By Marc McGowan
The first 504 nominations for this year’s AFL draft are in.
Among them are leading No.1 pick candidates Sam Lalor, Levi Ashcroft – who will join his Norm Smith Medal-winning brother Will at the Brisbane Lions – and Jagga Smith, as are likely top-10 selections Alix Tauru, Harry Armstrong, Harvey Langford, Isaac Kako and Sid Draper.
See the full list here.
Essendon will almost certainly match any bid on Next Generation Academy graduate Kako, a small forward set to be a fan favourite wherever he ends up.
Two other young stars on Richmond’s radar, Finn O’Sullivan and Josh Smillie, are not on the initial nominations list, but they still have time to register.
The 2024 draft class is considered deeper and more even than most years, with no obvious choice to go No.1, although most clubs have Dustin Martin-clone Lalor at the top of their board.
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