The 2016 NAB AFL Draft in Sydney is just three days away, and we continue our draft countdown covering the best third round picks in Fremantle Dockers’ history.
Fremantle have not had a third round pick in four out of the past five drafts. On Friday night the club will instead have two picks in the second round and pick No.7 in the first round.
Ed Langdon. No.54, 2014
Coming late in the third round from Sandringham in 2014, the promising Ed Langdon is Fremantle’s most recent third round selection at the national draft
The 20-year-old has already played 15 AFL games, with 13 coming in an impressive 2016 season.
Ross Lyon singled out Langdon as a great prospect for Fremantle’s future in his Doig Medal speech. After a 16-disposal effort against Melbourne in Darwin, Langdon told Lyon that he was starting to feel he belonged at AFL level, and subsequently went on a run of 20-plus disposal games against Gold Coast (23), Sydney (29), West Coast (20) and Adelaide (25) from rounds 18 to 21.
Lachie Neale. No.58, 2011
Lachie Neale came to the club from Glenelg as a part of the 2011 draft class that saw the likes of Cam Sutcliffe, Tommy Sheridan and Hayden Crozier land at Fremantle.
Neale made his debut the following year, averaging 11.3 disposals over 11 games.
Since then, Neale’s ball accumulation stats have skyrocketed, with averages of 19.8 (2013), 23.5 (2014), 27.4 (2015) and 33.5 (2016) over the following four seasons
Neale’s 2016 season saw the midfielder’s name etched in the record books. His 737–disposal season was the highest recorded since Champion Data started recording the statistic in 1999, and he was subsequently awarded the 2016 Doig Medal, the 2016 Fremantle Players’ Award, the 2016 McDonalds Freo Fans MVP and a place on the 40-man All-Australian squad.
The 23-year-old signed on for a further three years in 2016, seeing the emerging star at the club until at least 2019.
Chris Mayne. No.40, 2007
With 196 goals over 172 games for Fremantle, Chris Mayne sits fourth in the club’s all-time goal kicking list.
Mayne has been praised for his accuracy in front of goal, particularly as Fremantle pushed towards a Grand Final berth in 2013.
Between 2012 and 2013, Mayne kicked 76 goals for just 23 behinds at an accuracy of 77 per cent.
Mayne was also Fremantle’s joint leading goal kicker in 2011 and won the Players’ Award in 2012, after finishing just behind Ryan Crowley in the Doig Medal count.
While the goals dried up somewhat for Mayne from 2014, he established himself as an exceptional pressure-forward, registering 112 and 119 tackles in 2015 and 2016, leading the club in the statistic in both years.
At the end of the 2016 season, the free-agent Mayne signed on with Collingwood, seeing pick 23 sent to Fremantle as compensation. That pick was then was used to trade for running-midfielder Bradley Hill from Hawthorn.
