Jason Horne-Francis taken by North Melbourne with number one in the AFL national draft

Outstanding South Australian outlook Jason Horne-Francis has been selected by North Melbourne with the top pick in the AFL’s national draft.

Key points:

• Horne-Francis is the first South Australian to be selected as number one in 15 years
• Sam Darcy follows in his father Luke’s footsteps by joining the Bulldogs
• Nick Daicos is another father-son selection after being taken by the Magpies

Horne-Francis was widely tipped to be selected as number one in tonight’s draft in Melbourne, and the kangaroos will be hoping the high-profile midfielder will play a key role as the club continues its AFL rebuilding.

The 18-year-old is the first South Australian to be selected as number one in the draft since Bryce Gibbs was selected by Carlton in 2006.

It is the first time since 2010 that a player outside Victoria has been selected as number one in the draft.

Horne-Francis – who played for South Adelaide in the SANFL – is also the kangaroos’ first number one team in draft history.

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He stayed in Adelaide for the draft, which allowed the South Australian and honored Premier League player Malcolm Blight from North Melbourne to introduce him to his new club jersey.

Horne-Francis says he can ‘handle the pressure’

Before Wednesday night’s national draft, Jason Horne-Francis spoke about his trip to the AFL.

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“I can not wait to get into things with the football club North Melbourne,” Horne-Francis told Fox Footy.

“I think North are on the right track, they have a lot of young talented midfielders and I think I can learn a lot from players at the club.”

Horne-Francis is set to appear in North Melbourne’s best line-up in 2022 under coach David Noble, who will be in his second season in charge at Arden Street.

In something that came as no surprise, the Western Bulldogs got a narrow-minded striker Sam Darcy, whose father Luke is considered a big club.

GWS made a bid for Darcy with choice two, but as expected, it was matched by the Bulldogs.

Look back on the opening night of the AFL national draft with our blog.

In another father-son selection, Collingwood took midfielder Nick Daicos with the overall fourth pick after matching Gold Coast’s bid for the 18-year-old.

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Daicos’ father Peter was a legendary player for Collingwood, helping the club win the Premier League in 1990.

Nick Daicos – who joins his brother Josh on the Magpies – will wear his father’s famous number 35 jersey.

“It’s a big tradition for the AFL, but I may be a little biased,” he said of the father-son rule.

“There are a couple of Collingwood boys running around like father-sons. I think they’ve been pretty lucky with it all.”

Meanwhile, the Giants used the third pick of the draft to select midfielder Finn Callaghan, while the Gold Coast picked ruck-forward Mac Andrew with his top pick as number five.

Josh Rachele (six, Adelaide), Josh Ward (seven, Hawthorn), Jye Amiss (eight, Fremantle), Josh Gibcus (nine, Richmond) and Neil Erasmus (10, Fremantle) rounded out the top 10 picks.

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