What is the Rookie Draft
The rookie draft, held the afternoon after the national draft finishes, is a much shorter affair, with an average of 24 selections taken in the past three rookie drafts.
Players taken here are added to a club's rookie list, rather than the senior list. It used to be that rookie-listed players had to be upgraded to the senior list in order to play at AFL level. But that is no longer the case, so being on the rookie list doesn't make much of a difference for the player.
Clubs have recently used the rookie draft to 're-draft' players they have recently delisted. Under AFL rules, clubs must have at least three list senior list vacancies in order to take part in the national draft. Before the national draft, clubs will delist a player to open up a senior list spot, but commit to re-drafting that player in the rookie draft. This year, clubs have delisted a total of 16 players and committed to taking them in the rookie draft.
Other players taken in the rookie draft are primarily those who were overlooked in the national draft. During the national draft, you may hear about a club opting to wait for the rookie draft to pick up a player, rather than using up a primary list spot on them at the national draft.
The draft order for the rookie draft is reverse ladder position. It is not possible to trade and swap rookie draft picks.
How Many Picks Can Geelong Make
With a handful of list spots still open, Geelong can make up to three selections in the rookie draft this afternoon.
In 2023 the Cats made one selection (Emerson Jeka), while making two picks the previous year in 2022 (Oscar Murdoch, Osca Riccardi).
Geelong's Rookie History
The Cats currently have eight nine players on the list that were initially on their rookie list.
Among those players are premiership stars such as Mark Blicavs, Zach Guthrie, Jack Henry, Tom Atkins, Brad Close and Tyson Stengle.
Young guns Ollie Dempsey and Ted Clohesy both started their AFL journey on the rookie list, while Irish recruit Cillian Burke will join that list in 2025.
Other Geelong players to be drafted as a rookie include Zach Tuohy, Max Rooke, James Podsiadly and Shannon Byrnes.
When Does it Start
The rookie draft is set to kick off around 3.00pm AEDT, on Friday the 22nd of November.
Stay tuned to AFL.com.au to see who the Cats select.
