FOR the second year in a row, Port Adelaide will take a very strong draft hand into the NAB AFL National Draft.
Port will take picks 12, 16 and 18 into the first round of this year’s draft - however picks can still be traded live on the night - to add to the three first-round selections the club made last season.
Teams have had some success with these selections throughout the years, with a number of players at 12, 16 and 18 going on to have extremely fruitful careers.
Here is the history of pick 16:
Pick 16
Fraser Gehrig
Fraser Gehrig was selected by West Coast with pick 16 in 1993 and went on to play 115 games and kicked 159 goals with the Eagles.
Gehrig won an All-Australian selection in 1997 and then led the club’s goalkicking in 1998, before moving to Victoria to play with St Kilda.
The former wingman found himself in a more permanent forward role with the Saints, where he added another 390 goals from 145 games.
The key forward led the Saints’ goalkicking from 2003-07. He also won the Coleman Medal in 2004 and 2005, and made his second All-Australian team in 2004.
The long-kicking left-footer finished his AFL career with 549 goals from 160 games.
Scott Thompson
Scott Thompson picked up by Melbourne with pick 16 in 2000, after playing his junior football with Port Adelaide in the SANFL.
Thompson played 39 games with the Demons from 2001-04, before being traded to Adelaide in exchange for pick 12 in the national draft.
The big-bodied midfielder went on to become an extremely consistent performer in the centre for the Crows - winning the club’s best and fairest in 2011 and 2012. He was also selected in the All-Australian team in 2012.
Thompson retired in 2017, before returning to Alberton in an assistant coaching role.
Todd Marshall
Port Adelaide added Todd Marshall to its playing list in 2016 with its first pick and the 16th overall selection at the national draft.
Marshall was a very talented junior sportsman - also playing junior state cricket for New South Wales before focussing on football.
The 21-year-old debuted in his first year at Alberton, playing in the round 22 and round 23 victories against the Western Bulldogs and Gold Coast respectively, before suiting up in the nail-biting extra-time loss to West Coast in the elimination final.
Marshall has currently played 20 games and kicked 22 goals for the Power, and is another promising prospect for the club moving forward.
Notable pick 16s over the years:
1993 - Fraser Gehrig (West Coast)
1994 - Adam Yze (Melbourne)
1998 - Brett Burton (Adelaide)
2000 - Scott Thompson (Adelaide)
2005 - Richard Douglas (Adelaide)
2016 - Todd Marshall (Port Adelaide)
