It’s fair to say the 2013 National Draft went as most thought it would.

Big boy Tom Boyd was chosen with pick one, his little mate Josh Kelly was next and the versatile Jack Billings followed before Nick Dal Santo’s cousin, the rangy Marcus Bontempelli, completed a Vic Metro four-some.

Brisbane would be thrilled with the silky smooth James Aish, a two-time (yep two-time) SANFL premiership player and Matthew Sharenberg’s foot injury didn’t scare anyone – least of all Collingwood which swooped with pick 7.

The Demons had the luxury of choosing between two absolute jets and chose a Luke Hodge clone in Christian Salem over the Patrick Dangerfield-esque, Nathan Freeman.

The first round flew by and in reality a near formality. The only people more happy than the clubs (and they are always happy) were those who compiled phantom drafts, most scribes picked the complete set.

It is always a raffle beyond the first round, but for a few young men, the draft continued to play out as if it were scripted.

When it was Adelaide’s turn at pick 23 they could not spit out the words “Matthew Crouch, North Ballarat” quickly enough. Not only is Crouch a tough midfielder, he’s also the brother of Brad, whose debut season at the Crows this year was something else.

The Crows wouldn’t have expected the younger Crouch to still be available, but if Twitter is a guide, his future Crows teammates are delighted.

A similar scenario unfolded three picks later when Essendon entered the ball game for the first time. The bombers weren’t as quick to the punch as the Crows, in-fact a one-minute conference ensued, but the smile on Bomber Thompson’s face said it all. When Zach Merrett’s name was called another young star would join his brother (Jackson) at an AFL club.

The back end of the draft was filled with rookie pick upgrades, but the brother theme continued onto pick 41 where Taswegian Jake Kolodjashnij was selected by Geelong. The Kolodjashnij family would have been sweating bullets, Jake’s twin brother Kade didn’t have to wait long, he was selected by the Gold Coast with pick 5. With only a few live picks in the draft remaining Jake’s name was finally called. In fact, everyone relieved, Jake was the only player in the room without a club at that point – an awkward moment was averted.

Earlier in the night Nathan Jones’ little brother Zak was selected by Sydney with selection 15 and Jeff Garlett’s cousin Dayle was chosen by Hawthorn with pick 38. The Garlett story is a good one, his off-field issues have been well documented but he appears to have turned things around, evidenced by a stellar season with Swan Districts. His arrival at Hawthorn appears to be destiny, throughout this year Alistair Clarkson sent Garlett a text message every Sunday to keep him motivated.

While they might not be related but Brighton Grammar classmates Christian Salem and Jayden Hunt, will be teammates at the Demons next year. When Melbourne called Hunts name at pick 57 even the experts were asking “Jayden who?” A genuine smoky, the speedy midfielder didn’t even play TAC Cup football and arrives in the AFL on the back of a dominant school boy season after a major growth spurt this year.

Given clubs would have been tracking Salem and Josh Kelly this year, Brighton wouldn’t have been a bad place to attract the attention of recruiters.

There were only 65 live selections on the night, with mostly rookie upgrades filling the second half of the draft, an indication it was a shallow draft pool. Another brother of a gun, Aaron Christensen, is likely to get his chance in the rookie draft on Wednesday. Getting drafted would be an exciting journey already, but to do it alongside someone you’ve been kicking the footy with your whole life, what a way to start an AFL career.