'Did zilch': Biggest winners and losers from AFL draft

The 2025 AFL draft is in the books, and while it's impossible to make any sweeping long term statements in the immediate aftermath, there is always a picture of who would be happiest and who would feel a bit disappointed.

Sixty picks were made in the draft, which is not bad for a crop rated on the weaker side coming into proceedings. 

West Coast was one of the big winners of night one, grabbing the best two players available to them, but a few hiccups on night two might sour their mood slightly. 

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Meanwhile, everything is coming up Queensland, with both the Suns and Lions stocking up on exciting talent.

Here were the biggest winners and losers from the AFL draft.

Biggest winner: Gold Coast

Whenever you can leave a draft and trade period having traded two top 10 picks for Christian Petracca, while somehow still bringing in two of the best five players in the draft, you've had a good month, and that's what Gold Coast has done.

Put aside any talk of draft integrity or the inequality of talent distribution, the reality is the Suns have loaded up and have improved their best 22 more than any team in the competition this off-season, and that's before factoring in Jamarra Ugle-Hagan.

Zeke Uwland (pick two) and Dylan Patterson (pick five) are extraordinarily talents who will immediately make the Suns better. They have just about the most talented list in the competition, even after shedding a few in the trade period.

Two more first round picks via their academy in Jai Murray and Beau Addinsall is a wonderful bonus, and a reliable defender in Avery Thomas at pick 28 is the cherry on top.

Biggest loser: Port Adelaide

Port Adelaide put 10 staff on a plane to Melbourne for two nights of the draft only for them to not make a single pick. When their chance finally emerged at pick 58 on night two, they immediately passed.

They made a trade with Gold Coast before proceedings kicked off on night one, exchanging pick 46 or a future third round pick. What they did from 7pm Wednesday through 10pm Thursday however, is anyone's guess because they ultimately did zilch.

In fairness to the Power, they were transparent in the lead-up that they wanted to use their list spots to elevate rookies, indicating they had limited interest in this draft crop.

Which is odd considering this might have been the strongest crop of South Australian draft talent in a long time.

Hard to brand anyone a 'loser' coming out of the draft, so we'll just poke fun at the team that didn't do anything across the six hours of live action. Must've been a tad boring.

Biggest winner: Essendon

Essendon were one of the clear winners of night one, thanks to a pair of trades. In 2024, they acquired Melbourne's first round pick, which ended up in the top six before bids, and then gave up a bunch of picks in the 20s to get Carlton's pick nine.

This allowed them to scoop up the bolter of the draft in Sullivan Robey, a potent kick off half back in Jacob Farrow and a tough midfielder who grew up loving the Dons in Dyson Sharp.

On night two they added tough defender Max Kondogiannis and a small forward out of their academy in Hussien El Achkar.

The Bombers have not had a great run with first round picks in the last decade, but there's plenty to get excited about here. 

Biggest loser: West Coast (night two only)

West Coast would be incredibly pleased knowing they've added the no.1 pick in Willem Duursma and the highest rated key forward in the draft in Cooper Duff-Tyler.

But night two was a bit all over the shop, ultimately leading to two players under their control falling elsewhere.

They made a surprise call on Victorian forward Sam Allen at pick 28 and secured academy forward Tylah Williams with 39, but ran out of picks to match bids.

This saw St Kilda land Eagles father-son prospect Charlie Banfield at pick 41, son of dual premiership hero Drew Banfield.

Brisbane also pinched West Coast academy prospect Koby Evans at pick 38. They were likely hoping he would slip through to the rookie draft for them. 

Biggest winner: Brisbane

And speaking of Brisbane, any time you can make a grand final and add one of the best six players in the competition, you should probably count your lucky stars.

The Lions have now done exactly that in three of the last four years, which is beyond absurd and tantamount to winning the lottery.

It started with Will Ashcroft with pick two via the father-son rule in 2022, he would go on to win back-to-back Norm Smith Medals for them.

Then his brother Levi Ashcroft in 2024 with pick five - immediately a premiership player himself 12 months on.

And now Daniel Annable via their academy in 2025 at pick six, arguably the best pure midfielder in the draft.

What a great time to be a Brisbane fan, or just an AFL fan in Queensland.