PORT ADELAIDE holds a great hand at the 2018 AFL National Draft with three
After a strong trade period, the Power will go into the draft with picks 5,10 and 15 – holding three picks in the third round for just the third time.
In advance of the draft, portadelaidefc.com.au has taken a look at some of the best players to be taken with picks 5, 10 and 15 over the years.
In today’s third edition, we look at the best players taken with pick 15.
Pick 15
Troy Chaplin is a name Port Adelaide supporters would be familiar with after he played 140 games and kicked 10 goals for the club between 2004 and 2012. Selected with pick 15 in the 2003 draft from the North Ballarat Rebels, Chaplin became a reliable defender and was part of the Power side which made it to the 2007 AFL Grand Final. He left the club as a restricted free agent at the end of 2012 to join Richmond, where he managed another 75 games, retiring in 2016 at the age of 30 and moving into various coaching roles both with the Tigers and at Melbourne.
Brady Rawlings is a three-time best and fairest at North Melbourne who was a pick 15 back in 1998, while in more recent times Sydney star Zak Jones and Richmond livewire Daniel Rioli have been selected with pick 15 but there are two other stand-outs.
Scott Camporeale, taken with pick 15 in 1994, and went on to become a reliable and classy midfielder over a long career. He played 252 games for Carlton and Essendon, finishing with 205 goals. A Premiership player in 1995 with the Blues, he also won Carlton’s best and fairest award in 2000, the year he was also named All-Australian. An assistant coach with the Bombers until 2010, he returned home to South Australia to work for Adelaide as midfield coach.
Travis Varcoe’s career saw him land in Geelong after debuting in the SANFL at Central District as a 17-year-old. The Cats pounced in the 2005 draft and the skilful midfield/forward became a key contributor in the 2009 and 2011 premiership wins. After 138 games and 130 goals, he left Geelong to join Collingwood in 2014, going on to play another 67 games and kick 31 goals. He was particularly important as the Magpies made a run to the 2018 AFL Grand Final and was one of the better players in a losing side.
Pick 15 over the years
1994 Scott Camporeale from WWT to Carlton
1996 Max Hudghton from West Brisbane to St Kilda
1998 Brady Rawlings from Tasmania U18 to North Melbourne
2003 Troy Chaplin from North Ballarat U18 to Port Adelaide
2005 Travis Varcoe from Central District to Geelong
2013 Zak Jones from Dandenong U18 to Sydney
2015 Daniel Rioli from North Ballarat U18 to Richmond
