Eight NAB League players joined AFL lists in the 2019 NAB AFL Rookie Draft or as NGA selections on Friday, bringing the total number of AFL draftees from Victoria’s premier under-18 competition across this year's draft period to 43.
Thirty-five of the NAB League’s best prospects were selected in the AFL Draft across Wednesday and Thursday – representing 54 per cent of the AFL Draft’s 65 total selections – with Gold Coast’s no.1 pick Matthew Rowell (Oakleigh Chargers) becoming the ninth straight top AFL Draft selection from the competition.
Among the eight further NAB League players taken as rookies (see the full list below) were dual NAB AFL Under-18 All Australian and 2019 NAB League Boys Team of the Year member Mitch O’Neill (Tasmania Devils), Western Jets pairing Josh Honey and Emerson Jeka, and Next Generation Academy members Matt McGuinness (Tasmania Devils) and Harrison Pepper (Gippsland Power).
Other NAB League players still have a chance to join AFL lists in the Pre-Season Supplemental Selection Period, as 2018 Dandenong Stingrays premiership players Sam Fletcher (Gold Coast) and Matthew Cottrell (Carlton) did prior to the 2019 season.
See the full list of NAB League players selected in the 2019 AFL Rookie Draft or as NGA selections below:
PICK | NAME | SELECTED BY | NAB LEAGUE CLUB | LOCAL/JUNIOR CLUB |
3 | Josh Honey | Carlton | Western Jets | Keilor |
4 | Brady Rowles | Sydney | Bendigo Pioneers | Mildura |
5 | Jack Bell | St Kilda | Sandringham Dragons | Old Haileybury |
9 | Emerson Jeka | Hawthorn | Western Jets | Altona Juniors |
18 | Fraser Phillips | Carlton | Gippsland Power | Warragul |
25 | Mitch O'Neill | West Coast | Tasmania Devils | North Hobart |
Matt McGuinness | North Melbourne (NGA) | Tasmania Devils | Lauderdale | |
Harrison Pepper | Hawthorn (NGA) | Gippsland Power | Morwell |