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2026 Telstra AFL Mid-Season Rookie Draft Conducted; 18 Players Selected

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The 2026 Telstra AFL Mid-Season Rookie Draft was held on Tuesday, May 26, at 6:30pm AEST, between rounds 11 and 12 of the AFL season.

The draft allows clubs to fill list vacancies caused by long-term injuries or retirements. A total of 18 players were selected across three rounds by 12 clubs.

Draft Overview

The draft order was determined by reverse ladder position after round 11. Twelve clubs had list vacancies. Port Adelaide, Collingwood, and Melbourne each held three selections. West Coast made two picks, and Port Adelaide passed on its third-round selection.

The age of selected players ranged from 19 to 27 years old.

Of the 18 players chosen, 11 came from the Victorian Football League (VFL), 6 from the South Australian National Football League (SANFL), and 1 from other competitions.

Final Draft Order and Selections

Round 1 Pick Club Player Source Position 1 Essendon Jaxon Artemis Tasmania Devils (VFL) General Defender 2 Richmond Kye Annand Geelong (VFL) Key Defender 3 West Coast Oliver Francou North Adelaide (SANFL) Inside Midfielder 4 Carlton Flynn Riley Carlton (VFL) Ruck 5 Port Adelaide Xavier Bamert North Melbourne (VFL) Midfielder 6 North Melbourne Ollie Griffin Sandringham Dragons Forward 7 St Kilda Campbell Lake Southport (VFL) Small Forward 8 Collingwood Harrison Coe Frankston (VFL) Ruck 9 Western Bulldogs Caleb May West Adelaide (SANFL) Ruck 10 Adelaide Hugo Hall-Kahan Williamstown (VFL) General Defender 11 Melbourne Lukas Cooke WWT Eagles (SANFL) Tall Defender 12 Hawthorn Max Beattie WWT Eagles (SANFL) Small Forward/Midfielder Round 2 Pick Club Player Source Position 13 West Coast Marcus Herbert Geelong (VFL) Midfielder/Defender 14 Port Adelaide Alex Van Wyk North Adelaide (SANFL) Ruck 15 Collingwood Liam Puncher WWT Eagles (SANFL) Tall Defender 16 Melbourne Joel Fitzgerald Frankston (VFL) Midfielder Round 3 Pick Club Player Source Position 17 Port Adelaide Pass — — 18 Collingwood Mitch Podhajski Coburg (VFL) General Forward 19 Melbourne Max Mapley Tasmania Devils (VFL) Ruck

Broadcast and Eligibility

The draft was streamed live on AFL.com.au, the AFL Live Official App, and the AFL’s official YouTube channel. Coverage was hosted by Nat Edwards, Callum Twomey, and Riley Beveridge.

To be eligible, players were required to have either:

  • Nominated for and been overlooked in the previous national draft,
  • Been previously listed by an AFL club, or
  • Played a minimum of three games in the WAFL, SANFL, TSL, or VFL.

A total of 429 players nominated for the draft.

Clubs Without Selections

Brisbane, Gold Coast, Geelong, Sydney, Greater Western Sydney, and Fremantle had no list vacancies and did not participate in the draft.