruited Jason Tutt from Western Bulldogs in the AFL.
  4. 1 2 3 4 No pre-season draft was held as all clubs declined to take part.
  5. ↑ North Melbourne had the number-one pick but chose to pass. The first player selected was at pick number three, where Gold Coast relisted Rory Thompson after they temporarily delisted him prior to the draft

References

  1. ↑ Sinclair, Cameron; NAB AFL Pre-Season and Rookie Draft facts 10 December 2007
  2. ↑ Lerner, Ronny (30 November 2022). "AFL Draft 2022: Rookie and Pre-Season Drafts". Footyology. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
  3. ↑ Reilly, Stephen; Opening new trade routes next goal Archived 2 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine; The Australian; 11 October 2008
  4. ↑ Ralph, Jon; Uncontracted players to decide on draft entry; 13 October 2008
  5. ↑ "Draft exposes cold realities". Sydney Morning Herald. 27 November 2006. Retrieved 24 October 2007.
  6. ↑ "Loss a big win for Tigers". Fox Sports Australia. 1 September 2007. Retrieved 24 October 2007.
  7. ↑ "Warnock won't come cheap". Fox Sports Australia. 11 September 2008. Retrieved 12 December 2008.
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