AFL Draft Busts: The biggest bust from every draft class since 2000 (part 1)

Turning great junior form into consistent performances at the highest level is incredibly hard to achieve.

Professional sport can be ruthless.

There are many examples of star junior athletes failing to live up to the expectation clubs and the wider public put on them at such a young age.

For years young players are analysed and judged by recruiters to see whether they could be the difference between their club playing finals, or languishing at the foot of the ladder.

Unfortunately, sometimes clubs get their high draft selections wrong.

There are many reasons why a draftee is unable to forge a long career in the league, with injury often being a major factor.

The players below unfortunately were unable to deliver on their initial promise and left their clubs wishing they had their time all over again.

2000 AFL Draft: Laurence Angwin (Adelaide Crows)

Apart from the top three selections in this draft, the remainder of the top 10 selections failed to become household names.

St Kilda selected Nick Riewoldt with selection one, and he went on to become one of the greatest forwards of his generation, playing 336 games and kicking 718 goals.

However, a pick seven the Adelaide Crows selected Laurence Angwin.

Unfortunately for Angwin he would fail to play any senior games for the Crows in his one and only season at the club.

He would be picked up by Carlton in 2003, where he went on to play four games, before being delisted after testing positive to recreational drugs while at training.

To make matters worse, the Crows could have selected South Australians Daniel Motlop (pick eight) or Port Adelaide and Hawthorn champion Shaun Burgoyne (pick 12).

2001 AFL Draft: Luke Molan (Melbourne)

Titled the “superdraft”, the 2001 AFL Draft delivered us some of the game’s all-time great players.

Some names that were selected in the draft included; Luke Hodge, Chris Judd, Luke Ball, Nick Dal Santo, Jimmy Bartel, Gary Ablett Jnr, Dane Swan, Sam Mitchell and Brian Lake.

With so much talent available it seemed impossible not to select a future All-Australian, premiership player, Brownlow Medalist or club best and fairest.

However, Melbourne with pick nine decided to select Geelong Falcon Luke Molan.

Molan would end up playing zero games for the Demons, as serious injuries ruined any chance of a success career at the top level.

The failed selection will be overshadowed by Fremantle’s decision to trade pick one, pick 20 and pick 36 for Hawthorn duo Luke McPharlin and Trent Croad.

The Hawks would select two club champions with pick one (Luke Hodge) and pick 36 (Sam Mitchell), while the Dockers received 244-game All-Australian in McPharlin.

To add more pain for the Dockers, Croad would only play 38 games before being traded back to the Hawks, where he would play in their 2008 flag.

2002 AFL Draft: Tim Walsh (Western Bulldogs)

The Bulldogs failed to make their pick four in the 2002 AFL Draft count, picking up Northern Knights key-forward Tim Walsh.

It would take three years for Walsh to play his first and only game for the club, before being eventually delisted in 2007.

His career would be marred by a couple of serious injuries, however, he was ultimately unable to convert his status as a “good prospect” onto the big stage.

The top 10 of that draft would include the likes of; Brendon Goddard, Daniel Wells, Jared Brennan, Jarrad McVeigh, Andrew Mackie, Steven Salopek and Hamish McIntosh.

2003 AFL Draft: Ryley Dunn (Fremantle)

The 2003 AFL Draft has been widely considered one of the league’s weakest drafts, with almost half of the first 16 picks delisted within the next four years.

Adam Cooney at pick one stands out as one of the few shining lights in the draft, while the Eagles found an All-Australian defender in Beau Waters at pick 11.

With much of the top 10 failing to crack the 100-game milestone, it might be harsh to call Ryley Dunn at pick 10 as one of the biggest busts.

However, after Trent Croad told Fremantle he would like to return back to Melbourne, the Hawks were happy to re-secure the big man for pick 10.

With the Dockers given a chance to select a top 10 talent, they selected Dunn, who at the time was a two-time All-Australian at U18 level.

Dunn would make his debut in round one the next season, before only adding a further seven games to his career that lasted five years.

2004 AFL Draft: Richard Tambling (Richmond)

This may be another harsh call considering Richard Tambling would go on to play 124 games in a career that saw him play for Richmond and the Adelaide Crows.

While there were worse players in the draft, the decision to take Tambling at pick four in the draft would haunt Tigers fans to this day.

The Tigers and Hawks both held two selections within the first five picks of the draft, with future All-Australian and club champion, Brett Deledio, being selected by the Tigers at pick one.

The Hawks would use their priority selection at pick two to select Jarryd Roughead, a man who would kick 578 goals, win a Coleman Medal, play in four flags and feature in two AA sides.

The Bulldogs would round-out the top three by selecting Ryan Griffen, a future 200-gamer and captain of the club.

With pick four in Richmond’s grasp, they could have selected skinny tall-forward from Perth by the name of Lance Franklin.

The Tigers instead selected Tambling at four, while Franklin would make it to Hawks at five and produce one of the best careers in modern memory.

2005 AFL Draft: Beau Dowler (Hawthorn)

The 2005 AFL Draft featured a fairly strong first round, with eight All-Australians being selected in the first 14 picks.

However, Beau Dowler at pick six wasn’t one of them.

Hawthorn selected the All-Australian U18 key-forward, despite him fracturing his pelvis in a car accident two months earlier.

The injury would restrict him to two late appearances in the back-end of the season.

After playing a combined three games in the his first three seasons, he would play 13 games in 2009, but was unfortunately delisted that same year.

The selection may sound harsh, but when you are selected among the likes of; Marc Murphy, Dale Thomas, Scott Pendlebury, Josh Kennedy and Paddy Ryder, it’s hard to not agree.

Xavier Ellis at pick three was worth a consideration, however, he was consistent player in a good Hawthorn team, before injuries hampered his career.

2006 AFL Draft: Mitch Thorp (Hawthorn)

Many people are familiar with Mitch Thorp as the man who was drafted with the pick before Geelong selected Joel Selwood.

The Tasmanian key-forward was selected at pick six in the draft, and would only go on to play two games in 2009.

Selwood has since played 296 games, become a six-time All-Australian and a three-time premiership player at the Cats.

Scott Gumbleton at pick two is a worthy mention as well, selected at pick two by the Bombers.

Blessed with talent, Gumbleton’s body would be his biggest enemy, playing a total of 35 games in seven years.

2007 AFL Draft: Cale Morton (Melbourne)

In Round 22 of the 2007 season, Carlton and Melbourne played for the ‘Kreuzer Cup’.

The winner of the game would all-but-certainly give up the chance of earning a priority pick (pick one) at November’s draft.

The game would be controversial, as many pundits stating both teams tanked to get their hands on the first pick.

Carlton won the game and selected Matthew Kreuzer with pick one, while Melbourne would choose Cale Morton at pick four.

Morton, a tall midfielder with good endurance and kicking ability, had all the makings of becoming a successful player at AFL level.

However, the 2007 Larke Medalist never consistently showed his talents, finishing with 76 games over two clubs.

Finishing top 10 twice in one of Melbourne’s worst ever sides is far from a saving grace.

2008 AFL Draft: Jack Watts (Melbourne)

Being a number one pick brings a lot of attention, and Jack Watts was the pundits pick for the 2008 number one pick.

It’s hard to call Watts a “bust” - despite this being a list about busts - due to Melbourne’s gross mismanagement of Watts in his early years.

The talented key-forward won the 2008 Larke Medal and was an All-Australian U18 representative in his draft year.

Playing in a terrible Melbourne team, he was forced to debut well before he was ready to play senior football.

Supporters saw Watts as the man to lead them out of mediocrity, but that never occurred.

During his first 100 games at the club he played at both ends of the ground, without settling in either position.

It wasn’t until 2016 where the AFL got to see Watts’ true potential, kicking 38 goals for the year.

A move to Port Adelaide would provide him a new start, but a long-term injury in 2019 would stop him from building on a good first season at Alberton.

Despite Watts currently playing 174 games during his career, the pressure of being a number one pick and the unfair expectation by fans and others definitely harmed what was tipped to be a great career.

2009 AFL Draft: Anthony Morabito (Fremantle)

Another player who’s talent didn’t make them a bust, Anthony Morabito had the AFL world at his feet when he was picked up by Fremantle with pick four.

The young Western Australian would play 23 games in his debut year, including two finals, but unfortunately his body would ultimately let him down.

Three knee reconstructions would destroy what was expected to be a great career, with Morabito’s 24th game coming four years after his 23rd back in 2010.

Further knee complaints would force the Western Australian, who often drew comparisons to Adam Goodes, to retire from the game in 2017.

A future 200-gamer who knows what Morabito could have been if his body was a lot kinder to him.

The same draft also produced a number mediocre first round picks, including; John Butcher, Andrew Moore, Jordan Gysberts, Kane Lucas and Christian Howard.

2010 AFL Draft: Lucas Cook (Melbourne)

A year that saw Gold Coast hold six of the first 10 selections in the draft, other established teams needed to make their selections count.

At pick 12, Melbourne burned their selection, using their first pick on Lucas Cook, a key-forward who failed to register a single game for the Demons.

Cook looked to be a good prospect at junior level, earning All-Australian U18 honours and finished top 10 in the Draft Combine for the 3km time trial and kicking accuracy.

He showed some signs in the 2011 NAB Cup, but then spent the entire year in the VFL with the Casey Scorpions.

Another full year in the VFL followed, as then coach, Mark Neeld, delisted the young forward.

Despite losing majority of the talent they selected in their inaugural draft, Gold Coast selected a number of future stars of the game.

Tom Lynch, Josh Caddy and Dion Presita would all go one to become Richmond premiership players, while David Swallow has become a good servant for the club.

Gold Coast’s decision to selected Daniel Gorringe at pick 10 was a failure, with the South Australian playing 26 games in his six years in the AFL system.

Injury has halted the careers of Harley Bennell and Sam Day massively, who were selected with picks two and three respectively.

Part two of the article will feature busts from 2010-2015