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Former Hawthorn utility Emerson Jeka is now a Cat, Melbourne have another father-son selection and former Port Adelaide defender Riley Bonner also found a new club at the AFL rookie and pre-season drafts on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Jeka fell out of favour at Waverley after four seasons with the Hawks where he managed only seven senior games \u2013 none this season. The Cats, who made some intriguing selections after the first round of the national draft, made the surprise decision to take Jeka in the rookie draft, adding depth to their big man department.<\/p>\n
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Down the highway: Former Hawk Emerson Jeka has found a new AFL club home at Geelong.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Getty Images<\/cite><\/p>\n While the Hawks were unwilling to throw Jeka a lifeline, they re-listed Chad Wingard through the pre-season draft. Wingard is on the mend after rupturing his Achilles tendon, but hopes to be back on the field late next season.<\/p>\n Bonner, a rebounding defender who can play on the ball, was taken by St Kilda in the pre-season draft. Bonner managed 17 senior games in 2022 and 11 this year.<\/p>\n Former Kangaroo Jack Mahony was taken by the Gold Coast Suns in the rookie draft.<\/p>\n VFL star Sam Clohesy joined his Werribee teammate Shaun Mannagh in the big league, Clohesy heading to the Gold Coast with pick No.4 in the rookie draft. The Suns had earlier re-listed Sam Day through the pre-season draft.<\/p>\n North Melbourne took ruck-forward Finnbar Maley, the 19-year-old impressing with the Northern Bullants in the VFL. Maley\u2019s sister Anneli is a basketball player for Australia\u2019s national women\u2019s team and also plays in the WNBL. Their father Paul was an import player in the NBL in the \u201990s.<\/p>\n Melbourne selected Oakleigh Chargers and Vic Metro midfielder Kynan Brown \u2013 his father Nathan played 146 games for the Demons \u2013 as a pre-selected rookie under the father-son rules. Brown trained with the Demons this season, and played two games with Casey in the VFL.<\/p>\n Sydney picked up Indhi Kirk, the son of club great Brett Kirk, as a category B rookie. Indhi Kirk is a graduate of the Swans academy and has played VFL.<\/p>\n Will Hamill (Adelaide), Cooper Stephens (Hawthorn), Jake Melksham (Melbourne), Adam Kennedy (Greater Western Sydney), James Borlase (Adelaide), Lachie McNeil (Western Bulldogs) and Taylor Duryea (Western Bulldogs) were also re-listed via the rookie draft.<\/p>\n Keep up to date with the best AFL coverage in the country. <\/i><\/b>Sign up for the Real Footy newsletter<\/i><\/b>.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\nMost Viewed in Sport<\/h2>\n
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