Some of the best talent in today's competition came from the 2014 AFL Draft, many of which were selected outside of the first round.
In this re-draft of the first round of picks, 11 of the 20 players find themselves premiership players, including one premiership captain, whilst many others have earned individual success such as All-Australian blazers and first place finishes in club best and fairest counts.
11 players from the original top 20 selected didn't earn a spot in our re-draft in what was a hit-and-miss opening round of selections.
Here is the original first round of picks:
- Paddy McCartin (St Kilda)
- Christian Petracca (Melbourne)
- Angus Brayshaw (Melbourne)
- Jarrod Pickett (GWS)
- Jordan De Goey (Collingwood)
- Caleb Marchbank (GWS)
- Paul Ahern (GWS)
- Peter Wright (Gold Coast)
- Darcy Moore (Collingwood)ย f/s
- Nakia Cockatoo (Geelong)
- Liam Duggan (West Coast)
- Corey Ellis (Richmond)
- Lachie Weller (Fremantle)
- Jake Lever (Adelaide)
- Jarrod Garlett (Gold Coast)
- Sam Durdin (North Melbourne)
- Kyle Langford (Essendon)
- Isaac Heeney (Sydney)
- Blaine Boekhorst (Carlton)
- Jayden Laverde (Essendon)
Note: All matched bids for Academy and Next Generation Academy prospects and Father-Son prospects in this re-draft are based on what we know about how those players' careers have panned out, to date. Those picks won't be permitted in this re-draft, however clubs that acquired Academy or father-son selections will hold their place in the order.ย
10. Jake Lever - Geelong (Originally: Pick 14, Adelaide)
Lever was originally tipped to be taken as Melbourne's pick 2 or 3 but slipped to be Adelaide's first draft selection (however, he has now ended up at Melbourne). Lever didn't play footy during his draft year due to a knee reconstruction in December 2013, so potentially would have been taken a lot higher had he been able to continue playing for Vic Metro and the Calder Cannons.
Lever struggled between 2018-2020 after moving to the Demons from the Crows but is now one of their most important players, forming a key defensive partnership with Steven May. Just like his partnership with May,ย Lever could've been a strong pairing with Geelong defender Tom Stewart had he been taken at Pick 10.