The AFL Draft is one of the most important events in the AFL calendar.
Discussions surrounding a draft prospect can start right from their days as a junior, lasting until their eventual selection. With that comes plenty of pressure, and we've seen many players taken with a high draft pick that have not had the projected careers we may have pegged them to have.
That being said, a re-draft allows us to look at some of the higher picks that have had stellar careers, while also allowing us to delve lower down the draft order and find the players that have gone above and beyond what their draft selection would suggest.
Here are the original 23 picks that made up the first round in 2012:
- Lachie Whitfield (GWS)
- Jonathan O'Rourke (GWS)
- Lachie Plowman (GWS)
- Jimmy Toumpas (Melbourne)
- Jake Stringer (Western Bulldogs)
- Jack Macrae (Western Bulldogs)
- Ollie Wines (Port Adelaide)
- Sam Mayes (Brisbane)
- Nick Vlastuin (Richmond)
- Joe Daniher (Essendon)
- Troy Menzel (Carlton)
- Kristian Jaksch (GWS)
- Jesse Lonergan (Gold Coast)
- Aidan Corr (GWS)
- Taylor Garner (North Melbourne)
- Jackson Thurlow (Geelong)
- Josh Simpson (Fremantle)
- Brodie Grundy (Collingwood)
- Ben Kennedy (Collingwood)
- Tim Broomhead (Collingwood)
- Nathan Hrovat (Western Bulldogs)
- Dean Towers (Sydney)
- Marco Paparone (Brisbane)
With the power of hindsight at hand, here's the first round of the 2012 AFL Draft re-selected.
5. Western Bulldogs: Brodie Grundy (Originally: Pick 18, Collingwood)
One of the most discussed ruckmen in history, Brodie Grundy will jump 13 positions and head to the Bulldogs.
As a Magpie, Grundy didn't really start to find his groove until his fourth season. Since that time, he has been one of, and at periods, the best ruckmen in the competition. For the Bulldogs, a pairing of Tim English and Brodie Grundy wouldn't be the most viable. All we have to do is take a look at the Grundy and Gawn issues of 2023.
