AFL Draft!

ybbi

When is the draft?

Xavi6

Here are all the key dates -

Tuesday 30 September - COMMENCEMENT OF 2008 DRAFT CAMP, AIS CANBERRA

Friday 3 October - CONCLUSION OF 2008 DRAFT CAMP

Friday 3 October(2.00pm) - FATHER/SON NOMINATIONS LODGED WITH AFL

Saturday 4 October - VICTORIAN STATE SCREENING SESSION, MONASH UNIVERSITY

Monday 6 October (10.00am) - FATHER/SON BIDDING MEETING (TELSTRA DOME)

Monday 6 October - COMMENCEMENT OF 2008 AFL EXCHANGE PERIOD

Friday 10 October (2.00pm) - CONCLUSION OF 2008 AFL EXCHANGE PERIOD

Saturday 11 October - SOUTH AUSTRALIAN STATE SCREENING SESSION, SA INSTITUTE OF SPORT

Sunday 12 October - WESTERN AUSTRALIAN STATE SCREENING SESSION, UNIVERSITY OF WA.

Friday 31 October (2.00pm) - CLUB LIST LODGEMENT LIST 1: MAXIMUM 35 PLAYERS, ROOKIE PROMOTION, RETAINED ROOKIES, SCHOLARSHIP PLAYER TRANSFER AND INTERNATIONAL SCHOLARSHIP

Tuesday 11 November (2.00pm) - UNCONTRACTED LISTED PLAYERS NOMINATE

Wednesday 12 November (2.00pm) - DRAFT NOMINATIONS CLOSE

Friday 14 November (2.00pm) - LIST LODGEMENT

Wednesday 19 November (2.00pm) - DELISTED PLAYERS NOMINATE

Saturday 29 November (10.00am) - 2008 NAB AFL DRAFT SELECTION MEETING (TELSTRA DOME)

Tuesday 2 December (10.00am) - NOMINATION OF SCHOLARSHIP-LISTED PLAYER AND INTERNATIONAL SCHOLARSHIP-LISTED PLAYER TO ROOKIE LIST

Tuesday 2 December (10.00am) - NOMINATION OF AN INTERNATIONAL PLAYER AND A PLAYER NOT REGISTERED FOR THREE YEARS

Tuesday 2 December - UNCONTRACTED LISTED PLAYERS NOMINATE

Wednesday 3 December (3.00pm) - LIST LODGEMENT 3 AND TPP ESTIMATES

Tuesday 9 December (2.00pm) - DELISTED PLAYERS NOMINATE

Tuesday 16 December (10.00am) - 2008 NAB AFL PRE-SEASON DRAFT SELECTION MEETING (MICROSOFT LIVE MEETING)

Tuesday 16 December (10.15am) - BRISBANE LIONS AND SYDNEY SWANS NOMINATE ELIGIBLE ROOKIE LIST PLAYERS

Tuesday 16 December (10.15am) - NOMINATION OF THIRD-YEAR ROOKIES

Tuesday 16 December (10.30am) - 2008 NAB AFL ROOKIE DRAFT SELECTION MEETING

Xavi6

http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuID=12&ContentID=110599

Eagles grab Naitanui, Freo take Hill - but no joy for Ben

29th November 2008, 7:45 WST
There were few surprises in this morning's AFL national draft with all the main prospects snapped up early - and Ben Cousins missing out.

Melbourne began proceedings by opting for Sandringham Dragons forward and No.1 draft pick Jack Watts.

The Eagles then plumped for exciting Swan Districts' youngster Nick Naitanui, while Freo's first pick was a local boy in West Perth midfielder Stephen Hill.

Freo then picked up Peel's Sandover Medal winner Hayden Ballantyne, small midfielder Nick Suban of North Ballarat, ruckman Zac Clarke of Oakleigh Rangers, 17-year-old midfielder/forward Michael Walters of Swan Districts and medium forward Ben Bucovaz of Geelong, who can also play defender.

Freo also selected North Ballarat speedy midfielder Tim Ruffles and South Australian midfielder Chris Hall, from Woodville West.

West Coast have also chosen inside midfielder Luke Shuey of Oakleigh Rangers, Claremont midfielder Tom Swift, another midfielder in Dandenong's Ashley Smith and tall defender Jordan Jones of Geelong Falcons.

Eagles coach John Worsfold spoke of his excitement at the potential of the youngsters he has brought in.

"We've got a good mix. Nick (Naitanui) can play a number of key positions, he can ruck well," Worsfold said.

"(Luke) Shuey knows how to use the ball well, Tom Swift has a very exciting future, Ashley Swift is really quick and Jordan Jones is going to be a really solid player for us."

Worsfold said although the newcomers would probably be three or four years off establishing themselves in the first team, he added: "The kids are going to add a lot to us in their development stages."

Eagles recruiting chief Trevor Woodhouse agreed, saying: "We came here with an intent to get good players and that was really the bottom line.

"All these kids are talented and we had a bit of a focus on some midfield guys with some pace. We've certainly added some pace to the group, but they've still got to get hold of the footy.

“We're overall pretty happy, but everybody is at this time of year. Ask me again in a couple of years – if I'm not sitting here, then I wasn't.”

Fremantle national recruiting manager Brad Lloyd said the Dockers were delighted with how the morning had panned out.

"We felt we had a number of retirements throughout the year, so we felt we had to cover a lot of areas," said Lloyd.

"We've got a midfielder, a couple of small forwrads, which was vital with Jeff Farnmer retiring, and Zac Clarke is a ruckman.

"Our decision was to go with the best available talent and we've ended up coming away with Stephen Hill with our first pick, and we're really excited about him.

"He'll be able to play a midfield role for us in the longer term, but he's only fairly light at this stage, so there's a fair bit of development left in him.

"But he's got very good skills, is quick, can run both ways and has a great character.

“We're pretty excited because it's a fairly lean training group at the moment over at Fremantle, so to get all these new players in the club – there will be a fair bit of excitement. I know Matthew Pavlich and the boys can't wait to get them down."

Lloyd said Ballantyne was the most likely to feature in the AFL next year.

"He's played WAFL footy, kicked 70 odd goals and won the (Sandover) medal. We'll be looking for him to play a bit of footy for us next year.

"We'll get the 17 and 18-year-olds into the program but we'll take a long term viw with all of them."

There was a minor surprise with another West Australian midfielder, Daniel Rich of Subiaco, sliding to pick seven and going to the Brisbane Lions.

Rich had been touted heavily as a top three draft pick for the past 12 months.

Adelaide also sprang a surprise to round out the top 10, choosing South Australian defender Phil Davis at No.10.

Swan Districts - who had seven players drafted including two in the top 10 - saw Chris Yarran head to Carlton as pick six, while his team-mates Jamie Bennell (Melbourne), Todd Banfield (Brisbane) and Jarrad Blight (Collingwood) were also picked up.

Adelaide took Claremont tall forward Thomas Lee, while his fellow Tiger Warren Benjamin is heading to North Melbourne.

Other top 10 draft picks included Hamish Hartlett (Port Adelaide) at No.4, Michael Hurley (Essendon, No.5), Tyrone Vickery (Richmond, No.7) and Jack Ziebell (North Melbourne, No.9).

Melbourne, who had three selections inside the top 20, chose Victorian midfielder Sam Blease with their priority pick at No.17 and another midfielder, James Strauss from Oakleigh Chargers, at No.19.

Highly rated Victorian defender Jackson Trengove, who had been mentioned as a likely top 10 draft pick, slipped all the way to No.22 to be snapped up by a grateful Port Adelaide with their second round selection.

As expected, ex-West Coast player Cousins was not selected despite the draft stretching to 85 selections.

The recovering drug addict’s only hope of re-entering the AFL after his 12-month ban for bringing the game into disrepute is now through the pre-season draft on December 16.

But four delisted AFL players were thrown lifelines by other clubs, with axed Essendon utility Tom Hislop going to Richmond at pick 58, their fourth round selection.

Others taken were ex-Dockers and North Melbourne defender Leigh Brown, who was selected by Collingwood at pick 73 and former Geelong player Jason Davenport, who went to Port Adelaide at No.78.

And St Kilda chose Brisbane’s delisted Irish defender Colm Begley with their final selection, pick 83.

2008 AFL National Draft

Round 1
1. Melbourne – Jack Watts
2. West Coast – Nicholas Naitanui
3. Fremantle – Stephen Hill
4. Port Adelaide – Hamish Hartlett
5. Essendon – Michael Hurley
6. Carlton – Chris Yarran
7. Brisbane Lions – Daniel Rich
8. Richmond – Tyrone Vickery
9. North Melbourne – Jack Ziebell
10. Adelaide – Phil Davis
11. Collingwood – Steele Sidebottom
12. Sydney Swans – Lewis Johnston
13. St Kilda – Tom Lynch
14. Western Bulldogs – Ayce Cordy (father/son selection)
15. Geelong – Mitchell Brown
16. Hawthorn – Ryan Schoenmakers

Priority picks
17. Melbourne – Sam Blease
18. West Coast – Luke Shuey

Round 2
19. Melbourne - James Strauss
20. West Coast - Tom Swift
21. Fremantle - Hayden Ballantyne
22. Port Adelaide - Jackson Trengrove
23. Essendon - David Zaharakis
24. Fremantle - Nick Suban
25. Brisbane Lions - Jack Redden
26. Richmond - Jaydyn Post
27. North Melbourne Samuel Wright
28. Adelaide - Shaun McKernan
29. Collingwood - Dayne Beams
30. Sydney - Daniel Hannerby
31. Western Bulldogs - Jordan Roughead
32. Western Bulldogs - Liam Jones
33. Geelong _ Thomas Gillies
34. Hawthorn _ Liam Shiels

Round 3
35. Melbourne - Jamie Bennell
36. West Coast - Ashley Smith
37. Fremantle - Zac Clarke
38. Port Adelaide - Matthew Broadbent
39. Geelong - Steven Motlop
40. Carlton - Mitch Robinson
41. Brisbane Lions - Todd Banfield
42. Port Adelaide - Mitchell Banner
43. North Melbourne - Liam Anthony
44. Adelaide - Rory Sloane
45. Collingwood - Jarrad Blight
46. Collingwood - Luke Rounds
47. St Kilda - Rhys Stanley
48. St.Kilda - Nicholas Heyne
49. Geelong - Tayloe Hunt
50. Hawthorn - Jordan Lisle

Round 4
51. Melbourne - Neville Jetta
52. West Coast - Jordan Jones
53. Fremantle - Michael Walters
54. Port Adelaide - Jarrad Redden
55. Essendon - Michael Still
56. Fremantle - Ben Bucovaz
57. Brisbane Lions - Aaron Cornelius
58. Richmond - Thomas Hislop
59. North Melbourne - Nathan O'Keefe
60. Adelaide - Thomas Lee
61. Sydney - Campbell Heath
62. St Kilda - Alistair Smith
63. Hawthorn - Luke Lowden

Round 5
64. Melbourne - Rohan Bail
65. Carlton - Rhys O'Keefe
66. Port Adelaide - Glenn Dawson
67. Essendon - Tyson Slattery
68. Fremantle - Tim Ruffles
69. Brisbane Lions - Bart McCulloch
70. Richmond - Pass
71. Nth Melbourne - Warren Benjamin
72. Adelaide - William Young
73. Collingwood - Leigh Brown
74. St Kilda - Paul Cahill
75. Hawthorn - Shayne Savage

Round 6
76. Melbourne - Pass
77. Fremantle - Christopher Hall
78. Port Adelaide - Jason Davenport
79. Essendon - Pass
80. Carlton - Caleb Tiller
81. Brisbane Lions - Kieran King
82. Brisbane Lions - Pass
83. St Kilda - Colm Begley

Round 7
84. Port Adelaide - Pass
85. Carlton - Pass

Quite happy with Naitanui. Seaby was woeful last year so we need a second ruckman to come through and help Cox.

Good to see Begley find a new home.