On Monday night, North Melbourne will present two of the three most talented junior players in the country with blue and white jumpers.

It will be an unusual feeling for Roos fans.

Having very rarely bottomed out, the club's first pick has often been in the mid to late first round, so it has always been imperative to nail late selections as well.

Next week's haul will be the cream of the crop as things stand, but the late-blooming talent is worthy of celebration, too.

For the purposes of this exercise, we're only looking at selections from the third round of the draft onward, including the pre-season and rookie drafts.

In no particular order, here are North Melbourne's 10 greatest draft steals of all time.

Nick Larkey - Pick 73, 2016

A scholarly student, a talented artist and musician, Larkey perhaps didn't live and breathe football like his peers, but raw key position talent is rare and Roos recruiters saw enough to snap him up with a fifth-round selection.

Early in his career Ben Brown and Jarrad Waite were preferred in the seniors, so 'Souv' served his apprenticeship with the reserves, and won the 'Frosty' Miller Medal as the competition's leading goalkicker in 2018.

A regular in the ones ever since, Larkey has booted 120 goals over the past four years, and will form a potent combination with Cam Zurhaar, Charlie Comben and Paul Curtis over the coming seasons.

Ben Brown – Pick 47, 2013

Drafted from Tasmanian State League club Glenorchy as a versatile tall, Brown broke into the team as a pillar of the forward line late in his first season.

Possessing strong hands, persistent leading patterns and a deadly accurate set shot, the Tasmanian booted 188 goals from 2017 to 2019, the most of any player in the competition over that span. Inexplicably, he wasn't once selected in the All-Australian team.

Brown was traded to Melbourne in late 2020, and went on to play in the Demons' drought-breaking premiership the following season. 

Lindsay Thomas – Pick 53, 2006

A crumbing small forward, Thomas was drafted in the fourth round from Port Adelaide, where he would return for his final AFL season.

His flexibility and resilience was reflected in the strong chemistry he built in an ever-changing forward line, early on with David Hale and Drew Petrie and later with Brown and Waite.

Thomas finished with an impressive tally of 205 games and 325 goals.

Andrew Swallow – Pick 43, 2005

Swallow's younger brother David was Gold Coast's first ever selection at No.1 in 2010, but the Kangaroos paid a significantly lower price for the elder.

A clearance-winner with a big frame, capable of accelerating out of congestion, his game was nevertheless built on relentless pressure. 'Spitter' was a top-five tackler in the game in 2009-10, 2012 and 2015-16.

The West Australian went on to captain the club from 2012 to 2016, and retired a three-time Syd Barker Medallist.

Michael Firrito – Rookie Pick 10, 2002

The esteem in which Firrito is held at Arden Street is best exemplified by the decision to give him Glenn Archer's number when the 'Shinboner of the Century' called time in 2007.

A rugged defender who put pressure on, ran interference for his teammates and always attacked the ball, 'Spud' would wear the No.11 for the next nine seasons.

His career came to a close in 2016 after 275 games.

Troy Makepeace – Pick 81, 1999

Drafted with a late selection just months after North Melbourne claimed the 1999 premiership, Makepeace was unfancied to feature in the ones early in his career.  

It took him just four rounds to break into that team, and he would spend very little time out of it over the seven seasons that followed.

A reliable defender who would read the play and strike early, Makepeace also had a happy knack for a goal, with 37 throughout his 139 games.

Byron Pickett – Pick 67, 1996

Drafted as a small defender, Pickett played in 50 games over his second and third seasons, and notched 16 disposals and five tackles in the 1999 premiership decider.

In 2001 'Choppy' swapped ends and finished the season with 37 goals, before he backed up in 2002 with another 40.

Pickett went on to play in Port Adelaide's inaugural premiership in 2004, and was awarded the Norm Smith Medal for his 20-disposal, three-goal performance.

His son Byron jnr will be eligible to be drafted to North Melbourne under the father-son rule in 2023.

Brent Harvey – Pick 47, 1995

When Harvey was inducted into the AFL Hall of Fame in June, his former coach Denis Pagan recalled having told recruiters 'I want footballers and you've got me a jockey'.

That characterisation had fuelled Harvey long before he became a Roo, and it propelled him to a legendary North Melbourne career.

By his retirement in 2016, he had amassed 432 games, 518 goals, five Syd Barker Medals, four All-Australian selections, three seasons as captain and a premiership medal.

Peter Bell – Pre-season Pick 15, 1995

The first-ever player to put pen to paper with Fremantle, Bell was cut by the Dockers just a year later.

A busy onballer with an eye for goal, he won the Roos' respect as a train-on player, and he became an integral part of the midfield mix over the five seasons to follow.

Bell notched a game-high 31 disposals and four goals in the 1999 Grand Final, won All-Australian selection that season and the Syd Barker Medal in 2000.

After 123 games in royal blue and white, he returned to Fremantle where he first served as captain and now runs the football department.

David King – Pick 46, 1993

Before the mature-age recruit boom of the 2000s, the Kangaroos plucked King from state league club Port Melbourne.

King swiftly became a vital piece of the North Melbourne juggernaut of the nineties, as an attacking half-back flanker and wingman.

A premiership player in 1996 and 1999, he won All-Australian selection in the intervening years, and booted more than 20 goals in 2000, 2002 and 2003.

King then served as an assistant coach at Richmond before he moved on to a media career.

Honourable mentions: Cam Zurhaar (R11, 2016), Sam Gibson (R63, 2011), Nathan Grima (R14, 2007), Corey Jones (60, 2000), Shane Clayton (90, 1998), Adrian McAdam (98, 1992)