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 take a look at pick 21.
Draft History – A glance at Pick 20
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Pick 21 has not been a happy hunting ground for recruiters over the years, certainly when comparing it to the veritable gold mine that has been Pick 20. But that’s not to say it hasn’t produced its share of durable AFL careers.
The standout selection was Fremantle’s Hayden Ballantyne, picked up in 2008 after a Sandover Medal winning season with the WAFL’s Peel Thunder. While Ballantyne’s reputation as an on-field antagonist has sometimes preceded him, what’s been undisputed is ability to play the game and be one of the league’s most dangerous small forwards across his 121 career games to date. In 2014, the 28-year-old was named in the All-Australian team, and was the Docker’s leading goal kicker.
In 2012, the Western Bulldogs used their third first round selection on Northern Knights captain Nathan Hrovat. The 21 year old ball magnet was unlucky not to break into the senior side after a run of excellent form at VFL level in 2015, but there’s plenty to like about the 2014 Rising Star nominee’s game. In his top-age year as a junior, Hrovat was named Vic Metro’s Most Valuable Player for the national championships and also gained All Australian honours in that season.
The recently retired Matt Maguire was another player to commence his AFL career via selection 21 in the national draft. A linchpin of the St.Kilda defence for the first 99 games of his career – including four AFL Finals - after being drafted from the Geelong Falcons in 2001, Maguire made the move north to Brisbane at the end of the 2009 season and would play the final 71 games of his career for the Lions.
Another player who has had a mid-career move to the Gabba is 2010 Rising Star nominee, Ryan Bastinac. The promising 24 year old midfielder was drafted at pick 21 overall in 2009 draft from the Dandenong Stingrays by North Melbourne and is expected to slot right into the Lions’ midfield in 2016.
Sydney’s Tom Mitchell, son of 170 gamer Barry Mitchell, joined the Swans from Claremont in 2011 and joined Hrovat and Bastinac as the third recent Rising Star nominee drafted at pick 21.
ABOVE: Nathan Hrovat was drafted at pick 21 in the 2012 NAB AFL Draft
