The 2015 draft was a bumper draft, with many of the players who went in these proceedings going on to be stars of the competition.
Whilst there have been some who haven't exactly lit up the competition that were drafted highly, there have also been some massive movers who have come from later picks to achieve big things.
Here is the original first 18 of the draft for context:
- Jacob Weitering (Carlton)
- Josh Schache (Brisbane)
- Callum Mills (Sydney)
- Clayton Oliver (Melbourne)
- Darcy Parish (Essendon)
- Aaron Francis (Essendon)
- Jacob Hopper (GWS)
- Callum Ah Chee (Gold Coast)
- Sam Weideman (Melbourne)
- Harry McKay (Carlton)
- Wayne Milera (Adelaide)
- Charlie Curnow (Carlton)
- Matthew Kennedy (GWS)
- Eric Hipwood (Brisbane)
- Daniel Rioli (Richmond)
- Harrison Himmelberg (GWS)
- Tom Doedee (Adelaide)
- Jade Gresham (St Kilda)
For context, in this draft, several teams bid for Academy players and shuffled up the draft order (i.e. Sydney with Callum Mills). However, to avoid hypotheticals, the draft order will stay the same, so Sydney for example still will slide in at Pick 3 regardless of the player they draft. Teams will also be drafting for need, and not necessarily the best player.
Without further ado, here is the 2015 draft, re-done.
13. Sam Menegola - GWS (Original position - Pick 66)
A mature-aged recruit, Sam Menegola got his third chance at AFL football in the 2015 draft after failing to play a game at both Hawthorn and Fremantle.
Although he has gone on to play in 116 games for the Cats, in this universe it's the Giants that get him in at Pick 13 over Matt Kennedy. The West Australian has featured heavily for the Cats over the past few seasons, however, has fallen out of favour at the Cattery in 2022.
Should he have gone to the Giants, he would have been one of the more senior figures in the side's engine room, and would've taken less time to get to his peak should Leon Cameron have played him from the off.
