The 2015 draft was a bumper draft, with many of the players who went in these proceedings going on to be stars of the competition.
Whilst there have been some who haven't exactly lit up the competition that were drafted highly, there have also been some massive movers who have come from later picks to achieve big things.
Here is the original first 18 of the draft for context:
- Jacob Weitering (Carlton)
- Josh Schache (Brisbane)
- Callum Mills (Sydney)
- Clayton Oliver (Melbourne)
- Darcy Parish (Essendon)
- Aaron Francis (Essendon)
- Jacob Hopper (GWS)
- Callum Ah Chee (Gold Coast)
- Sam Weideman (Melbourne)
- Harry McKay (Carlton)
- Wayne Milera (Adelaide)
- Charlie Curnow (Carlton)
- Matthew Kennedy (GWS)
- Eric Hipwood (Brisbane)
- Daniel Rioli (Richmond)
- Harrison Himmelberg (GWS)
- Tom Doedee (Adelaide)
- Jade Gresham (St Kilda)
For context, in this draft, several teams bid for Academy players and shuffled up the draft order (i.e. Sydney with Callum Mills). However, to avoid hypotheticals, the draft order will stay the same, so Sydney for example still will slide in at Pick 3 regardless of the player they draft.ย Teams will also be drafting for need, and not necessarily the best player.
Without further ado, here is the 2015 draft, re-done.
15. Ben Keays - Richmond (Original position - Pick 24)
Although the Tigers currently wouldn't want to have taken anyone rather than Daniel Rioli at Pick 15, his poaching by Melbourne in this re-draft means Damien Hardwick and his recruitment staff will have to settle for Ben Keays instead.
In real life, Keays was drafted to Brisbane before leaving for Adelaide in 2020 and cementing his spot as a serial ball-winner in the side's engine room.
With this, Keays would remedy some of Richmond's midfield woes at the time, and pave the way for the likes of Prestia and Caddy to enter the club's midfield in 2016 - should they still have been needed.