How the draft could have panned out differently if father-son and academy bids had not been matched
Jack Silvagni could be a Bomber, Richmond would have missed out on Daniel Rioli and there would be no Clayton Oliver at Melbourne if live draft bidding had worked out slightly differently. Who has your club bid on?
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The draft is a great time for ‘what if’ stories.
What if Richmond had drafted Lance Franklin instead of Richard Tambling? What if Melbourne had selected Nic Naitanui instead of Jack Watts? What if 11 clubs hadn’t passed on Nat Fyfe before Fremantle snapped him up with pick 20 in 2009?
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The introduction of live bidding for father-son and academy players during the draft presents a whole new chapter of Sliding Doors moments.
The system has only been in place for three drafts but already two premiership players could have been at different clubs if things had panned out slightly differently on draft night.
Live bidding was introduced to ensure clubs pay market value for father-son and academy players. So far there have been 18 bids, and all but two have been matched by the club the player was aligned to. One of those went on to win a premiership and the other was delisted. Swings and roundabouts.
With this year’s draft likely to feature more bids than any other, take a quick walk down memory lane at who your team missed out on in the past three years.
WHO HAS YOUR CLUB BID ON?
ADELAIDE
Harry Perryman - pick 14, 2016 matched by GWS
The Crows bid their first pick in 2016 on Perryman and are set to play spoiler again this year, with suggestions they could use pick 8 to bid on Collingwood academy gun Isaac Quaynor. Perryman has played 17 games for the Giants, but the Crows missed out and took Jordan Galluci with the next pick.
CARLTON
Will Setterfield - pick 5, 2016 matched by GWS
The Blues really, really like Setterfield. So much so they were prepared to give up pick 5 for him and, after they missed out, they traded to get him less than two years later, even though he played only two games as he battled knee and ankle injuries. As a bonus they also have Sam Petrevski-Seton, who was recruited with the pick after the Setterfield bid was matched.
ESSENDON
Jack Silvagni - pick 53, 2015 matched by Carlton
The Bombers pulled a surprise by making the Blues use a slightly higher pick than planned on the son of club great Stephen Silvagni. Carlton matched the bid and Essendon took Mitch Brown instead. The tally since then reads: Silvagni 43 games for 32 goals vs Brown 39 games for 38 goals.
FREMANTLE
Connor Ballenden - pick 43, 2017 matched by Brisbane Lions
The key tall is yet to make his AFL debut. Having missed out, Fremantle took Tasmanian forward Hugh Dixon instead.
GOLD COAST
Jacob Hopper - pick 7, 2015 - bid matched by GWS
Hopper would be pretty handy in the Suns midfield right now, justifying this high bid. Plan B was Callum Ah Chee.
MELBOURNE
Callum Mills - pick 3, 2015 matched by Sydney
Matthew Flynn - pick 41, 2015 matched by GWS
Mills will be a very good player but if the Swans hadn’t matched that bid Melbourne would have missed out on Clayton Oliver, who they selected with pick 4. After missing out on Flynn they took young big man Mitch King.
NORTH MELBOURNE
Callum Brown - pick 35, 2016 matched by Collingwood
Corey Wagner - pick 43, 2015 - not matched by Brisbane Lions
After the Pies matched the bid for Brown (13 games), North selected Josh Williams (two games). The Lions opted not to match the bid for Wagner who was a member of their academy, and he played eight games over two years before being delisted. He is now set to join Melbourne as a rookie.
PORT ADELAIDE
Tyler Brown - pick 50, 2017 matched by Collingwood
Callum’s brother Tyler also received a bid the next year. Port missed out and selected Kane Farrell with the next pick. He played the last five games of the 2018 season, including a 13-disposal, three-goal performance against the Crows.
RICHMOND
Matthew Kennedy - pick 13, 2015 matched by GWS
Eric Hipwood - pick 14, 2015 matched by Brisbane Lions
Bailey Rice - pick 49, 2015 - matched by St Kilda
Tiger fans are breathing a sigh of relief that both of their back-to-back bids in 2015 failed. When Richmond’s turn came at pick 13 that year their first choice was Matt Kennedy. The bid was matched by GWS and Kennedy was later traded to Carlton, where he struggled with injuries and form in his first season.
Having missed out Kennedy, the Tigers had another crack, reading out the name of Brisbane academy forward Eric Hipwood. Again the bid was matched and Hipwood looks a star of the future, but the player Richmond eventually ended up with was Daniel Rioli, who kicked four goals in a preliminary final on the way to a premiership medal in his second season.
Later in the same draft they placed a bid for Bailey Rice (11 games) but had to settle for Oleg Markov (15 games). It’s noteworthy the Tigers haven’t tried the bidding game again since.
ST KILDA
Patrick Naish - pick 34, 2017 matched by Richmond
Was this payback for the Rice bid? The Saints made Richmond use pick 34 on Naish, who has shown flashes of brilliance in the VFL. With their next selection the Saints drafted Oscar Clavarino.
SYDNEY
Jack Bowes - pick 10, 2016 matched by Gold Coast
Isaac Cumming - pick 20, 2016 - matched by GWS
The Swans missed on Bowes and took Oliver Florent instead, which has worked out OK. Ten selections later they placed a bid for Cumming (two games). It was matched and they used the next selection to recruit Will Hayward, who kicked 28 goals this year.
WESTERN BULLDOGS
Ben Keays - pick 24, 2015 matched by Brisbane Lions
Josh Dunkley - pick 25, 2015 - not matched by Sydney
The Bulldogs’ pick 24 in 2015 is one for alternative history buffs. The first name the Dogs’ read out was Brisbane academy gun Ben Keays. The bid was matched by the Lions, but Keays is yet to find his feet at the top level.
The next player on the Dogs’ wish list was Josh Dunkley, son of 200-game Swan Andrew. The Swans had the option of matching but became the first team to overlook a bid, a decision they probably regret. Dunkley has played 43 games, including the 2016 premiership and a hot run of form at the back end of 2018 that suggest he is ready to become a top-line midfielder.
The Swans’ next pick wasn’t until pick 51, which they used on Tyrone Leonardis who was delisted at the end of 2017 without playing a senior game. He has signed on to play with North Melbourne’s VFL team next season.
* Brisbane, Collingwood, Geelong, GWS and Hawthorn are yet to place a bid
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