History of the Rookie Draft
North Melbourne will use its first two selections at the 2013 Rookie Draft on Wednesday morning.
The final step towards completing its playing list for 2014, each club must have a minimum of four ‘Category A’ rookies. Tim McGenniss and Max Warren currently fit the criteria for the Roos.
Introduced in 1997, the rookie list has become a vital part in club list management, offering opportunities to those who have missed their first opportunity to be selected by an AFL club.
With the introduction of Gold Coast and Greater Western Sydney, the rookie list was temporarily expanded. Clubs were allowed to have a maximum of eight rookies, but from 2013 it was reduced to six.
The club’s most successful rookie selection has been Michael Firrito. Arriving at Aegis Park with Pick 10 in the 2002 Rookie Draft, Firrito has played 210 games in his 11 year career to date.
Firrito is one of a select bunch to notch more than 200 games after initially being selected in the Rookie Draft. The record currently stands at 275 games by Steven Milne, but that is soon to be passed by Dean Cox. The ruckman has 273 games to his name heading into the 2014 season.
Currently there are seven rookie draft picks on North’s senior list – Firrito, Scott McMahon, Leigh Adams, Nathan Grima, Sam Gibson, Aaron Mullett and Majak Daw.
[RELATED: Every draft pick in North Melbourne’s history]
In addition to its own successful rookie picks, North has also selected two players who went on to have success elsewhere – Kent Kingsley in 1998 and Josh Gibson in 2003.
Most games played by rookie draft selections for North Melbourne
210* – Michael Firrito
141 – Leigh Harding
117* – Scott McMahon
82* – Leigh Adams
82 – Matt Campbell
* denotes player currently on senior list