The 1990 AFL draft was the fifth annual draft of Australian rules footballers to the 14 clubs in the Australian Football League. It consisted of the national draft held at the end of the 1990 season, the pre-season draft held before the 1991 AFL season, and a mid-season draft.
Clubs receive picks based on the reverse of the position in which they finish on the ladder during the season. This was introduced as an equalisation strategy in response to the increasing transfer fees and player salaries.
The minimum draft age for the 1990 national draft was 16. Other than the West Coast Eagles, clubs were allowed to select only one West Australian player each and South Australian players were restricted to be only selected by the Adelaide Football Club which would join the AFL for the 1991 AFL season. Players in Queensland, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory could only be selected by clubs other than the Brisbane Bears and the Sydney Swans respectively if the player was older than 19 and not required by the 'local' club. Faced with these restrictions the league reduced the number of choices from 8 to 6. In exchange for the SA moratorium, the Crows were excluded from the draft (they could pick any South Australian, but only South Australians).
The talent pool was clearly shallow and most clubs shied away from investing too much hope in the draft. A number of the Victorian clubs, notably Richmond and Fitzroy, couldn't afford to recruit established players so stuck with country footballers and unproven youngsters. Clubs were believed to be looking to Tasmania as perhaps the only recruiting ground which hadn't been ravaged.The under-19's competition was still in operation and clubs had only to list players who had been drafted, and those over the age of 19. Essendon and North Melbourne at this point for example had very talented reserves sides drawn from their metropolitan zones (these zones would later provide the basis for the Northern Knights under-18 teams).
Pre-draft picks included Brisbane taking Darryl White from the Northern Territory which had become their 'zone'. Mitchell White and Glen Jakovich were fair additions to the West Coast Eagles squad.There were a number of notable trades. Brisbane traded Mark Roberts to North Melbourne who also secured Peter Mann from the Eagles. Geelong gave up forwards David Cameron and Shane Hamilton to get Brisbane's number 1 draft pick. The most noteworthy trade though was Hawthorn getting the rights to Darren Jarman, who turned down the chance to join the Adelaide Crows. Incidentally the Rohan Smith listed is the St Kilda one, not the Footscray one. Future Channel 7 commentator Russell Morris left Hawthorn for St Kilda.
Richmond drafted Matthew Clarke and Nick Daffy. Despite the restrictions on recruiting South Australians, Richmond skirted the rule because these two played in Mount Gambier and were registered with clubs in the Western Border Football League (VCFL). Melbourne drafted Allen Jakovich, who although a Western Australian was playing for South Australian National Football League (SANFL) side Woodville, and Brisbane were able to draft two Western Australian Football League (WAFL) players in Peter Worsfold (John's brother) and David Ogg. Matt Clape, Jakovich, Todd Ridley, James Cook, Jason McCartney, Scott Crow, Matthew Young, Stuart Anderson and Paul Sharkey were modestly successful. Matthew Burton, Fabian Francis and Derek Hall would all find success at different AFL clubs.
The only two definite successes were James Hird and Jamie Shanahan.
Jason McCartney kept a diary on behalf of The Age newspaper detailing the weeks leading up to the draft. In it he reveals the confusion and uncertainty that a young footballer feels. McCartney from Nhill in Victoria (near the SA border) was hesitant about moving to Melbourne. He went to Adelaide as a guest of Glenelg Football Club and watched the AFL grand final on the big screen, as well as watching Glenelg lose the SA Grand Final the next day.
With Sydney and Brisbane having the first draft picks he signed for Glenelg on a two-year deal. When Sydney and Brisbane traded their selections his hopes lifted. Geelong told him that they would take Hooper first and would be attempting to get the second pick to take McCartney. Geelong were unable to manufacture a trade and Carlton ended up with the selection (they swapped ruckman Warren McKenzie to Sydney). Ian Collins, Geoff Walsh, Bruce Comben and Kinnear Beatson all drove up to Nhill to meet with McCartney, and the next morning David Parkin rang him to ask if everything went well.
On draft day Carlton opted for Tasmanian James Cook. Parkin said that he felt that Cook had the potential to be an even better player. Collingwood drafted him and McCartney openly admitted he was devastated and that Collingwood was last on his list of clubs.
The trades which made the above possible were Carlton swapping McKenzie to Sydney for 2 pick overall, and Collingwood swapping Terry Keays to Richmond for 4th pick overall. One recruiting officer commenting about the decision making of Sydney and Richmond said, "those clubs deserve to be in the position they are in if they are going to make choices like that".
Michael McLean joined the Brisbane Bears after having been not encouraged to stay with Footscray. Sean Simpson switched from St Kilda to Geelong and the Cats again demonstrated their ability to revive careers. David Cloke was encouraged to saddle up for one more season at Richmond who was finding recruiting a ruckman nearly impossible. Kevin Dyson was recruited to Melbourne. Collingwood audaciously recruited the recently retired Gerard Healy in the hope of persuading him to play on, but he didn't.
| Player | Recruited by | Recruited from | Games with new club | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paul Mifka | 0 | |||
| 2 | Danny Noonan | Brisbane | 55 | ||
| 3 | Roger Smith | Brisbane | 0 | ||
| 4 | Shane Strempel | Brisbane | 3 | ||
| 5 | Darryl White | Brisbane | 268 | ||
| 6 | Ben Aulich | 0 | |||
| 7 | Sydney | 3 | |||
| 8 | Sydney | 23 | |||
| 9 | Darren Morgan | Sydney | 0 | ||
| 10 | Robert Neill | Sydney | 21 | ||
| 11 | Sydney | Melbourne | 0 | ||
| 12 | West Coast | 276 | |||
| 13 | West Coast | 151 |
| Player | Recruited by | Recruited from | Games with new club | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brisbane | Geelong | 16 | ||
| Brisbane | Hawthorn | 14 | ||
| Brisbane | Hawthorn | 2 | ||
| Brisbane | Geelong | 31 | ||
| Travis Martin-Benyon | Brisbane | Nth Melbourne | 0 | |
| Brisbane | Sydney | 13 | ||
| Carlton | Nth Melbourne | 17 | ||
| Fitzroy | West Coast | 26 | ||
| Fitzroy | West Coast | 21 | ||
| Hawthorn | Brisbane | 109 | ||
| Melbourne | Nth Melbourne | 26 | ||
| Melbourne | Richmond | 1 | ||
| Melbourne | St Kilda | 9 | ||
| Nth Melbourne | Melbourne | 0 | ||
| Nth Melbourne | West Coast | 39 | ||
| Nth Melbourne | Brisbane | 87 | ||
| Richmond | Collingwood | 25 | ||
| St Kilda | Hawthorn | 66 | ||
| St Kilda | Melbourne | 39 | ||
| St Kilda | Hawthorn | 30 | ||
| St Kilda | Sydney | 3 | ||
| Sydney | Brisbane | 13 | ||
| Sydney | Carlton | 21 | ||
| West Coast | St Kilda | 1 | ||
| West Coast | Nth Melbourne | 13 | ||
| West Coast | Fitzroy | 2 |
| Pick | Player | Recruited from | Recruited by | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Laurence Schache | West Torrens | ||
| 2 | Dale Lewis | |||
| 3 | Mark Brady | Old Scotch | ||
| 4 | Andrew Payze | West Torrens | ||
| 5 | Tim Williamson | Casterton | ||
| 6 | Craig Cross | Burnie Hawks | ||
| 7 | Darren Bartsch | |||
| 8 | Phil Krakouer | |||
| 9 | Steven Cummings | |||
| 10 | Craig McNaughton | Sandhurst | ||
| 11 | Damian Stoney | Old Xaverians | ||
| 12 | Jamie Duursma | |||
| 13 | Andrew Hardiman | South Warrnambool | ||
| 14 | Paul Morrish | |||
| 15 | David Greenhill | Wodonga | ||
| 16 | Paul Smit | Springvale | ||
| 17 | Darron Wilkinson | Camberwell | ||
| 18 | Scott Turner | Ararat | ||
| 19 | Anthony Pavey | Churchill | ||
| 20 | Darren Read | Dandenong | ||
| 21 | Luke Hampshire | Tyrendarra | ||
| 22 | Jamie Grant | Daylesford | ||
| 23 | Damian Sexton | Yarrawonga | ||
| 24 | Jamie Weeding | |||
| 25 | Peter Vandermeer | |||
| 26 | Stephen Anderson | South Warrnambool | ||
| 27 | David Robertson | Euroa | ||
| 28 | Dean Strauch | Golden Square | ||
| 29 | Tim Symes | Benalla | ||
| 30 | Darren Collins | |||
| 31 | Damian Hancock | Leitchville | ||
| 32 | Michael Frost | Swan Hill | ||
| 33 | Bernie Harris | Terang | ||
| 34 | Stephen Moloney | North Melbourne Old Boys | ||
| 35 | Paul Hogarth | Northern United | ||
| 36 | Jason Morton | Wagga Tigers | ||
| 37 | Andrew Mills | North Shore | ||
| 38 | Glen Bartlett | |||
| 39 | Nick Tsiotinas | |||
| 40 | Chris Melican | |||
| 41 | Martin Cameron | Traralgon | ||
| 42 | David Morrison | Devonport | ||
| 43 | Michael Thomson | |||
| 44 | Barry Spierings | Werribee | ||
| 45 | Jolyon Keeble | Old Melburnians |
| Player | Recruited by | Recruited from | Games with new team | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stephen Hooper | 21 | |||
| 2 | James Cook | Brighton Robins/ Clarence (TFL) | 25 | ||
| 3 | Fitzroy | Clarence (TFL) | 12 | ||
| 4 | Collingwood | Nhill | 38 | ||
| 5 | Stewart Devlin | Geelong | Horsham (VCFL) | 0 | |
| 6 | Melbourne | 47 | |||
| 7 | Carlton | 0 | |||
| 8 | Footscray | 7 | |||
| 9 | West Coast | East Perth | 29 | ||
| 10 | Brisbane | Swan Districts | 9 | ||
| 11 | Danny Sexton | Nth Melbourne | Lemnos (VCFL) | 0 | |
| 12 | Shane Porter | West Coast | North Launceston (TFL) | 0 | |
| 13 | Essendon | 25 | |||
| 14 | Andrew Hamer | Collingwood | Lakes Entrance (VCFL) | 0 | |
| 15 | Andrew Harrison | Brisbane | Benalla (VCFL) | 0 | |
| 16 | Richmond | Swan Distrists | 19 | ||
| 17 | Brendan Hehir | Geelong | Darley (VCFL) | 0 | |
| 18 | Dan Miller | Nth Melbourne | Morwell (VCFL) | 0 | |
| 19 | Gary Merritt | Melbourne | Tatura (VCFL) | 0 | |
| 20 | West Coast | Wodonga (VCFL) | 13 | ||
| 21 | Essendon | Shepparton (VCFL) | 0 | ||
| 22 | Collingwood | Cath C. Bendigo (VCFL) | 26 | ||
| 23 | Ben Thomas | Brisbane | Port Fairy (VCFL) | 0 | |
| 24 | Essendon | Glenelg | 0 | ||
| 25 | Brisbane | 31 | |||
| 26 | Dale Hall | Sydney | Hobart (TFL) | 0 | |
| 27 | Fitzroy | Burnie Hawks (TFL) | 5 | ||
| 28 | Chris Smith | Richmond | Assumption Coll. (APS) | 0 | |
| 29 | Byron Donnellan | Geelong | Donald (VCFL) | 0 | |
| 30 | Hawthorn | St Pats Launceston (Tas) | 21 | ||
| 31 | Nick Faull | Brisbane | Golden Point (VCFL) | 0 | |
| 32 | Matthew Moylan | Footscray | Shepparton (VCFL) | 0 | |
| 33 | Matthew Kelly | Nth Melbourne | Wedderburn (VCFL) | 0 | |
| 34 | Brad Read | Hawthorn | 0 | ||
| 35 | Nth Melbourne | Sale (VCFL) | 61 | ||
| 36 | West Coast | Subiaco | 0 | ||
| 37 | Glen Hoffman | Essendon | Jeparit (VCFL) | 0 | |
| 38 | Grant McFarlane | Collingwood | Wodonga (VCFL) | 0 | |
| 39 | Brisbane | Sandy Bay (TFL) | 15 | ||
| 40 | Mark Collins | Sydney | South Fremantle | 0 | |
| 41 | Mark Jenkinson | Fitzroy | Willaura (VCFL) | 0 | |
| 42 | Richmond | North Hobart (TFL) | 5 | ||
| 43 | Glen Thomlinson | Geelong | Rochester (VCFL) | 0 | |
| 44 | Hawthorn | Port Fairy (VCFL) | 13 | ||
| 45 | Craig Jennings | Nth Melbourne | Traralgon (VCFL) | 0 | |
| 46 | Brian McInnes | Footscray | Wick.-L. Bolac (VCFL) | 0 | |
| 47 | Luke Chambers | Brisbane | Lucknow (VCFL) | 0 | |
| 48 | Willie Rioli | Hawthorn | South Fremantle | 0 | |
| 49 | Richmond | North Gambier (SA) | 165 | ||
| 50 | Nth Melbourne | Stawell (VCFL) | 0 | ||
| 51 | Jarrod Carter | Essendon | North Hobart (TFL) | 0 | |
| 52 | Collingwood | Swan Districts | 0 | ||
| 53 | Stephen Pears | Nth Melbourne | 0 | ||
| 54 | Sydney | St Mary's (NTFL) | 1 | ||
| 55 | Steven Byers | Fitzroy | New Norfolk (TFL) | 0 | |
| 56 | Richmond | West Gambier (SA) | 0 | ||
| 57 | Chris Barzen | Geelong | Mooroopna (VCFL) | 0 | |
| 58 | Adrian Goldup | Sydney | Redcliffs (VCFL) | 0 | |
| 59 | Cameron James | Carlton | Morwell (VCFL) | 0 | |
| 60 | Rodney Harvey | Footscray | Trinity-Ararat (VCFL) | 0 | |
| 61 | Michael Scoon | North Melbourne | Monbulk (VCFL) | 0 | |
| 62 | Ben Herrald | Hawthorn | Assumption Coll. (APS) | 0 | |
| 63 | Melbourne | Southern Districts (NT) | 1 | ||
| 64 | West Coast | 2 | |||
| 65 | Stephen Fry | Essendon | Clarence (TFL) | 0 | |
| 66 | Bowden Hamilton | Collingwood | Colbinabbin (VCFL) | 0 | |
| 67 | David Griffin | Sydney | South Bendigo (VCFL) | 0 | |
| 68 | Peter Whyte | Brisbane | South Barwon (VCFL) | 0 | |
| 69 | Gavin Cooney | West Coast | Clarence (TFL) | 0 | |
| 70 | Stuart Johnstone | Richmond | Melbourne | 0 | |
| 71 | Dennis Ryan | Geelong | Kyabram (VCFL) | 0 | |
| 72 | St Kilda | Melbourne | 7 | ||
| 73 | Anthony McDonald | Carlton | Ballarat YCW (VCFL) | 0 | |
| 74 | Paul Campbell | Footscray | Cobram (VCFL) | 0 | |
| 75 | Robert Panozza | Melbourne | Wodonga Raiders (VCFL) | 0 | |
| 76 | Robert Bowden | Hawthorn | Robinvale (VCFL) | 0 | |
| 77 | Niall Buckley | Melbourne | County Kildare (Ireland) | 0 | |
| 78 | Fitzroy | Wangaratta Rovers (VCFL) | 19 | ||
| 79 | Essendon | Ainslie (ACT) | 253 | ||
| 80 | Scott O'Donohue | Collingwood | Bungaree (VCFL) | 0 | |
| 81 | Luan Morley | Hawthorn | North Ballarat (VCFL) | 0 | |
| 82 | Leigh Campbell | Sydney | Campbelltown (NSW) | 0 | |
| 83 | Mark Williams | West Coast | 0 | ||
| 84 | Richmond | St Kilda | 0 | ||
| 85 | Brad Dowling | Geelong | Mooroopna (VCFL) | 0 | |
| 86 | St Kilda | Sandy Bay (TFL) | 3 | ||
| 87 | Carlton | Boolarra (VCFL) | 0 | ||
| 88 | Peter Jacks | Footscray | Ballarat YCW (VCFL) | 0 | |
| 89 | Simon Wood | Nth Melbourne | St Arnaud (VCFL) | 0 | |
| 90 | Adam Ahern | Hawthorn | Devonport (TFL) | 0 | |
| 91 | Adam Rudd | St Kilda | Numurkah (VCFL) | 0 | |
| 92 | St Kilda | Hobart (TFL) | 125 | ||
| 93 | Adam Houlihan | Essendon | Kyabram (VCFL) | 0 | |
| 94 | Chris Ryan | Collingwood | Morwell StVincents (VCFL) | 0 |
| Player | Recruited by | Recruited from | Games | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michael McLean | Brisbane | Footscray | 87 | |
| 2 | Paul Hawke | Sydney | Collingwood | 1 | |
| 3 | Matthew Bourke | Fitzroy | Hawthorn | 2 | |
| 4 | Mark Trewella | Richmond | Fitzroy | 4 | |
| 5 | Sean Simpson | Geelong | St Kilda | 114 | |
| 6 | Tony Antrobus | St Kilda | Essendon | 6 | |
| 7 | Matthew Ryan | Brisbane | Sydney | 18 | |
| 8 | Mark Athorn | Sydney | Fitzroy | 15 | |
| 9 | Justin McGrath | Fitzroy | Hawthorn | 8 | |
| 10 | Andrew Underwood | Richmond | Essendon | 12 | |
| 11 | Jamie Lamb | Geelong | St Kilda | 14 | |
| 12 | Darren Davies | St Kilda | Footscray | 2 | |
| 13 | Darren Tarczon | Carlton | North Melbourne | 11 | |
| 14 | Allan McKellar | Footscray | Richmond | 0 | |
| 15 | Carl Dilena | North Melbourne | Fitzroy | 10 | |
| 16 | Dale Fleming | Hawthorn | Hawthorn | 0 | |
| 17 | Nick Sebo | Melbourne | St Kilda | 0 | |
| 18 | Cory Young | West Coast | Richmond | 1 | |
| 19 | Mathew Medew | Essendon | Essendon | 0 | |
| 20 | Derek Percival | Collingwood | Golden Square (VCFL) | 0 | |
| 21 | Adrian Menara | Geelong | North Melbourne | 0 | |
| 22 | Saade Ghazi | Footscray | Central District | 0 | |
| 23 | Leigh Capsalis | Melbourne | Melbourne | 0 | |
| 24 | Ian Kidgell | Brisbane | Hawthorn | 3 | |
| 25 | Andrew Peck | Sydney | Melbourne | 0 | |
| 26 | Wayne Peters | Fitzroy | Richmond | 0 | |
| 27 | John Mrakov | Richmond | Collingwood | 8 | |
| 28 | Russell Merriman | Geelong | St Josephs (VCFL) | 25 | |
| 29 | Damien Pearce | St Kilda | St Kilda | 0 | |
| 30 | Ben Robertson | Carlton | Noble Park (VMFL) | 3 | |
| 31 | Scott McDonald | Footscray | Bell Post Hill (VCFL) | 0 | |
| 32 | Peter Baldwin | North Melbourne | Geelong | 0 | |
| 33 | Anthony Paynter | Hawthorn | Brisbane | 0 | |
| 34 | Kevin Dyson | Melbourne | Oakleigh | 70 | |
| 35 | Craig McNaughton | West Coast | West Coast | 0 | |
| 36 | Darren Williams | Essendon | Essendon | 0 | |
| 37 | Stephen Anderson | Collingwood | South Warrnambool (VCFL) | 4 | |
| 38 | Jon Henry | Brisbane | Carlton | 0 | |
| 39 | Darren McAsey | Sydney | Sydney | 3 | |
| 40 | Jamie Bond | Fitzroy | Hawthorn | 1 | |
| 41 | David Cloke | Richmond | Richmond | 22 | |
| 42 | Stephen Jankowicz | Geelong | East Gambier (SA) | 0 | |
| 43 | Dean Greig | St Kilda | Camberwell (VFA) | 33 | |
| 44 | Mark Bouw | Carlton | Carlton | 0 | |
| 45 | David Ross | Footsray | Darwin | 0 | |
| 46 | Anthony Palmer | North Melbourne | North Melbourne | 0 | |
| 47 | Mark McLeod | Hawthorn | Richmond | 0 | |
| 48 | George Gorozidis | Melbourne | St Kilda | 0 | |
| 49 | Brad Edwards | West Coast | Brisbane | 0 | |
| 50 | Mathew Strickland | Essendon | Essendon | 0 | |
| 51 | Ross Duffy | Collingwood | North Hobart | 0 | |
| 52 | Paul Williams | Carlton | St Kilda | 0 | |
| 53 | Phil Krakouer | Footscray | Footscray | 7 | |
| 54 | Dean Barwick | North Melbourne | North Melbourne | 0 | |
| 55 | Craig Young | Hawthorn | Hawthorn | 0 | |
| 56 | Passed | Melbourne | NA | NA | |
| 57 | Peter Higgins | West Coast | West Coast | 0 | |
| 58 | Shane Heard | Essendon | Essendon | 11 | |
| 59 | Gerard Healy | Collingwood | Sydney | 0 |