Draft-off: Best of 2005 AFL Draft against best of 2002 AFL Draft

WHICH AFL draft class was the best of the 2000s? We select a 22-man team from the 2005 and 2002 drafts and pit them against each other. VOTE

24/11/2002. AFL National Draft. St Kilda coach Grant Thomas with new recruit Brendon Goddard. PUBLISHED 30/01/2003. PGE 65

WHICH AFL draft class was the best of the 2000s?

We’ve selected a 22-man team from each national draft between 2001 and 2008 and pitted them against each other.

And you get to decide which is the best draft by casting your vote.

The draft-off match-ups are ...

Quarter-final 1:‘01 draft (98%) def ‘03 draft (2%)

Quarter-final 2: ‘05 draft v ‘02 draft

Quarter-final 3: ‘07 draft v ‘08 draft

Quarter-final 4: ‘06 draft v ‘04 draft

The winners will progress through to semi-finals, which will be held over the next week.

Remember it’s you who decides who should advance to the grand final, so make your votes count.

The top three draft picks of 2005 — Dale Thomas (2), Xavier Ellis (3) and Marc Murphy (1) — feature in the 22-man team.

BEST OF ‘05 DRAFT

B: Shannon Hurn (Pick 13) Alipate Carlile (44) Sam Gilbert (33)

HB: Grant Birchall (14) Matt Spangher (34) Garrick Ibbotson (26)

C: Andrew Swallow (43) Nathan Jones (12) Bernie Vince (32)

HF: Dale Thomas (2) Josh Kennedy (4) Richard Douglas (16)

F: Mathew Stokes (61) Mitch Clark (9) Travis Varcoe (15)

R: Paddy Ryder (7) Marc Murphy (1) Scott Pendlebury (5)

I/C: Max Bailey (18) Courtenay Dempsey (19) Xavier Ellis (3) Shaun Higgins (11)

CREDIT to the 2005 club recruiters, with 15 of the top 20 picks still on an AFL list today. And they’ve all been selected in this 22-man team.

A star-studded on-ball brigade led by Marc Murphy, Norm Smith Medallist Scott Pendlebury and Nathan Jones, who have won seven club Best and Fairests between them, while Anzac Medallist and Port recruit Paddy Ryder has developed into one of the best ruckmen in the competition.

Andrew Swallow, Bernie Vince, Dale Thomas and Richard Douglas add to the midfield depth.

The backline provides plenty of drive, led by three-time premiership player Grant Birchall, as well as Sam Gilbert and Shannon Hurn. Reliable full-back Alipate Carlile is still seemingly underrated, especially outside of South Australia.

Mathew Stokes was clearly the biggest bargain of the draft at pick 61. Nine years later, he has two premierships to his name and carved out a reputation as a classy ball-magnet for the Cats.

Andrew Mackie was drafted by Geelong at pick No. 7 in the 2002 national draft.

BEST OF ‘02 DRAFT

B: Sean Dempster (Pick 34 — F/S) Daniel Merrett (30) Jared Rivers (26)

HB: Nick Malceski (64) Tom Lonergan (23) Andrew Mackie (7)

C: Daniel Wells (2) Brendon Goddard (1) Kade Simpson (45)

HF: Adam Selwood (53) Brad Fisher (72) Ryan Crowley (55)

F: Brett Ebert (42 — F/S) Jay Schulz (12) Jason Winderlich (11)

Foll: Will Minson (20) Jarrad McVeigh (5) Jobe Watson (40 — F/S)

I/C: Hamish McIntosh (9) Jared Brennan (3) Steven Salopek (6) Stephen Gilham (16)

SEVEN premiership players make up this 22-man team, including three who won them with the Swans: Jarrad McVeigh, Nick Malceski (now at Gold Coast) and Sean Dempster (now at St Kilda).

The backline features half of Geelong’s current defensive unit in Andrew Mackie (three-time premiership player), Tom Lonergan (2011 premiership player) and Jared Rivers (2004 Rising Star).

Two solid ruckmen in Will Minson and Hamish McIntosh would palm the ball down to Brownlow Medallist and Essendon captain Jobe Watson.

Jay Schulz was picked up by Richmond, but his career has really taken off since Port Adelaide picked him up before the 2010 season.

Interestingly, two of the best taggers of the past decade — Ryan Crowley and Adam Selwood — were taken within two picks of each other in the ‘02 draft.

Originally published as Draft-off: Best of 2005 AFL Draft against best of 2002 AFL Draft