JUST five clubs are eligible to take part in Wednesday's pre-season draft with Greater Western Sydney to use the first selection on Sydney Swans' midfielder Jed Lamb.

 

Collingwood has the second choice, with Richmond, Carlton and the Sydney Swans to pick in order from then.

 

Those clubs are eligible because they have not filled their list with the maximum of 40 players however there is a strong chance clubs other than the Giants won't utilise their picks.

The Giants are allowed to have between 44 and 50 players on its senior list in 2014 and up to nine rookies under the player concession rules. Gold Coast is back to 40 senior list players with up to nine rookies. 

 

The Sydney Swans will definitely not use its picks in the pre-season draft, having decided to limit its list to 38 players plus six rookies and a scholarship holder.

 

The pre-season draft has diminished in importance in recent seasons with fewer clubs participating. It has been brought closer to the AFL Draft, providing more certainty for players hoping for a second chance.

 

Only eight players were recruited via the pre-season draft in 2012, with the Swans using it to recruit Kurt Tippett.

 

Although seven of the eight players managed to play senior football in 2013 for the clubs that picked them in the pre-season draft, three were delisted and Dean Brogan retired.

 

The rookie draft will take place immediately after the pre-season draft. Each selection a club makes in the pre-season draft means it has one fewer selection in the rookie draft.

 

Clubs must have a minimum of 38 players on the primary list with a maximum of 40 players. Rookie list selections can then total between four and six with the number dependent on the primary list number to make a total list number of 44.