We've scattered back through each National Draft of the past decade to uncover every club's bargain pickup.
This list looks at each club's ability to recruit young prospects in the National Draft, whether it be top-end talents or diamonds in the rough.
Each player was selected primarily by their value for pick, with many players being taken outside the first round. Some players have demanded a spot despite an early draft night selection, however these picks have been reserved for the absolute cream of the crop.
This list only includes National Draft selections - excluding Rookie and/or Mini Draft picks, while father-son and Academy selections have also not been considered.ย
3. Carlton
Patrick Cripps (pick 13, 2013)
Cripps is undoubtedly one of the two best players out of the 2013 draft class along with Bulldog Marcus Bontempelli.
Five times he has ranked first in the league in either clearances, centre clearances or contested possessions. He is a three-time All-Australian, four-time club best & fairest winner, 2019 AFL MVP and his recent Brownlow Medal has truly established his status as one of Carlton's greatest ever.
Cripps faced some scrutiny over his relatively sub-par form in recent seasons, but many pin that this was a product of single-handedly carrying the Blues through multiple poor-performing years.
Carlton's exciting yet heartbreaking 2022 season has seemingly reinvigorated Cripps' rare form and he will look to lead Carlton through a potential premiership window over the coming years.
Honourable mention/s: Harry McKay, pick 10 (2015), Jacob Weitering, pick 1 (2015)
