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.
2. Jai Newcombe (Hawthorn)ย
The hard nosed midfielder was taken at pick two in the 2021 mid-season draft by Hawthorn, and came out of Hawthorn's VFL affiliate, Box Hill.
The 20 year old made an instant impact in his debut in Round 13, 2021, tallying a whopping 14 tackles against the Swans, and let the AFL world know that Newcombe was not to be messed with.
Midfielder
Disposals
Tackles
Clearances
Since then, Newcombe's stocks have continued to rise with his 2022 campaign landing him as one of the lead contenders for the NAB Rising Star award. Currently averaging 21.5 disposals across 11 games, Newcombe would surely be in contention for Hawthorn's best and fairest award if he keeps this form up.
The sky is the limit for Newcombe after 18 games, and his current trajectory may have him becoming the best player on this list in the future, and he is well on the way to a great career.
