AAP
Greater Western Sydney have taken Victorian midfielder Lachie Whitfield with the No.1 pick at the AFL national draft.
The Giants also had the next two picks at Thursday night's function at the Gold Coast Convention Centre, with which they snared another midfielder Jonathan O'Rourke and key defender Lachie Plowman.
Whitfield is a 184cm, 77kg 18-year-old, long touted as the likely No.1 pick.
He won the Larke Medal as the best player in this year's under-18 national championships and is highly regarded for his elite endurance and precise kicking on both feet.
O'Rourke is also a 184cm 18-year-old Victorian, boasting great, speed endurance and classy ball use by both hand and foot.
Plowman is a 192cm backman with great composure.
As expected, Melbourne, who had the No.4 pick, swooped on South Australia's Jimmy Toumpas, a quick, hard-working midfielder who played in a senior SANFL premiership as a 17-year-old last year.
The Western Bulldogs had the next two picks, first plumping for tall utility Jake Stringer.
The Dogs were not put off by the fact that 191cm, 94kg Stringer missed the entire 2011 season with a badly broken leg.
They then took 189cm long-kicking left-footed midfielder Jackson Macrae.
Port Adelaide added ferocious tackling, hard-at-it 188cm midfielder Oliver Wines with their top pick (No.7).
Brisbane added some attacking power, with 187cm South Australian forward Sam Mayes at No.8.
Richmond went for aggressive, solidly-built midfielder Nick Vlastuin at No.9, with Essendon's father-son pick, tall forward Joe Daniher, rounding out the top 10.
In other notable first-round selections, Carlton swooped on freakishly talented forward Troy Menzel at No.11.
The brother of Geelong's Daniel Menzel, Troy would most likely have gone higher if not for the fact he had a LARS knee reconstruction at age 16.
West Australian quick, agile midfielder-forward Joshua Simpson, who threw recruiters a surprise when it was revealed in recent days he fathered a child early this year, gets to stay in his home state after being taken by Fremantle at pick No.17.
Collingwood picked up the man regarded as the outstanding ruckman in this year's draft pool, 202cm South Australian Brodie Grundy.
Richmond also added ruck depth, taking lightly-framed 203cm Victorian Liam McBean with their third choice, No.33.
North Melbourne, who had failed to strike a trade deal with Port Adelaide for Victorian defender Ben Jacobs, drafted him at pick No.37, making Jacobs the first recycled player taken.
The Giants, who had a total of six picks inside the top 27, went for bigger players with the last three of those, taking 194cm utility Kristian Jaksch (No.12), 194cm defender Aidan Corr (No.14) and 198cm forward James Stewart (No.27).
Reigning premiers Sydney used their first pick, No.22, on 22-year-old, 189cm midfielder Dean Towers, from VFL club North Ballarat.
Losing grand finalists Hawthorn used their first selection, No.28, on quick 193cm forward Tim O'Brien.
Hawthorn re-drafted their 2008 premiership forward Michael Osborne, who is working his way back from a knee reconstruction.
Along with Jacobs, North Melbourne took two other recycled players, former Sydney-listed 23-year-old, 200cm ruck prospect Daniel Currie (No.56) and 20-year-old ex-Gold Coast midfielder Taylor Hine (No.62).
The Kangaroos had earlier taken 18-year-old medium forward Taylor Garner with their first pick.
Melbourne, who had used the trade and free agency period to recruit several AFL-experienced players, added more experience by taking a 25-year-old, Matt Jones, from VFL club Box Hill, with their fourth selection (No.52).
Adelaide, whose first pick did not come until No.62, after giving up their earlier selections, used that choice on 19-year-old Tasmanian 194cm rebounding defender Sam Siggins and their other on agile 185cm Victorian forward Rory Atkins.
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