When the 2015 NAB AFL Draft kicks off in Adelaide on Tuesday, November 24, Western Bulldogs Recruiting Manager Simon Dalrymple and his team will arrive armed with picks, 20, 21, 30 and 51.
In the lead up to the draft meeting at the Adelaide Convention Centre, westernbulldogs.com.au will take a closer look at the history of each selection going back to the first national draft in 1986.
With one week to go until draft night, we start with pick 20.
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Coming at the top end of the second round, pick 20 has provided recruiters with a pretty solid return over the years, the most notable being 2015 Brownlow Medallist Nat Fyfe who was plucked from Claremont by the Fremantle Dockers in 2009.
The powerful midfielder dominated the competition in 2015, collecting his second All-Australian selection, the Leigh Matthews Trophy and Herald Sun Player of the Year Award to go along with the Brownlow, and at 24 years of age, Fyfe is the natural successor to Gary Ablett Jr’s place at the top of the AFL tree.
Western Bulldogs fans will recall 2002 as the year ruckman Will Minson arrived at Victoria University Whitten Oval as a raw 17 year old, recruited from SANFL club Norwood. Minson would go on to reward the faith shown by Bulldogs’ recruiters by being named a Rising Star Nominee in 2005 and the All-Australian ruckman in 2013.
Alongside Minson and Fyfe, Port Adelaide games record holder Kane Cornes, selected in 2000, is the third All-Australian on this list.
The Cornes resume is impressive. The two time All-Australian has four club Best and Fairest’s and a premiership medal to his name.
Another member of the pick 20/premiership player club is former Bomber’s hard man and current Gold Coast assistant coach Dean Solomon. Solomon was recruited from the Bendigo Pioneers in 1997, played 209 games and was a key player in the all-conquering 2000 Essendon premiership team.
The third premiership player on this list is veteran Eagles back pocket Sam Butler. Butler was drafted out of South Australia in 2003, was an AFL Rising Star nominee in 2004 and played in the 2006 West Coast premiership side.
If you’re looking for colourful personalities, pick 20 has delivered those too. Journeyman full forward Scott Cummings was drafted in 1992 by the Bombers out of Swan Districts in the WAFL. The 1999 Coleman Medallist would suit up for four clubs over his 128 game career, booting 349 goals before retiring as a Magpie in 2002.
If you’re keeping score, pick 20 has produced two club Best and Fairests, three All Australians, four Rising Star nominees and three premiership players. However, it’s only produced one club captain. Current Brisbane Lion’s assistant coach Adrian Fletcher was drafted out of Glenorchy in Tasmania by Geelong in 1988 and led the Fremantle Dockers for two seasons, 2000 and 2001.
Pick 20 will be the Bulldogs’ first foray into the 2015 draft, with the Club’s recruiters keen to add high-talent to the Bulldogs’ list, and another success story to sit alongside the stars, and a potential all-time great in Fyfe, that the pick has yielded.
ABOVE: Will Minson was drafted at pick 20 overall in the 2002 NAB AFL Draft.
