The Gold Coast picked the eyes out of the AFL national draft tonight, taking eight of the top 13 selections, and at the top of their wish list was - as expected - 17-year-old David Swallow from East Fremantle.

Swallow is regarded as a readymade AFL footballer - despite being among the youngest draftees - and had already spent the 2010 season playing with the Suns' VFL team.

The brother of North Melbourne centreman Andrew, who also finished fourth in the VFL's best and fairest award, the Liston Medal, was told officially by the club on Wednesday that he would be granted the honour of being taken at No 1, an early present for his 18th birthday today.

With their second and third picks, Gold Coast - featuring in the draft for the first time, ahead of their debut season in 2011 - chose Harley Bennell and Sam Day respectively to round out the popular pre-draft trifecta. Bennell is a midfielder from Peel Thunder capable of also playing forward, while Day is an exciting prospect from Sturt capable of playing in any key position, particularly the ruck..

Speaking at the end of the ceremony, in which 107 names were read out by AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou, Swallow said he was delighted to have been officially drafted by the Suns, and was looking forward to playing an important role in the club's first season.

''It was a sense of adrenaline (to be pick no.1) and I look forward to the opportunity next year. I love living up here (on the Gold Coast). I've been here a year from tomorrow. I've enjoyed the lifestyle, made some good friends already and it's definitely going to be a good year next year,'' Swallow said.

Perhaps the biggest intrigue of the top-10, and where the opening round promised to be shaped, revolved around Essendon and pick eight.

The Bombers, who were believed to be tossing up between a couple of young midfielders, opted for Gippsland Power and TAC Cup star Dyson Heppell.

That left the Suns to close out the first round by adding hard-running onballer Josh Caddy, hard-bodied midfielder Dion Prestia, the draft's best ruckman Daniel Gorringe and best tall forward Tom Lynch, and defender Seb Tape, giving them eight selections inside the first 11 picks.

"When you've got so many picks you do want a nice balance at the end of the day. Clearly, we wanted to take the best player, but overall we got some really talented midfielders to rotate. We got a ruckman/forward and a tall forward and a tall half-forward, along with a very promising defender. We're really happy with the mixture," Gold Coast recruiting manager Scott Clayton said.

"When you consider the 12 lads we've already taken as 17-year-olds, and also some of the Queenslanders and Northern Territorians we've put on our list as part of our establishment rules, it was a really strong draft. The game is in very good nick if it is producing players like that."

Earlier, picks four, five and six fell as many expected with West Coast, the Brisbane Lions and Richmond all adding some class to their line-ups.

The Eagles snaffled Victorian ball magnet Andrew Gaff with pick No.4, while the Lions nabbed South Australian Jared Polec.

Richmond confirmed the pre-draft mail by choosing West Australian midfielder Reece Conca, with the left-footer set to join Damien Hardwick's young list of first round midfielders at Punt Road.

Melbourne, used to being higher up the draft order in recent years, bolstered its forward line by selecting Lucas Cook with selection 12.

Geelong stayed local with their first selection, picking Geelong Falcon Billie Smedts at 15 and former Calder Cannon Cameron Guthrie at 23.

"We came with an open mind. We would have been happy to draft tall players or runners or whichever ways it turned out, but when it came to our picks we were very pleased to be able to call out those players' names," Geelong recruiting manager Stephen Wells said.

"We were really happy with the way the draft panned out for us. We've drafted four players that we think have got outstanding talent with plenty of room for development in them as well. They'll be given every opportunity to grow and progress with the coaching at our club. We love the fact that they can all win their own football, they have excellent skills and can play in a number of different positions."

North Melbourne secured hard-running midfielder Shaun Atley, who slipped to selection 17 after the early pre-draft mail had him going as high as pick 8.

"It was all about taking the best available. To be completely honest, Shaun Atley was a player we hadn't banked on getting to our pick. But we had ranked him in accordance with our list and we saw him as the best player at that pick and we were very pleased to get him," Kangaroos recruiting manager Bryce Lewis said.

"Just speaking to other recruiting managers in the days leading up to tonight, people made the comment that it was very hard to get a read on how things were going to fall. Perhaps that was a by-product of Gold Coast having a lot of early picks. It's hard to separate these players. I certainly thought that the top 30 was quite a talented group so it sometimes comes down to a personal preference."

Hawthorn added mature-age recruit Isaac Smith, who went from country football to a VFL premiership with North Ballarat, while Carlton bolstered its defence by drafting key defender Matthew Watson.

St Kilda picked defender Jamie Cripps at selection 24 while the Brisbane Lions rounded out the first round by choosing medium forward Patrick Karnezis.

Essendon sprung a surprise with their second selection, tall forward Ariel Steinberg who played gridiron in Canada in 2009, before returning to Australia to seek a football career of another code.

George Horlin-Smith also benefited from a late decision to switch codes, being picked up by Geelong at selection 37 after captaining Australia in cricket at under 16 level.

Only three players with previous AFL experience were granted new homes, with St. Kilda offering lifelines to both midfielder Dean Polo, formerly of Richmond, and forward Ryan Gamble, formerly of Geelong. Sydney also continued its recent tradition of recycled players, selecting former West Coast defender Matt Spangher.

Essendon, Fremantle, Gold Coast, Hawthorn and Richmond all passed on their final selections, meaning there will be just five selections in next month's pre-season draft.

Former Collingwood forward John Anthony has already aired his intentions to sign with Fremantle, as has former Essendon midfielder Bachar Houli with Richmond. Cameron Bruce looks set to become a Hawk, while both Essendon and Gold Coast are yet to declare their selections for the December 7 draft.

-- with AFL.COM.AU

Here is the list of the 17 clubs' draft selections, as nominated tonight:

ADELAIDE

14. Brodie Smith (Woodville West Torrens/Henley Sharks)

61. Jarryd Lyons (Sandringham Dragons/St Peters Jnrs)

82. Ricky Henderson (Rookie elevation)

97. Matthew Jaensch (Rookie elevation)

107. Luke Thompson (Rookie elevation)

BRISBANE

5. Jared Polec (Woodville West Torrens/Seaton)

25. Patrick Karnezis (Oakleigh Chargers/Hawthorn Citizens)

28. Ryan Lester (Oakleigh Chargers/Mulgrave)

32. Joshua Green (Clarence/Sorell Jnrs)

65. Claye Beams (Rookie elevation)

CARLTON
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18. Matthew Watson (Calder Cannons/Pascoe Vale)

34. Patrick McCarthy (Glenelg/Plympton)

42. Luke Mitchell (Calder Cannons/St Bernards)

67. Andrew McInnes (Dandenong Stingrays/Devon Meadows)

70. Nicholas Duigan (Norwood)

85. Jeff Garlett (Rookie elevation)

99. David Ellard (Rookie elevation)

108. Simon White (Rookie elevation)

COLLINGWOOD

45. Alex Fasolo (East Fremantle/Attadale Jnrs)

46. Daniel Farmer (Sandringham Dragons/Mordialloc-Braeside)

60. Kirk Ugle (Swan Districts/Carey Park)

76. Paul Seedsman (Eastern Ranges/Caulfield Grammar)

77. Trent Stubbs (East Coast Eagles/Baulkham Hills Falcons)

91. Jarryd Blair (Rookie elevation)

92. Lachlan Keeffe (Rookie elevation)

104. Thomas Young (Rookie elevation)

ESSENDON

8. Dyson Heppell (Gippsland Power)

31. Arial Steinberg (Bendigo Pioneers/Imperials)

48. Alex Browne (Oakleigh Chargers/Hawthorn Citizens)

64. Luke Davis (West Adelaide/Goodwood Saints)

80. Michael Ross (Gippsland Power/Bunyip)

95. Passed

106. Ben Howlett (Rookie elevation)

FREMANTLE

20. Jayden Pitt (Geelong Falcons/St Albans)

44. Viv Michie (Oakleigh Chargers/Fitzroy)

56. Josh Mellington (Murray Bushrangers/Benalla Saints)

72. Passed

87. Michael Barlow (Rookie elevation)

100. Matt de Boer (Rookie elevation)

109. Alex Silvagni (Rookie elevation)

112. Jay van Berlo (Rookie elevation)

GEELONG

15. Billie Smedts (Geelong Falcons/North Warrnambool)

23. Cameron Guthrie (Calder Cannons/Sunbury)

37. George Horlin-Smith (Sturt/Payneham Norwood Union)

54. Jordan Schroder (Calder Cannons/St Bernards)

58. James Podsiadly (Rookie elevation)

GOLD COAST

1. David Swallow (East Fremantle/Rossmoyne)

2. Harley Bennell (Peel Thunder/Pinjarra)

3. Sam Day (Sturt/Mitcham Hawks)

7. Josh Caddy (Northern Knights/Eltham)

9. Dion Prestia (Calder Cannons/Greenvale)

10. Daniel Gorringe (Norwood/Tea Tree Gully)

11. Thomas Lynch (Dandenong Stingrays)

13. Sebastian Tape (Glenelg)

39. Jeremy Taylor (Geelong Falcons)

49. Jacob Gillbee (Lauderdale/Sorell)

105. Passed

HAWTHORN

19. Isaac Smith (North Ballarat/Redan)

38. Mitchell Hallahan (Dandenong Stingrays/Sorrento)

55. Angus Litherland (Claremont/Ongerup)

66. Paul Puopolo (Norwood/Hope Valley)

86. Passed

MELBOURNE

12. Lucas Cook (North Ballarat/Hopetoun)

33. Jeremy Howe (Hobart/Dodges Ferry)

50. Troy Davis (Geelong Falcons/Kerang)

53. Tom McDonald (North Ballarat/Edenhope/Apsley)

81. Jordie McKenzie (Rookie elevation)

96. Jake Spencer (Rookie elevation)

NORTH MELBOURNE

17. Shaun Atley (Murray Bushrangers/Wodonga Raiders)

27. Kieran Harper (Eastern Ranges/Lilydale)

69. Cameron Delaney (Geelong Falcons/Grovedale)

71. Ben Mabon (North Ballarat/NSW/ACT Rams)

98. Ben Speight (Rookie elevation)

PORT ADELAIDE

16. Ben Jacobs (Sandringham Dragons/Brighton Grammar)

35. Ben Newton (South Fremantle)

36. Aaron Young (Eastern Ranges/Wantirna South)

52. Cameron O'Shea (Eastern Ranges/Emerald)

68. Cameron Hitchcock (Rookie elevation)

83. Danny Meyer (Rookie elevation)

RICHMOND

6. Reece Conca (Perth)

30. Jake Batchelor (Dandenong Stingrays/Frankston Bombers)

47. Bradley Helbig (West Adelaide/Waikerie)

51. Dean MacDonald (Gippsland Power/Morwell Tigers)

63. Tom Derickx (Claremont/Margaret River)

79. Passed

94. David Gourdis (Rookie elevation)

ST KILDA

24. Jamie Cripps (East Fremantle/Northampton)

43. Sam Crocker (Oakleigh Chargers/Canterbury Cobras)

59. Tom Ledger (Claremont)

75. Arryn Siposs (Dandenong Stingrays/Beaconsfield)

90. Ryan Gamble (Geelong)

103. Dean Polo (Richmond)

111. Tom Simpkin (Rookie elevation)

SYDNEY

21. Jed Lamb (Gippsland Power/Yarram)

40. Luke Parker (Dandenong Stingrays)

57. Alex Johnson (Oakleigh Chargers/Hawthorn Citizens)

73. Matt Spangher (West Coast Eagles)

101. Mike Pyke (Rookie elevation)

WEST COAST

4. Andrew Gaff (Oakleigh Chargers/Kew Comets)

26. Jack Darling (West Perth)

29. Scott Lycett (Port Magpies/Thevenard Magpies)

62. Jacob Brennan (East Fremantle/Bullcreek-Leeming) - Father/Son rule

78. Lewis Stevenson (Rookie elevation)

84. Callum Wilson (Rookie elevation)

93. Andrew Strijk (Rookie elevation)

WESTERN BULLDOGS

22. Mitchell Wallis (Calder Cannons/St Bernards) - Father/Son rule

41. Thomas Liberatore (Calder Cannons/St Bernards) - Father/Son rule

74. Jayden Schofield (East Fremantle/Railways)

88. Zephaniah Skinner (Northern Territory/Noonkanbah Blues)

89. Tom Hill (Northern Knights/Preston Bullants Jnrs)

102. Brodie Moles (Rookie elevation)

110. Andrew Hooper (Rookie elevation)