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• 10 things we learned from the draft
A RECORD draft haul from the Sandringham Dragons left the club's talent manager Ryan O'Connor "gobsmacked".
Five of the first 11 players drafted on Friday came from the Dragons: Andrew McGrath (Essendon, No.1), Tim Taranto (GWS, No.2), Will Setterfield (GWS, No.5), Jack Scrimshaw (Gold Coast, No.7) and Oliver Florent (Sydney, No.11).
Since the introduction of the TAC Cup in 1992, which came about after the under-19s competition was disbanded, no club has come close to having so many players picked that early.
In 2007, the Northern Knights had Matthew Kreuzer and Trent Cotchin in the opening two spots (as the Dragons had this year), as well as Patrick Veszpremi (No.11), Jack Grimes (No.14) and Brett Meredith (No.26).
The Geelong Falcons provided the AFL with a similar bounty of talent in the 2001 'superdraft', with Luke Hodge (No.1), Jimmy Bartel (No.8), Luke Molan (No.9), Matt Maguire (No.21) and Tom Davidson (No.27).
Sandringham's effort of producing three of the top five was matched by Gippsland in 2005 – Dale Thomas (No.2), Xavier Ellis (No.3) and Scott Pendlebury (No.5) – but the next two picks came when Trent West was picked at No.31 and Jay Neagle was drafted as a father-son selection to Essendon at No.39.
O'Connor said he had known for a couple of years this group of Dragons players had a lot of potential, based on their ability and the players' response to adversity.
"In many ways, they've been able to compete with each other internally and spur each other along," O'Connor told AFL.com.au.
The Dragons were aware they would have a few players drafted early, but Oliver Florent's selection at No.11 surprised them.
"We were probably a little bit gobsmacked at all of that and how (the draft) rolled out. It was really interesting in regards to the academy bids and picks," he said.
"The Swans obviously really liked Ollie and we probably thought he may have gone a little bit deeper … but you only need one club to like you."
The 183cm midfielder offers speed and quality skills, but had hoped to stay in Melbourne to be close to his family after the death of his father to bowel cancer earlier this year.
Moving could cause problems but O'Connor backed Florent to flourish.
"It's always a little bit of a concern, but the Swans are a fantastic club and there's some really, really good people up there to support him. I think he'll cope quite well," O'Connor said.
The Swans met with Florent's family and Dragons officials after the NAB AFL Draft ended to catch up. That came after John Longmire travelled to Melbourne during the week to have lunch with Florent, indicating the club's interest.
As the first overall selection, McGrath will have to deal with plenty of pressure and O'Connor is confident 179cm defender/midfielder will flourish at AFL level.
"Andy's shown all year, when there's a challenge, he rises to it. I think he'll transition really well," he said.
"His versatility is what may have swayed Essendon's mind, in terms of the No.1 pick."
The Dragons had another two players drafted: Cameron Polson went to Carlton at No.59 and Corey Lyons (brother of Gold Coast's Jarryd) went to the Brisbane Lions at No.71.
The club is hoping another two or three players are picked up in the rookie draft on Monday.
