2016 AFL draft

Not to be confused with 2016 AFL Women's draft.
2016 AFL draft
General information
Date(s) 25 November 2016
28 November 2016
Time 7:00 pm AEDT (25 November)
4:00 pm AEDT (28 November)
Location Hordern Pavilion,
Sydney, New South Wales
Network(s) Fox Footy
Sponsored by National Australia Bank
Overview
League AFL
First selection Andrew McGrath (Essendon)

The 2016 AFL draft consisted of the various periods where the 18 clubs in the Australian Football League (AFL) could trade and recruit players following the completion of the 2016 AFL season. Additions to each club's playing list are not allowed at any other time during the year.

The key dates for the trading and drafting periods were:

  • The free agency offer period; held between 7 October and 19 October. Three further free agency periods were held for delisted players, between 1 November and 8 November, 10 November to 18 November, and 26 November to 27 November,
  • The trade period; held between 10 October and 20 October,
  • The 2016 national draft; held on 25 November, at the Hordern Pavilion, which included live bidding for academy and father-son selections.
  • The 2017 pre-season draft; which was to be held on 28 November, but was cancelled when all clubs declined to take part, and
  • The 2017 rookie draft; which was held on 28 November.

Player movements

Previous trades

The 2015 AFL draft included a new initiative whereby clubs could trade future picks; through this scheme, fourteen picks in the 2016 draft were traded prior to the commencement of the 2016 trade period:

Round Original club New club How acquired Ref
1 Collingwood Greater Western Sydney Adam Treloar trade
1 Geelong Greater Western Sydney via Carlton (Lachie Henderson trade)
on-traded to Greater Western Sydney for Lamb, Phillips, Plowman, Sumner
1 Melbourne Gold Coast Pick swap
2 Adelaide Greater Western Sydney Curtly Hampton trade
2 Fremantle Gold Coast Pick swap
2 Port Adelaide Gold Coast Charlie Dixon trade
2 Richmond Gold Coast Charlie Dixon trade
2 St Kilda Brisbane Lions via Collingwood (Nathan Freeman trade)
on-traded to Brisbane Lions for James Aish
3 Brisbane Lions Geelong Jarrad Jansen and Josh Walker trade
3 North Melbourne Brisbane Lions Ryan Bastinac trade
3 Western Bulldogs Carlton Pick swap
4 Carlton Western Bulldogs Pick swap
4 Sydney Western Bulldogs Michael Talia trade
5 Greater Western Sydney Geelong Steve Johnson trade

Trades

2016 AFL trade period
No. Player(s) Traded from Traded to Traded for Ref
1 Cam McCarthy Greater Western Sydney Fremantle Pick 3
Pick 7
Pick 34
Pick 72
2 Bradley Hill Hawthorn Fremantle Pick 23
3 Pick 2 Brisbane Lions Greater Western Sydney Pick 3
Pick 31
Pick 51 Pick 16
Pick 60
4 Jack Steele Greater Western Sydney St Kilda 2017 second round pick (St Kilda)
5 Sam Mitchell Hawthorn West Coast Pick 52
Pick 54 Pick 70
Pick 72 Pick 88
6 Tom Mitchell Sydney Hawthorn Pick 14
Pick 57 Pick 52
7 Pick 10 St Kilda Hawthorn 2017 first round pick (Hawthorn)
Pick 23
Pick 68 Pick 36
8 Paul Ahern Greater Western Sydney North Melbourne Pick 69
9 Pearce Hanley Brisbane Lions Gold Coast Pick 22
Pick 19 Port Adelaide 2017 first round pick (Port Adelaide)
Pick 30 Gold Coast Pick 67
10 Jordan Lewis Hawthorn Melbourne Pick 48
Pick 57
Pick 68 Pick 66
11 Joel Hamling Western Bulldogs Fremantle Pick 35
Pick 40 Pick 43
Pick 63 Pick 61
12 Michael Hibberd Essendon Melbourne Pick 29
Pick 59 Pick 68
13 Dion Prestia Gold Coast Richmond Pick 6
Pick 24 2017 second round pick (Richmond)
14 Toby Nankervis Sydney Richmond Pick 46
15 Jarrod Witts Collingwood Gold Coast Pick 44
Pick 62
16 Pick 26 Gold Coast Western Bulldogs Pick 35
Pick 80 Pick 43
17 Nathan Hrovat Western Bulldogs North Melbourne 2017 third round pick (North Melbourne)
2017 third round pick (Western Bulldogs)
2017 fourth round pick (Western Bulldogs) 2017 fourth round pick (North Melbourne)
18 Shane Kersten Geelong Fremantle Pick 63
19 Billie Smedts Geelong Carlton Zach Tuohy
Pick 63
2017 first round pick (Geelong) 2017 second round pick (Carlton)
20 Josh Caddy Geelong Richmond Pick 24
Pick 56 Pick 64
21 Pick 31 Greater Western Sydney Sydney Pick 39
Pick 52
22 Jarryd Lyons Adelaide Gold Coast Pick 43
Pick 71 Pick 67
23 Pat McKenna Greater Western Sydney Melbourne Pick 57
Pick 51
Pick 69 Pick 59
24 Nathan Vardy Geelong West Coast Pick 72
25 Travis Cloke Collingwood Western Bulldogs Pick 76
26 James Stewart Greater Western Sydney Essendon Pick 77
27 Aaron Black North Melbourne Geelong Pick 92
28 Will Hoskin-Elliott Greater Western Sydney Collingwood 2017 second round pick (Collingwood)
29 Jack Frost Collingwood Brisbane Lions 2017 third round pick (Brisbane Lions)
Pick 76
2017 third round pick (Collingwood) 2017 fourth round pick (Brisbane Lions)
30 Lynden Dunn Melbourne Collingwood Pick 47
Pick 51
31 Marley Williams Collingwood North Melbourne Pick 105
32 Koby Stevens Western Bulldogs St Kilda Pick 50
Pick 61
2017 fourth round pick (North Melbourne) 2017 fifth round pick (St Kilda)
33 Brett Deledio Richmond Greater Western Sydney 2017 first round pick (Geelong)
2017 third round pick (Greater Western Sydney)
34 Caleb Marchbank Greater Western Sydney Carlton Pick 45
Jarrod Pickett Pick 58
2017 second round pick (Greater Western Sydney) 2017 first round pick (Geelong)
35 Rhys Palmer Greater Western Sydney Carlton Pick 135
36 Pick 35 Gold Coast Fremantle Pick 73
Pick 71
2017 fourth round pick (Gold Coast) 2017 second round pick (Fremantle)
37 Jaeger O'Meara Gold Coast Hawthorn Pick 10
2017 second round pick (Hawthorn)
38 Pick 9 Port Adelaide Sydney Pick 14
Pick 19 Pick 17
Pick 49 Pick 31
39 Pick 48 Hawthorn Carlton 2017 second round pick (Greater Western Sydney)
Pick 66
Pick 70
Note
  • The numbering of the draft picks in this list may be different to the agreed draft picks at the time of the trade, due to adjustments from either the insertion of free agency compensation draft picks or clubs exiting the draft before later rounds.

Free agency

See also: Free agent
2016 AFL free agency period signings
Player Date Free agent type Former club New club Compensation Ref
Ty Vickery 10 October 2016 Restricted Richmond Hawthorn 2nd round
Daniel Wells 11 October 2016 Unrestricted North Melbourne Collingwood 2nd round
Chris Mayne 12 October 2016 Unrestricted Fremantle Collingwood 2nd round
Nathan Brown 16 October 2016 Restricted Collingwood St Kilda None
James Kelly 4 November 2016 Delisted Essendon Essendon —
Matt Dea 4 November 2016 Delisted Essendon Essendon —
Michael Barlow 8 November 2016 Delisted Fremantle Gold Coast —
Ricky Henderson 8 November 2016 Delisted Adelaide Hawthorn —
Josh Green 15 November 2016 Delisted Brisbane Lions Essendon —
Note
  • Due to James Kelly and Matt Dea being signed as top up players because of the 2012 Essendon supplements saga, they had to be delisted and then re-signed in order to stay on Essendon's list.

Retirements and delistings

2016 national draft

The Brisbane Lions received a priority pick at the end of the first round (pick 19) after a request by the club to the AFL commission was accepted. It was the first time a priority pick was given to a club since the rules regarding priority selections were changed in 2012. This pick was later on-traded to Port Adelaide as part of the Pearce Hanley trade to Gold Coast, before the Sydney Swans ended up with it by the trade deadline.

A change was made to the rules concerning academy and father-son selections which allowed clubs to begin the draft with only as many draft picks as it had empty positions on its playing list. This was intended to end the practice which had taken place the previous year in which clubs with academies had traded down the draft order to accumulate a large number of mid- and low-range draft picks specifically to use on academy bids.

Final draft order
^ Denotes player who has been inducted to the Australian Football Hall of Fame
* Denotes player who has been a premiership player and been selected for at least one All-Australian team
+ Denotes player who has been a premiership player at least once
x Denotes player who has been selected for at least one All-Australian team
# Denotes player who has never played in a VFL/AFL home and away season or finals game
~ Denotes player who has been selected as Rising Star
Round Pick Player Drafted to Recruited from League Notes
1 1 Andrew McGrath Essendon Sandringham Dragons TAC Cup
1 2 Tim Taranto Greater Western Sydney Sandringham Dragons TAC Cup Traded from Brisbane Lions
1 3 Hugh McCluggage Brisbane Lions North Ballarat Rebels TAC Cup Traded from Greater Western Sydney; received from Fremantle
1 4 Ben Ainsworth Gold Coast Gippsland Power TAC Cup
1 5 Will Setterfield Greater Western Sydney Sandringham Dragons TAC Cup Academy player, Carlton's bid matched with picks 15 and 37.
1 6 Sam Petrevski-Seton Carlton Claremont WAFL
1 7 Jack Scrimshaw Gold Coast Sandringham Dragons TAC Cup Traded from Richmond
1 8 Griffin Logue Fremantle Swan Districts WAFL Traded from Greater Western Sydney; received from Collingwood
1 9 Will Brodie Gold Coast Murray Bushrangers TAC Cup Traded from Melbourne
1 10 Jack Bowes Gold Coast Cairns AFL Cairns Academy player, Sydney's bid matched with pick 11.
1 11 Oliver Florent Sydney Sandringham Dragons TAC Cup Traded from Port Adelaide
1 12 Jy Simpkin North Melbourne Murray Bushrangers TAC Cup
1 13 Daniel Venables West Coast Western Jets TAC Cup
1 14 Harry Perryman Greater Western Sydney Collingullie-Glenfield Park RFNL Academy player, Adelaide's bid matched with picks 38, 44 and 51.
1 15 Jordan Gallucci Adelaide Eastern Ranges TAC Cup
1 16 Todd Marshall Port Adelaide Murray Bushrangers TAC Cup Traded from Sydney; received from Hawthorn
1 17 Jarrod Berry Brisbane Lions North Ballarat Rebels TAC Cup Traded from Greater Western Sydney; received from Carlton; received from Geelong
1 18 Sam Powell-Pepper Port Adelaide East Perth WAFL Traded from Sydney
1 19 Tim English Western Bulldogs South Fremantle WAFL
1 20 Isaac Cumming Greater Western Sydney North Broken Hill BHFL Academy player, Sydney's bid matched with picks 52, 54, 55 and 56.
Priority 21 Will Hayward Sydney North Adelaide SANFL Traded from Port Adelaide; received from Brisbane Lions
2 22 Jordan Ridley Essendon Oakleigh Chargers TAC Cup
2 23 Alex Witherden Brisbane Lions Geelong Falcons TAC Cup
2 24 Cedric Cox Brisbane Lions North Ballarat Rebels TAC Cup Traded from Gold Coast; received from Fremantle
2 25 Ben Long St Kilda NT Thunder NEAFL Traded from Hawthorn; received from Fremantle; free agency compensation pick (Mayne)
2 26 Brandan Parfitt Geelong NT Thunder NEAFL Traded from Richmond; received from Gold Coast
2 27 Zac Fisher Carlton Perth WAFL
2 28

Patrick Lipinski

Western Bulldogs Northern Knights TAC Cup Traded from Gold Coast; received from Richmond
2 29 Shai Bolton Richmond South Fremantle WAFL Free agency compensation pick (Vickery)
2 30 Sam McLarty Collingwood Oakleigh Chargers TAC Cup
2 31 Josh Begley Essendon Eastern Ranges TAC Cup Traded from Melbourne
2 32 Joe Atley Port Adelaide Bendigo Pioneers TAC Cup Traded from Gold Coast; received from Port Adelaide
2 33 Willem Drew Port Adelaide North Ballarat Rebels TAC Cup Traded from Sydney; received from Greater Western Sydney; received from Brisbane Lions; received from Collingwood; received from St Kilda
2 34 Declan Watson North Melbourne Aspley NEAFL Academy eligible, but the Brisbane Lions did not match the bid
2 35 Callum Brown Collingwood Eastern Ranges TAC Cup Father–son rule selection (son of Gavin Brown); North Melbourne's bid matched with pick 44.
2 36 Josh Williams North Melbourne Surfers Paradise QAFL Free agency compensation pick (Wells)
2 37 Josh Rotham West Coast West Perth WAFL
2 38 Sean Darcy Fremantle Geelong Falcons TAC Cup Traded from Gold Coast, received from Western Bulldogs; received from Fremantle; received from Greater Western Sydney; received from Adelaide
2 39 Josh Battle St Kilda Dandenong Stingrays TAC Cup Traded from Hawthorn
2 40 Tom Stewart Geelong Geelong VFL
2 41 Brennan Cox Fremantle Woodville-West Torrens SANFL Traded from Western Bulldogs
3 42 Kobe Mutch Essendon Bendigo Pioneers TAC Cup Academy eligible, but Greater Western Sydney did not match the bid
3 43 Esava Ratugolea Geelong Murray Bushrangers TAC Cup Traded from Brisbane Lions
3 44 Myles Poholke Adelaide Dandenong Stingrays TAC Cup Traded from Gold Coast; received from Western Bulldogs; received from Fremantle
3 45 Jack Maibaum Sydney Eastern Ranges TAC Cup Traded from Richmond
3 46 Mitch Hannan Melbourne Footscray VFL Traded from Collingwood
3 47 Harrison Macreadie Carlton Henty HFL Academy eligible, but Greater Western Sydney did not match the bid; traded from Hawthorn; received from Melbourne
3 48

Darcy Cameron

Sydney Claremont WAFL Traded from Port Adelaide
3 49 Lewis Young Western Bulldogs Sturt SANFL Traded from St Kilda
3 50 Kayle Kirby Collingwood Bendigo Pioneers TAC Cup Traded from Melbourne; received from Greater Western Sydney; received from Brisbane Lions; received from North Melbourne
3 51 Elliott Himmelberg Adelaide Redland NEAFL
3 52 Willie Rioli West Coast Glenelg SANFL Traded from Hawthorn
3 53 Jack Graham Richmond North Adelaide SANFL Traded from Geelong
4 54 Lachlan Tiziani Greater Western Sydney Murray Bushrangers TAC Cup Academy player, traded from Melbourne; received from Essendon
4 55 Jacob Allison Brisbane Lions Aspley NEAFL Academy player
4 56 Ed Phillips St Kilda Oakleigh Chargers TAC Cup Traded from Western Bulldogs, received from Fremantle
4 57

Josh Daicos

Collingwood Oakleigh Chargers TAC Cup Father–son rule selection (son of Peter Daicos); traded from Gold Coast
4 58 Matt de Boer Greater Western Sydney Fremantle AFL
4 59 Cameron Polson Carlton Sandringham Dragons TAC Cup Traded from Geelong; received from Fremantle; received from Western Bulldogs; received from Carlton
4 60 Quinton Narkle Geelong Perth WAFL Traded from Richmond
4 61 Tom Williamson Carlton North Ballarat Rebels TAC Cup Traded from Hawthorn; received from Melbourne
4 62 Matthew Signorello Adelaide Northern Knights TAC Cup Traded from Gold Coast; received from Port Adelaide
4 63 Dylan Clarke Essendon Eastern Ranges TAC Cup Traded from Melbourne; received Hawthorn; received from St Kilda
4 64 Dion Johnstone Melbourne Oakleigh Chargers TAC Cup Traded from Greater Western Sydney; received from North Melbourne
4 65 Pat Kerr Carlton Oakleigh Chargers TAC Cup Traded from Hawthorn; received from West Coast
4 66 Luke Ryan Fremantle Coburg VFL Traded from Gold Coast, received from Adelaide
4 67 Brad Scheer Gold Coast Palm Beach Currumbin QAFL Academy player
4 68 Timm House Geelong Geelong VFL Traded from West Coast; received from Hawthorn
4 69 Ryan Abbott Geelong Grovedale GFL
4 70 Fergus Greene Western Bulldogs Bendigo Pioneers TAC Cup Traded from Sydney
5 71 Corey Lyons Brisbane Lions Sandringham Dragons TAC Cup Traded from Collingwood, received from Western Bulldogs
5 72 Ryan Garthwaite Richmond Murray Bushrangers TAC Cup Academy eligible, but Greater Western Sydney did not match the bid
5 73 Nick Larkey North Melbourne Oakleigh Chargers TAC Cup
5 74 Harry Morrison Hawthorn Murray Bushrangers TAC Cup Traded from West Coast
5 75 Ben Davis Adelaide UNSW Sydney AFL Academy eligible, but Sydney did not match the bid
5 76 Mitchell Lewis Hawthorn Calder Cannons TAC Cup
6 77 Jake Waterman West Coast Claremont WAFL Father–son rule selection (son of Chris Waterman)
Notes
  • Free agency compensation picks are additional selections awarded to teams based on their net loss of players during the free agency trade period.
  • Academy players are local zone selections available to the four New South Wales and Queensland clubs. Both academy and father-son selections are subject to a bidding process, where the club with the family or academy connection must match any opposition club's bid with their next available selection.

Rookie elevations

Clubs were able to promote any player who was listed on their rookie list in 2016 to their 2017 primary playing list prior to the draft.

Player Club Ref.
Reilly O'Brien Adelaide
Archie Smith Brisbane Lions
Ciaran Byrne Carlton
Lachlan Keeffe Collingwood
Josh Smith Collingwood
Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti Essendon
Conor McKenna Essendon
Tom Ruggles Geelong
Jesse Joyce Gold Coast
Kade Stewart Hawthorn
Josh Wagner Melbourne
Majak Daw North Melbourne
Braydon Preuss North Melbourne
Nathan Krakouer Port Adelaide
Jayden Short Richmond
Jason Holmes St Kilda
Tom Papley Sydney
Nic Newman Sydney
Harrison Marsh Sydney
Jordan Foote Sydney

2017 rookie draft

Round Pick Player Drafted to Recruited from League Notes
1 1 Sam Draper Essendon South Adelaide SANFL
1 2 Jake Barrett Brisbane Lions Greater Western Sydney AFL
1 3 Taylin Duman Fremantle Oakleigh Chargers TAC Cup
1 4 Keegan Brooksby Gold Coast Gold Coast AFL
1 5 Kym LeBois Carlton North Adelaide SANFL
1 6 Tyson Stengle Richmond Woodville-West Torrens SANFL
1 7 Mitch McCarthy Collingwood Dandenong Stingrays TAC Cup
1 8 Lachlan Filipovic Melbourne Sandringham Dragons TAC Cup
1 9 Peter Ladhams Port Adelaide Norwood SANFL
1 10 Rowan Marshall St Kilda North Ballarat VFL
1 11 Cameron Zurhaar North Melbourne East Fremantle WAFL
1 12 Thomas Gorter West Coast East Perth WAFL
1 13 Sam Shaw Adelaide Adelaide AFL Shaw retired on 9 November 2016, but was retained on the club's 2017 list to help with medical costs for concussion treatment.
1 14 Oliver Hanrahan Hawthorn St Kevin's College APS
1 15 Tendai Mzungu Greater Western Sydney Fremantle AFL
1 16 Jack Henry Geelong Geelong Falcons TAC Cup
1 17 Ben Ronke Sydney Calder Cannons TAC Cup
1 18 Nathan Mullenger-McHugh Western Bulldogs Eastern Ranges TAC Cup
2 19 Shaun McKernan Essendon Essendon AFL
2 20 Mitch Hinge Brisbane Lions Glenelg SANFL
2 21 Luke Strnadica Fremantle East Fremantle WAFL
2 22 Cameron Loersch Gold Coast Gold Coast AFL
2 23 Alex Silvagni Carlton Fremantle AFL
2 24 Henry Schade Collingwood Gold Coast AFL
2 25 Tim Smith Melbourne Casey VFL
2 26 Brett Eddy Port Adelaide South Adelaide SANFL
2 27 Passed St Kilda
2 28 Oscar Junker North Melbourne Western Jets TAC Cup
2 29 Drew Petrie West Coast North Melbourne AFL
2 30 Passed Adelaide
2 31 Jack Fitzpatrick Hawthorn Hawthorn AFL
2 32 Joel Patfull Greater Western Sydney Greater Western Sydney AFL Patfull retired on 12 October 2016, but was retained on GWS's 2017 list due to Total Player Payment obligations.
2 33 Zach Guthrie Geelong Calder Cannons TAC Cup
2 34 Robbie Fox Sydney Coburg VFL
2 35 Josh Prudden Western Bulldogs Western Bulldogs AFL
3 36 Yestin Eades Essendon Essendon AFL
3 37 Oscar McInerney Brisbane Lions Casey VFL
3 38 Brady Grey Fremantle Fremantle AFL
3 39 Andrew Gallucci Carlton Carlton AFL
3 40 Liam Mackie Collingwood Glenelg SANFL
3 41 Declan Keilty Melbourne Casey VFL
3 42 Jarrod Lienert Port Adelaide Sturt SANFL
3 43 Matthew Taylor North Melbourne Perth WAFL
3 44 Fraser McInnes West Coast West Coast AFL
3 45 Ben Jarman Adelaide North Adelaide SANFL Father–son rule selection (son of Darren Jarman)
3 46 James Cousins Hawthorn Murray Bushrangers TAC Cup
3 47 Passed Greater Western Sydney
3 48 Jamaine Jones Geelong North Ballarat Rebels TAC Cup
3 49 Shaun Edwards Sydney Essendon AFL
4 50 Josh Deluca Fremantle Fremantle AFL
4 51 Max Lynch Collingwood Murray Bushrangers TAC Cup
4 52 Passed Greater Western Sydney
4 53 Sam Simpson Geelong Geelong Falcons TAC Cup Father–son rule selection (son of Sean Simpson)
4 54 Toby Pink Sydney Glenelg SANFL
5 55 Passed Sydney

Category B rookie selections

During the trade period, clubs could nominate category B rookies to join their club.

Player Club Origin Note Ref.
Matt Eagles Brisbane Lions North Ballarat Winner of The Recruit
Blake Grewar Brisbane Lions Redland Queensland zone selection
Ciarán Sheehan Carlton Cork GAA, Carlton International selection (Ireland)
Ben McNiece Essendon Essendon (VFL) Next Generation Academy zone selection (mother born in India)
Mark O'Connor Geelong Kerry GAA International selection (Ireland)
Max Spencer Gold Coast Palm Beach Currumbin Queensland zone selection
Jake Stein Greater Western Sydney Athletics 3-year non-registered player (athletics)
Zach Sproule Greater Western Sydney Murray Bushrangers NSW zone selection
Conor Nash Hawthorn Meath GAA International selection (Ireland)
Corey Maynard Melbourne Townsville Crocodiles (NBL) 3-year non-registered player (basketball)
Emmanuel Irra Port Adelaide South Adelaide Next Generation Academy zone selection (born in Uganda)
Ray Connellan St Kilda Westmeath GAA International selection (Ireland)
Darragh Joyce St Kilda Kilkenny GAA International selection (Ireland)
Sam Fisher Sydney Canberra NSW zone selection
Tarir Bayok West Coast East Perth Next Generation Academy zone selection (born in Sudan)
Francis Watson West Coast Claremont Next Generation Academy zone selection (Indigenous)
Tristan Tweedie Western Bulldogs Eastern Ranges Next Generation Academy zone selection (Indigenous)

See also