The top 5 memorable debut seasons by number one AFL draft picks

March 15, 2017 4:22 pm.by Todd Davey

Luke Hodge
DEPENDING on who you barrack for, there are two things that AFL fans invariably cannot wait for in the off-season.

The first is their team’s opening match and the second is seeing their first draft selection debut.

This year will mark the first time Essendon has drafted a number one pick – the Canadian-born dynamo, Andrew McGrath.

The Vic Metro product McGrath is the $11 second favourite to win this year’s Rising Star award, and the $5 second favourite to play the most games of all draftees this season at Sportsbet.com.au.

Strongly-built Port Adelaide draftee Sam Powell-Pepper is the $9 favourite at Sportsbet.com.au to take out the 2017 Rising Star Award.

The anticipation of a 2017 debut got the team at BettingSite.com.au thinking about the debut seasons from former number one draft picks.

We took a look at some of the more memorable debut seasons for players over the years. Some of which were eye-catching for very different reasons.

Jack Watt’s Queen’s Birthday massacre

In hindsight the Melbourne selection panel would like to have this one again.

A stick-thin Jack Watts was nursed into AFL football by the Melbourne hierarchy, but after a disappointing start to the season, the powers that be decided to debut the boy who was still in high school at the time.

The result was a nightmare for Watts and Melbourne, who were both demolished on the day.

Watts would only go on to play two more games in his maiden AFL season.

Whether or not the mauling that Watts took on that day contributed to his inability to truly live up to the lofty potential he showed as a junior is up for debate, but even the man himself admitted years later that “quite obviously” he was not ready for the step up to AFL football.

Luke Hodge emerges from Judd’s shadow

It was dubbed the “Super Draft” back in 2001 and in retrospect it could possibly be the best crop of young talent in the history of the AFL, but at the time there was huge conjecture as to whether Hawthorn made a huge mistake in taking Luke Hodge at number one ahead of Chris Judd.

Judd burst onto the scene as an explosive ball-winner, while Hodge took time to warm into the rigours of AFL, ostensibly vindicating those who doubted Hawthorn’s decision.

While an average of 15.3 disposals in a debut season is nothing to sneeze at, Judd’s instant dominance left a dark cloud over the maiden campaign for Hodge.

Fast forward 16 years however, and few could argue it was not an inspired choice. Hodge is a four-time premiership player, three-time All Australian representative and a two-time Norm Smith medallist.

It goes to show that it’s unfair to judge a number one draft pick on their debut season.

Marc Murphy shines in AFL debut season

Long before Carlton had a litany of number one draft picks roll through the door, there was Marc Murphy.

Much was made of Murphy’s debut at the Blues for a number of reasons.

Firstly, he is the son of former Fitzroy player John Murphy, which made him eligible to be drafted under the father-son rule to Brisbane. The young gun declined, instead wanting to stay in Victoria.

Secondly, Murphy became the Blues’ first ever number one selection. For a club that had been handed the incredibly-harsh sanctions they copped in 2001 for rorting the salary cap, Murphy represented the “new-era” at Carlton.

Murphy shone in his debut season before hurting himself and requiring season-ending shoulder surgery. Such was the impact of his first season, Murphy lead Carlton for assists despite playing just 12 games.

Tom Scully makes – then breaks Melbourne hearts

Few number one draft picks in the history of the game have created the controversy that Tom Scully has in his short career.

After coming to Melbourne as the club’s shining light to take them out of the darkness, Scully was brilliant in his debut season, averaging 21.5 disposals a game and dominating certain matches – which is borderline unheard of for a guy in his maiden campaign.

Just two seasons later, Scully was in the orange and charcoal of GWS, leaving the club he was meant to be the saviour of in the lurch.

Three years after debuting at Melbourne, Scully returned to the MCG to face his former side and the fans let him know in no uncertain terms what they thought about his departure.

Brett Deledio justifies the number one draft selection in a strong crop

Say what you will about Richmond’s 2004 draft selections – and there is plenty of fodder there – it’s hard say without malice that they did not nail the pick of Brett Deledio at number one.

The Murray Bushrangers’ product was dynamic in his opening season in the yellow and black, kicking 14 goals and averaging 15.3 disposals across 22 games on his way to a Rising Star Award.

Deledio went on to claim two All-Australian guernseys alongside two best and fairest awards before making the switch to GWS at the end of 2016.

Even those heart-broken Richmond fans cannot deny the indelible impact Deledio had on their football club.