Nick Naitanui (No. 2 to West Coast ), Chris Yarran (6, Carlton ), Jamie Bennell (35, Melbourne), Todd Banfield (41, Brisbane Lions), Jarrad Blight (45, Collingwood), Neville Jetta (51, Melbourne) and Michael Walters (53, Fremantle) were all snapped up by clubs and, while Dawson said he was proud to see his youngsters realise their dream, he admitted it would be difficult to replace them.
"In terms of our aim to win a premiership it doesn’t help but in the same breath we certainly don’t begrudge them the chance and we’re really thrilled for them to get the opportunity," he said.
But Swan Districts won’t be left empty-handed, having earned $280,000 from the League as reward for producing its raft of draftees.
The Swans lost this year's WAFL grand final to Subiaco with ruckman Naitanui, forward Yarran and midfielder Banfield part of that team.
However, Naitanui and Walters may still play for them next year, subject to the opportunities presented by West Coast and Fremantle's senior sides.
"It doesn’t make next year easier because we’ve lost some very talented players," Dawson said. "We’ve kept a couple in the state and I guess our hope was that we might have kept one or two more in the state so we could get some games out of some of them next year, but that wasn’t to be.
"Nick’s the older of the two and he’s played a bit more senior footy. If one of them plays more AFL than the other next year I would expect Nick would be the one.
"Michael’s only 18 next January so he’s probably got a bit more progression to make. We would probably anticipate we’ll get some games for him next year. Nick’s a bit harder to assess."
East Fremantle coach Shane Woewodin knows Dawson’s predicament only too well.
In 2007, AFL clubs raided the Sharks, with Chris Masten (West Coast), Rhys Palmer (Fremantle), Harry Taylor (Geelong), Bradd Dalziell (Brisbane Lions) and Cale Hooker (Essendon) all finding new homes.
"You find the balance between winning and development and part of your job is developing a list of young players," Woewodin said. "It’s always terrific to see them succeed and go on to further ambitions with AFL careers. That’s your job really, you want these kids to succeed and go on.
"On the other side of the coin, I suppose the selfish point-of-view is you don’t get them to play senior footy and build a senior team to be successful."
Woewodin says consolation for the loss is best found by bringing young players into the team.
"If you’ve got that many blokes that get drafted at once, it is a fantastic achievement but it can leave a big gap," he said.
"From my first year of coaching, I’ve blooded 12 or 13 first-year players and I’ll blood more this year to get them playing senior footy as soon as we can."
