FOR MUCH of the opening night of the 2024 Telstra AFL Draft, everything went somewhat to script.
Until it didn't.
In the final move of the first round, North Melbourne rolled the dice in a big way, handing its 2025 first-round pick to Richmond in a bombshell trade.
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The Kangaroos have shown the ultimate faith in Murray Bushrangers key position player Matt Whitlock, trading up to select him with the final pick of the night at No.27.
To get their hands on that Richmond pick, the Kangaroos gave up their first-round selection next year. That will be a pick in the top 10 - and possibly the top five - unless Alastair Clarkson's team can make a huge jump and play finals in 2025.
"It's a big call from North and that's going to be one of the big stories of the draft, no doubt," AFL.com.au's draft expert Cal Twomey said on Draft Night Live.
"North putting what we expect to be a top-six pick on the table to Richmond, and Richmond playing it beautifully to stagger their picks."
In return, the Roos received pick 27 to get Whitlock as well as Richmond's future second-round pick, which will likely be at the start of the second round in 2025.
It was a move the Kangas had been looking to make for most of the night.
"I'm told the Kangas put their (2025) first-round pick on the table to every single club starting with St Kilda at pick 8 ... they didn't find a buyer until Richmond with the final pick (of the night)," AFL.com.au's Riley Beveridge said on Draft Night Live.
"It just goes to show how highly they rate Matt Whitlock.
"Richmond could look at this and think 'we could bank two top-five picks next year' (their own and North's). This could be their way of looking at it; this is a really good opportunity to get out of the board here, bank another top-five pick and go for it."
Earlier in the night, Port Adelaide had moved up one spot to secure small forward Joe Berry.
Port had pick 16 in its hands, but orchestrated a deal with West Coast to jump to 15 and grab Berry in a part of the ground it has desperately been trying to bolster.
In a clear win for both clubs, the Eagles slid back to No.16, and gained pick 45 in the process, and got local midfielder product Bo Allan.
Elsewhere, Essendon got its man, but the Bombers' path to securing Isaac Kako had some critics questioning their strategy.
During last month's Continental Tyres AFL Trade Period, the Bombers traded pick No.9 to Melbourne in the expectation an early bid would come for Kako.
That didn't quite prove to be the case, with the Bombers instead matching Richmond's bid at No.13.
However, opposing clubs would likely have changed their bidding strategy on Kako had the Bombers not done the trade with the Demons, meaning the Dons were in a tough spot.
"Had they have not traded out that pick (pick nine), the likelihood is that a bid for Isaac Kako would have come before pick nine," Beveridge said on Draft Night Live.
Up north, Brisbane and Gold Coast got its Academy players without a hitch, as Leo Lombard (No.9) got to the Suns after they matched St Kilda's bid, while Sam Marshall is now a Lion after Sydney – or Bidney as it's become known over the years – put its bid in at No.25.
Levi Ashcroft was one of the first dominoes to fall in the night, slipping through to No.5 before Brisbane matched Melbourne's bid.
The son of triple premiership player Marcus will join Norm Smith Medal-winning brother Will at the premiers for 2025 and beyond.