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Number 1 draft pick Aaron Cadman of GWS. (Photo by Darrian Traynor/AFL Photos/Getty Images)
The 2022 AFL Draft began on Monday, November 28 and will conclude on Tuesday, November 29. Night one will see the first round of draft picks selected, with night two to feature all other selections.
Aaron Cadman was selected by the GWS Giants with Pick 1 in the draft.
Brisbane, as expected, had to match a bid for father-son star Will Ashcroft with pick 2 in the draft. In 2021, the Western Bulldogs also matched a bid at pick 2 for their own father-son selection in Sam Darcy, while in 2020 the Bulldogs became the first team to match a bid at pick 1 when Adelaide bid on Academy prospect Jamarra Ugle-Hagan.
Check out the full draft order here.
2022 AFL Draft order
Round 1
Pick
Club
Player
1
GWS
Aaron Cadman
2
Brisbane
Will Ashcroft
3
North Melbourne
Harry Sheezel
4
North Melbourne
George Wardlaw
5
Essendon
Elijah Tsatas
6
Gold Coast
Bailey Humphrey
7
Hawthorn
Cameron Mackenzie
8
Geelong
Jhye Clark
9
West Coast
Reuben Ginbey
10
St Kilda
Mattaes Phillipou
11
Carlton
Oliver Hollands
12
Brisbane
Jaspa Fletcher
13
Western Bulldogs
Jedd Busslinger
14
West Coast
Elijah Hewett
15
Melbourne
Matthew Jefferson
16
GWS
Harry Rowston
17
Adelaide
Max Michalanney
18
Hawthorn
Joshua Weddle
19
Collingwood
Ed Allan
20
Sydney
Jacob Konstanty
21
GWS
Darcy Jones
Round 2
Pick
Club
Player
22
GWS
Max Gruzewski
23
West Coast
Harry Barnett
24
Western Bulldogs
Charlie Clarke
25
Essendon
Lewis Hayes
26
North Melbourne
Brayden George
27
Sydney
Cooper Vickery
28
Collingwood
Jakob Ryan
29
West Coast
Coby Burgiel
30
Carlton
Lachlan Cowan
31
St Kilda
James Van Es
32
Carlton
Jaxon Binns
33
Fremantle
Hugh Davies
34
GWS
Toby McMullin
35
St Kilda
Olli Hotton
36
Port Adelaide
Tom McCallum
37
Hawthorn
Henry Hustwaite
38
Melbourne
Jed Adams
Round 3
Pick
Club
Player
39
Western Bulldogs
Harvey Gallagher
40
Sydney
Caleb Mitchell
41
Fremantle
Tom Emmett
42
Fremantle
Max Knobel
43
Adelaide
Billy Dowling
44
St Kilda
Isaac Keeler
45
Essendon
Alwyn Davey
46
Hawthorn
Jack O’Sullivan
47
Carlton
Harry Lemmey
48
Collingwood
Joe Richards
49
Richmond
Kaleb Smith
50
Adelaide
Hugh Bond
51
Hawthorn
Bailey Macdonald
52
Geelong
Phoenix Foster
Round 4 onwards
Pick
Club
Player
53
Port Adelaide
Thomas Scully
54
Essendon
Jaden Davey
55
Richmond
Steely Green
56
North Melbourne
Cooper Harvey
57
Fremantle
Corey Wagner
58
West Coast
Noah Long
59
Port Adelaide
Kyle Marshall
Picks by club
Adelaide
17, 43, 50
Brisbane
2, 12
Carlton
11, 30, 32, 47
Collingwood
19, 28, 48
Essendon
5, 25, 45, 54
Fremantle
33, 41, 42, 57
Geelong Cats
8, 52
Gold Coast Suns
6
GWS
1, 16, 21, 22, 34
Hawthorn
7, 18, 37, 46, 51
Melbourne
15, 38
North Melbourne
3, 4, 26, 56
Port Adelaide
36, 53, 59
Richmond
49, 55
St Kilda
10, 31, 35, 44
Sydney Swans
20, 27, 40
West Coast
9, 14, 23, 29, 58
Western Bulldogs
13, 24, 39
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History Back in its VFL days, the national draft was introduced in 1981, allowing the Victorian teams to acquire interstate players depending on where they finished on the ladder.
It has since been expanded to include players from all locations, and is now the primary source of new talent for every AFL club.
The draft order is determined each year by awarding the clubs their draft picks in reverse finishing order – the club that finished last receives the first pick, and so on.
However, these picks can then change hands during the trade period and the final draft order is often quite different to the original one released after the end of the season.
After originally being held in 1981 and 1982, the draft was then not held again until 1986, but has been held in some form every year since.
For much of its early history, it was held in Victoria each year, but in recent times it has regularly been held interstate.
The draft was brought to the Gold Coast for the 2010 event, then to Sydney for 2011, and then returned to Gold Coast for several years, before being moved to Adelaide in 2015 and to Sydney again in 2016.
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The draft has returned to Melbourne for 2018, however.
The No.1 draft pick is always a prized possession, though clubs have gotten smarter about using it in modern times than they were in the past.
1987 No.1 pick Richard Lounder, for example, only ever played four games for his club, Richmond. But in recent times No.1 picks like Nick Riewoldt, Luke Hodge and Adam Cooney have won premierships, Brownlows, and become legends of the game.
In the table below is every No.1 draft pick in VFL/AFL history, from 1981 onwards.
