Only one of the prior three made an appearance for the club, with Saverio Rocca playing 101 games after being taken in 2000. Paul McMahon and Rod Crowe were selected in 1997 and 2001 respectively.
There has only been one Pick 30 in the AFL to play more than 200 games and he was Brisbane father-son selection Jonathan Brown. Chosen in the 1999 Draft, he has gone on to kick 573 goals from 245 games.
With Pick 30 falling near the end of the second round, it opens up to a wide variety of players. It’s late enough in the order for a speculative selection, but it’s also early enough to pick up a slider who was projected to be in the first round.
Recent history has also shown players selected at pick 30 either end up at a different club or fail to finish their careers as one club players. Since 2000, six of the 13 selections have been multiple club players.
Pick 30 since 2000
2012: Mason Shaw, Port Adelaide
2011: Elliot Yeo, Brisbane (followed by West Coast)
2010: Jake Batchelor, Richmond
2009: Luke Ball, Collingwood (from St Kilda)
2008: Daniel Hannebery, Sydney
2007: Jarrhan Jacky, Adelaide
2006: Ricky Petterd, Melbourne (followed by Richmond)
2005: Nick Lower, Port Adelaide (followed by Fremantle, then Western Bulldogs)
2004: Andrew Lee, Essendon
2003: Brad Symes, Port Adelaide (followed by Adelaide)
2002: Daniel Merrett, Brisbane
2001: Rod Crowe, North Melbourne
2000: Saverio Rocca, North Melbourne (from Collingwood)
Before Mason Shaw went to Port Adelaide in 2012, Pick 30 had been almost key-position free for the previous decade. With the trade of Luke Delaney to St Kilda, the recruiting staff may make it two key-position players in successive years at the Draft.
