Port Adelaide’s request to have possible No.1 pick Dougie Cochrane included in their Next Generation Academy approved

Port Adelaide has defended the NGA system after the AFL granted the Power access to potential No.1 pick 2026 Dougie Cochrane through their academy.

Port Adelaide is set to land next year’s potential No. 1 draft pick Dougie Cochrane after the AFL approved the Power’s application to gain access to him.

Cochrane and his family had to tick off a number of requirements to certify their Indigenous heritage which would allow the talented junior to be part of the Power’s Next Generation Academy.

The 196cm utility — who has featured mostly in attack this year — is the son of former Port Adelaide and North Melbourne player Stuart Cochrane and the younger brother of current Power forward Tom.

Stuart wrote to the AFL last year to request that his sons be included in Port Adelaide’s NGA program after the discovery of Indigenous lineage on his maternal side that could be traced back to southern NSW and the ACT.

2026 AFL draft prospect Dougie Cochrane playing for Central District. Picture: Peter Argent

In April this masthead reported Cochrane’s NGA application progressed heavily after a family member provided unseen documentation.

The process took longer also because of personal health issues that Stuart has dealt with recently.

The AFL’s approval means the Power will be able to match any bid from other clubs in next year’s national draft.

Power chief executive Matthew Richardson said it was pleasing for the club.

“We are pleased to hear that Doug’s application to join our NGA has been accepted and look forward to working with him over the next period,” he said.

“We’ve supported the family as much as we can, but ultimately it is a family issue and a family journey that they have been on.

“We need more Indigenous and NGA talent in the game, the number of Aboriginal players in our game is in decline so I think anything the clubs and the AFL can be doing to providing more Indigenous and multicultural kids with opportunities to make it through the pathway is what we should be doing.”

Cochrane, who turned 17 in May, starred in a senior SANFL debut for Central District this year as he continued to piece together an eye-catching bottom-age season which has left him as a standout No.1 draft prospect for 2026.

While he plays for Central District, a club tied to Adelaide under the NGA zones, under the SANFL’s father-son rule he actually lives in Port Adelaide’s NGA zone - which is how the AFL determines eligibility for each club.

Port Adelaide had been closely working with the AFL on Cochrane’s application with the Power increasingly confident in recent months it would be approved.

When the AFL was considering a lockout of clubs being able to match bids on father-son and NGA players at the top end of the draft earlier this year, Richardson wrote to the league saying there should be a “grandfather period” of transition over two to three years.

As well as Cochrane the Power could also have access to potential father-son selections Louis Salopek and Tevita Rodan in 2027, with NGA prospect Zemes Pilot also potentially in the mix.

Richardson said the letter to the AFL was not just about access to Cochrane.

“It wasn’t just about that, clubs work well in advance of the drafts and our club is no different,” he said.

“You work in three and four year cycles and any changes you are making to the eligibility of players you need to give clubs notice like they do in the NBA and NFL.

“That is how they work, they work in four-year cycles because clubs put a lot of work into NGA’s and how they are monitoring talent so any decisions the AFL are making which impact drafts our point was it needs to be giving clubs plenty of notice.”

2026 AFL draft prospect Dougie Cochrane playing for South Australia's under-16s. Picture: Peter Argent

The Power have already effectively traded out of this year’s draft into next year’s to amass the required points to match any bid for Cochrane next year.

Port Adelaide and Adelaide are now able to match bids on their metropolitan NGA prospects after only having draft access to Indigenous NGA products from regional areas previously.

Some recruiters believe Cochrane – likened to Fremantle great Matthew Pavlich as a player - is a clear No. 1 prospect for next year and there is “daylight” between him and Carlton father-son prospect Cody Walker.

His brother Tom was drafted as a rookie by the Power last year and made his AFL debut in 2025.

He has since been added to the Power’s main list.

In 2020 the Western Bulldogs were able to match a bid from the Crows to take NGA product Jamarra Ugle-Hagan at No.1 in that draft.

At the time it caused significant frustration among clubs.

Richardson brushed that off now that the Power has landed access to such a highly touted draft prospect.

“Every club invests in their NGA programs and our club is no different so it is one of those pathways that we should all be using to provide more opportunities for NGA and multicultural talent to get into the game,” he said.

Originally published as Port Adelaide’s request to have possible No.1 pick Dougie Cochrane included in their Next Generation Academy approved