What history tells us about every club’s 2018 draft picks
Can Carlton nail its fifth No.1 draft pick? Will the Tigers get another gem at pick 17 like Jack Higgins? See how your club has fared in past drafts with the picks it has this year.
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Will lightning strike for a fifth time for Carlton on draft night?
The Blues have pick 1 next week for the fifth time — more than any other club since the draft started 32 years ago — and they’ve nailed the first four attempts.
Marc Murphy and Bryce Gibbs have been guns, Matthew Kreuzer is a star when fit and we’re backing Jacob Weitering to get back to the form he showed in his debut season. Will this year’s top pick continue the trend?
EVERY PICK: DRAFT ORDER LOCKED IN
NO EXCUSES: CAN BOMBERS BREAK FINALS CURSE?
LIFELINE: AXED SAINTS TRAINING WITH BLUES
North Melbourne, meanwhile, doesn’t have a pick until the third round but fans shouldn’t be worried based on the Kangaroos’ history with its picks in the 40s, including one it holds this year that landed an all-time great.
What does history tell us about your club’s picks? Scroll down for a quick review of every club’s hits and misses with the picks they hold this year.
ADELAIDE
2018 picks: 8, 13, 16, 21, 73, 83
Pick 16 is the one to watch on draft night if you’re a Crows fan with an interest in club history. The Crows have held that selection twice before and recruited guns Brett Burton (1998) and Richard Douglas (2005). Adelaide’s one shot at pick 8 didn’t work out so well, taking John Meesen in 2004. Daniel Talia was a huge win at pick 13 in 2009 but surprisingly the Crows have never held pick 21 before. Pick 73 is also a first and there has been one Adelaide pick 83 - Matthew Shir in 1999, who played 11 games.
BRISBANE LIONS
2018 picks: 18, 30, 35, 56, 78
No pressure on whoever the Lions take with pick 30 next week but you’re following in some massive footsteps. The Lions have had pick 30 three times in their history and have struck gold every time in the form of Elliot Yeo (2011), 200-gamer Daniel Merrett (2002) and legend Jonathan Brown, who was a father-son pick in 1999. Their record with the other selections is mixed. Claiming Joel Patfull at pick 56 in 2005 is a huge tick but the three pick 18s haven’t set the world on fire - although we’ll give last year’s pick 18 Brandon Starcevich more time. Cameron Wood (2004) and Lland Spanderman (2003) played a combined 19 games for Brisbane - although Wood made another 72 appearances for Collingwood and Carlton.
CARLTON
2018 picks: 1, 69, 71, 77
The Blues will have a fifth crack at pick 1 next week (barring a last-minute shock trade), more than any other club. The previous four attempts delivered Marc Murphy (2005), Bryce Gibbs (06), Matthew Kreuzer (07) and Jacob Weitering (15), a reasonable strike rate. The returns from those later picks in the past haven’t been as good with Daniel Marshall (pick 69, 1995) and Anthony Raso (pick 77, 2004) failing to play a senior game. Jordan Bannister was a good get with pick 69 in 2003.
COLLINGWOOD
2018 picks: 41, 44, 51, 57, 93
Nearly all fresh territory for the Pies, who have had picks 41 and 44 once before but none of the others. Those two were used on Todd Curley (pick 41, 1991) - who played three games for Pies and 115 for the Bulldogs - and Brad Dick, who played 27 games after being chosen with pick 44 in 2006.
ESSENDON
2018 picks: 34, 66, 84
Can the Bombers break their draft curse with these picks? Five previous attempts have yielded a total of 12 games, all played by Jason Ashby (pick 34, 2012). Paul Hills is a premiership player but he didn’t play any more matches after being redrafted with pick 66 in 1996. Simon O’Keefe (pick 34) was a rare miss in the 2001 super draft but Brandon Zerk-Thatcher (pick 66, 2017) has time on his side.
FREMANTLE
2018 picks: 14, 31, 43, 65, 81
The Dockers have their first ever pick 14 this year but they have had three cracks at pick 31 with reasonable results - Jess Sinclair (1996), Gary Dhurrkay (1998) with one-gamer Clayton Collard (2006) the odd one out. Freo used pick 43 on father-son pick Brett Peake in 2003 and pick 65 last year on untried midfielder Tom North. Pick 81 is new.
GEELONG
2018 picks: 12, 50, 59, 60, 70, 87
This is the Cats’ highest selection since they took Nakia Cockatoo with pick 10 in 2014, and remarkably the first time they have had pick 12 in any national draft. In typical Geelong style there is a lot of history with later picks although not many superstars to come from them, with Quinton Narkle (pick 60, 2016) flying the flag for three players taken by the Cats at that selection including one of the club’s lesser-known father-son picks Adam Donohue (2007). Other notable names include Daniel Frawley (not that one) at pick 59 in 1989, Craig Biddiscome (pick 59, 1993) and Jordan Cunico (pick 59, 2014).
GOLD COAST
2018 picks: 2, 3, 6, 24, 29, 80
The Suns are no strangers to the top end of the draft and this year is in some ways a do-over of 2010 when they had six top-10 selections. They included picks 2, which they used on Harley Bennell, and 3, used to recruit Sam Day. The only other draft history with these selections is Henry Schade, who was chosen with pick 24 in 2011.
GSW GIANTS
2018 picks: 9, 11, 19, 25, 52, 89
See above for top-end draft history - the Giants had 11 of the first 20 picks in 2011 so it’s no surprise picks 9 and 11 were among them. They weren’t wasted either, used on Adam Tomlinson (pick 9) and Toby Greene (pick 11). GWS had pick 11 again last year and took midfielder Aiden Bonar. The rest are all new (even pick 19 is too late for previous Giants drafts).
HAWTHORN
2018 picks: 53, 90
Not much history to go on here, Hawk fans. The club has had each selection once before, taking luckless Alex Woodward (pick 52, 2011), who played two games, and key forward Adam Aherne (pick 90, 1990), who didn’t play any.
MELBOURNE
2018 picks: 23, 28, 54, 62, 91
Not a lot of big names here. The Dees have had pick 23 once, using it to select Matthew MacKay in 1991 (0 games). Melbourne has never had pick 28 before but has had three goes at pick 54, selecting Daniel Clarke (1992, 0 games), Cameron Hunter (2002, two games) and James Sellar (2011, 23 games). Pick 62 has delivered Daniel Breese (2000, 0 games) and Isaac Weetra (2006, two games), while pick 91 is also new.
NORTH MELBOURNE
2018 picks: 42, 47, 48, 49, 55, 58, 86
We should have twigged the Kangaroos were up to something when they gave Fremantle pick 31 and received three later picks (47, 49, 55) in return in a swap on the final day of the trade period. One of the picks netted in the deal is the most successful in North Melbourne history. In 1995 the Roos used pick 47 to select a skinny kid called Brent Harvey, who went on to play a record 432 AFL games. In 2013 they struck gold again, taking Tasmanian Ben Brown with the same pick. So bookmark the kid they take with pick 47 this year. Pick 42 has been good for the Kangas, too, delivering premiership player Martin Pike (1996), Daniel Pratt (2000) and injury-cursed father-son selection Jesse Smith (2004), while Liam Pickering arrived via pick 48 in 1987. Even pick 58 is still paying dividends - the Roos had it in 2004 and selected Brad Moran, who they traded to Adelaide the next year for defender Scott Thompson who has played 222 games and counting.
PORT ADELAIDE
2018 picks: 5, 10, 15, 85
Port moved heaven and earth to get three picks in the top 15 and there is some good history there, with skipper Travis Boak arriving with pick 5 in 2006 and 140-game defender Troy Chaplin via pick 15 in 2003. There have been some misses, too. Michael Stevens was pick 5 in 1998 and played just 17 games (he added another 40 at North Melbourne) and Port used pick 15 in the 2001 super draft on King Island big man Barry Brooks, who failed to play a senior game before being traded to St Kilda (the Power used one of the picks they got from the Saints in a trade with North Melbourne for Byron Pickett, so it wasn’t a total write-off).
RICHMOND
2018 picks: 17, 37, 64, 68, 74, 92
Seventeen is a famous number at Tigerland and Richmond recruiters would be happy going into this year’s draft with pick 17 after using that selection to grab Jack Higgins last year. The Tigers also had pick 17 way back in 1987 and used it on speedy Tasmanian Trent Nicholls. Given the strike rate of all clubs in drafts back then we’ll give that a big tick. Richmond has never used pick 37 before and the only draft history with the later picks is tough onballer Chris Hyde (pick 68, 2001 - tick) and key forward Shane Morrison (pick 64, 2003 - miss).
ST KILDA
2018 picks: 4, 36, 46, 67, 79
Nervous about pick 4, Saints fans? We can’t help either way, sorry. In fact, St Kilda’s draft history with all its selections is almost a blank sheet as it holds picks 4, 36 and 67 for the first time. It had pick 79 in 2001 but didn’t use it, which leaves pick 46. The Saints have had that pick three times and used it to recruit Matthew Jackson (1992, 0 games), Leigh Fisher (2002, 55 games) and Ben Paton (2017, three games so far).
SYDNEY
2018 picks: 26, 33, 38, 39, 40, 88
Keep an eye on pick 40. There are a few skeletons in the draft closet but the Swans can hang their hats on two genius recruiting moves with that selection, nabbing club legend Michael O’Loughlin in 1994 and Luke Parker in 2010 (we’ll overlook Mark Collins and Fred Campbell, who were taken by the Swans with pick 40 in 1990 and 1997 respectively). The history of Pick 26 isn’t as illustrious, delivering Dale Hall (1990, 0 games), Stephen Doyle (1999, 47 games) and Brett Meredith (2007, 16 games). Of the other selections, Sam Reid was good value at pick 38 in 2009 and Tom McCartin (pick 33 last year) has shown promising signs.
WEST COAST
2018 picks: 20, 22, 61, 72, 76, 94
The Eagles have had pick 20 four times before for three misses and a hit. Robbie West (1990, 13 games), Tony Notte (2007, two games) and Tom Swift (2008, 34 games) didn’t work out, but Sam Butler (2003) was a great pick. Pick 22 has also been productive out west, delivering Mark Seaby (2001, 102 games), Scott Selwood (2007, 187 games) and Gerrick Weedon (2009, one game). Pick 61 is new for the Eagles but they have had their two late picks once each, using them to recruit Brendan Krummel (pick 72, 1991, nine games) and Andrew Geddes (pick 94, 1998, 0 games).
WESTERN BULLDOGS
2018 picks: 7, 27, 32, 45, 63, 75, 82
The Dogs enter the draft with a serious arsenal so it’s no surprise there is a lot of history behind these picks at the kennel. The biggest hits were Leon Cameron (pick 7, 1988) and Daniel Giansiracusa (pick 32, 1999), with promising signs from recent draftees Lukas Webb (pick 28, 2014) and Bailey Dale (pick 45, 2014). But well done if you remember these names: Darren Davies (pick 7, 1987), Wayne Mahoney (pick 32, 1986), Matthew Moylan (pick 32, 1990), Scott Davies (pick 63, 1998), Anthony Aloi (pick 63, 1997) and Guy O’Keefe (pick 63, 2007); they played 39 games between them - all by Davies. Peter Quill (pick 32, 1992), Liam Jones (pick 32, 2008) and Lukas Markovic (pick 63, 2009) fared slightly better.
Originally published as What history tells us about every club’s 2018 draft picks
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