Although November’s AFL National Draft remains the primary recruiting tool for competing clubs, the Rookie Draft has become a popular pathway for footballers to be afforded a second chance at an AFL career. 

The Rookie Draft ensures that players overlooked in earlier drafts can still find their way onto an AFL list. 

While rookies are not immediately eligible to play senior football, there are opportunities throughout the season for them to be temporarily elevated onto the primary list. 

This system work to both reward rookies who show continued improvement, and provide clubs with some added insurance in case they are ravaged by injuries during the year. 

Since the introduction of the Rookie Draft in 1997, a total of 28 Lions rookies have gone on to taste at least one senior AFL game with the Club. 

Dual Premiership player Robert Copeland is the most accomplished former rookie in Club history with 143 games, while Cheynee Stiller (100 games) and Josh Drummond (94 games) are among a host of others who have gone on to forge successful AFL careers.

There are a total of nine players currently on the Club’s 2013 list who have been recruited via the Rookie Draft - six of whom have played senior football. 

Check out the player profiles from each of the Lions' current rookies

Last year’s recruitment of Jack Crisp has proven to be one of the more recent endorsements for the rookie list. 

Despite his impressive credentials as a junior player, it took until Pick No.40 at last year’s Rookie Draft for Crisp to find an AFL home in Brisbane. 

He quickly justified his selection by earning a senior call-up in the opening months of the 2012 season, and going to play more matches (10) than any of his fellow draftees (including National Draft selections) from that year. 

Less than 12 months after being afforded the chance as an AFL rookie, Crisp now finds himself as a permanent member of the Lions’ 2013 senior list

So even though there will probably be less fanfare surrounding any potential Lions rookie selections from the 2012 Rookie Draft, there is every chance they could become regular senior players in the future. 

A complete list of Lions rookies who have played senior AFL football is provided below: 

Robert Copeland (143 games) 
Cheynee Stiller (100 games) 
Josh Drummond (94 games) 
Joel Macdonald (80 games) 
Pearce Hanley (56 games)*# 
Jason Roe (50 games) 
Scott Harding (48 games) 
Colm Begley (29 games) 
Mitch Golby (21 games)*# 
Niall McKeever (19 games)*# 
Claye Beams (13 games)*# 
Trent Knobel (13 games) 
Jack Crisp (10 games)*# 
Marty Pask (8 games) 
Nathan Clarke (6 games) 
Marcus Allan (5 games) 
Luke Weller (4 games) 
Broc McCauley (3 games) 
Daniel Pratt (3 games) 
Will Hamill (3 games) 
Stephen Wrigley (3 games)* 
Scott Clouston (2 games) 
Shannon Rusca (2 games) 
Travis Baird (2 games) 
Leigh Ryswyk (1 game) 
Darren Bradshaw (1 game) 
Josh Dyson (1 game) 
Daniel Dzufer (1 game) 

* Player still listed with the Club
# Elevated to senior list