Leading up to the AFL National Draft, we will look at the top 10 picks from then – going back 25 years, 20 years, 15 years, 10 years and five years.
In the first edition of this series – we look back 25 years ago to the 1995 National Draft.
There were premiership players and cult heroes aplenty in the 1995 national draft with the likes of Brent Harvey (pick 47) heading to North Melbourne and Darren Milburn (pick 48) being picked up by the Cats.
Names such as Barry Hall (pick 19), Daniel Bradshaw (56), Paul Licura (24), Kane Johnson (27), Simon Prestigiacomo (10), Daniel Chick (25), Jared Crouch (8), Matthew Primus (2) also went on to have plenty of success in their respective careers.
It would also be the last draft where Fitzroy – who had two priority picks would feature.
We take a look at the top 10 picks from the 1995 National Draft and how those selections fared for their respective clubs.
PICK 1 (Fremantle) – Clive Waterhouse
FROM: Port Adelaide (SANFL)
Games Played for Club: 106
When you think Fremantle Dockers, Clive Waterhouse is one of the first players that springs to mind.
The Dockers used their number 1 pick to recruit Port Adelaide Magpies SANFL premiership sensation, Clive Waterhouse.
Waterhouse would be famous for his flowing mullet and became a cult hero amongst the Fremantle faithful.
In his initial AFL seasons, Clive Waterhouse would find himself in/out of the Fremantle team either as a result of form or injury.
He’d make his mark as Freo’s leading goalkicker in 1998 and when Tony Modra joined the Dockers in 1999, the combination between the pair up forward saw them combine for 100 goals each year from 1999-2000.
The finest moment in his career was in the infamous Demolition Derby of 2000 when Waterhouse would play a vital role in the Dockers 42 point comeback over the Eagles.
Clive kicked seven goals and earned the three Brownlow votes for the game.
He would battle on for a further four seasons and reached the 100 game milestone and would be delisted at the end of 2004.
The number 1 draft pick of 1995 still holds a place in many a Freo and football fans heart.
PICK 2 (Fitzroy) – Matthew Primus
FROM: Geelong Falcons
Games Played for Club: 20
In what would be the Roys final season in the AFL, Fitzroy picked up young ruckman Matthew Primus from the Geelong Falcons.
Primus would go on to be one of the Roys most vital players in the 1996 season in which the club won only the one game.
He would also finish second in Fitzroy’s 1996 best and fairest.
When the club merged with the Brisbane Bears, the new entity got the pick of eight of Fitzroy’s players to make the move up North but they passed on Primus.
Primus joined Port Adelaide in 1997, where he would yet again come second in the best and fairest award.
He would go on to be captain of the Power from 2001-05 and be selected in the All-Australian team in 2001-2002.
Hamstring and knee injuries would see Primus miss a significant amount of football in the later part of his career – including Port Adelaide’s 2004 premiership.
Returning to the Power side in 2005, Primus would struggle to regain that All-Australian form of old and injured his knee in the final round of the home and away season.
When scans revealed he needed a knee reconstruction, he would retire after 157 games.
Primus would become senior coach of Port Adelaide from 2011 – 2012.
PICK 3 (West Coast) – Brendon Fewster
FROM: West Perth
Games Played for Club: 33
Fewster was taken at pick three in the 1995 draft and would only last four seasons at the Eagles, playing only 33 games.
Struggling to maintain a regular spot in the Eagles lineup, he would be traded to the Dockers in 1999 for pick 16 in the draft.
He would play a further 37 games for the Dockers, with a career high of 20 in 2000 but struggled to maintain his spot in the team and was delisted at the end of 2002.
PICK 4 (Fitzroy) – Scott Bamford
FROM: North Adelaide
GAMES FOR CLUB: 22
Taken by the Roys at pick 4 from North Adelaide, Scott Bamford would go on to play every game (22) in Fitzroy’s final season.
He would be one of the eight players that would be taken from Fitzroy to Brisbane for the 1997 season under the new merged entity – the Brisbane Lions.
Bamford would be in/out of the Lions team before being traded to Geelong, where he would play one season (1999) for the Cats.
He would finish his AFL career with 59 games for three different clubs before going on to have a fine career for the North Adelaide Roosters in the SANFL.
PICK 5 (Hawthorn) – Brendan Krummel
FROM: Fremantle
GAMES PLAYED FOR CLUB: 64
Krummel started his AFL career at the West Coast Eagles in 1992 but struggled to get a game during the club’s dominant era of the early-mid ’90s.
He would be part of the inaugural season of the newly formed Fremantle Dockers and played in their first ever match against Richmond at the MCG in round 1 of the 1995 season which would go on to be his only game for Freo with injury getting the better of him.
Selected at pick 5 by the Hawks in 1995 draft, he would play a mix of forward and back but was still hampered by injuries.
Brendan Krummel is mostly remembered for being on the receiving end of North Melbourne’s Byron Pickett’s infamous hip and shoulder in 1999.
He would retire after 74 AFL clubs for three clubs during the 2000 season.
PICK 6 (St. Kilda) – Daniel Healy
FROM: Central District
FAMES PLAYED FOR CLUB: 38
Taken in the first round (pick 6) of the ’95 draft, Healy would make his debut for the Saints in Round 12 of the 1996 season where he would kick one goal for what would be his only game of that season.
Healy would become a regular starter in the 1997 AFL season, playing 15 games but missed out on a spot in the St.Kilda team that would play in the Grand Final.
He managed 15 games in 1998 and played a further 7 in 1999 before being delisted.
Returning to Central Districts in the SANFL, he would go on to be a five-time premiership player – four of them as captain.
PICK 7 (Fremantle) – Ben Edwards
FROM: Claremont
GAMES PLAYED FOR CLUB: 0
The Dockers took another WA local at pick seven who would never play a match for the club after he was delisted before the start of the 1996 season.
PICK 8 (Sydney) – Jared Crouch
FROM: Norwood
GAMES PLAYED FOR CLUB: 223
Crouch was a first round selection for the Swans in 1996 but would not make his senior debut until Round 7, 1998 against Collingwood.
He would go on to play every game that season and did not miss any matches for a further seven years.
Playing in the Sydney Swans drought-breaking 2005 premiership, he played a record 194 consecutive games – the fourth on the AFL list for all-time consecutive games.
Reliable in the back pocket, Crouch was known for his consistency and professionalism and would be a favourite son and premiership hero of the Sydney Swans.
PICK 9 (Footscray) – Allen Jakovich
FROM: Melbourne
GAMES PLAYED FOR CLUB: 7
Another of the ultimate cult footballers, Allen Jackovich holds a fond place in the hearts of Melbourne Demons and footy fans in general.
Persistent problems with back injuries saw him sit out the 1995 season but he opted to make a comeback in 1996.
The Bulldogs would take him at pick 9 in the ’95 draft but this comeback would be ill-fated playing only seven games for seven goals at his new club.
Vision on YouTube has emerged recently of Allen Jakovich booting seven goals for Footscray in a pre-season trial match against the Adelaide Crows which would have had Dogs fans thinking he could give them the edge going into 1996 – a season which was famously the subject of the documentary “Year of the Dogs”
PICK 10 (Collingwood) – Simon Prestigiacomo
FROM: Research/Northern Knights
GAMES PLAYED FOR CLUB: 233
The Magpies got plenty with their number 10 pick from 1995 in Simon Prestigiacomo.
Given the number 35 made famous by Peter Diacos, the man they called “Presti” made his debut in Round 11, 1996 for the Magpies and played the remaining 12 games of that season for the club.
Playing 233 games for the Pies from 1996-2010, Prestigiacomo was the ultimate club man and was regarded by the likes of Matthew Richardson and Jonathan Brown as one of the hardest defenders to play on.
In Collingwood’s premiership winning season of 2010, Prestigiacomo managed only 13 games missing the finals with injury.
While he had recovered enough to be in consideration to play in the Grand Final(s) he ruled himself out on the grounds he had not recovered enough, his selfless act was regarded highly by the Collingwood faithful and commentators.