2008 AFL draft
| 2008 AFL draft | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Date(s) | 29 November 2008 16 December 2008 |
| Network(s) | Fox Sports |
| Sponsored by | National Australia Bank |
| Overview | |
| League | AFL |
| First selection | Jack Watts (Melbourne) |
The 2008 AFL draft consisted of four opportunities for player acquisitions during the 2008/09 Australian Football League off-season. These were trade week (held between 6 October and 10 October), the national draft (held on 29 November), the pre-season draft (16 December) and the rookie draft (16 December).[1] It was considered to be the last uncompromised draft before the draft concessions given to the Gold Coast and Greater Western Sydney expansion teams restrict the existing AFL clubs' access to the best young players in the future years drafts.[2]
Player changes
[edit]Trades
[edit]Throughout the year there was much speculation about high-profile players such as Jonathan Brown, Alan Didak and Daniel Kerr being likely to be traded during the AFL's annual trading period, but each re-signed with their clubs before the trading period started.[3] The main discussions during trade week were the surprise request by Ryan O'Keefe to be traded from Sydney, as well as the destination of young Fremantle ruckman Robert Warnock, both of whom wished to be traded back to their home city of Melbourne.[4] Other players to request trades include Andrew Lovett, Brent Prismall, Mark Seaby, Farren Ray, Josh Carr and Daniel Harris.[citation needed]
North Melbourne surprised many early in the week by naming Hamish McIntosh and Corey Jones as players available to trade, with McIntosh later being withdrawn from the offer after a backlash from his manager and club legend Glenn Archer.[5][6]
Like most years, no trades were completed during the first three days of the trade week and for the first time the AFL was requested to assist by providing a mediator to solve the stand-off between Fremantle and Carlton over the Warnock deal. Carlton had offered its second round selection, #24 overall, but Fremantle wanted its first round selection, the sixth overall.[7][8] On the final day of trade week Warnock was traded. The deal included Fremantle's pick No. 69, in exchange for Carlton's picks 24, 56 and 72.[9]
In total only six trades were completed, with O'Keefe, Lovett, Seaby, Carr and Harris unable to finalise deals during the week.[9] The low number of completed trades prompted calls by the AFLPA for a form of free agency to be introduced, although it could be explained as a one-off event due to a combination of the high regard for the players available in year's draft and the impending concessions to be given to the expansion teams, Gold Coast and Greater Western Sydney in the coming years.[10]
| Player | Original club | New club | Traded for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adam Thomson | Port Adelaide | Richmond | draft pick #42 |
| Rhyce Shaw and draft pick #61 | Collingwood | Sydney | draft pick #46 |
| Anthony Corrie | Brisbane Lions | Collingwood | draft pick #93 |
| Farren Ray and draft pick #48 | Western Bulldogs | St Kilda | draft pick #31 |
| Brent Prismall | Geelong | Essendon | draft pick #39 |
| Robert Warnock and draft pick #69 | Fremantle | Carlton | draft pick #24, #56 and #72 |
Retirements and delistings
[edit]| Name | Club | Date Retired | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beau McDonald | Brisbane Lions | 14 February | Retired due to ongoing injury[11] |
| Danny Jacobs | Hawthorn | 12 March | Retired due to a hip injury.[12] |
| Hugh Minson | Port Adelaide | 9 April | Retired due to knee problems.[13] |
| David Neitz | Melbourne | 19 May | Retired due to neck problems.[14] |
| Matthew Carr | Fremantle | 19 May | Retired due to leg problems.[15] |
| Michael Braun | West Coast | 7 July (finished season) | Retired[16] |
| Peter Bell | Fremantle | 7 July | Retired[17] |
| Andrew McDougall | Western Bulldogs | 17 July | Retired[18] |
| Shaun McManus | Fremantle | 29 July | Retired[19] |
| Michael Wilson | Port Adelaide | 5 August | Retired due to ongoing injury.[20] |
| Robert Harvey | St Kilda | 6 August (finished season) | Retired[21] |
| Heath Black | Fremantle | 6 August | Retired due to ongoing injury[22] |
| Mal Michael | Essendon | 15 August (finished season) | Retired[23] |
| Rhett Biglands | Adelaide | 18 August | Retired due to knee injury[24] |
| Nigel Lappin | Brisbane Lions | 19 August | Retired due to an achilles injury .[25] |
| Mark Johnson | Fremantle | 20 August (finished season) | Retired[26] |
| Jason Johnson | Essendon | 25 August | Retired[27] |
| Adam Ramanauskas | Essendon | 25 August | Retired[27] |
| Shannon Grant | North Melbourne | 26 August (finished season) | Retired[28] |
| Luke Webster | Fremantle | 27 August | Retired[29] |
| Nathan Bassett | Adelaide | 27 August (finished season) | Retired due to health concerns.[30] |
| Ben Holland | Melbourne | 30 August | Retired[31] |
| Jeff Farmer | Fremantle | 2 September | Retired[32] |
| Nathan Ablett | Geelong | 2 September | Retired[33] |
| Ben Mathews | Sydney | 2 September | Retired[34] |
| Jess Sinclair | North Melbourne | 10 September | Retired[35] |
| Peter Everitt | Sydney | 12 September | Retired[36] |
| Fraser Gehrig | St Kilda | 13 September | Retired[37] |
| Ryan Lonie | Collingwood | 15 September | Retired due to ongoing injury[38] |
| Shane Wakelin | Collingwood | 15 September | Retired[39] |
| Nathan Thompson | North Melbourne | 19 September | Retired[40] |
| Scott Burns | Collingwood | 22 September | Retired[41] |
| Ken McGregor | Adelaide | 30 September | Retired[42] |
| Jason Saddington | Carlton | 13 October | Retired[43] |
| Shane Crawford | Hawthorn | 8 November | Retired[44] |
| Courtney Johns | Essendon | 15 August | Delisted[45] |
| Damien Peverill | Essendon | 25 August | Delisted[46] |
| Jeff White | Melbourne | 26 August | Delisted[47] |
| Adem Yze | Melbourne | 26 August | Delisted[47] |
| Greg Tivendale | Richmond | 28 August | Delisted[48] |
| Ryley Dunn | Fremantle | 3 September | Delisted[49] |
| Steven Armstrong | West Coast | 4 September | Delisted[50] |
| Chad Jones | West Coast | 4 September | Delisted[50] |
| James Thomson | West Coast | 4 September | Delisted[50] |
| Jace Bode | Melbourne | 4 September | Delisted[51] |
| Isaac Weetra | Melbourne | 4 September | Delisted[51] |
| Robert Copeland | Brisbane Lions | 19 September | Delisted[52] |
| Chris Schmidt | Brisbane Lions | 19 September | Delisted[52] |
| Wayde Mills | Brisbane Lions | 19 September | Delisted[52] |
| Haydn Kiel | Brisbane Lions | 19 September | Delisted[52] |
| Brodie Holland | Collingwood | 23 September | Delisted[53] |
| Chris Egan | Collingwood | 23 September | Delisted[53] |
| Sam Iles | Collingwood | 23 September | Delisted[53] |
| Scott West | Western Bulldogs | 23 September | Delisted[54] |
| Peter Street | Western Bulldogs | 23 September | Delisted[54] |
| Nick Davis | Sydney | 12 October | Delisted[55] |
| Liam Bedford | Geelong | 15 October | Delisted[56] |
| Jason Davenport | Geelong | 15 October | Delisted[56] |
| Chris Kangars | Geelong | 15 October | Delisted[56] |
| Tim Clarke | Hawthorn | 16 October | Delisted[57] |
| Zac Dawson | Hawthorn | 16 October | Delisted[57] |
| Luke McEntee | Hawthorn | 16 October | Delisted[57] |
| Garry Moss | Hawthorn | 16 October | Delisted[57] |
| Jayden Attard | St Kilda | 22 October | Delisted[58] |
| Matthew Ferguson | St Kilda | 22 October | Delisted[58] |
| Michael Rix | St Kilda | 22 October | Delisted[58] |
| Shane Birss | St Kilda | 22 October | Delisted[58] |
| Charlie Gardiner | St Kilda | 22 October | Delisted[58] |
| Glenn Chivers | St Kilda | 22 October | Delisted[58] |
| Luke Van Rheenen | St Kilda | 22 October | Delisted[58] |
| Aaron Fiora | St Kilda | 31 October | Delisted[59] |
| Chris Johnson | Melbourne | 31 October | Delisted[60] |
2008 national draft
[edit]The 2008 national draft was held on 29 November. Melbourne finished the 2008 AFL season in last position and had the first selection in the draft. As both Melbourne and West Coast Eagles won less than 5 games during the season, they were eligible for a priority pick. As this was the first year in which they qualified, the priority pick was allocated between the first and second rounds of selections.
Ayce Cordy was the first player selected in the draft as the only father–son selection. The Western Bulldogs had to use their 1st round selection, #14, to secure him after St Kilda bid their #1st round selection for him. His father, Brian, played 124 games for the Bulldogs in the 1980s.[61]
The top two selections were widely tipped to be Jack Watts and Nic Naitanui, with Daniel Rich, Ty Vickery, Stephen Hill, Chris Yarran and Hamish Hartlett to fill the next few selections.[62][63][64]
| * | Denotes player who has been a premiership player and been selected for at least one All-Australian team |
| + | Denotes player who has been a premiership player at least once |
| x | Denotes player who has been selected for at least one All-Australian team |
| # | Denotes player who has never played in a VFL/AFL home and away season or finals game |
| ~ | Denotes player who has been selected as Rising Star |
2009 pre-season draft
[edit]The pre-season draft was held on 16 December 2008 (but is referred to as the 2009 pre-season draft in continuation from the early years of the AFL draft when it was held in January or February) and most pre-draft interest was on whether or not former West Coast Eagles captain and Brownlow Medal winner Ben Cousins would be selected by the Richmond Football Club. Richmond, the only club to show interest in recruiting Cousins, had one selection in the pre-season draft (because it had only one space left on its senior list). In the week leading up to the pre-season draft, Richmond requested to have Graham Polak (who had been hit by a tram the previous season, with it not clear at this stage whether or not the resulting injuries would end his career) moved to the rookie list, to free up an additional list space and give them a second selection in the pre-season draft. The request was similar to one made by and granted to the Essendon Football Club a few years earlier with respect to Adam Ramanauskas, but there were key differences which led to Richmond's request being rejected by the AFL and a majority of rival clubs on 15 December.[65] Although Richmond had maintained throughout the previous week that it would draft Cousins only if its request to put Polak on the rookie list was granted, they selected Cousins anyway with their only selection in the pre-season draft. Josh Carr's return to Port Adelaide was the other major player move.[66]
| Round | Pick | Player | Recruited from | League | Club |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Liam Jurrah | Yuendumu | CAFL | Melbourne |
| 1 | 2 | Josh Carr | Fremantle | AFL | Port Adelaide |
| 1 | 3 | Hayden Skipworth | Bendigo Bombers | VFL | Essendon |
| 1 | 4 | Chris Johnson | Melbourne | AFL | Carlton |
| 1 | 5 | Tom Rockliff | Murray Bushrangers | TAC Cup | Brisbane Lions |
| 1 | 6 | Ben Cousins | West Coast Eagles | AFL | Richmond |
2009 rookie draft
[edit]Due to the expansion in the number of rookie places available for clubs to use - from the previous maximum of six players to the maximum of eight rookies and veteran listed players combined - the 2009 rookie draft featured more selections than usual.
Rookie elevation
[edit]A total of 15 players were promoted from their respective clubs' rookie lists to the club's primary lists at the conclusion of the 2008 season.[67]
Selections by league
[edit]National and pre-season draft selection totals by leagues:
| League | Players selected |
State |
|---|---|---|
| TAC Cup | 40 | VIC |
| WAFL | 16 | WA |
| SANFL | 13 | SA |
| VFL | 3 | VIC |
| TFL | 2 | TAS |
| QAFL | 2 | QLD |
| NTFL | 1 | NT |
| CAFL | 1 | NT |
References
[edit]- ^ 2008 Key Dates
- ^ Gough, Paul; Lovett, O'Keefe the big prizes Archived 9 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine; Sportal; 6 October 2008
- ^ AAP (5 October 2008). "Clubs to tread carefully in trade week". Foxsports. Retrieved 8 October 2008.
- ^ Gullan, Scott (6 October 2008). "O'Keefe keen to deal - at a price". Foxsports. Retrieved 8 October 2008.
- ^ AAP (7 October 2008). "Archer baffled by McIntosh trade option". The Age. Archived from the original on 10 October 2008. Retrieved 8 October 2008.
- ^ AAP (8 October 2008). "McIntosh off AFL trade table". Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 9 October 2008. Retrieved 8 October 2008.
- ^ Prestipino, David (8 October 2008). "Mediation to Settle Score Between Blueing Clubs". WA Today. Archived from the original on 8 October 2008. Retrieved 8 October 2008.
- ^ Stevens, Mark; Ralph, Jon (9 October 2008). "War over Robbie Warnock". Herald Sun. Retrieved 8 October 2008.
- ^ a b Adam Cooper; Sam Lienert (10 October 2008). "Prismall a Bomber, Warnock a Blue". Fox Sports. Retrieved 4 November 2008.
- ^ AAP (10 October 2008). "Players union renews call for free agency". WA Today. Archived from the original on 6 February 2009. Retrieved 4 November 2008.
- ^ Hamilton, Andrew (14 February 2008). "Injuries end it for Big Beau". The Courier Mail. Retrieved 14 February 2008.
- ^ "Danny Jacobs Announces Retirement". AFL. 12 March 2008. Archived from the original on 13 March 2008. Retrieved 12 March 2008.
- ^ "Hugh Minson retires". Port Adelaide Football Club. 9 April 2008. Archived from the original on 26 August 2008. Retrieved 17 April 2008.
- ^ "Neitz announces immediate retirement". AFL website. 19 May 2008. Archived from the original on 20 May 2008. Retrieved 19 May 2008.
- ^ "Matthew Carr pulls pin on Freo career". AFL website. 19 May 2008. Archived from the original on 27 August 2008. Retrieved 19 May 2008.
- ^ "Eagle champ Braun announces retirement". AFL website. 7 July 2008. Archived from the original on 10 July 2008. Retrieved 7 July 2008.
- ^ "Bell calls an end to a glittering career". AFL website. 7 July 2008. Archived from the original on 10 July 2008. Retrieved 7 July 2008.
- ^ "Bulldog McDougall calls it quits". WB website. 17 July 2008. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 17 July 2008.
- ^ "McManus to retire after Sunday's derby". AFL website. 29 July 2008. Archived from the original on 3 August 2008. Retrieved 29 July 2008.
- ^ "Power veteran Wilson calls it quits". AFL website. 5 August 2008. Archived from the original on 7 August 2008. Retrieved 5 August 2008.
- ^ "Robert Harvey retires". AFL website. 6 August 2008. Archived from the original on 26 August 2008. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
- ^ "Freo defender Black announces retirement". AFL website. 6 August 2008. Archived from the original on 24 May 2011. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
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- ^ "Nigel Lappin calls it quits". AFL website. 19 August 2008. Archived from the original on 20 August 2008. Retrieved 19 August 2008.
- ^ "Freo's Johnson will retire at end of season". AFL website. 20 August 2008. Archived from the original on 23 August 2008. Retrieved 20 August 2008.
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- ^ "Veteran Crow calls it quits". AFL website. 27 August 2008. Archived from the original on 27 August 2008. Retrieved 27 August 2008.
- ^ "Demon Holland announces retirement". AFL website. 30 August 2008. Archived from the original on 18 September 2008. Retrieved 30 August 2008.
- ^ "Farmer, 'The Wizard' calls it quits". AFL website. 2 September 2008. Archived from the original on 3 September 2008. Retrieved 2 September 2008.
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- ^ a b c "Eagles axe three". AFL Website. 4 September 2008. Archived from the original on 5 September 2008. Retrieved 4 September 2008.
- ^ a b "Bode and Weetra delisted". Melbourne fc.com.au. 4 September 2008. Archived from the original on 13 October 2009. Retrieved 4 September 2008.
- ^ a b c d "Brisbane Lions discard premiership player Copeland". AFL Website. 19 September 2008. Archived from the original on 22 September 2008. Retrieved 19 September 2008.
- ^ a b c "Magpies cut Holland, Egan and Iles". AFL Website. 23 September 2008. Archived from the original on 24 September 2008. Retrieved 23 September 2008.
- ^ a b "Scott West 'to part ways with Bulldogs'". Real Footy Website. 23 September 2008. Archived from the original on 24 September 2008. Retrieved 23 September 2008.
- ^ Epstein, Jackie (12 October 2008). "Sydney says Rhyce Shaw in, Nick Davis out". Heraldsun Website. Retrieved 12 October 2008.
- ^ a b c "Nathan Ablett cut as player culls continue". Herald Sun. Australia. 15 October 2008. Retrieved 27 September 2008.
- ^ a b c d "Hawthorn delists four". Official AFL Website. 16 October 2008. Archived from the original on 19 October 2008. Retrieved 9 November 2008.
- ^ a b c d e f g Edmund, Sam (22 October 2008). "St Kilda boots seven ahead of AFL National Draft". Heraldsun Website. Archived from the original on 24 October 2008. Retrieved 22 October 2008.
- ^ "Saints Axe Fiora". Heraldsun Website. 31 October 2008. Archived from the original on 2 November 2008. Retrieved 31 October 2008.
- ^ "Bailey speaks out at Johnson loss". Melbournefc.com.au. 31 October 2008. Archived from the original on 11 October 2009. Retrieved 31 October 2008.
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- ^ Quayle, Emma (23 November 2008). "Judgement Day". Realfooty.com.au. Retrieved 27 November 2008.
- ^ Ben Cousins denied AFL return; 15 December 2008
- ^ 2009 NAB AFL Pre-Season and rookie drafts
- ^ Michael Lovett, ed. (2009). "The Draft". AFL Record Season Guide 2009. The Slattery Media Group. pp. 341, 458. ISBN 978-0-9805162-6-5.