Rookie list

As is the case with the AFL's other drafts, clubs are given the opportunity to select rookies in reverse ladder order, based on the previous season's results.

Up to three rookies can be retained, with the player's permission for a second or third season,[2] with the others having to be either delisted or elevated to the primary list at the time of the National Draft.

[1] In 2006, this was relaxed to allow each club to recruit a rookie older than 23 if he had never previously been on an AFL list.

[4] Before eligibility criteria were relaxed, special dispensation was granted for Adam Ramanauskas to be played on Essendon's rookie list in 2006.

[5] In 2014, Matthew Priddis was awarded the Brownlow Medal as the AFL's best and fairest player.

Polling 26 votes, Priddis became the first player to win the award having begun his career on the rookie list.

Luke Breust holds the record for most AFL games played by a player recruited from the rookie draft, with 300 matches and counting.