This is the seventeenth post in a series of retrospective draft pools I've posted here starting with players turning 18 during the year 1975 and each subsequent year the next batch of 18 year olds. This is just a fun task to look back in the time that I been watching football in this league and wondering the quality of players that can be found retrospectively, as if drafts were done the same as they are now. Obviously in the some of these past decades, the national drafts as we know them now, did not exist. The late 1970's and 80's before the league expanded progressively from 12 to 16 clubs there were clubs having under 19's and no real restriction on ages to play seniors and later the early drafts of league had different rules regarding birth date eligibility to be in some draft pools. This series is to look back at each batch of players from same birth year and wonder whom would be the top draft picks and how deep in quality each yearly draft pool could have been.
If you watched football in the league during the 1990's feel free to add your own thoughts on players you felt would have been number 1 in such retro-drafts of this period of further league expansion.
This particular one of players born in 1973 for a retro-draft of 1991 is certainly both rich and deep in talent when you browse through football household names such as Hird, Wanganeen, Archer, Jakovich and Kouta, just to name a few. Interestingly it was a decade of premierships spread over many more clubs with all those stars playing in premiership sides of the 1990's. This was exactly what the league had hoped for with various equalisation policies starting to take effect.
It should be noted as the last year in the league the under 19's remained for clubs and as a result some of players born in 1973 in old VFL club recruiting zones were still recruited to clubs via that older pre-draft era pathway. Case in point of such old pathways was star to be Anthony Koutoufides of Carlton. At 15 years of age he was seen as an outstanding athletics junior prospect who represented his state in three disciplines; the 100/110 metre hurdles, high jump and decathlon. From the age of 15 he was being talked about as a potential Olympian.
In 1989 a teenage Kouta was also growing up playing junior footy in Lalor, a Carlton zone of the time and was invited to join the Blues’ Under-19 squad. Kouta took up this pathway. He would win the clubs 1989 Under 19s Best First Year Player Award
Two years later, during this retro-draft year of 1991 he would win the Under 19s Ian L. C. Fogarty Memorial Trophy
In 1992 he would move into reserves grade football and won the Carlton Reserves Best & Fairest Award and also made his senior debut for Carlton in the AFL with six games, the first of which I remember witnessing against Adelaide at Princes Park.
The AFL was now well on path to end of VFL club zones and under 19's was to be replaced with an under 18 system independent of clubs to groom teenagers ready for national draft pathways. Concessions to expansion clubs in WA, SA, NSW and Queensland were still in effect. This meant the pool of players still has these conditions existing that effect the pools of actual league draft of this time not having many of these players of this year born in it. In fact if you look back at the early 1990's league drafts you will not find many of these 18 year olds of that year in it. Kouta for example a prime example of not drafted back then and recruited directly via old club zones. Many of these early 1990's drafts had pre-draft selections, mid-season drafts and various drafts going by different names and widely ranging ages of players. James Hird on other hand being from ACT was a draftee in the 1990's but was in reality drafted at 17 years old to Essendon whilst Kouta did not need to playing under 19's at a club already. The AFL and it's clubs were still finding their way in transition to a full draft pathway system. As a result the so called national draft of the league for most of the 1990's had much talent already removed from a draft pool.
The pathway of all teenagers of similar age competing together in a truly national draft would still take close to end of the decade to be established as the only pathway into all AFL clubs.
Here is the retrospective draft pool of 18 year olds in year 1991:
1973 Born players (retrospective 1991 Draft)
Cummings, Trent
McKernan, Corey
Crow, Scott
Hotton, Trent
Rogers, Matthew
Rocca, Saverio
Squire, Damian
Bone, Randall
Bruce, Jeff
Spinks, Brett
Butcher, Kent
Ross, Jonathan
Graham, Ben
Smith, Jeremy
Slater, Adam
Francis, Fabian
Burrows, Craig
Lynch, Paul
Cuzzupe, John
Palfreyman, Nigel
Murton, Phillip
Powell, Matthew
McRae, Craig
Hanson, Nick
Clarke, Matthew
Prior, Michael
Thompson, Ben
Symmons, Paul
Groom, Chris
Doyle, Peter
Lynch, Tristan
Berbakov, Peter
Calthorpe, David
Hassall, Jon
Ross, Lachlan
Pitt, Steven
Kilmartin, Haydon
Hopgood, Paul
McLean, Andrew
Barlow, Kris
Bond, Troy
Taylor, Richard
Crothers, Shane
Morton, Danny
Wanganeen, Gavin
White, Darryl
Eastaugh, Simon
Mooney, Jason
Manton, Glenn
Montgomery, Brett
Smith, Rohan
Chisholm, Scott
Harvey, Anthony
Conway, Mark
Daffy, Nick
Carr, Alister
Chalmers, Brett
Cook, Brett
Green, Ashley
Kluzek, Matthew
Williams, Paul
West, Mark
Donnelly, Andrew
White, Mitchell
Barrett, Chris
Archer, Glenn
Jakovich, Glen
Burns, Ronnie
Graham, Mark
Lyle, Brayden
Hawking, Simon
Gray, Troy
Croft, Matthew
Simister, Scott
Dennis, Simon
Parker, Shane
Kellaway, Duncan
Barnard, Paul
McLuckie, Steven
Walker, Lee
Freeborn, Glenn
Elliott, Jamie
Hird, James
Koster, Kym
Olarenshaw, Ricky
Mitchell, Nick
Irvin, Nathan
Bell, Corey
Koutoufides, Anthony
Banik, Anthony
Curley, Todd
Doolan, Ben
Ellen, Shane
Previous Retro-Draft Polls
1975 retro-draft
1976 retro-draft
1977 retro-draft
1978 retro-draft
1979 retro-draft
1980 retro-draft
1981 retro-draft
1982 retro-draft
1983 retro-draft
1984 retro-draft
1985 retro-draft
1986 retro-draft
1987 retro-draft
1988 retro-draft
1989 retro-draft
1990 retro-draft
If you watched football in the league during the 1990's feel free to add your own thoughts on players you felt would have been number 1 in such retro-drafts of this period of further league expansion.
This particular one of players born in 1973 for a retro-draft of 1991 is certainly both rich and deep in talent when you browse through football household names such as Hird, Wanganeen, Archer, Jakovich and Kouta, just to name a few. Interestingly it was a decade of premierships spread over many more clubs with all those stars playing in premiership sides of the 1990's. This was exactly what the league had hoped for with various equalisation policies starting to take effect.
It should be noted as the last year in the league the under 19's remained for clubs and as a result some of players born in 1973 in old VFL club recruiting zones were still recruited to clubs via that older pre-draft era pathway. Case in point of such old pathways was star to be Anthony Koutoufides of Carlton. At 15 years of age he was seen as an outstanding athletics junior prospect who represented his state in three disciplines; the 100/110 metre hurdles, high jump and decathlon. From the age of 15 he was being talked about as a potential Olympian.
In 1989 a teenage Kouta was also growing up playing junior footy in Lalor, a Carlton zone of the time and was invited to join the Blues’ Under-19 squad. Kouta took up this pathway. He would win the clubs 1989 Under 19s Best First Year Player Award
Two years later, during this retro-draft year of 1991 he would win the Under 19s Ian L. C. Fogarty Memorial Trophy
In 1992 he would move into reserves grade football and won the Carlton Reserves Best & Fairest Award and also made his senior debut for Carlton in the AFL with six games, the first of which I remember witnessing against Adelaide at Princes Park.
The AFL was now well on path to end of VFL club zones and under 19's was to be replaced with an under 18 system independent of clubs to groom teenagers ready for national draft pathways. Concessions to expansion clubs in WA, SA, NSW and Queensland were still in effect. This meant the pool of players still has these conditions existing that effect the pools of actual league draft of this time not having many of these players of this year born in it. In fact if you look back at the early 1990's league drafts you will not find many of these 18 year olds of that year in it. Kouta for example a prime example of not drafted back then and recruited directly via old club zones. Many of these early 1990's drafts had pre-draft selections, mid-season drafts and various drafts going by different names and widely ranging ages of players. James Hird on other hand being from ACT was a draftee in the 1990's but was in reality drafted at 17 years old to Essendon whilst Kouta did not need to playing under 19's at a club already. The AFL and it's clubs were still finding their way in transition to a full draft pathway system. As a result the so called national draft of the league for most of the 1990's had much talent already removed from a draft pool.
The pathway of all teenagers of similar age competing together in a truly national draft would still take close to end of the decade to be established as the only pathway into all AFL clubs.
Here is the retrospective draft pool of 18 year olds in year 1991:
1973 Born players (retrospective 1991 Draft)
Cummings, Trent
McKernan, Corey
Crow, Scott
Hotton, Trent
Rogers, Matthew
Rocca, Saverio
Squire, Damian
Bone, Randall
Bruce, Jeff
Spinks, Brett
Butcher, Kent
Ross, Jonathan
Graham, Ben
Smith, Jeremy
Slater, Adam
Francis, Fabian
Burrows, Craig
Lynch, Paul
Cuzzupe, John
Palfreyman, Nigel
Murton, Phillip
Powell, Matthew
McRae, Craig
Hanson, Nick
Clarke, Matthew
Prior, Michael
Thompson, Ben
Symmons, Paul
Groom, Chris
Doyle, Peter
Lynch, Tristan
Berbakov, Peter
Calthorpe, David
Hassall, Jon
Ross, Lachlan
Pitt, Steven
Kilmartin, Haydon
Hopgood, Paul
McLean, Andrew
Barlow, Kris
Bond, Troy
Taylor, Richard
Crothers, Shane
Morton, Danny
Wanganeen, Gavin
White, Darryl
Eastaugh, Simon
Mooney, Jason
Manton, Glenn
Montgomery, Brett
Smith, Rohan
Chisholm, Scott
Harvey, Anthony
Conway, Mark
Daffy, Nick
Carr, Alister
Chalmers, Brett
Cook, Brett
Green, Ashley
Kluzek, Matthew
Williams, Paul
West, Mark
Donnelly, Andrew
White, Mitchell
Barrett, Chris
Archer, Glenn
Jakovich, Glen
Burns, Ronnie
Graham, Mark
Lyle, Brayden
Hawking, Simon
Gray, Troy
Croft, Matthew
Simister, Scott
Dennis, Simon
Parker, Shane
Kellaway, Duncan
Barnard, Paul
McLuckie, Steven
Walker, Lee
Freeborn, Glenn
Elliott, Jamie
Hird, James
Koster, Kym
Olarenshaw, Ricky
Mitchell, Nick
Irvin, Nathan
Bell, Corey
Koutoufides, Anthony
Banik, Anthony
Curley, Todd
Doolan, Ben
Ellen, Shane
Previous Retro-Draft Polls
1975 retro-draft
1976 retro-draft
1977 retro-draft
1978 retro-draft
1979 retro-draft
1980 retro-draft
1981 retro-draft
1982 retro-draft
1983 retro-draft
1984 retro-draft
1985 retro-draft
1986 retro-draft
1987 retro-draft
1988 retro-draft
1989 retro-draft
1990 retro-draft
