2011 AFL Draft

2011 AFL draft
General information
Date	24 November 2011 13 December 2011
Location	Sydney, New South Wales
Country	Australia
Sponsored by	National Australia Bank
Broadcast	Fox Sports
First selection	Jonathon Patton (Greater Western Sydney)
← 2010 2012 →

The 2011 AFL draft consisted of five opportunities for player acquisitions during the 2011/12 Australian Football League off-season.

These were:

It was the first national draft to feature the Greater Western Sydney Giants, who joined the league in 2012. It was the final draft period before the introduction of free agency in the 2012/13 offseason.

The Greater Western Sydney Giants were to join the AFL in 2012, and were provided with several draft concessions, including additional draft selections, early access to recruit 17-year-old players, and access to uncontracted and previously listed players in this offseason. These concessions were similar to those provided to the Gold Coast Football Club, which entered the league in the previous season.

Greater Western Sydney was permitted to recruit the following players directly, without the need for any draft:

Then, in the drafts, Greater Western Sydney had the following selections:

Additionally, at the end of 2011, Greater Western Sydney had the ability to trade the only four selections in a once-off "mini-draft", which could be used to recruit 17-year-old players (born between 1 January – 30 April 1994). Greater Western Sydney could only use these draft picks as trade currency; the club was not permitted to use the picks for its own list development. Players recruited and traded in this manner were not eligible to play senior AFL football in 2012, and would continue to undergo junior development. This specific concession was unique to Greater Western Sydney; Gold Coast did not have the same concession the previous year.

Greater Western Sydney began with an expanded list size of up to fifty senior players and nine rookies, to be gradually reduced to a standard list size of thirty-eight senior players and nine rookies by 2019.

During the 2011 AFL season there was speculation about several players who would be uncontracted at the end of the season, including Tom Scully, Rhys Palmer, Callan Ward and Taylor Walker. In August 2011, Phil Davis from Adelaide was the first player to announce a move to Greater Western Sydney as an uncontracted player signing. After the season had ended, Palmer, Scully and Ward also announced moves to the Giants. As compensation, Scully was rated as a top-level player, resulting in Melbourne receiving both a first-round and a mid-first round draft pick as compensation. Davis and Ward were rated as second-level, earning Adelaide and Western Bulldogs a first round compensation selection, and Palmer was rated a third-level player, giving Fremantle an end of first round selection.

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