Darren Jarman kicks one of his five last-quarter goals for Adelaide in the 1997 grand final. Photo: AFL MEDIA
In the latest instalment of Footyology‘s “Redraft” series we head all the way back to 1986 for the first ever modern VFL/AFL national draft.
Brisbane’s Martin Leslie is the answer to the trivia question: who was the first ever No.1 draft pick?
But does he hang onto that coveted title upon revision? Not by a long shot. In fact, he slipped out of the top five and down to No.7.
And when you see who usurped him at the top of the pile, it becomes more than understandable.
The new king of the 1986 VFL draft is the one and only Darren Jarman.
But hang on a second, “Jarman didn’t make his AFL debut until 1991 for the Hawks” I hear you say.
That is true, but the spectacular sharpshooter was originally drafted by Melbourne five years prior with the 11th-last pick (55), and considering the Redraft series only takes into account the first time a player was drafted, the triple premiership superstar rockets up to top spot in 1986.
Jarman was actually drafted one more time by Brisbane in 1989, but after once again deciding to stay put in his native South Australia, he was traded to Hawthorn a year later.
After a glittering career with North Adelaide in the SANFL, Jarman didn’t make his debut in the national competition until he was 23, but he sure made up for lost time.
The incredibly skilled forward played in a premiership in his first year with the Hawks, and after five years at Glenferrie Oval, headed back home to play with the Crows, and featured in another two flags with them in 1997 and 1998.
His finals performances in both of those years were the stuff of legend. In the 1997 grand final, he kicked five of his six goals in the final quarter to help his team blitz the Saints by 31 points – only a week after producing similar heroics in the final term of the Crows’ two-point victory against the Bulldogs in the preliminary final.
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And in 1998, he booted another five majors against North Melbourne to guide the Crows to back-to-back premierships – the first team to achieve the feat since Hawthorn in 1988-89.
The freakish talent, who possessed some of the most exquisite skills seen throughout the ‘90s, kicked 386 goals, including two bags of eight and a haul of nine, from 230 games, earned three All-Australian jumpers, a best-and-fairest and induction into both the Australian and South Australian Football Halls of Fame.
Coming in at second spot is another triple premiership champion in Brisbane full forward Alastair Lynch.
It was certainly tough to decide the 1986 quinella, and Lynch could well feel a little aggrieved at being denied top spot, but shooting up 48 spots from 50 to two is still no mean feat.
Lynch started out his career at Fitzroy, but after winning an All-Australian and a best-and-fairest there, he famously crossed to the Brisbane Bears on a whopping 10-year deal.
As fate would have it, Lynch would become a Lion again when Fitzroy and the Bears merged in 1996, and in a fitting end to the fairy tale, he would play a significant role in the joint-venture club’s legendary “three-peat” of flags from 2001-03.
As his career progressed, Lynch transformed himself from an acrobatic defender to a brutish power forward, finishing up with 633 goals from his 306 games, placing him 30th all-time on the VFL/AFL goalkicking list.
He finished up as a member of both the Fitzroy and Tasmanian Teams of the Century.
Rounding out the top five is yet another triple premiership star in Hawthorn’s Darrin Pritchard, gun Melbourne midfielder Steven Febey and 1990 Collingwood premiership hero Craig Kelly.
Completing the top 10 are former Blue, Swan, Hawk and Bulldog goalkicker Simon Minton-Connell, Leslie, reliable utility Matthew Armstrong, Febey’s twin brother Matthew, and imposing ruckman Mark Mickan.
Only two members of the original top 10 kept their spots in the revised top 10 – Leslie and Steven Febey.
Apologies go out to the diminutive Trent Nichols (pick 17), who ended up plying his trade at Richmond (in two stints), West Coast and North Melbourne, Essendon wingman Kieran Sporn (22) and Bears pre-draft pick Matthew Campbell.
*Redrafts only consider the first time a player was drafted.
