Hawthorn will hold three live picks in Thursday night’s 2014 NAB AFL draft – selections 31, 49 and 50. hawthornfc.com.au takes a look at the history of players taken at each choice in the lead-up to the draft.
Some might see selection 50 in Thursday’s National Draft as a speculative pick but the Hawks could pull out a diamond in the rough on the Gold Coast.
When the National Draft was first held in its current form in 1986, the then Fitzroy Lions selected a guy named Alastair Lynch with pick 50.
Lynch was actually recruited from Tasmania as a big-bodied and intimidating defender before strengths in marking and ability to read the play resulted in him being tried as a forward.
Eventually, Lynch would develop into one of the all-time great forwards of the modern era.
He joined Brisbane Bears in 1994 before being part of the newly former Brisbane Lions when the two clubs merged for the 1997 season.
He was critical in their glory years between 2001-2004, winning three premierships under Leigh Matthews playing as a stay-at-home full forward, a player so strong in one-on-one contests he was almost unbeatable to most defenders.
Lynch is the Lions’ greatest ever goal kicker, having booted 633 in his career across 306 games.
He won the Fitzroy best and fairest in 1993 and was also their leading goal kicker, unsurprisingly in that year and was also named All Australian.
Lynch was also the Bears’ leading goal kicker in 1996 before being named captain of the Lions between 1997-2000.
Alastair Lynch in action for the Lions.
A year later, in 1987, the Demons also had success with pick 50 by selecting midfielder Stephen Tingay.
At 181cm, Tingay became an important player in the Melbourne midfield playing alongside the likes of Todd Viney, Andrew Leoncelli, Jim Stynes and Matthew and Stephen Febey.
Tingay graced the MCG with his trademark blonde hair for 162 games between 1989-1999 where he established himself as an energetic yet hard-working midfielder.
He finished second in Melbourne’s best and fairest in 1994 after an outstanding season in which he played 24 games and averaged 22.5 disposals.
Stephen Tingay and his famous blonde hair.
Port Adelaide also struck gold at pick 50 by selecting a player who would eventually become captain and be remembered as one of the most loved players in the Club’s history.
Dom Cassisi joined the Power in 2000 from East Fremantle and went on to play 228 career games.
He played in the 2004 premiership team and was a vital member of the midfield before playing his best season in 2008 where he averaged 22.7 disposals and 6.3 tackles.
Cassisi was named Port Adelaide captain in 2009, a position he held until 2012 before he relinquished his duties.
The much-loved Port Adelaide midfielder announced his retirement in the middle of this season, making a teary farewell to fans at Adelaide Oval after 228 games in Round 18.
More recently, the Eagles have had success at pick 50 by selecting key defender Will Schofield.
Despite being 196cm, Schofield is extremely quick for his size and adds outstanding versatility to West Coast’s defence when playing alongside now-retired former skipper Darren Glass and best and fairest winner Eric McKenzie.
So far, Schofield has notched up 110 career games and appears to have a long and bright future ahead of him.
Hawthorn has once before held selection 50 in which it picked up key position player Jordan Lisle.
Despite making a promising start to his career and impressive in the VFL, the burly forward played just five games for the Hawks before being traded to Brisbane ahead of the 2012 season.
In three years at the Lions, Lisle managed just 14 games to take his career total to 23 before being delisted at the end of season 2014.
History of pick 50 since 1986
1986: Alastair Lynch (Fitzroy, Brisbane Lions)
1987: Stephen Tingay (Melbourne)
1988: Jim West (Sydney Swans)
1989: Dean Irving (West Coast Eagles)
1990: Craig Ellis (North Melbourne)
1991: Bruce Hando (North Melbourne)
1992: Andrew Donnelly (Sydney Swans)
1993: Mark Merenda (Richmond)
1994: Brett Higgins (Adelaide)
1995: Brad Cassidy (Fitzroy)
1996: Luke McCormick (North Melbourne)
1997: Luke Ottens (Melbourne)
1998: Damian Adkins (Collingwood, West Coast Eagles)
1999: Matthew Whelan (Melbourne)
2000: Dom Cassisi (Port Adelaide)
2001: Paul Salmon (Essendon – formerly Hawthorn and Essendon)
2002: Josh Thewlis (Sydney Swans)
2003: Iszac Thompson (Western Bulldogs)
2004: Jayden Attard (Brisbane Lions)
2005: Sam Lonergan (Essendon, Richmond)
2006: Will Schofield (West Coast Eagles)
2007: Dan McKenna (Geelong)
2008: Jordan Lisle (Hawthorn, Brisbane Lions)
2009: Jack Fitzpatrick (Melbourne)
2010: Troy Davis (Melbourne)
2011: Jackson Paine (Collingwood, Brisbane Lions)
2012: Josh Prudden (Western Bulldogs)
2013: Nathan Gordon (Richmond)
