AFL: All the steals and stars from famous ‘upside down’ 2017 draft
The 2017 draft is a fascinating one, and some stars are emerging from the crop of young talent. Who will have the best career? HAVE YOUR SAY.
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Manager Paul Connors made the call to Western Bulldogs to deliver the good news.
It was only days out from the 2017 national draft and things were shaping up beautifully for the Dogs’ national recruiting manager Simon Dalrymple.
The kennel had picks nine and 16, and word was beginning to filter through that star West Australian key defender Aaron Naughton, 23, was set to slide past St Kilda’s pair of picks to the Dogs’ first choice.
The Saints had the chance to land two generational stars and opted for Hunter Clark (pick seven) and Nick Coffield (eight), who may finally be able to hit their peaks this season under new coach Ross Lyon after terrible injury setbacks for the pair last year.
But for a club which opted for Jack Billings (three) over Marcus Bontempelli (four) in 2013 and Paddy McCartin (pick one) over Christian Petracca (two) the next year, the 2017 draft was another set of key crossroads for the Saints’ list build.
And in a draft which might go down as the deepest of the past decade, it’s Naughton that looms as the pick of the bunch, five years after Luke Beveridge turned the star intercepting defender with a wobbly kick into one of the game’s most dangerous and courageous key forwards.
At pick 16, the Dogs nabbed pacy wingman Ed Richards to nail their two key draft targets on the night, after Carlton overlooked Richards in favour of wingman Lochie O’Brien with the Bryce Gibbs pick (10).
It was the last draft before live trading kicked-in the following year and one of the most intriguing drafts for the past decade, as clubs with picks in the 20s and 30s arguably trumped those inside the top 10.
“It is a draft which really stands out for its depth and probably the best one in that regard for many years because you have a look at the quality of players taken in the second and third-rounds, it’s amazing really,” a recruiter said.
Much has already been said about Brisbane’s choice between the man billed as the next Petracca in Cameron Rayner, the powerful ballwinner from Western Jets, and Andrew Brayshaw, the ultra-consistent captain-in-the-making at pick No. 1.
Most clubs, to be fair, had Rayner slated at pick one due to his higher ceiling, and ability to break through packs and hit the scoreboard, although Brayshaw was likened to Geelong champion Joel Selwood for his unwavering efforts around the ball.
Rayner, 22, has come off a knee reconstruction in 2021 and is facing a big year in a new defensive position. He is travelling OK, but there are some who still think his best position is goal kicking midfielder-forward.
But it was Luke Davies-Uniacke who was labelled the riskiest pick, given his scintillating upside, but inconsistent tendencies in his junior days.
He had a Chris Judd-burst and swivel through stoppages, but North Melbourne’s newest poster boy has taken five years to explode after groin injuries derailed his early years.
The Kangaroos had pick four that year, and were eyeing-off Davies-Uniacke for the way he could break through tackles and explode away from congestion to help spice-up a pedestrian midfield at the time.
“It was a bold selection because there was just no guarantees with him. The good was very good, but there some inconsistencies, too,” a veteran talent scout said.
“It’s a credit to him, because he has certainly arrived. But North has had to be patient, too. They would be thrilled, now.”
Former Haileybury coach Matthew Lloyd said he was “staggered” by Davies-Uniacke’s lack of development in his first two seasons, and laid the blame squarely at the feet of the club back then.
“He was the best junior I have seen come through,” Lloyd said in 2019.
“I don’t think they have managed Luke Davies-Uniacke very well.”
Davies-Uniacke’s highlight reel was as good as any, but there were times and lulls in games when recruiters would see him fade more into the background.
But over the past two years the Kangaroo has become one of the game’s most promising breakaway midfielders, and this season the 23-year-old looms as a breakthrough All-Australian.
It’s the fifth and sixth seasons which loom as a crucial ones for the emergence of players as that is when, generally-speaking, the move is made from developing prospect to star of the game.
Or it can all fall in a heap.
And while the Haileybury product was named to lead the Kangaroos’ engine room in his return from a calf setback against Carlton in the Good Friday clash, Dow remains on the fringes of Michael Voss’ midfield plans despite playing 39 games in his first two seasons.
Carlton was one of three clubs with pairs of top-10 picks in 2017, but not everything has gone to plan for the clubs with the prized single-figure selections that year.
Carlton wanted the one-two punch in the midfield and opted for smooth insider Paddy Dow (three) and outside running machine O’Brien, with its Bryce Gibbs pick (10).
The Saints welcomed Clark and Coffield, while former Docker Adam Cerra (pick five) and ex-Magpie Jaidyn Stephenson (pick six) have since switched colours for different reasons.
Cerra wanted to come home to Victoria, turning down a four-year $750,000-a-season deal to stay west, while Stephenson was booted out of Collingwood against his wishes alongside Adam Treloar in one of the most bold salary cap recalibrations the game has seen.
Collingwood recruiting manager Derek Hine loved Stephenson’s speed and the 2018 Rising Star winner was a phenomenon in his debut year, kicking 38 goals including the first two majors of the Grand Final.
But former Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley had an eye on a tall, too, one year earlier, and liked Naughton as well as West Coast’s Oscar Allen. Buckley loved Allen’s upside and versatility.
It was only on the day of the draft that Collingwood’s board approved the call for Stephenson after the tick-off from the medical team the day before, due to a heart condition, which had scarred some other clubs off.
St Kilda went for two local playmakers in Clark and Coffield, making all the Dogs’ dreams come true when they snared Naughton.
Clark, in particular, looks set to become the kind of team-first hard nut Lyon treasures after the club thought about trading him last year.
But Naughton is the one who looks set to sign a contract extension worth the best part of $1 million a season as a man who can mark the ball like Wayne Carey at times, if not for some goal kicking wrinkles.
But of the four All-Australians taken in that year’s draft, only one – Brayshaw – was taken in the top-20. The other three were called outside the top-20.
That’s West Coast’s Tim Kelly, 28, and Liam Ryan, 26, and GWS Giant Sam Taylor, 23. Melbourne’s Bayley Fritsch has also come close. It’s why the 2017 draft is, in a way, the AFL’s upside-down draft.
Fremantle, which had picks two and five after trading Lachie Weller to Gold Coast for a colossal return, looked closely at local product Naughton, who played in the back line for Peel.
But the Dockers wanted to revitalise the midfield brigade rather than the spine and instead took Brayshaw and Cerra.
The year before they took defenders Griffin Logue (pick eight), Brennan Cox (41) and Luke Ryan (66) and traded in Western Bulldogs’ backman Joel Hamling, so the back line at Fremantle was sorted, once Naughton became available.
The club was disappointed to lose Cerra to Carlton, but the Dockers were able to turn him into key forward Jye Amiss at pick eight as part of the trade with the Blues.
But it’s at pick 15 when Brisbane nabbed explosive hard nut Zac Bailey, followed by another shrewd choice in Brandon Starcevich three calls later, that this draft took a big turn.
West Coast was thrilled to take Allen (21) and premiership high-flyer Ryan (26), allowing the Cats to hit the jackpot on jet midfielder Kelly (24) in between.
The Eagles considered Kelly the year before as a rookie option, and in the end coughed up three early picks for him as the Cats squeezed the lemon on a trade which hasn’t worked out for West Coast.
Kelly not only finished fifth in the Brownlow Medal in his sensational second season, the move set off a chain of events which equipped the Casts with the arsenal to nab spearhead Jeremy Cameron, a key cog in the club’s premiership win last season.
But the Cats and Eagles weren’t the only clubs to nail the second round.
Richmond made the most of its calls on Jack Higgins (17) and Noah Balta (25), GWS shot the lights out at pick 28 with Taylor (amid strong interest from the Casts at pick 36), while Melbourne was laughing after choosing premiership trio Charlie Spargo (29), Fritsch (31), Harrison Petty (37) and new Dog Oskar Baker (48).
Carlton took the punt on raw ruckman Tom De Koning (30) who has become one of the most in-demand players in the league despite his desire to stick with the Blues, while Swan Tom McCartin was one of the best defenders in the game in 2022 alongside his brother, Paddy.
Collingwood had Nathan Murphy (39) lined up early and Gryan Miers (57) played in a flag.
As usual, Hawthorn struck gold late, picking best-and-fairest winner James Worpel (45) and Dylan Moore (67). It now has Lloyd Meek (69) from Fremantle.
It was a great result for Hawthorn considering the club traded its first pick to St Kilda as part of the Jaeger O’Meara trade.
Essendon also found some excellent value late in the order, welcoming Brandon Zerk-Thatcher (66) and the man who finished third in the best and fairest last year, Matt Guelfi (76).
The Bombers had given away 11 for Devon Smith and pick 25 and then parted with 25 and 30 to the Dogs for Jake Stringer. The 25 and 40 ended up with the Lions as the Bulldogs traded both for Josh Schache.
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