The first eight selections of the 2026 AFL Draft order have been locked following the conclusion of the home-and-away season, with Essendon to open this year's count at Pick 1.
With these selections in mind, Craft of the Draft ran through how the opening to the 2026 AFL Draft might unfold with a 'mini mock draft' on this week's episode.
Analyst Jonty Ralphsmith made picks for Essendon (Pick 1), West Coast (Pick 3), Melbourne (Pick 6, via Gold Coast) and GWS (Pick 7), with host Mitch Keating holding selections for Richmond (Pick 2), Port Adelaide (Pick 4), North Melbourne (Pick 5) and St Kilda (Pick 8).
By the end of the mock draft, a total of nine selections and three bids were made. Here's how it unfolded...
Pick 5 - West Coast: Gus Teixeira
| 5 RANK |  | Gus Teixeira Sandringham Dragons Midfielder HEIGHT: 181cm |
Ralphsmith: I'll take Gus Teixeira. We've seen what he's been able to do forward of the footy as a marking, difficult-to-beat one-on-one matchup. He'll go into the midfield eventually. He's a different sort of midfielder (to Harley Reid and Willem Duursma), and in the short term they'll get a bit more scoring punch with that medium, dynamic matchup.
