2024 AFL Draft Review: Adelaide
ADELAIDE welcomed a pair of state Under 18 teammates to the fold via this year’s National AFL Draft, including the top local prospect and a long-awaited father-son selection. Find out how the selections came about and what each fresh face promises to bring to West Lakes.
>> EVERY PICK: National Draft | Rookie Draft
DRAFT HAUL
National Draft:
4. Sid Draper
59. Tyler Welsh (F/S)
Rookie Draft:
3. Harry Schoenberg (re-listed)
16. Chris Burgess (re-listed)
After late talk of a trade up to pick two dissipated, Adelaide’s draft strategy loomed as a relatively straightforward one. Rumours suggested the Crows would target North Melbourne’s pick two and thus Jagga Smith, but they settled on maintaining their hand heading into night one.
With Carlton snapping up Smith, the best available prospect on Adelaide’s board was top local talent Sid Draper – not Harvey Langford, who had also been linked. The South Adelaide midfielder promises to inject much-needed speed and flair to the Crows’ engine room which lacks points of difference.
Draper is also an ultra-professional athlete whose preparation and dedication can hardly be faulted. His senior experience makes him a readymade proposition and despite having his start to the season scuppered by injury, he return to hit his straps late in the campaign.
With its first selection settled, Adelaide next had eyes on fulfilling its commitment to father-son nominee Tyler Welsh. The son of Scott will take on his father’s number 17 jersey after having his name called out with pick 59, late on night two.
Welsh is a powerful 191cm forward who played nine games with Adelaide’s reserves via the SANFL Rookie Program. His feats this year include booting five goals against Port Adelaide, kicking eight in his lone Under 18s outing, and leading South Australia’s goalkicking at the National Championships.
Both players’ preseasons will be watched closely, for different reasons. By his own admission, Draper overworked during the break between 2023-24, resulting in shin stress fractures, while Welsh has a ways to go when it comes to his overall fitness and running capacity.
The Crows’ only other point of call was to re-list Harry Schoenberg and Chris Burgess via Wednesday’s Rookie Draft. Adelaide is not among the clubs with list vacancies to fill heading into the supplemental selection period, so will not have any additional train-ons at this stage.
AFL DRAFT | The clubs stockpiling future picks
THE future picks market is becoming increasingly prevalent at each AFL Draft, and with tighter rules around matching bids, preparation is proving key. Gold Coast has become the pick swap king and frantically did so throughout trade and draft period to secure five academy graduates this year. >> EVERY CLUB: 2026-2028 future picks>> AFL DRAFT: […]
AFL Draft trends: Mature-age list balance
IN THE wake of the latest AFL Draft, the time to reflect allows for insights around how each club approaches their intakes. Trends appear and shift all the time, and looking at the post-Covid era (2022 onwards), a few recruiting teams have opted to dip into the mature-age talent pool. It continued in 2025 with […]
AFL Draft trends: Running power dictates play
THE AFL is an ever-evolving landscape; from how the game is played, to the rules it is played under, and which type of player is thus most effective. After the latest draft intake, one key attribute is becoming increasingly in-vogue across every line – running power. We put it under the microscope in the first […]
2025 AFL Draft Review: St Kilda
ST KILDA had a relatively quiet draft period with just two local faces joining the club alongside a couple of re-listings and an Irish Cat B rookie. Though the Saints’ picks were late, they made the most of what they did have with a pair of club-tied talents. >> EVERY PICK: National Draft | Rookie Draft>> 100+ PROFILES: View […]
2025 AFL Draft Review: Richmond
ANOTHER couple of top 10 picks ensured Richmond was able to add more top-end talent to its young and developing list at this year’s AFL Draft. The Tigers selected three out of four South Australians in the haul, with speed and competitiveness a key trait in the haul. >> EVERY PICK: National Draft | Rookie Draft>> 100+ PROFILES: View […]
2025 AFL Draft Review: Port Adelaide
PORT Adelaide enjoyed a sightseeing trip to Melbourne during the AFL Draft and became the first club to not draft a single player during the National Draft. Instead, the Power opted to elevate rookies Tom Cochrane, Josh Lai, Harrison Ramm and Logan Evans before taking a new player with the Rookie Draft straight out of […]
2025 AFL Draft Review: North Melbourne
NORTH Melbourne might not have had a high-volume of selections in this year’s AFL Draft, but the Roos were able to pinpoint a couple of needs with some top 30 selections. Picking up the draft’s best small forward alongside an draft-bolting tall defender, North also secured the services of another talented ball-winner. >> EVERY PICK: National Draft […]
2025 AFL Draft Review: Melbourne
AFTER losing a couple of star midfielders to other clubs over the off-season, the Dees entered the 2025 AFL Draft with back-to-back top 10 picks and a second round selection to bring in some quality young guns. Melbourne picked up one of the most highly performed players of 2025, as well as a couple of […]
2025 AFL Draft Review: Hawthorn
HAWTHORN must have liked what they saw from Central District this year, with the brown and gold just one Dyson Sharp away from completing the set. The Hawks picked up three SANFL Bulldogs as well as a hard-running midfielder in the National Draft before snatching a massive draft slider and Vic Metro MVP in the […]
