This week, the GIANTS will welcome the draft class of 2018.
The club has three first round picks, and seven all up, with selections 9, 11, 19, 25, 52, 85 and 92 heading into the 2018 NAB AFL Draft at Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium on Thursday and Friday - those numbers could shift with the introduction of live pick trading, though.
With picks 52, 85 and 92 coming later in the draft, the GIANTS recruiting staff will be looking to uncover a few gems.
With their track record, there’s every chance they will find a number of quality players to pull on the orange and charcoal.
In the 50s
In the past two seasons, the GIANTS have made very handy selections in the 50s, with former Docker Matt de Boer joining the club via pick 58 in 2016, while forward Zac Langdon made his way to the GIANTS as a mature-age recruit with pick 56 in 2017.
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De Boer’s impact at the club has been significant, playing 15 games in his first season before being elevated to the GIANTS’ leadership group in 2018 and playing another 15 games.
Langdon impressed enough in his first pre-season to earn the call-up to play against the Western Bulldogs in round one of the 2018 AFL season, and went on to play 21 of a possible 24 games, kicking 21 goals.
In the 80s
GIANTS Academy product Jeremy Finlayson came to the club even further down the order, with pick 85 in the 2014 NAB AFL Draft.
Seen as a longer-term project, Finlayson’s debut in 2017 was cut short by injury, but he made a strong start to the 2018 season playing 14 games, with his long and accurate kicks a big feature of his game.
By the numbers
The GIANTS have never previously held picks 19, 25 or 52 in their previous appearances at the National Draft.
In 2011, pick 9 was used to select Adam Tomlinson, while pick 11 has previously been used to bring Toby Greene (2011) and Aiden Bonar (2017), and Finlayson was the club’s previous number 85 pick.
The GIANTS had pick 92 in the 2011 Draft but did not use it.
