Essendon is set to take pick No. 1 into Tuesday night’s Telstra Mid-Season Rookie Draft after a weekend of injuries and list moves reshaped the board across the competition. Richmond will follow at No. 2, West Coast at No. 3 and Collingwood is due to take the No. 9 selection, while 13 clubs currently have the chance to open a list vacancy before the AFL’s Monday evening lodgement deadline locks in the order.
The top of the draft has been built around hard knocks rather than strategy. Jamie Elliott suffered an ACL injury on Saturday evening, while Reef McInnes and Oscar Steene were struck down by knee issues earlier in the year. Josh Sinn is carrying a lengthy shoulder injury and Ollie Lord has been ruled out for the rest of the season with a knee problem. Ivan Soldo retired earlier this year, Essendon opened a spot by moving Brayden Fiorini to the inactive list last week, and that left the Bombers at the bottom of the ladder after their round 11 loss to Richmond on Friday night.
That result matters because it helped set the order that now gives Essendon first choice at a draft that has become a live test of depth across the league. Richmond’s place at No. 2 follows Josh Gibcus’s ACL strain, while West Coast’s No. 3 comes after the club lost Deven Robertson and Jacob Newton for the rest of the year to ACL injuries. Carlton now has the option of taking a selection after Matt Carroll suffered an ACL injury on Saturday evening, and Port Adelaide could still use as many as three selections if it decides to fill the vacancies created by injuries and list changes.
North Melbourne is also in position to pick after sliding Blake Thredgold to the inactive list late last week, while Greater Western Sydney has opened a spot with Tom Green’s knee injury. St Kilda can make a selection after carrying a list vacancy into the year from pre-season, and Melbourne sits between Adelaide and Hawthorn in the order while holding the chance to use two picks to cover Jai Culley’s knee injury and Tom Campbell’s retirement. Adelaide and Hawthorn both still have list vacancies from pre-season.
The final shape of the draft will not be known until after close of business on Monday evening, when clubs must lodge their list decisions and the AFL locks in the order. Some teams still have room but may choose not to use it. Western Bulldogs will weigh up one or two selections because of Sam Darcy’s knee injury and Riley Garcia’s long-term hamstring issue, but Brisbane, Gold Coast and Fremantle do not currently have a list spot available. Geelong is viewed as unlikely to make a selection despite Harley Barker being on its list, and Sydney is also seen as unlikely to move despite Max King being available.
For Essendon, the night starts with the clearest path and the biggest prize. For everyone else, Monday is the last chance to change the shape of a draft that has already been defined by injuries, retirements and a race to make room before the mid season draft 2026 begins on Tuesday night.
