Highly-rated teenager Harley Reid is presented with his West Coast jumper by club great Nic Naitanui. Photo: GETTY IMAGES

After much debate and speculation heading into the 2023 AFL Draft about what West Coast would do with their prized No.1 pick, the Eagles ended up making the most obvious move by selecting Harley Reid.

The most talented underage kid in the land was fittingly crowned the 38th top selection in draft history, and the recipient of the inaugural Allen Aylett medal.

However, round one wasn’t just about West Coast and Reid, as Gold Coast and North Melbourne both took significant steps in setting up the building blocks for future success.

The Suns had four academy players that were all touted as first-round prospects, and while Gold Coast headed into the draft with a stockpile of picks accrued during the trade period, to ensure they had enough points to match bids for them, they went even further on Monday night to guarantee that the talented quartet would all be Suns.

Early on in the evening, they gave pick 24 to Brisbane in exchange for picks 30, 51, 54 and 65, they offloaded pick 27 to St Kilda for selections 40 and 42, and handed pick 38 to Fremantle for picks 46, 60 and 63.

And it was a good thing they did, because all four of their academy players had bids made for them by rival clubs.

North Melbourne was the first club to test the waters by bidding for key forward Jed Walter at pick three. The Suns didn’t waste much time to match it, and in doing so, they lost picks 26, 30 and 32 while gaining picks 58 and 87.

Six picks later Geelong came after ruckman Ethan Read with selection No.9, and again the Suns were there to match it, losing picks 34, 38 and 40 in process and receiving pick 49.

Not long after, Sydney made a bid for midfielder Jake Rogers with pick 14, which Gold Coast matched as well, costing them picks 42, 47 and 49, but obtaining 65.

And finally, with pick 26, Adelaide bid for defender Will Graham, which the Suns also matched in a move that saw them part ways with picks 47 and 51, and receive selection 69.

Meanwhile, with five of the first 23 selections, North Melbourne got their hands on a bumper haul too with Tasmania Devils midfielder Colby McKercher (pick two), Gippsland Power forward Zane Duursma (four), South Adelaide ruckman Taylor Goad (20), Gippsland Power ruckman Wil Dawson (22) and Swan Districts defender Riley Hardeman (23) all crossing to Adren Street.

But Reid is the cream of the crop, and the midfielder-forward’s ability to consistently stamp his influence on a contest made him stand out from the pack.

He’s big and strong, as evidenced by his ferocious “don’t argues”, knows where the goals are and is sure to prove very early in his career that the hype surrounding him in the past couple of years has most certainly been real.

At pick two, the Kangaroos got themselves a beauty in McKercher.

The silky-skilled left-footed midfielder’s final year at underage level was hampered by a foot injury, but that didn’t put off North at all, and rightfully so.

With pace to burn and supreme ball-winning abilities, the Kangaroos are going to be very excited to add him to a young core that already features Rising Star winner Harry Sheezel and George Wardlaw.

There was a reason why the Suns were quick to match North’s bid for Walter because the young key forward has the potential to become an important pillar of their forward line for the next decade.

With sensational contested marking capabilities, ferocious defensive pressure and pack-splitting strength, he could form a very dangerous combination with the likes of Ben King and Jack Lukosius in attack.

At pick four, North got another gem in Duursma. The brother of Essendon wingman Xavier, the classy forward booted 33 goals in just 12 matches this year and is a very hard player to match up on.

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With his smarts and burst of speed, Duursma is able to drift across packs and take big grabs and promises to complement star North goalkicker Nick Larkey.

Rounding out the top five was Eastern Ranges small forward Nick Watson, who was selected by Hawthorn.

At just 170cm tall, what Watson lacks in height he more than makes up for in talent and evasiveness.

And despite his small stature, Watson can take a big mark too. He plays with spunk like new teammate Jack Ginnivan, and is sure to terrorise opposition backlines for years to come.

At pick six, the Western Bulldogs chose readymade Sandringham Dragons midfielder Ryley Sanders, and immediately after Melbourne selected Eastern Ranges midfielder Caleb Windsor at No.7, Adelaide traded for the Giants’ pick eight, as well as 18.

The Crows did so to get their hands on Daniel Curtin, the best-rated key defender in the draft who was touted as a top-three pick heading in.

In return for the trade, GWS got picks 12 and 16, as well as a future second-round pick.

Right after the Suns matched Geelong’s bid for Read at pick nine, Essendon traded up from pick 11 to the Cats’ pick 10 to get their hands on strong Northern Knights power forward Nate Caddy, the nephew of dual Richmond premiership player Josh. Geelong also got selection No.31 as part of the deal.

With the next three picks, Murray Bushrangers key defender Connor O’Sullivan went to Geelong, Murray Bushrangers forward Phoenix Gothard headed to GWS and Subiaco forward Koltyn Tholstrup was drafted by Melbourne.

Immediately after unsuccessfully bidding for Rogers at 14, Sydney made another bid for Bulldogs father-son prospect Jordan Croft with pick 15. The Dogs promptly matched it, losing picks 44, 46 and 47, while gaining 61 and 87 in the process. The key forward is the son of former Bulldogs defender Matthew.

And there was another father-son selection at pick 19, with Central District key defender William McCabe heading to Hawthorn where his father Luke played.

In order to draft him, the Hawks matched North Melbourne’s bid and lost picks 42 and 44, while getting pick 73.

There were originally 22 picks in the first round, but due to the matching of academy and father-son picks, on top of the free agency compensation selections, it ended up blowing out to 29 picks.

The remainder of the national draft will be completed on Tuesday night.

2023 AFL NATIONAL DRAFT

ROUND ONE
1. Harley Reid (Bendigo Pioneers) – West Coast
2. Colby McKercher (Tasmania Devils) – North Melbourne
3. Jed Walter (Palm Beach Currumbin) – Gold Coast
4. Zane Duursma (Gippsland Power) – North Melbourne
5. Nick Watson (Eastern Ranges) – Hawthorn
6. Ryley Sanders (Sandringham Dragons) – Western Bulldogs
7. Caleb Windsor (Eastern Ranges) – Melbourne
8. Daniel Curtin (Claremont) – Adelaide
9. Ethan Read (Palm Beach Currumbin) – Gold Coast
10. Nate Caddy (Northern Knights) – Essendon
11. Connor O’Sullivan (Murray Bushrangers) – Geelong
12. Phoenix Gothard (Murray Bushrangers) – GWS
13. Koltyn Tholstrup (Subiaco) – Melbourne
14. Jake Rogers (Broadbeach) – Gold Coast
15. Jordan Croft (Calder Cannons) – Western Bulldogs
16. Will Green (Northern Knights) – Sydney
17. James Leake (Tasmania Devils) – GWS
18. Darcy Wilson (Murray Bushrangers) – St Kilda
19. William McCabe (Central District) – Hawthorn
20. Taylor Goad (South Adelaide) – North Melbourne
21. Charlie Edwards (Sandringham Dragons) – Adelaide
22. Wil Dawson (Gippsland Power) – North Melbourne
23. Riley Hardeman (Swan Districts) – North Melbourne
24. Caiden Cleary (Sydney University) – Sydney
25. Harry Demattia (Dandenong Stingrays) – Collingwood
26. Will Graham (Palm Beach Currumbin) – Gold Coast
27. Oscar Ryan (Murray Bushrangers) – Adelaide
28. Lance Collard (Subiaco) – St Kilda
29. Ashton Moir (Glenelg) – Carlton