NOT MANY recruiters would've experienced the feeling of drafting a mate.

That's why, for Adelaide recruiting boss Hamish Ogilvie, the joy in drafting his good friend Ian Callinan as a 27-year-old prospect during the 2010 rookie draft has always been impossible to top as his favourite ever pick.

Ogilvie and Callinan worked closely together during their time in the Tasmanian setup, where the 172cm forward won the Hunter Harrison Medal as the best player in the Division 2 national under-18 championships.

Having slipped through the national draft in 2000, Callinan then began to forge an impressive senior resume. He won the JJ Liston Medal as the VFL's best player while still playing for Tasmania in 2005, before crossing to the SANFL in 2007.

He won four flags in four seasons with Central District, winning club best and fairests in 2007 and 2010, as well as the Jack Oatey Medal for best on ground in the SANFL Grand Final in 2010, before his AFL chance finally arrived.

At age 27, Callinan eventually heard his name called by Ogilvie and the Crows with the 64th selection in the 2010 rookie draft. He would go on to kick 49 goals from 32 games across three seasons on the club's list.

Speaking about his favourite ever pick on AFL.com.au's trade and draft show Gettable, Ogilvie recalled fondly his experiences watching 159-game player Ricky Henderson strut his stuff for country side Trentham. But he couldn't go past Callinan as his favourite.

"I love the Ricky Henderson pick because that was just a smoky out of the bush. I sat out at Trentham and watched him kick seven in a half one day. That gave us a fair bit of satisfaction," Ogilvie told Gettable.

"But to draft a friend … the Ian Callinan pick is my favourite pick. We should've done it way earlier. The game should've done it earlier, because he was that good. Who knows how good he could've been if he got drafted as an 18 or 19-year-old?

"That's my favourite pick because we got to draft a friend. The only problem with that is, now I feel so old because someone is going to draft his son (Jack). Imagine if you drafted the father and the son. I'm not sure that's happened too many times before.

"Jack is going really well and he's a great kid, so I hope he ends up on a list somewhere."

The youngest Callinan is a 179cm small forward who kicked 21 goals from 15 games for Tasmania in the Coates Talent League last season. He played for the AFL Academy side last Saturday, kicking one goal from 10 disposals against Carlton's VFL team.