Coming off a premiership, North Melbourne was well placed for the future heading into the 1996 Draft. It further strengthened its on-field stocks with its second last pick, taking Byron Pickett at 67.
It took Pickett some time to settle in, playing just one game in 1997. However he was set to explode onto the scene in 1998.
Playing every game out of a back pocket in the club’s charge to the Grand Final, Pickett established himself as one of North’s best small defenders. He took out the Rising Star award at the end of the season and to this day, remains the only Kangaroo to have won the honour.
[RELATED: Every North selection from every draft in history]
Once Pickett established himself in the team at the start of 1998, he would only miss one more game in the rest of his time at the club.
Feared for his brutal attack on the ball and sometimes the player, Pickett was perhaps most noteworthy for his catalogue of hard hits. His biggest bump was on Hawthorn’s Brendan Krummel in 1999.
Pickett left the Kangaroos at the end of 2002 and was traded to Port Adelaide in return for picks 13 and 31.
Byron Pickett
Pick: #67, 1996 National
Games for North: 120
Goals for North: 81
Pick before Pickett: Paul Hills, Essendon (0 games after 1996)
Pick after Pickett: Russell Robertson, Melbourne (228 games)
North at the 1996 National Draft
| Pick | Player | Recruited from | Games for North |
| 23 | Evan Hewitt | Subiaco, WA | 33 |
| 42 | Martin Pike | Fitzroy, VIC | 81 |
| 50 | Luke McCormick | NSW-ACT U18 | 0 |
| 56 | Cameron Mooney | NSW-ACT U18 | 11 |
| 67 | Byron Pickett | Port Adelaide, SA | 120 |
| 70 | Adam Hay | Perth, WA | 0 |
