DRAFT MANIA
The December Pre-season Draft and National Rookie draft is being held next Tuesday 18 December at Colonial Stadium. The pre-season draft will commence at 9.00am followed by the rookie draft at 11.00am. Due to salary cap restrictions Essendon will not be participating in the pre-season draft even though they have three spots on their list. Essendon currently has 35 players on their list and two veterans – Paul Salmon and Steve Alessio, and one rookie – Marcus Kenny. In the rookie draft, Essendon has three selections – pick 15, 31 and 47. Recruitment Manager Adrian Dodoro believes the rookie draft is a fantastic opportunity to pick up young football talent. “The rookie draft is an extension of the National draft – that is how important it is. It is an opportunity to bring more players onto our list,” Dodoro said.
The December Pre-season Draft and National Rookie draft is being held next Tuesday 18 December at Colonial Stadium. The pre-season draft will commence at 9.00am followed by the rookie draft at 11.00am. Due to salary cap restrictions Essendon will not be participating in the pre-season draft even though they have three spots on their list. Essendon currently has 35 players on their list and two veterans – Paul Salmon and Steve Alessio, and one rookie – Marcus Kenny. In the rookie draft, Essendon has three selections – pick 15, 31 and 47. Recruitment Manager Adrian Dodoro believes the rookie draft is a fantastic opportunity to pick up young football talent. “The rookie draft is an extension of the National draft – that is how important it is. It is an opportunity to bring more players onto our list,” Dodoro said.
To be eligible for the rookie draft, the player needs to be under 23 years of age. Players that are not selected in the National Draft are eligible for the rookie draft. All AFL teams compete in the rookie draft and it is a good platform to commence an AFL career. Dean Rioli, Mark Johnson, Cory McGrath and Damien Peverill all began their AFL careers as rookies. “The rookie draft has been a beneficial development for the Essendon Football Club. We have been able to draft quality football players that may not have had an opportunity to play AFL football,” Dodoro said.
Last week the AFL introduced a new rule into the rookie draft – clubs that don’t have veterans on their list can draft two rookies straight onto their senior list. Previously for a rookie to play senior football, a listed player needed to be put on long-term injury list for a two-month period. “This new rule is an advantage to clubs that don’t have players on their veterans list. We have two veterans on our list, so for us to play a rookie at senior level, a listed player needs to go on the long-term injury list – similar to what happened with Joe Misiti and Damien Peverill last season,” Dodoro said.
Full coverage of the draft will be on the BomberLand website next week.
