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:

  1. Lachie Whitfield (GWS)
  2. Jonathan O'Rourke (GWS)
  3. Lachie Plowman (GWS)
  4. Jimmy Toumpas (Melbourne)
  5. Jake Stringer (Western Bulldogs)
  6. Jack Macrae (Western Bulldogs)
  7. Ollie Wines (Port Adelaide)
  8. Sam Mayes (Brisbane)
  9. Nick Vlastuin (Richmond)
  10. Joe Daniher (Essendon)
  11. Troy Menzel (Carlton)
  12. Kristian Jaksch (GWS)
  13. Jesse Lonergan (Gold Coast)
  14. Aidan Corr (GWS)
  15. Taylor Garner (North Melbourne)
  16. Jackson Thurlow (Geelong)
  17. Josh Simpson (Fremantle)
  18. Brodie Grundy (Collingwood)
  19. Ben Kennedy (Collingwood)
  20. Tim Broomhead (Collingwood)
  21. Nathan Hrovat (Western Bulldogs)
  22. Dean Towers (Sydney)
  23. Marco Paparone (Brisbane)

With the power of hindsight at hand, here's the first round of the 2012 AFL Draft re-selected.

3. GWS: Jack Viney (Originally: Pick 26, Melbourne)

The star Demon is one of three headed to the Giants in this re-draft. Viney is also one of only seven players to win a premiership in the 2012 draft.

Known for his toughness on the ball and ability to move through congestion, Jack Viney had to be in the top three. For the Giants, Viney's strengths would pair nicely with the class of Josh Kelly and Stephen Coniglio -  a similar dynamic to that of Petracca, Viney and Oliver.

Jack Viney during the 2022 AFL Round 1 match between Melbourne and Western Bulldogs (Photo by Cameron Grimes / Zero Digital Media)

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