NUMBER One. The First. The Best. The Brightest; but is it all what it’s cracked up to be?

 

So much is made of the first pick in the National Draft each year, in print, conversation and online they are dissected, combed over in the most minute way, but are we placing too much pressure on the shoulders of those taken first? Is it in fact, a poisoned chalice for many? 

 

In the first of series of related pieces, I will be exploring the three players I feel are the greatest ones to wear the mantle of the number one pick in the AFL Draft. 

 

The following will be biggest disappointments in Part 2, and finally the challengers for 2018 and the ‘Best Of’ side from the birth of the National Draft in 1981 to last year in 2017.

 

So without further preamble, on to the third place getter: 

 

 

A choice that will surprise many, particularly listed ahead of such players as Adam Cooney – the only Pick 1 Brownlow Medallist – Brendon Goddard and Marc Murphy, Banfield gets the nod for his combination of premiership success, superb overall career standard, and longevity. 

 

What makes him standout even more is that all of the above players were picked in an era when drafting had either become a much more complete science or was indeed a fully professional and well-resourced pursuit. In 1992, when Banfield got the nod, he was only its twelfth Pick 1. By contrast last years pick, Brisbane’s Cam Rayner, was the 37th, and it is fair to say we have got a long, long way in 25 years.

 

Banfield was in many ways a man ahead of his time. Versatile in both defence and midfield, his game was built on a prodigious running ability, strong body and a raking left foot. Translated into the modern game with its emphasis on gut running and extraordinary fitness, it would not be a shock to see him challenge for significant honours year in and year out.

 

As it was, he was a key cog in the mighty Eagles sides of the mid 90s and early 00s, a premiership winner 12 years apart in both 1994 and 2006, something that remains remarkable for what it says about his dedication to the craft. His sole best and fairest win came in 1996, but he featured in the top 10 six times, all of them coming in the seven years between 1995 and 2001.

 

A selfless and superb player, he deserves his spot.

 

 

The Saints have been oddly blessed flying, freakishly athletic blonde blokes over the years, from premiership defender Verdun Howell to ruck tyro Carl Ditterich and the late great Trevor Barker, but none epitomised the club and its vainglorious history than its longest-serving captain. 

 

Six-time best and fairest winner, five-time All-Australian, four-time club leading goalkicker and the AFL record holder for marks, he ground opponents into defeat through relentless running.

 

Though he never experienced ultimate success, the Saints superstar had countless highlights in his storied career, perhaps typified by one of the most courageous marks ever captured on camera against Sydney at the SCG at 2004, where his cartwheeling dismount from Stephen Milne’s head had many at the ground wondering if he had seriously hurt himself in the process.

 

Hard as it is to believe when looking at his statistics, Riewoldt began his career as a rangy defender, winning the 2002 Rising Star award from centre-half back. His retirement in 2017 occasioned an outpouring of praise seldom seen in football; a fitting end for a great champion.

 

 

Four time premiership player – three as captain – three time All-Australian, twice Norm Smith Medallist and twice best and fairest, and with a laundry list of other honours, it is hard to believe that he originally considered a mistaken pick and the lesser light of the trio taken in the so-called “Super Draft” with Chris Judd and Luke Ball. He was nominated in 2002 for the Rising Star award, but was beaten in the end by another colossus of the game (who also features in this list).

 

As strange as it may be to now see the boy from Colac running around in a Lions guernsey, Hodge was the cornerstone the Hawks legendary three-peat, with his composed reading of the play, cool head and searing left boot off half back and through the middle. His hard edged style characterised the ‘unsociable football’ the Clarkson-coached premiership teams were known for, and while his aggression at the ball and man sometimes crossed the line, when the whips were cracking there was no one you would rather have next to you. 

 

Having announced his retirement in 2017, Hodge was talked into lacing up the boots once more as a mentor for the young Lions list, and on the limited evidence so far available, shows no signs of slowing down, or taking a backward step.

 

A future Hall of Famer and genuine legend.