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Intrigue and plot twists: The 40th AFL Draft is spectacular
Ashley Browne • November 20th, 2025 9:14 am
The AFL national draft turned 40 on Wednesday night and the leap into middle age was spectacular.
For the milestone event we were served up a draft that pretty much resembled how they used to be, when players were more or less drafted in order of how they were ranked coming in.
It happened from the beginning, with Gippsland Power medium forward Willem Duursma went to West Coast – as universally forecast – with the first pick.
But the matched bids started straight afterwards, which led to a more honest national draft. In drafts past, players such as Nick Daicos (pick 4, 2021) and Will Ashcroft (pick 2, 2022) were the best players in their draft classes. Yet the clubs with the first pick would let them slide.
It was perceived as an exercise in the trading of favours (“you look after us and we’ll look after you”) but it did compromise the true integrity of the draft.
But thankfully, the bidding came nice and early this year and continued all night. After taking Duursma with the opening pick, West Coast then bid for both Zeke Uwland and then Harry Dean with the second and third overall picks.
They were never going to get to the Eagles; Uwland was always destined to join brother Bodhi at Gold Coast and Dean is Carlton royalty with his father Peter a 1995 premiership defender for the club, but three picks in, it was clear that this was going to be a more honest draft and that clubs with academy and father-son prospects were going to pay full tote odds for them. As they should.
With that second pick, which became the fourth overall, the Eagles took ruckman Cooper Duff-Tytler, whose draft stocks rose partly in anticipation of the new ruck rules, placing a renewed emphasis on athletic talls.
Richmond also got in on the bidding act, with Queensland pair Dylan Patterson heading to Gold Coast and Daniel Annable to the Brisbane Lions, before Sam Cumming eventually became the Tigers' first actual selection.
For the keen draft watchers, it was when Cumming was named, seven selections in, that the draft properly started. And when he was joined at Punt Road with the next selection by fellow midfield jet Sam “Sizzler” Grlj (pronounced ‘Grill’), the unpredictability commenced - which is what the 40th anniversary of the draft deserved.
Just quietly, the Tigers are assembling a midfield, which if it tracks as it should, will be among the best in the competition.
Essendon and Melbourne held the next five selections. The Bombers selected Sullivan Robey, the official bolter of the 2026 draft, as well as Jacob Farrow and Dyson Sharp. The latter was not only the big-bodied midfielder the Bombers are crying out for (Zach Merrett will be delighted to meet him) but it is almost certain that he was headed to the Hawks with the next selection.
Hawthorn trading down immediately after would suggest that was close to the mark.
Melbourne grabbed Xavier Taylor and then the lively Latrelle Pickett. If Kozzy Pickett, signed through until 2032, had been shocked and perhaps dismayed by the departure of star pair Christian Petracca and Clayton Oliver during the trade period, then having his little cousin joining him at the club, will be especially welcome. He might have done some lobbying for it to happen as well.
The Hawks did good business. They traded down twice in the first round and picked up a pair of future second-round picks while doing so. They have quite the war chest for next year’s trade period, with the likes of Zak Butters and Zach Merrett as potential targets. And if Cooper Hodge chooses to follow his old man to the Hawks, they have the picks they need to make that happen as well.
The club that had to work the hardest? The ascending Gold Coast added four first-round selections – all from their academy - to a list burgeoning with talent, but they had to cough up an awful lot to get them. It might have taken a couple of years, but surely Damien Hardwick now has that premiership-winning list he promised at his disposal. Hardwick, it must be noted, continued his several years long streak of not being at the draft.
It was a shame he wasn’t there. The 40th AFL draft was one of the best, full of intrigue and plot twists. Any time the mock drafts are blown to smithereens, that makes them even more interesting.
