The Brisbane Lions recruiting team will have their work cut out for them at this Thursday’s 2014 NAB AFL Draft.

An eventful off-season, which saw the Lions land both Dayne Beams (Collingwood) and Allen Christensen (Geelong), and commit to Liam Dawson (Academy), Harris Andrews (Adacemy), and Josh Clayton (Father-Son), means the Club has little left in its war chest in terms of draft selections.

In fact, the Lions will have to wait until Pick No.65 before reading out their first live draft selection this Thursday night.

For fans, the build-up to the Draft might not be nearly as exciting as 2013 when the Lions had six of the first 34 selections, but they will still be eager to see which player/s land at the Club with their later picks.

And while some might view Pick 65 as somewhat of a ‘stab in the dark’, history would suggest that there will be some quality AFL talent still available at that selection.

Lions fans needn’t look any further than the Club’s current line-up to see the type of players that can be found late in the drafting process.

Two-time Club Champion and 2014 All-Australian Tom Rockliff, for example, was still available at Pick No.65 at the 2008 AFL National Draft.

In fact, Rockliff ended up slipping through to Pick No.5 in the Pre-Season Draft – effectively overlooked 83 times before eventually being recruited to the Lions.

He now sits as one of the top prospects from that particular crop of draftees, and is widely regarded as one of the biggest Draft steals of the past decade.

Defender Justin Clarke is a more recent example of how valuable later picks can be.

Clarke was somewhat of a speculative selection when the Lions took him with Pick No.4 at the 2011 AFL Rookie Draft, but has since gone on to establish himself as a valuable member of the team’s back six.

Around 90-odd players were drafted before Clarke at the end of 2011, but his stocks have risen considerably since.

Other notable players to have slipped to the Lions with late picks in the past five years include Matt Maguire (Pick No.91 at the 2009 AFL National Draft) and Mitch Golby (Pick No.16 at the 2009 AFL Rookie Draft), who have gone on to play 69 and 51 games respectively with the Club.

But it’s not just the Lions who have struck gold late in the Draft, with most clubs boasting their fair share of bargains over the past five years.

Among those are star Fremantle midfielder Michael Barlow, dynamic Bulldogs forward Luke Dahlhaus, Essendon defender Michael Hibberd, and Hawthorn premiership trio Taylor Duryea, Will Langford, and Luke Breust.

The list goes on (see below).

This proves that although later picks can often be a bit ‘hit and miss’, there have been enough ‘hits’ to give genuine hope to both Lions recruiters and fans heading into this Thursday’s AFL Draft meeting.

PICK 67 & BEYOND…
Players who were available at Pick No.67 that have gone onto play 50-plus games of senior football since 2008  


Matt de Boer (FRE) – Pick No.19 in 2008 Rookie Draft (115 games)
Jeff Garlett (MEL) – Pick No.6 in 2008 Rookie Draft (107 games)
James Podsiadly (ADEL) – Pick No.50 in 2009 Rookie Draft (104 games)
Jarryd Blair (COLL) – Pick No.27 in 2008 Rookie Draft (102 games)
Tom Rockliff (BL) – Pick No.5 in 2009 Pre-Season Draft (101 games)
Ben Howlett (ESS) – Pick No.30 in 2009 Rookie Draft (97 games)
Luke Breust (HAW) – Pick No.47 in 2008 Rookie Draft (91 games)
Mike Pyke (SYD) – Pick No.57 in 2008 Rookie Draft (90 games)
Michael Barlow (FRE) – Pick No.8 in 2009 Rookie Draft (90 games)
Patrick McGinnity (WCE) – Pick No.7 in 2008 Pre-Season Draft (81 games)
Stewart Crameri (WB) – Pick No.43 in 2009 Rookie Draft (79 games)
Clancee Pearce (FRE) – Pick No.48 in 2008 Rookie Draft (78 games)
Matthew Wright (ADEL) – Pick No.33 in 2009 Rookie Draft (78 games)
Stefan Martin (BL) – Pick No.3 in 2008 Pre-Season Draft (74 games)
Luke Dahlhaus (WB) – Pick No.22 in 2010 Rookie Draft (71 games)
Shane Savage (STK) – Pick No.75 in 2008 National Draft (70 games)
Tom Bellchambers (ESS) – Pick No.8 in 2008 Pre-Season Draft (69 games)
Matt Maguire (BL) – Pick No.91 in 2009 National Draft (69 games for Lions)
Matthew Jaensch (ADEL) – Pick No.46 in 2009 Rookie Draft (67 games)
Ricky Henderson (ADEL) – Pick No.10 in 2008 Rookie Draft (64 games)
Michael Hibberd (ESS) – Pick No.4 in 2011 Pre-Season Draft (63 games)
Sam Gibson (NM) – Pick No.63 in 2011 RookieDraft (60 games)
Mitch Golby (BL) – Pick No.16 in 2009 Rookie Draft (51 games)
Mark Baguley (ESS) – Pick No.47 in 2011 Rookie Draft (50 games)