Draftees are like Christmas presents for footy fans. A quick scan of weight height and position gives you an idea of what potential holes in your team have just been filled. A pecking order in your mind is created, as the higher the pick used to select them, the higher the hopes you have for them. Not unlike looking under the Christmas tree and picking out which packages with your name on the card are the most promising.

It’s not until early next year that you get to unwrap them though. You start by tearing into the biggest package, and you realise that your club’s first round pick is so skinny and raw that he will take years to become a decent senior player, if he gets that far at all. You push ahead despite your disappointment, and you get to a package you had barely noticed before, and you find that the kid taken with a pick in the 80’s moves well and looks like he might be in the team for round 1.

The limitless potential that young draftees offer footy fans is one of the joys of following the sport, even though it regularly leads to disappointment.