Three of Richmond’s bumper draft haul, from left Harry Armstrong, No. 1 pick Sam Lalor, and Josh Smillie. Photo: AFL MEDIA
The first night of the 2024 AFL draft was all about the Richmond Football Club as the beleaguered Tigers began their massive rebuild with an historic hand in the first round.
Richmond headed into Thursday night with seven first-round picks, but finished up with six following a last-minute trade with North Melbourne for their selection No.27.
However, the Tigers still have pick 28 to use in round two and they will be hoping the crop of talent that they selected on Wednesday will end up being the building blocks for their next generation of success.
Not since expansion clubs Gold Coast and GWS entered the competition over a decade ago has a club featured so prominently in the first round of a draft, and Richmond made sure they had all of their needs covered with a variety of kids selected such as big midfielders, project players and key forwards.
With pick No.1, the Tigers kicked the night off by drafting Sam Lalor who is a strongly-built midfielder from the GWV Rebels, and with his authoritative fend-offs, he certainly shares similarities with recently-retired club legend Dustin Martin.
Like the triple Norm Smith Medallist, Lalor is a competitive animal, who is a force to be reckoned with in the middle of the park with his ability to effortlessly extract a contested ball from stoppages.
Lalor has fantastic penetration with his kicks but also has aerial ability and will be able to play forward as well.
At pick seven, Richmond selected another big-bodied on-baller in Josh Smillie who has modelled his game on Carlton champion Patrick Cripps. The versatile Australian captain can also play back as well as forward, and possesses great skills, especially his kicking.
Smillie already has impressive strength, can take a big overhead mark and looks readymade for next season.
With selection 12, the Tigers showed a willingness to play the waiting game as they recruited small forward Taj Hotton who is still recovering from an ACL rupture, which is probably why he slid down the order.
Before the injury, Hotton dominated, and in one particular match, he racked up 32 disposals and four goals. A very exciting prospect who is fast, has enviable goal sense and is dangerous when the ball hits the ground.
With picks 14 and 23, the Tigers looked to shore up their key forward stocks by selecting Jonty Faull and Harry Armstrong respectively.
Faull was somewhat of a draft bolter, but overcame a back injury to impress late in the year. He has very strong hands and is capable of splitting packs open thanks to his considerable strength. Armstrong can also take a big mark and kicked 69 goals in all competitions in 2024.
At selection 21, Richmond picked up intercepting key defender Luke Trainor, who is the grandson of legendary goalkicker Doug Wade.
The Kangaroos took the Tigers’ pick 27 and a future second-round pick, in exchange for their 2025 first-round selection, and used it to select Murray Bushrangers key forward Matt Whitlock. It was the final pick of the night, which meant his twin brother Jack will have to wait another 24 hours before joining him as an AFL player.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Kangaroos picked up gun midfielder Finn O’Sullivan with selection No.2 to add to their war chest in that part of the ground which already contains Luke Davies-Uniacke, Harry Sheezel, George Wardlaw and most probably Colby McKercher in the not-too-distant future as well.
The athletic and smooth-moving O’Sullivan is the total package. He can cut a swathe through heavy congestion, possesses supreme running capacity, can kick the ball magnificently and is also able to take a huge mark.
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At No.3, Carlton took brilliant midfielder Jagga Smith who was a ball magnet this year, averaging 31 disposals in 21 games, including five at VFL level. The All-Australian team captain registered a remarkable 50 disposals and 17 clearances in a single game earlier this year, but most importantly, he uses the ball really well and has footy IQ in spades.
Explosive on-baller Sid Draper was snapped up at four by Adelaide and the Crows will be hoping the dynamic All-Australian will be able to instantly add some class to a midfield that contains the likes of Jordan Dawson and Izak Rankine.
Melbourne put a bid on Brisbane father-son prospect Levi Ashcroft at pick five, but the Lions were having none of that, giving up picks 40, 42, 43 and 46, while gaining 68, 94 and 97, to secure the midfield prodigy.
Ashcroft, the brother of reigning Norm Smith Medallist Will, was a three-time premiership player for the Sandringham Dragons and three-time All-Australian at underage level. In short, he is an absolute gun, and won’t take long to challenge for a spot in Brisbane’s premiership-winning midfield that already features Will, Lachie Neale, Hugh McCluggage and Josh Dunkley.
With the next pick, Melbourne selected strong midfielder Harvey Langford who not only can play on the inside and outside, but his versatility enables him to have an impact up forward too.
After Smillie was taken at seven, St Kilda broke the run of midfielders by picking up talented backman Tobie Travaglia who has fantastic intercepting abilities and provides valuable dash from defence as well.
With pick nine, the Saints made a bid for Suns academy player Leonardo Lombard, but Gold Coast relinquished picks 40, 41, 48 and 58, while getting back selections 58, 89 and 94, to secure the exciting midfielder who is one of the fastest, most athletic and agile players of the draft.
Rounding out the top 10 was another defender, who was also taken by the Saints, in Alix Tauru. The key position prospect joins Vic Country teammate Travaglia at Moorabbin and what made him so attractive were his huge leap, ability to read the ball and courage to frequently force an intercept.
Meanwhile, Melbourne took slick midfielder Xavier Lindsay with pick 11, Hotton went to Richmond at 12, and the Tigers’ bid for Essendon Next Generation Academy player Isaac Kako at pick 13 was rebuffed as the Bombers matched it by giving up picks 33 and 34, while gaining 60, to snare the classiest small forward of the draft.
Port Adelade traded up to selection 15 from 16, and also gave West Coast pick 46, in order to snaffle dynamic forward Joe Berry, and with the next selection, the Eagles took composed midfielder Bo Allan.
Midfielder Murphy Reid, rated as a top-10 pick, slid to Fremantle at pick 17, while GWS picked up a pair of smalls with the next two selections in forward Oliver Hannaford and defender Harrison Oliver.
At pick 20, the Bulldogs recruited hard nut Cooper Hynes, small forward Jesse Dattoli (selection 21) headed to Sydney, bolter Cody Angove (24) wound up at GWS after being considered a top-60 pick, and Brisbane matched the Swans’ bid at pick 25 for gun academy midfielder Sam Marshall.
The biggest mover of the night was Norwood forward Ned Bowman who was drafted by Sydney at pick 26 despite being predicted to go as high as the 80s.
2023 AFL NATIONAL DRAFT
ROUND ONE
1. Sam Lalor (GWV Rebels) – Richmond
2. Finn O’Sullivan (Oakleigh Chargers) – North Melbourne
3. Jagga Smith (Oakleigh Chargers) – Carlton
4. Sid Draper (South Adelaide) – Adelaide
5. Levi Ashcroft (Sandringham Dragons) – Brisbane
6. Harvey Langford (Dandenong Stingrays) – Melbourne
7. Josh Smillie (Eastern Ranges) – Richmond
8. Tobie Travaglia (Bendigo Pioneers) – St Kilda
9. Leo Lombard (Burleigh Bombers) – Gold Coast
10. Alix Tauru (Gippsland Power) – St Kilda
11. Xavier Lindsay (Gippsland Power) – Melbourne
12. Taj Hotton (Sandringham Dragons) – Richmond
13. Isaac Kako (Calder Cannons) – Essendon
14. Jonty Faull (GWV Rebels) – Richmond
15. Joe Berry (Murray Bushrangers) – Port Adelaide
16. Bo Allan (Peel Thunder) – West Coast
17. Murphy Reid (Sandringham Dragons) – Fremantle
18. Oliver Hannaford (GWV Rebels) – GWS
19. Harrison Oliver (Sandringham Dragons) – GWS
20. Cooper Hynes (Dandenong Stingrays) – Western Bulldogs
21. Luke Trainor (Sandringham Dragons) – Richmond
22. Jesse Dattoli (Northern Knights) – Sydney
23. Harry Armstrong (Sandrigham Dragons) – Richmond
24. Cody Angove (Claremont) – GWS
25. Sam Marshall (Sandringham Dragons) – Brisbane
26. Ned Bowman (Norwood) – Sydney
27. Matt Whitlock (Murray Bushrangers) – North Melbourne
