Best late draft pick ??

[sydney-dog]

With a week to go before the 2006 draft, thought it would be interesting to see people's opinion on best ever late pick, let's keep this to first club players NOT recycled players picked up in late rounds

Number 1 late pick "ever" for me was James Hird at pick 79

other great late selections include

Johncock (67)
O'Keefe (56)
Bradshaw (56)
- pick 56 is a lucky number hopefully Chris Knights at pick 56 will be as lucky
Adam Schneider (60)
Amon Buchanan (52)
Lindsay Gilbee (43)

[Punk Rooster]

Chris Grant @ 105 (?)

[MightyEagles]

Chris Grant @ 105 (?)

I knew that he was picked up late, but I don't think that late.

[Punk Rooster]

Chris Grant @ 105 (?)

I knew that he was picked up late, but I don't think that late.

1988 National Draft- 105 Chris Grant (Daylesford) VCFL

[mighty_tiger_79]

GIVen his career he was lucky not to be left out all together

[Blue Boy]

Chris Grant @ 105 (?)

I knew that he was picked up late, but I don't think that late.

1988 National Draft- 105 Chris Grant (Daylesford) VCFL

Hands down winner Punky !!!

[GWW]

1) Hird 2) C Grant 3) Heady

[Rushby Hinds]

Chris Grant @ 105 (?)

Darn you again Punky, beat me to the punch, when i saw the heading i was already typing his name.


PS, your new ruck coach was drafted the same year, i think in the second draft.

[GWW]

Who's North's new ruck coach?

[Punk Rooster]

Chris Grant @ 105 (?)

Darn you again Punky, beat me to the punch, when i saw the heading i was already typing his name.


PS, your new ruck coach was drafted the same year, i think in the second draft.

Do I win a bun?

[Wedgie]

Who's North's new ruck coach?

Chris Lindsay

[Zorro]

Definitely Hird who was taken at pick 70-something from memory.

[westozfalcon]

My tip for the best ever value draft pick is Dean Kemp for the Eagles at no. 117 in 1989.

[Macca19]

I think from memory West Coast had some sort of draft deal where Victorian clubs were not allowed to pick more than 1 West Australian. This meant they had and did choose almost the whole Teal Cup winning squad from the year before, meaning they scored a lot of damn good players with late picks as noone else could touch them.

Was a similar story with Hird. Something like Sydney had the rights to all ACT players, but somehow Hird slipped through the net and Essendon picked up on it.

There was a web site that went into a lot of detail about all the early drafts. I know the ending to the address was /~weaver but I cant find it.

[am Bays]

Not that he was a superstar but Braeden Lyle went 100+ IIRC and went on to play 100 odd AFL games which may have included the 1994 West Coast premiership side.

can anyone confirm??

[GWW]

Yes i seem to recall as well that Kemp was some type of priority selection to the Eagles, but couldn't remember exactly how he became available to them.

[Macca19]

Not that he was a superstar but Braeden Lyle went 100+ IIRC and went on to play 100 odd AFL games which may have included the 1994 West Coast premiership side.

can anyone confirm??

Pick 124 in the 92 draft. I believe it was the last pick of that draft. Didnt play in the 94 Premiership (Shane Bond from the pies did though). Definately did well for himself. 100 games, Power Vice Captain, Captained our first match in the AFL and was a good old fashioned worker.

[Macca19]

Found the website I mentioned.

http://www.comcen.com.au/~weaver/Draft_1.html

Heres an extract from it:

1990-91
Bits and Pieces: Jason McCartney kept a diary on behalf of the Age newspaper detailing the weeks leading up to the draft. In it he reveals the confusion and uncertainty that a young footballer feels. McCartney from Nhill in Victoria (near the SA border) was hesitant about moving to Melbourne. He went to Adelaide as a guest of Glenelg and watched the AFL grand final on the big screen, and watched Glenelg loose the SA Grand Final the next day. The 16 year old was devastated by Collingwood's victory. He went to the Glenelg after match and to a few nightclubs to drown the sorrows.

With Sydney and Brisbane having the first draft picks he signed for Glenelg on a two year deal. When Sydney and Brisbane traded their selections his hopes lifted. Geelong told him that they would take Hooper first and would be attempting to get the second pick to take McCartney. Geelong were unable to manufacture a trade and Carlton ended up with the selection (they swapped ruckman Warren McKenzie to Sydney). Ian Collins, Geoff Walsh, Bruce Comben and Kinnear Beatson all drove up to Nhill to meet with McCartney, and the next morning David Parkin rang him to ask if everything went well.

On draft day Carlton opted for Tasmanian James Cook. Parkin said that he felt that Cook had the potential to be an even better player. Collingwood drafted him and McCartney openly admitted he was devasted and that Collingwood was last on his list of clubs.

The trades which made the above possible were Carlton swapping McKenzie to Sydney for 2 pick overall, and Collingwood swapping Terry Keays to Richmond for 4th pick overall. One recruiting oficer commenting about the decision making of Syndey and Richmond said, "those clubs deserve to be in the position they are in if they are going to make choices like that".

Those of you who have read the rules (above) would be asking if ACT players had to be 19 and unwanted by the Swans, how was it that a 16 year old James Hird was recruited to Essendon? I honestly don't know but obviously the Essendon recruiting manager found a loop-hole. Next time people tell you about how extraordinary it was that Hird could be drafted at 79th, you will remember that things were a little more complex than they first appeared.