IN previous years, the first name read out at the AFL draft is covered in the glory of being the best of the junior footballing talent in the nation and this year the honour belonged to Calder Cannons midfielder Jake Melksham.

However with the AFL introducing a new format, which entailed revealing the top 10 in descending order, Melksham was not pick number one overall but was first choice for his new club Essendon and that was all that mattered for the young midfielder.

The Calder Cannons showed its depth of talent by having four of its players drafted to AFL clubs on Thursday night at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Melksham, who was pick 10, won’t have to move far from his Coburg-based Cannons when he lives his dream of joining the Essendon team at Windy Hill.

Two other Cannons’ players will join Melksham at the Bombers - forward Jake Carlisle and running defender Anthony Long.

The Cannons’ second highest draftee, Daniel Talia, will join Port Adelaide after it pounced on him with pick 13.

Essendon senior recruiting manager Merv Keane said he was more than satisfied picking up Melksham.

“The boy is on our doorstep and we rated him the best player in the district, let alone the nation, but if we can get him right on our doorstep, with so much scope for improvement, we think he’s a great fit for our footy club,” he said.

“We sort of narrowed the field down to two players (for pick 10) and that was Jake and Andrew Moore. So at the end of the day, they (Port Adelaide) took Andrew, but we were more than happy to take Jake, so it’s a fantastic result.”

Melksham proved his worth on his biggest stage yet in his career by being best-on-ground in the Cannons’ TAC Cup grand final victory this year, which pushed his pick number in the draft higher, according to Cannons’ regional manager Ian Kyte.

“He improved in the last six weeks of the year,” Kyte said.

“He really came on and started to play some good footy.

“He was in and out with PEGS (Penleigh and Essendon Grammar School). He showed in the grand final how he can be a good clearance player, which is what got him across the line a bit earlier (in the draft).”

Kyte said the young midfielder was a perfect match for the Bombers’ list.

“I think he’ll fit in nicely with the way their midfield is shaping at the moment,” he said.

Carlisle went at pick 24, not before some controversy when Essendon read out the player code for South Adelaide player Anthony Carlisle but stated Jake’s name.

Upon being prompted by AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou to repeat the selection, Essendon list manager Adrian Dodoro clarified that it was Jake that they wanted, much to the relief of both club and player.

Nephew of Essendon legend Michael Long, Anthony Long, went to the Bombers with pick 33, the final selection in round two of the draft.

Keane said it was a nervous wait for Essendon to get their men from Calder, but in the end the cards fell into place.

“We thought that he (Carlisle) may not get to us with our second pick and so we’re rapt to be able to make that decision with him,” he said.

“We had to sweat on Anthony Long coming through at 33. But at the end of the day, when we got to that 24 number, we thought that we could get all three players that we wanted. So luckily for us, and hopefully our good judgement, it’s worked.”

Kyte explained how Essendon nearly surrendered a pick for making an error with Carlisle’s player identification number.

“They had the wrong number written down in the book.”

Having eventually nabbed the right Carlisle, Kyte said the young forward was happy to be playing just around the corner from the Cannons.

“Another one really happy to stay at home and go to Essendon,” he said.

“He’s probably still a project player, he’s only been playing real reasonable footy for the last 18 months.

“He’ll improve, put on a bit of weight, he’s 197 (centimetres) now, he might grow another one or two centimetres, so he’s one that they’ll groom for two to three years down the track as a key position player.”

As for Long, Keane said he was picked for his own talent and not for his aforementioned uncle.

“We based it (the decision to draft Long) on merit and we’ve been following him pretty closely,” he said.

“We realise that there’s a little bit more of a development program he’ll need to undertake.

“We’ve got visions of him producing a massive upside in the next two to three years.”

Keane said it was not a deliberate decision for Essendon to pick three players from the same under 18 club, despite the Bombers’ history at previous drafts.

“It just worked that way because last year we got three guys from the Knights. So how does that work?

“It’s ridiculous. Probably the year before that we got three guys from Perth. At the moment, we targeted Jake Melksham, so that worked out and we were banking on Longy to take at some point. Carlisle was a bonus.”

The four players will be offered two-year contracts at their respective clubs.