Watch the 2025 Telstra Pre-Season and Rookie Drafts live on AFL.com.au and the AFL Live app on Friday, November 20
Callum Ah Chee, Dane Rampe and Mason Cox. Pictures: AFL Photos
IT WILL come more than a month later than expected, but Brisbane’s two-time premiership star Callum Ah Chee is set to finally become an Adelaide player on Friday at the 2025 Telstra Pre-Season Draft.
With the two-night Telstra AFL Draft done for another year, the pre-season draft (PSD) and rookie draft will take place on Friday afternoon from 3pm AEDT, which you can watch exclusively live on AFL.com.au and the AFL Live app.
But Friday will not be the last chance for a host of players looking to be on an AFL list in 2026, with the likes of former Collingwood ruck Mason Cox and Brisbane midfielder Deven Robertson set to be signed by new clubs in the coming weeks.
Ah Chee requested a move from Brisbane to the Crows last month, but the two clubs could not agree to a trade before the end of the Continental Tyres AFL Trade Period on October 15.
With his Lions contract expired, Ah Chee nominated for the pre-season draft, where the Crows will pick him up on Friday.
Ah Chee did not nominate for the national draft earlier this week and set his financial terms when he nominated for the PSD, reducing the chances of a rival club swooping in before Adelaide’s first pick, which is pick 14.
Ah Chee is one of a host of big names who will feature in Friday’s pre-season and rookie drafts, with multiple clubs to re-draft players as rookies after delisting them in recent weeks.
Sydney has made a commitment to re-draft veterans Dane Rampe and Jake Lloyd as rookies after they were delisted last month, while Lincoln McCarthy (Brisbane), Keighton Matofai-Forbes and George Stevens (Geelong), Ben Jepson (Gold Coast), Conor Stone (GWS), Tyler Welsh (Adelaide) and Patrick Said (St Kilda) are also expected to be re-drafted by their clubs on Friday.
Jake Lloyd and Dane Rampe ahead of the 2023 AFL season. Picture: AFL Photos
Jake Stringer (Greater Western Sydney) and Ryan Byrnes (St Kilda) had also been given similar commitments after being delisted, and the pair was picked up in the national draft on Thursday night.
It is the continuation of a growing trend where clubs delist players to open up list spots (clubs must have at least three senior list vacancies in order to take part in the national draft) before re-drafting them.
The list management move is not without minor risk, however. In 2021, Gold Coast delisted Hugh Greenwood with a commitment to re-drafting him, only for North Melbourne to swoop in and sign him as a delisted free agent.
Several other known quantities are set to find new homes after the two drafts on Friday, with the pre-season supplemental selection period (SSP) window to open on Monday.
As reported by AFL.com.au this week, Cox is set to join Fremantle as an SSP signing after being delisted by Collingwood, while West Coast will pick up recently delisted midfielders Robertson (Brisbane), Fin Macrae (Collingwood) and Harry Schoenberg (Adelaide) over the summer period.
Former Collingwood and North Melbourne forward Jaidyn Stephenson will train with Port Adelaide over the summer as he tries to win back a spot on an AFL list following a year in suburban footy, while Tex Wanganeen has won a training spot at the Saints after being delisted by Essendon.
North Melbourne’s Jaidyn Stephenson poses ahead of the 2022 season. Picture: AFL Photos
The importance of the pre-season and rookie drafts has dropped in recent years, with clubs using them mainly to navigate complex rules surrounding the salary cap and list sizes to build their squad for the upcoming season.
An average of just 24 selections have been used in the past four rookie drafts, while six of the past 10 pre-season drafts have not been conducted, with clubs showing no interest in taking players.
The draft order for both drafts is reverse ladder position. It is not possible to trade and swap rookie draft picks.
Join draft experts Cal Twomey and Riley Beveridge for the 2025 Telstra AFL Pre-Season and Rookie Drafts from 3pm AEDT on Friday, November 21
