NOVEMBER-born No.1 pick Jacob Weitering didn't help the argument, but the relative age effect held firm in the 2015 NAB AFL Draft.
Of the 70 players selected in the draft, 40 per cent celebrate their birthdays in the first three months of next year, while 65 per cent were born between January and June.
That spread is consistent with the relative age effect, which shows that those born early in a year are over-represented among AFL players.
The theory is that being an older player in your junior age group helps you stand out in your early years and the flow-on effect is increased confidence, coaching and love of the game, which then accelerates your development.
So if you have a boy in the first three months of next year, his chances of becoming an AFL player are higher than if you've had a baby boy since October.
Of course, Weitering showed that anything is possible.
The first selection was the only player chosen in the 2015 NAB AFL Draft who celebrates his birthday in November and was one of just 10 players selected on the night who were born between October and the last day of the year.
An AFL.com.au special report on the relative age effect earlier this year showed that 28.1 per cent of AFL players between 1990-2014 were born in the first three months of the season with just 21.2 per cent born in the final three months.
The Inquirer: Age is relative in the modern game
However that report also showed that 42.1 per cent of Brownlow medallists in the past 20 seasons were born between July and September.
No prizes for guessing in which month Fremantle Brownlow medallist Nat Fyfe celebrates his birthday: September.
The early birthday doesn't mean much, of course, once a player is in the system if this year's Virgin Australia AFL All Australian team is any guide.
More players (12) were born in the second half of the year than the first half (10) with five of the 22 celebrating a birthday in the final three months of the year.
In a quirk this season, seven of the top 10 picks were born in the second half of the year, with three - Weitering, Callum Ah Chee and Harry McKay - having their birthdays in the last three months of the year.
Melbourne's Mitch King, selection No.42 in the 2015 draft, kicks off the year with his birthday on January 1. He takes over from where Fremantle veteran Matthew Pavlich left off, as Pavlich celebrates his 34th birthday on New Year's Eve.
King is looking to become the first AFL player born on New Year's Day since Danny Southern played his final match for the Western Bulldogs in round seven, 2000.
2015 NAB AFL Draft
70 selections
28 – Born January-March
18 – Born April-June
14 – Born July - September
10 – Born October - December
