The AFL mid-season draft kicks off tonight, which will see state league players realise their AFL dream by being drafted to an AFL club half-way through the season.
AFL clubs need to have an open list spot in order to draft a player, meaning clubs need to move long-term injured or recently retired players to the inactive list in order to free up list spots for the mid-season draft.
Initially introduced in 1990, the mid-season draft has been a thing of the past for the AFL, who scrapped the draft in 1993.
It wasn't until 2019 where the AFL reintroduced the draft, before going into hiatus again in 2020 due to the Covid pandemic and coming back in 2021.
There have been some great players to come out of the two mid-season drafts so far, with players showing great promise at the top level.
Before the third edition of the AFL mid-season draft kicks off tonight, check out the 10 best players who have come through the draft since 2019 down below.
8. James Peatling (GWS Giants)
Peatling was picked up in the 2021 mid-season draft by the Giants with pick eight out of Pennant Hills, and has hit some seriously good form in recent weeks in the senior side.
Since coming through the Giants' VFL program, the utility product has impressed both Leon Cameron and Mark McVeigh with his ability to play in defence and also swing forward and kick goals.
The 21-year old made his debut in Round 20, 2021 against Port Adelaide and tallied 19 disposals, seven marks and three tackles in an impressive display.
Forward
Disposals
Marks
Goals
In the past fortnight, Peatling has had great form, booting six goals and averaging 19.5 disposals over the two games, proving he can be a very dynamic player in the AFL.
In just the small sample size of eight games, Peatling has shown he is an exciting prospect and don't be surprised if he rises up this list in the future with his potential talent.
