AFL Under 18 National Championships: Where the players selected in the 2009 All Australian team are now

Dusty plays his 300th game on Saturday, but who was the player taken just one pick after him in the 2009 draft who had his AFL career cruelly cut short at just 26 games? See where the ‘09 draft class is now.

15 years on, the stats and accolades accumulated by the centre line of the 2009 Under-18 All-Australian team are eye-watering.

5 premierships, three Norm Smith Medals, a Brownlow and 607 combined games.

And counting.

That Dustin Martin was picked in the centre helps.

But dual Geelong premiership star Mitch Duncan holds his own with 280 odd games and two flags.

It’s the third name across the line that proves just how cruel footy can be.

Anthony Morabito was a junior star from Western Australia who later in 2009 was taken by Fremantle with pick four – just after Richmond selected Martin at three.

Anthony Morabito played 23 games in his debut season for Fremantle but injury restricted him to just 3 games in six years after that. Picture: AAP Image/Tony McDonough

However, after playing 23 games in 2010 including two finals, Morabito managed just a further three AFL games as a string of injuries took hold of his promising career.

Morabito is now a livestock specialist in Perth.

What of the others adjudged the best of the Championships a decade and a half ago?

Andrew Hooper? You might remember his debut in a final for the Bulldogs in 2010. Hooper played another six games in the AFL before becoming a PE teacher in his home town of Ballarat.

PART 1: WHERE THE 1998 U18 ALL AUSTRALIAN TEAM IS NOW

PART 2: WHERE THE 2004 U18 ALL AUSTRALIAN TEAM IS NOW

Andrew Hooper debuted for the Western Bulldogs in a Semi Final in 2010.

Josh Toy was one of the inaugural Gold Coast Suns who was touted at the time as the next Luke Hodge. The Penleigh and Essendon Grammar product played 13 games for the Suns after battling a congenital heart condition. He’s also a PE teacher back at his old school, PEGS.

And Jack Trengove? Melbourne’s number 2 pick who quickly became the youngest VFL/AFL captain in history? After 89 AFL games cut short by injury, he’s now a fund manager and even manages some investments for former teammate and fellow Demons skipper, Max Gawn.

In the final of a three-part series, check out where all 22 of 2009’s Under 18 All Australians are now, 15 years on.

Originally published as AFL Under 18 National Championships: Where the players selected in the 2009 All Australian team are now