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The Australian Football League draft is the annual
draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vesse ...
of unsigned players, especially new nominations, by Australian rules football teams that participate in the main competition of that sport, the Australian Football League (AFL).


History

When the competition was known as the Victorian Football League (VFL), the league introduced the first incarnation of a draft system in 1981, where teams had two selections each of interstate players determined by reverse finishing position order. The draft was introduced as an equalisation strategy in response to the increasing transfer fees and player salaries at the time, which in combination with declining attendances threatened to derail the league. It was also a result of the failure of country zoning, introduced in 1967, which had led to a systematic inequality whereby the clubs with the best zones, like Carlton and
Hawthorn Hawthorn or Hawthorns may refer to: Plants * '' Crataegus'' (hawthorn), a large genus of shrubs and trees in the family Rosaceae * ''Rhaphiolepis'' (hawthorn), a genus of about 15 species of evergreen shrubs and small trees in the family Rosace ...
, could dominate over clubs with poorer zones like
Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
. In 1986, the first of the modern VFL Drafts was held. The draft was run in conjunction to the existing zone system. Players from
West Australian Football League The West Australian Football League (WAFL) is an Australian rules football league based in Perth, Western Australia. The league currently consists of ten teams, which play each other in a 20-round season usually lasting from March to September ...
and the new
West Coast Eagles The West Coast Eagles are a professional Australian rules football club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 as one of two expansion teams in the Australian Football League (AFL), then known as the Victorian Football L ...
were excluded from the 1986 draft, with the Eagles able to recruit up to 35 West Australian players with no more than 6 players from any single WAFL club. The other new club for the
1987 VFL season File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...
, the
Brisbane Bears The Brisbane Football Club, nicknamed the Bears, was a professional Australian rules football club based in Queensland on the Gold Coast (relocated to Brisbane in 1993). The club participated in the Victorian/Australian Football League (VFL/ ...
, received 6 concessionary picks before the other clubs and exclusive access to all Queensland based players. Since then, the rules associated with priority picks, zone allocations, the
father–son rule The father–son rule is a rule that allows clubs preferential recruiting access to the sons of players who have made a major past contribution to the club in Australian rules football, most notably in the Australian Football League. The rule ...
, mid-year,
pre-season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of Se ...
and rookie drafts, expansion clubs concessions and trading of players and picks have been frequently changed, but the basic premise of draft being an equalisation measure to assist the poorer performed teams has remained.


Draft

In the AFL draft, clubs receive picks based on the position in which they finish on the ladder during the season. The draft is held each year at the end of November, to allow the draftees to finish their school examinations before being drafted.


Eligibility

From the 2009 draft, players must be at least 18 years of age on 31 December in the year in which they are drafted, so that players who turn 18 during their first months of Year 12 will be able to finish studying without the pressure of AFL. This was increased over the past few years due to concerns about school age players potentially having to leave home to play football interstate. A selection of approximately 50 players are chosen to attend the annual AFL Draft Combine at the conclusion of the AFL season, prior to the National Draft. Further smaller scale state screenings are held around the country in the weeks after the national combine.


Priority draft pick rule

The priority draft picks were first introduced in the 1993 AFL Draft as a special assistance rule to aid teams that consistently perform poorly to obtain additional early draft selections. Under the rules in place since the 2012 season, priority draft picks are given out to struggling teams at the discretion of the AFL Commission. This replaced a system in which a priority draft pick was automatically given to team whose win–loss record fell below a pre-defined value; this had become controversial, and there were accusations by commentators that teams out of finals contention would
tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engi ...
at the end of the season to gain access to the additional draft picks, although the AFL itself never brought such accusations against any club.


Father–son rule

To continue the traditions of association that a family has with a particular club, sons of former players are able to be selected by the same club as their father played with under the father–son rule. For clubs with an established history in the VFL/AFL (20 years or more), the father must have played at least 100 games for the club to be eligible for the father/son rule; clubs with no long term history in the league had different eligibility criteria based on their state leagues. Under current rules, players eligible under the father–son rule are selected in a bidding system prior to the draft. Firstly, any club in the league may nominate a draft pick with which it intends to take the eligible son; then, if the father's club wishes to draft the son, it must use its next available draft pick, after the highest bidder. Earlier versions of the father–son rule allowed the sons to be recruited automatically, without need for the draft, or allowed the club to recruit the son using a third round draft pick. The father–son rule itself was introduced in 1949, more than three decades prior to the draft, and it could be used to contravene
zoning Zoning is a method of urban planning in which a municipality or other tier of government divides land into areas called zones, each of which has a set of regulations for new development that differs from other zones. Zones may be defined for a si ...
rules.


AFL Women's: Father-daughter rule and future rules for AFL Women's players

On 15 September 2016, an AFL women's competition, the AFLW, was founded to commence in 2017. In its Draft, there is an equivalent father–daughter rule, where a daughter can be drafted if their father played one game at the club. The first use of this rule was in the 2017 Draft, when Carlton selected Abbie McKay, the daughter of Andrew McKay. Criteria are also in place for mother–son and mother–daughter rules, from such time that the children of AFLW players reach draft eligible age.


Expansion clubs

Each time that the competition has an expansion team, the AFL give special priority to the new club, with the new club receiving numerous high draft picks.


Host

For most of its existence, the National Draft has been held at a large function or convention centre with many of the predicted top draft selections in attendance. Since 1993, the National draft has been televised live, pick-by-pick, while the mid-year (1990–1993), pre-season and rookie drafts have never been televised.


Number-one draft picks


Men's

As of 2021, the number one draft pick was taken by the last-placed team from the previous season, or an expansion team in its first draft, in 31 of the 38 drafts. Years where this was not the case are: * Where the number one pick has been traded, for example when Fremantle traded the number one pick of the
2001 AFL draft The 2001 AFL draft consisted of a state draft, a body draft, a pre-season draft and a trade period. The AFL draft is the annual draft of players by Australian rules football teams that participate in the main competition of that sport, the Austra ...
to
Hawthorn Hawthorn or Hawthorns may refer to: Plants * '' Crataegus'' (hawthorn), a large genus of shrubs and trees in the family Rosaceae * ''Rhaphiolepis'' (hawthorn), a genus of about 15 species of evergreen shrubs and small trees in the family Rosace ...
for Trent Croad. Other trades took place in 1988, 1990 and 1992. * In 1996, where West Coast were given the first draft pick for being the lowest-ranked team to have lost an uncontracted player ( Ian Downsborough) to expansion team : the team that finished last, Fitzroy, had its AFL playing operations taken over by Brisbane at the end of 1996. * In 2002, where Carlton, who had finished last, lost their priority picks and their first and second round picks for salary cap breaches. St. Kilda, who had finished 15th of the 16 teams, received the first draft pick and selected
Brendon Goddard Brendon Goddard (born 20 May 1985) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for St Kilda and Essendon in the Australian Football League (AFL). He played for the St Kilda Football Club from 2003 to 2012, then with Essendo ...
. * In 2007, where , who had finished 15th of the 16 teams, received the number one draft pick by virtue of the priority pick rules at the time. The team that finished last, Richmond, received the second overall pick and also received a priority pick at the end of the first round. Despite the expectations of the number one pick, not all have forged successful
VFL/AFL The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). I ...
careers. Adam Cooney, the first pick of the 2003 AFL draft, was the first number one draft pick to be awarded the prestigious
Brownlow Medal The Charles Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal (and informally as "Charlie"), is awarded to the "best and fairest" player in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the home-and-away season, as determined by votes cast by t ...
(in 2008). In the same year,
Luke Hodge Luke Hodge (born 15 June 1984) is a former Australian rules football player who played with the Hawthorn Football Club and the Brisbane Lions in the Australian Football League (AFL). He played for the Hawthorn Football Club from 2002 to 2017, ...
, the number one pick in 2001, won the
Norm Smith Medal The Norm Smith Medal is an Australian rules football award presented annually to the player adjudged the best on ground in the Grand Final of the Australian Football League (AFL). Prior to 1990 the competition was known as the Victorian Football ...
with Hawthorn. No number one selection has yet been inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame. Only three number one picks have won a premiership ( Drew Banfield,
Luke Hodge Luke Hodge (born 15 June 1984) is a former Australian rules football player who played with the Hawthorn Football Club and the Brisbane Lions in the Australian Football League (AFL). He played for the Hawthorn Football Club from 2002 to 2017, ...
, and Tom Boyd). The following is a list of the number one overall draft picks since the draft's inception in
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: After the 2021 AFL season, in which
North Melbourne North Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne local government area. North Melbourne recorded a population of 14,953 at ...
finished last, Port Adelaide is the only club never to have had the first overall selection of an AFL Draft.


Women's

With the introduction of a women's competition in 2016 (to commence in
2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...
), a draft was set up for the AFLW. In 2016, the first draft pick was awarded to the
GWS Giants The Greater Western Sydney Giants (officially the Greater Western Sydney Football Club and colloquially known as the GWS Giants or simply GWS) are a professional Australian rules football team based in Sydney Olympic Park, which represents the ...
by lot, though this selection would be taken after 16 selections were made for marquee players: Nicola Barr was the first player to be drafted in AFLW history. As of 2022, five of the six seasons have seen the first pick go to the club who finished last, or an expansion club in its first draft: in 2017, GWS traded the first pick to the Western Bulldogs, while in 2019, expansion club Richmond traded the first pick to the Western Bulldogs. In 2018, the first pick was awarded to Geelong as one of the expansion clubs for the 2019 season, and in 2022, the first pick awarded to Sydney as one of the expansion clubs for Season 7: in both years, this was determined by lot from the four expansion clubs.


Pre-season draft


Rookie draft

Held at the same time as the pre-season draft, the rookie draft is a chance for clubs to recruit players for their Rookie list. Rookies are usually picked as young, developing players and can be elevated from the rookie list during the year, if there is a long-term injury or retirement to a senior player in the team. Once the rookie is elevated, he remains that way until the end of the year, where they can be officially upgraded to the senior list, or placed back on the rookie list, or delisted/not offered a new contract. Teams are allowed to have four to six rookies, but the Queensland and NSW teams may have more. The first rookie draft was the 1997 rookie draft (which followed the 1996 AFL draft and is technically lumped in with this draft for recordkeeping purposes).


International rookies

Rookies are also available to be selected from overseas countries and players on the list do not count towards the
salary cap In professional sports, a salary cap (or wage cap) is an agreement or rule that places a limit on the amount of money that a team can spend on players' salaries. It exists as a per-player limit or a total limit for the team's roster, or both. Sever ...
. Notable examples are
Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
Tommy Walsh of Sydney; Canadian
Mike Pyke Michael Anthony Patrick Pyke (born 24 March 1984) is a Canadian retired dual-code football player, who was a professional Australian rules footballer with the Sydney Swans. Pyke is the first Canadian national and the first former rugby union ...
of Sydney, a former rugby union international; and
Americans Americans are the citizens and nationals of the United States of America.; ; Although direct citizens and nationals make up the majority of Americans, many dual citizens, expatriates, and permanent residents could also legally claim Ame ...
Seamus McNamara and
Mason Cox Mason Cox (born March 14, 1991) is an American-Australian professional Australian rules footballer who plays for the Collingwood Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Playing as a ruckman and key forward, he first played Austr ...
, both former
college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...
players who were rookie listed by Collingwood. In 2006, the AFL introduced a new scheme where clubs can maintain two international rookies (excluding Irish players) outside of the regular rookie list. The rule was adjusted in 2010 to group international rookies with players recruited from other sports, and refers to them as ''Category B'' rookies. Up to three can be listed in addition to up to six ''Category A'' rookies.


See also

* AFL salary cap * AFL Women's draft


References


External links


Official AFL draft page

AFL draft Information

AFL draft news and player profiles
{{afldraft History of Australian rules football Annual sporting events in Australia Recurring sporting events established in 1981 1981 establishments in Australia