NIGHT one of the 2025 AFL Draft is in the books, with 25 players realising their dreams of reaching the elite level. West Coast wielded pick one and, as expected, selected Gippsland Power utility Willem Duursma. He was presented his new jersey by Eagles star and 2023 pick one, Harley Reid.

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History was made with a record seven South Australians taken in the first round. That included Glenelg livewire Latrelle Pickett, who was just about smuggled into Marvel Stadium alongside cousin Kysaiah, who presented him with a newly minted Melbourne guernsey.

Pickett was the draft’s first big bolter, selected 12th as one of the Dees’ consecutive choices. The other was Eastern star Xavier Taylor, who fittingly has been described as a defensive Demon. Melbourne was stoked to have him slide past Richmond and Essendon, who also held back-to-back picks.

The Tigers held their cards close to their chest heading into the draft but one detail which slipped through was their flight to meet Sam Cumming in Mildura. That link came to fruition as Richmond called out two Sams, the other being Sam Grlj. Rival clubs were right to call out their need for speed.

Essendon was then arguably one of the winners of the night. A cat-and-mouse play saw the Bombers take bolters Sullivan Robey and Jacob Farrow, hoping the Dees would overlook Dyson Sharp for them to snap up Larke Medallist with pick 13. It panned out perfectly.

In that haul, Essendon picked up a mid who can go forward, a mid who can go back, and a genuine onballer – all being readymade units. The only downfall for Bombers fans was seeing a bid for Next Generation Academy (NGA) prospect Adam Sweid go unmatched, to Fremantle’s gain.

There were murmurs of no guarantee for Sweid becoming a Bomber, and that proved to be true when his name was called at pick 25. That was the final selection of the night, but Sydney had a similar situation just earlier with academy graduate Lachlan Carmichael – who landed at the Western Bulldogs.

It was reminiscent of Sydney passing on then father-son nominee Josh Dunkley, who also went to Whitten Oval. The Swans had some tough decisions to make and already matched an early bid for Harry Kyle, who garnered interest from cross-town rival Greater Western Sydney.

There were plenty of bids that were matched, though. West Coast called out Suns Academy star Zeke Uwland and Carlton father-son Harry Dean after taking Duursma with pick one. Then it was Richmond’s turn, with Gold Coast and Brisbane matching for Dylan Patterson and Daniel Annable respectively.

The Suns had to hustle to make it all work, with West Coast later placing additional bids on Jai Murray and Beau Addinsall. Many thought a similar situation to Carmichael would pan out for one of the two, but Gold Coast’s several trades ensured they could match without entering a points deficit. The Suns will also look to bring in Koby Coulson on night two.

Elsewhere, North Melbourne traded into Carlton’s pick 11 to snap up small forward Lachy Dovaston. His Eastern Ranges teammate Oskar Taylor landed at GWS after the Kyle bid, while West Coast opted for elite left-foot kicker Josh Lindsay with pick 19 to round out its first round haul.

South Australian Cameron Nairn heads to Hawthorn alongside Central District teammate Aidan Schubert, with the pair taken just three picks apart. The latter was somewhat of a slider. Fellow Croweater Mitchell Marsh stayed local, taken by Adelaide with pick 22. His father Ben played 48 games for the Crows.

Geelong was also among the late first-round picks, pouncing on yet another South Australian among the state’s record haul. All-Australian wingman Harley Barker was the Cats’ man, a player who moulds his game on Ollie Dempsey and suits a long-term perspective given he is recovering from an ACL tear.

Night two of the draft goes down tomorrow at Marvel Stadium. Stay tuned to Rookie Me Central, where we’ll cover all the fallout and outline the 10 players who could feature first in the second round.