Jokes come for Port Adelaide after picking zero players in AFL draft

Port Adelaide have explained their decision to not pick any players in this week’s national draft, which has seen the club be the brunt of jokes on social media.

The Power went into this year’s draft with just two late selections.

That was a result of a number of different trades this year and last year. In 2024, they traded out their 2025 first-round pick as part of a complicated three-club deal that saw them land Jack Lukosius and Joe Richards, as well as a host of picks in last year’s draft.

They also traded out this year’s second-round pick as a part of a three-way deal that helped land Corey Durdin from Carlton.

As part of that trade, they ended up with a second-round pick in next year’s draft.

Port Adelaide’s first pick on draft night came at 46, but they traded it out to Gold Coast in exchange for a third-round pick next year.

And then with their other pick, which ended up at 58, they passed.

It left the club as the first in history to walk away from the national draft without a single player.

It looks a curious move from a club that finished 13th last year and changed coaches in the off-season with Josh Carr replacing Ken Hinkley.

They quickly became a punchline on social media, with many fans poking fun at the move.

“11 people in a room to do nothing,” one fan said with a laughing emoji.

“Can’t be a draft bust if you never select anyone to begin with,” one fan added.

“In all fairness, this is by far Port’s greatest ever draft,” another said.

Even the club’s own social media team saw the funny side of the situation.

The club posted a video of an empty couch with the caption “the pass family goes wild on draft night”.

But recruiting boss Geoff Parker explained there was a clear strategy going on behind the scenes.

They prioritised the rookies on their list that came in via the mid-season draft, and also had an eye on next year when they will need plenty of draft capital to match a likely early bid on NGA prospect Dougie Cochrane, who is in the early discussions for pick No.1.

“We definitely came into this draft with a list of players to pick so there was never a thought that we weren’t going to pick,” Parker said.

“We had a list of players and when you come in at pick 58, you need a long list. So by the time it got to our pick, they’d disappeared.

“We had the three mid-season picks so we brought in some talent there. So we look at that as we’ve already got three new players on our list really and if we were going to get another one tonight, we would have, but unfortunately it didn’t work that way.

“It’s been a focus (to trade into next year’s draft) and it’s been spoken about since trade period. Our focus was to try and get some capital in next year’s draft.

“There is a lot of footy to be played. We know (Cochrane) is talented, (but) whether he’s the number one, we don’t know yet. The football the boys play next year will decide that.”

The club also upgraded 2024 mid-season rookie Logan Evans to the primary list, and still hold three picks in the rookie draft this year.

They are also likely to keep a list spot open for a potential train-on players, including former North Melbourne and Collingwood speedster Jaidyn Stephenson.

“We’ve got new coaching staff and they want to have a bit of a look at the list as well and work out where it all fits,” Parker said.

“We’ve got some new AFL rules to consider as well so it gives everyone a chance to take a breath and take a look at what we’ve actually got.

“It’s a new group and a new set of eyes to take a look at our list and they might have some different ideas about where players can play and where they can’t play.”