The 2012 AFL draft consisted of five opportunities for player acquisitions during the 2012/13 Australian Football League off-season.
[3] During the 2012 AFL season, in the leadup to the first ever free agency trade period, there was speculation about high-profile players who had contracts that expired at the end of the season, including Travis Cloke, Travis Boak, Brendon Goddard and Troy Chaplin.
Brent Moloney from Melbourne became the first player to announce that he would become a free agent[6] He was followed by Carlton pair Bret Thornton and Jordan Russell, West Coast's Quinten Lynch and Port Adelaide's Steven Salopek to declare themselves as free agents.
As part of their entry concessions, Greater Western Sydney was allocated up to four selections in a mini-draft, which could be used to recruit seventeen-year-olds who would not otherwise be eligible for that year's national draft.
Western Australian youngsters Jack Martin and Jesse Hogan were widely expected to be taken with the two Mini-draft picks.