A PREMIERSHIP Magpie and a Hawthorn veteran will be among 16 delisted players re-drafted by their clubs on Friday, while Brisbane is set to boost its tall forward stocks after the retirement of Joe Daniher.
With the two-night Telstra AFL Draft done for another year, the pre-season draft (PSD) and rookie draft will take place on Friday afternoon from 2.55pm AEDT, which you can watch exclusively live on AFL.com.au and the AFL Live app.
With Richmond having filled its vacant list spots at the national draft, North Melbourne will have the first pick in the rookie draft, which the Roos are set to use on re-listing defender Toby Pink.
Ten clubs have already shown part of their hand for Friday's drafting, having made commitments to recently delisted players to pick them up again as rookies.
Among them are Hawthorn triple premiership player Jack Gunston, Collingwood defender Oleg Markov, Greater Western Sydney veteran Lachie Keeffe and Brisbane defender Darragh Joyce.
It's part of a growing trend where clubs delist players to open list spots (clubs must have at least three senior list vacancies in order to take part in the national draft) before re-drafting them as rookies.
Chris Burgess, Harry Schoenberg (both Adelaide), Darcy Craven (Brisbane), Ash Johnson (Collingwood), Max Knobel (Fremantle), Josh Fahey, Jacob Wehr (both Greater Western Sydney), Toby Pink (North Melbourne), Mate Colina (Richmond), Brad Crouch (St Kilda), Aaron Francis and Joel Hamling (both Sydney) have also had commitments to be re-drafted by their clubs on Friday.
The list management move is not without minor risk, however. In 2021, Gold Coast delisted Hugh Greenwood with a commitment to re-drafting him only for North Melbourne to swoop in and sign him as a delisted free agent.
A host of other players who were overlooked on night two of the national draft on Thursday night could also get a chance on Friday.
AFL.com.au's Cal Twomey has reported that Brisbane is set to pick up axed Gold Coast forward Sam Day in the pre-season draft as it looks to fill the hole left by Daniher's surprise retirement last month.
Elsewhere, Twomey reported last week that delisted Lion Jaxon Prior and axed Port Adelaide forward Quinton Narkle are both set for another chance at AFL level despite not nominating for the drafts this week.
Prior has had interest from Essendon and looks set to train with the Bombers over summer and sign in the pre-season supplementary selection period, while Narkle is poised to do the same at Fremantle.
The pair did not nominate for the draft after being delisted, removing the risk of a rival club jumping in first to draft them.
Twomey has also reported that the likes of delisted St Kilda trio Ben Paton, Oli Hotton and James Van Es as well as former Carlton player David Cuningham could also find a new AFL home in the coming months, either in Friday's drafts or over the summer signing period.
The importance of the pre-season and rookie drafts has dropped in recent years, with clubs using them mainly to navigate complex rules surrounding the salary cap and list sizes to build their squad for the upcoming season.
An average of just 24 selections have been used in the past three rookie drafts, while six of the past nine pre-season drafts have not been conducted, with clubs showing no interest in taking players.
The draft order for both drafts is reverse ladder position. It is not possible to trade and swap rookie draft picks.
Join draft experts Cal Twomey and Riley Beveridge for the 2024 Telstra AFL Pre-Season and Rookie Drafts from 2.55pm AEDT on Friday, November 22