2008 AFL draft
The 2008 AFL draft consisted of four opportunities for player acquisitions during the 2008/09 Australian Football League off-season. These were trade week, the national draft, the pre-season draft and the rookie draft. It was considered to be the last uncompromised draft before the draft concessions given to the and expansion teams restrict the existing AFL clubs' access to the best young players in the future years drafts.
Player changes
Trades
Throughout the year there was much speculation about high-profile players such as Jonathan Brown, Alan Didak and Daniel Kerr being likely to be traded during the AFL's annual trading period, but each re-signed with their clubs before the trading period started. The main discussions during trade week were the surprise request by Ryan O'Keefe to be traded from Sydney, as well as the destination of young Fremantle ruckman Robert Warnock, both of whom wished to be traded back to their home city of Melbourne. Other players to request trades include Andrew Lovett, Brent Prismall, Mark Seaby, Farren Ray, Josh Carr and Daniel Harris.North Melbourne surprised many early in the week by naming Hamish McIntosh and Corey Jones as players available to trade, with McIntosh later being withdrawn from the offer after a backlash from his manager and club legend Glenn Archer.
Like most years, no trades were completed during the first three days of the trade week and for the first time the AFL was requested to assist by providing a mediator to solve the stand-off between Fremantle and Carlton over the Warnock deal. Carlton had offered its second round selection, #24 overall, but Fremantle wanted its first round selection, the sixth overall. On the final day of trade week Warnock was traded. The deal included Fremantle's pick No. 69, in exchange for Carlton's picks 24, 56 and 72.
In total only six trades were completed, with O'Keefe, Lovett, Seaby, Carr and Harris unable to finalise deals during the week. The low number of completed trades prompted calls by the AFLPA for a form of free agency to be introduced, although it could be explained as a one-off event due to a combination of the high regard for the players available in year's draft and the impending concessions to be given to the expansion teams, and in the coming years.
| Player | Original club | :Category:Australian Football League clubs|New club | Traded for |
| Adam Thomson | draft pick #42 | ||
| Rhyce Shaw and draft pick #61 | draft pick #46 | ||
| Anthony Corrie | draft pick #93 | ||
| Farren Ray and draft pick #48 | draft pick #31 | ||
| Brent Prismall | draft pick #39 | ||
| Robert Warnock and draft pick #69 | draft pick #24, #56 and #72 |
Retirements and delistings
2008 national draft
The 2008 national draft was held on 29 November. Melbourne finished the 2008 AFL season in last position and had the first selection in the draft. As both Melbourne and West Coast Eagles won less than 5 games during the season, they were eligible for a priority pick. As this was the first year in which they qualified, the priority pick was allocated between the first and second rounds of selections.Ayce Cordy was the first player selected in the draft as the only father–son selection. The Western Bulldogs had to use their 1st round selection, #14, to secure him after St Kilda bid their #1st round selection for him. His father, Brian, played 124 games for the Bulldogs in the 1980s.
The top two selections were widely tipped to be Jack Watts and Nic Naitanui, with Daniel Rich, Ty Vickery, Stephen Hill, Chris Yarran and Hamish Hartlett to fill the next few selections.
| Round | Pick | Player | Recruited from | League | :Category:Australian Football League clubs|Club |
| 1 | 1 | Jack Watts | Sandringham Dragons | TAC Cup | |
| 1 | 2 | Nic Naitanui | Swan Districts | WAFL | |
| 1 | 3 | Stephen Hill | West Perth | WAFL | |
| 1 | 4 | Hamish Hartlett | West Adelaide | SANFL | |
| 1 | 5 | Michael Hurley | Northern Knights | TAC Cup | |
| 1 | 6 | Chris Yarran | Swan Districts | WAFL | |
| 1 | 7 | Daniel Rich | Subiaco | WAFL | |
| 1 | 8 | Ty Vickery | Sandringham Dragons | TAC Cup | |
| 1 | 9 | Jack Ziebell | Murray Bushrangers | TAC Cup | |
| 1 | 10 | Phil Davis | North Adelaide | SANFL | |
| 1 | 11 | Steele Sidebottom | Murray Bushrangers | TAC Cup | |
| 1 | 12 | Lewis Johnston | North Adelaide | SANFL | |
| 1 | 13 | Tom Lynch | Sandringham Dragons | TAC Cup | |
| 1 | 14 | Ayce Cordy | Geelong Falcons | TAC Cup | |
| 1 | 15 | Mitchell Brown | Sandringham Dragons | TAC Cup | |
| 1 | 16 | Ryan Schoenmakers | Norwood | SANFL | |
| Priority | 17 | Sam Blease | Eastern Ranges | TAC Cup | |
| Priority | 18 | Luke Shuey | Oakleigh Chargers | TAC Cup | |
| 2 | 19 | James Strauss | Oakleigh Chargers | TAC Cup | |
| 2 | 20 | Tom Swift | Claremont | WAFL | |
| 2 | 21 | Hayden Ballantyne | Peel Thunder | WAFL | |
| 2 | 22 | Jackson Trengove | Calder Cannons | TAC Cup | |
| 2 | 23 | David Zaharakis | Northern Knights | TAC Cup | |
| 2 | 24 | Nick Suban | North Ballarat Rebels | TAC Cup | |
| 2 | 25 | Jack Redden | Glenelg | SANFL | |
| 2 | 26 | Jayden Post | Western Jets | TAC Cup | |
| 2 | 27 | Sam Wright | Murray Bushrangers | TAC Cup | |
| 2 | 28 | Shaun McKernan | Calder Cannons | TAC Cup | |
| 2 | 29 | Dayne Beams | Southport | QAFL | |
| 2 | 30 | Dan Hannebery | Oakleigh Chargers | TAC Cup | |
| 2 | 31 | Jordan Roughead | North Ballarat Rebels | TAC Cup | |
| 2 | 32 | Liam Jones | North Hobart | TFL | |
| 2 | 33 | Tom Gillies | Dandenong Stringrays | TAC Cup | |
| 2 | 34 | Liam Shiels | Eastern Ranges | TAC Cup | |
| 3 | 35 | Jamie Bennell | Swan Districts | WAFL | |
| 3 | 36 | Ashley Smith | Dandenong Stingrays | TAC Cup | |
| 3 | 37 | Zac Clarke | Oakleigh Chargers | TAC Cup | |
| 3 | 38 | Matthew Broadbent | Woodville-West Torrens | SANFL | |
| 3 | 39 | Steven Motlop | Wanderers | NTFL | |
| 3 | 40 | Mitch Robinson | Tasmanian Devils | VFL | |
| 3 | 41 | Todd Banfield | Swan Districts | WAFL | |
| 3 | 42 | Mitch Banner | Western Jets | TAC Cup | |
| 3 | 43 | Liam Anthony | East Fremantle | WAFL | |
| 3 | 44 | Rory Sloane | Eastern Ranges | TAC Cup | |
| 3 | 45 | Jarrad Blight | Swan Districts | WAFL | |
| 3 | 46 | Luke Rounds | Geelong Falcons | TAC Cup | |
| 3 | 47 | Rhys Stanley | West Adelaide | SANFL | |
| 3 | 48 | Nicholas Heyne | Gippsland Power | TAC Cup | |
| 3 | 49 | Taylor Hunt | Sandringham Dragons | TAC Cup | |
| 3 | 50 | Jordan Lisle | Oakleigh Chargers | TAC Cup | |
| 4 | 51 | Neville Jetta | Swan Districts | WAFL | |
| 4 | 52 | Jordan Jones | Geelong Falcons | TAC Cup | |
| 4 | 53 | Michael Walters | Swan Districts | WAFL | |
| 4 | 54 | Jarrad Redden | Woodville-West Torrens | SANFL | |
| 4 | 55 | Michael Still | Northern Knights | TAC Cup | |
| 4 | 56 | Ben Bucovaz | Geelong Falcons | TAC Cup | |
| 4 | 57 | Aaron Cornelius | Tasmanian Devils | VFL | |
| 4 | 58 | Tom Hislop | Essendon | AFL | |
| 4 | 59 | Nathan O'Keefe | Eastern Ranges | TAC Cup | |
| 4 | 60 | Tom Lee | Claremont | WAFL | |
| 4 | 61 | Campbell Heath | Gippsland Power | TAC Cup | |
| 4 | 62 | Alistair Smith | Perth | WAFL | |
| 4 | 63 | Luke Lowden | Sandringham Dragons | TAC Cup | |
| 5 | 64 | Rohan Bail | Mount Gravatt | QAFL | |
| 5 | 65 | Rhys O'Keeffe | North Adelaide | SANFL | |
| 5 | 66 | Glenn Dawson | Woodville-West Torrens | SANFL | |
| 5 | 67 | Tyson Slattery | West Adelaide | SANFL | |
| 5 | 68 | Tim Ruffles | North Ballarat Rebels | TAC Cup | |
| 5 | 69 | Bart McCulloch | South Launceston | TFL | |
| 5 | 70 | Pass | |||
| 5 | 71 | Warren Benjamin | Claremont | WAFL | |
| 5 | 72 | Will Young | North Ballarat Rebels | TAC Cup | |
| 5 | 73 | Leigh Brown | North Melbourne | AFL | |
| 5 | 74 | Paul Cahill | Sturt | SANFL | |
| 5 | 75 | Shane Savage | Dandenong Stingrays | TAC Cup | |
| 6 | 76 | Pass | |||
| 6 | 77 | Chris Hall | Woodville-West Torrens | SANFL | |
| 6 | 78 | Jason Davenport | Geelong | AFL | |
| 6 | 79 | Pass | |||
| 6 | 80 | Caleb Tiller | Murray Bushrangers | TAC Cup | |
| 6 | 81 | Kieran King | East Fremantle | WAFL | |
| 6 | 82 | Pass | |||
| 6 | 83 | Colm Begley | Brisbane Lions | AFL | |
| 7 | 84 | Pass | |||
| 7 | 85 | Pass |
2009 pre-season draft
The pre-season draft was held on 16 December 2008 and most pre-draft interest was on whether or not former West Coast Eagles captain and Brownlow Medal winner Ben Cousins would be selected by the Richmond Football Club. Richmond, the only club to show interest in recruiting Cousins, had one selection in the pre-season draft. In the week leading up to the pre-season draft, Richmond requested to have Graham Polak moved to the rookie list, to free up an additional list space and give them a second selection in the pre-season draft. The request was similar to one made by and granted to the Essendon Football Club a few years earlier with respect to Adam Ramanauskas, but there were key differences which led to Richmond's request being rejected by the AFL and a majority of rival clubs on December 15. Although Richmond had maintained throughout the previous week that it would draft Cousins only if its request to put Polak on the rookie list was granted, they selected Cousins anyway with their only selection in the pre-season draft. Josh Carr's return to Port Adelaide was the other major player move.| Round | Pick | Player | Recruited from | League | :Category:Australian Football League clubs|Club |
| 1 | 1 | Liam Jurrah | Yuendumu | CAFL | |
| 1 | 2 | Josh Carr | AFL | ||
| 1 | 3 | Hayden Skipworth | Bendigo Bombers | VFL | |
| 1 | 4 | Chris Johnson | AFL | ||
| 1 | 5 | Tom Rockliff | Murray Bushrangers | TAC Cup | |
| 1 | 6 | Ben Cousins | West Coast Eagles | AFL |
2009 rookie draft
Due to the expansion in the number of rookie places available for clubs to use - from the previous maximum of six players to the maximum of eight rookies and veteran listed players combined - the 2009 rookie draft featured more selections than usual.Rookie elevation
A total of 15 players were promoted from their respective clubs' rookie lists to the club's primary lists at the conclusion of the 2008 season.| Player | Recruited from | :Category:Australian Football League clubs|Club |
| Woodville-West Torrens | ||
| Morningside | ||
| North Ballarat | ||
| Gippsland Power | ||
| Perth | ||
| Bendigo Bombers | ||
| Norwood | ||
| Central District | ||
| North Adelaide | ||
| Woodville-West Torrens | ||
| Gippsland Power | ||
| Gippsland Power | ||
| Calder Cannons | ||
| Oakleigh Chargers | ||
| Claremont |
Selections by league
National and pre-season draft selection totals by leagues:| League | Players selected | State |
| TAC Cup | 40 | VIC |
| WAFL | 16 | WA |
| SANFL | 13 | SA |
| VFL | 3 | VIC |
| TFL | 2 | TAS |
| QAFL | 2 | QLD |
| NTFL | 1 | NT |
| CAFL | 1 | NT |