Two nights of high emotion resulted in 71 players realising their AFL dream at the draft, but which clubs emerged as winners and losers may not be known for years.

We looked at each club’s draft haul and heard from recruiting and list managers to explain their strategy.

Sid Draper, Finn O’Sullivan, Sam Lalor, Jagga Smith and Levi Ashcroft show off their new jumpers.Credit: Getty Images

Sid Draper (4), Tyler Welsh (59)
The Crows landed the powerfully built local midfielder who has barracked for Adelaide all his life when they called out Draper’s name. He is exactly what they need: an excellent stoppage player, with enough power to explode from contests. He could make an immediate impact at AFL level. Draper was South Australian skipper at under-18 level and All-Australian after the championships. His arrival is a perfect result for the Crows, who also added the son of four-time leading goalkicker Tyler Welsh. The 18-year-old played for Adelaide’s reserves in 2024. - Peter Ryan

Draper: “It means so much to me to wear this jumper. [It’s] the team that I’ve supported for so long and my family has, so we’re all just so excited, happy and grateful. It was a bit of a blur, [but] I do remember the emotions of excitement, joy, a bit of relief, all of those.”

Levi Ashcroft (5), Sam Marshall (25), Ty Gallop (42)
Collecting a player who many good judges rate as the best-performed junior in the draft crop as a father-son is a massive bonus for the premiership Lions. Ashcroft is good enough to step straight into the team alongside his Norm Smith-winning medal brother Will to lead Brisbane into the post-Lachie Neale era. Marshall arrived as an academy graduate after being at school in Victoria for three years and will complement the midfield, while Gallop is a big raw forward who will develop alongside former Sun Sam Day, an upcoming pick in the pre-season draft. - Peter Ryan

Stephen Conole (recruiting manager): “It was great bringing elite talent into the club. We had plenty of points to play around with when Levi and Sam went as far back as we thought they would.”

Jagga Smith (3), Harry O’Farrell (40), Ben Camporeale (43), Lucas Camporeale (54)
Carlton traded out their future first- and second-round picks to get Hawthorn’s 14 this year, which allowed them to trade pick 12 (which they already had) and pick 14 for West Coast’s pick three. The Blues were adamant they had several players in mind when they made the move, and they chose ball magnet Smith after the Kangaroos snagged another option, Finn O’Sullivan. Smith has been destined to be selected high in the national draft for many years as he never plays a bad game. He is slight, but don’t let that fool you. He wins the ball at will and can use his quick hands and feet to extract the ball from the centre. An excellent addition to the Blues’ midfield. The club is also adding talls – O’Farrell, the son of lawyer Peter (who has been instrumental in getting key Blues off at the tribunal), was added with the final second-round pick. He can play at either ends but is a key defender, an area of real need. Then the Blues waited for the bids to come in for the Camporeale twins, sons of premiership wingman Scott. Carlton were rapt the bids did not come for the pair until after pick 40. - Peter Ryan

Jagga Smith with his new coach, Michael Voss.Credit: Getty Images

List manager Nick Austin: “Jagga, Ben and Lucas certainly help our transition game, and Harry, for a tall guy, is very athletic, a beautiful kick for his size. We’re really excited for the guys we’ve brought in the last couple of days.”

Joel Cochran (47), Charlie West (50), Will Hayes (56)

The Magpies were interested in filling positional needs, nabbing a tall defender and forward. They made a bid on tall defender Cochran from Sydney’s academy, knowing the Swans were unlikely to match it. Cochran won the two-kilometre time trial at the draft combine and could replace the retired Nathan Murphy. They had their eyes on West as a possible option in the third round. He was an excellent player in the SANFL under-18s grand final with Woodville West-Torrens and will be a long-term project. The players value his bulk and strength as a bullocking forward. List boss Justin Leppitsch could hardly hide his excitement when discussing Hayes, a lightly built wingman who played well for Western Australia in the under-18 championships. He is good at ground level and adds fizz to the game. - Peter Ryan

Charlie West in action at the AFL combine.Credit: AFL Photos

Leppitsch: “It was a really important draft for us in positional needs, a key defender, a key forward and then add a little bit of pace and excitement with our last pick. It’s never easy for our recruiters when we are picking so late in the draft.”

Isaac Kako (13), Kayle Gerreyn (37), Angus Clarke (39), Rhys Unwin (61), Zak Johnson (70)

Despite some negative reaction, the Bombers did well to trade out of the first round of this year’s draft as a bid was likely to come before their first selection if they had hung on to pick nine. Instead, they secured Melbourne’s first-round pick for next season and later picks in this draft for nine and a future third-round pick while landing Kako, an exciting small forward, with a matched bid. That is a coup because the Bombers started the trade and draft period with pick eight (it became nine after St Kilda received compensation for Josh Battle) and pick 28. They opted for agile Western Australian ruckman........

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