2003 AFL draft
The 2003 AFL draft was the 2003 instance of the AFL draft, the annual draft of talented players by Australian rules football teams that participate in the main competition of that sport, the Australian Football League. The 2003 draft consisted of a trade period, the national, pre-season and rookie drafts and the elevation of previously drafted rookies to the senior list.
There were 83 draft selections between the 16 teams in the national draft. The Western Bulldogs received the first pick in the national draft after finishing on the bottom of the ladder during the 2003 AFL season. The Bulldogs and Melbourne both received a priority selection for having earned 20 premiership points of less during the preceding season. Carlton also received a priority selection, despite being banned from the first two rounds of this year's draft, owing to salary cap breaches discovered the previous year.
This draft is considered one of the weaker drafts, with almost half of the 16 club's first picks delisted within the following 4 years. It has produced one Brownlow Medallist, Adam Cooney, who is the first and, as of 2018, only number one draft pick to win the award.
The main trades that occurred involved Nathan Brown switching from the Bulldogs to Richmond and Trent Croad returning to Hawthorn after spending two years with Fremantle. The trading period also contained The Veale Deal, where unknown youngster Lochlan Veale was traded by Hawthorn to the Western Bulldogs in a lopsided three-way deal involving Essendon. In the deal Hawthorn gained Danny Jacobs, Essendon gained Mark Alvey and the number six selection in the draft and the Bulldogs officially only received Veale, and had an understanding Hawthorn that they would not trade Jade Rawlings to any other club, allowing the Bulldogs to select him with the first selection in the pre-season draft.
Trades
| Trade | Player | Original club | :Category:Australian Football League clubs|New club | Traded for |
| 1 | Trent Croad | Fremantle | Hawthorn | draft pick #10 |
| 2 | Steven Koops | Fremantle | Western Bulldogs | draft pick #19 |
| 3 | Peter Street | Geelong | Western Bulldogs | draft pick #20 |
| 4 | David Haynes and draft pick #42 | West Coast Eagles | Geelong | draft pick #20 |
| 5 | Ben Holland | Richmond | Melbourne | draft pick #21 |
| 6 | Jason Gram | Brisbane Lions | St Kilda | draft pick #23 |
| 7 | Scott Stevens and draft pick #31 | Sydney Swans | Adelaide Crows | draft picks #29 and #45 |
| 8 | Adam Morgan | Port Adelaide | Western Bulldogs | draft pick #34 |
| 9 | Heath Scotland | Collingwood | Carlton | draft pick #35 |
| 10 | Brent Guerra | Port Adelaide | St Kilda | draft pick #39 |
| 11 | Daniel Harford and Brett Johnson | Hawthorn | Carlton | draft pick #51 |
| 12 | Matthew Allan | Carlton | Essendon | draft pick #57 |
| 13 | Nathan Brown | Western Bulldogs | Richmond | draft picks #6 and #20 |
| 14 | Corey McKernan | Carlton | Kangaroos | Digby Morrell and David Teague |
| 15 | Justin Murphy | Carlton | Essendon | Cory McGrath |
| 16 | Lochlan Veale | Hawthorn | Essendon | Danny Jacobs |
| 16 | Danny Jacobs | Essendon | Hawthorn Western Bulldogs | Mark Alvey draft pick #6 |
| 16 | Mark Alvey draft pick #6 | Western Bulldogs | Essendon Hawthorn | Lochlan Veale |
| 17 | Simon Beaumont | Carlton | Hawthorn | David Clarke |
| 17 | David Clarke | Geelong | Carlton | David Loats |
| 17 | David Loats | Hawthorn | Geelong | Simon Beaumont |
2003 national draft
| Round | Pick | Player | Recruited from | :Category:Australian Football League clubs|Club |
| Priority | 1 | Adam Cooney | West Adelaide Football Club | Western Bulldogs |
| Priority | 2 | Andrew Walker | Bendigo Pioneers | Carlton |
| Priority | 3 | Colin Sylvia | Bendigo Pioneers | Melbourne |
| 1 | 4 | Farren Ray | Peel Thunder Football Club | Western Bulldogs |
| 1 | 5 | Brock McLean | Calder Cannons | Melbourne |
| 1 | 6 | Kepler Bradley | West Perth Football Club | Essendon |
| 1 | 7 | Kane Tenace | Murray Bushrangers | Geelong |
| 1 | 8 | Raphael Clarke | St Mary's Football Club | St Kilda |
| 1 | 9 | David Trotter | Calder Cannons | Kangaroos |
| 1 | 10 | Ryley Dunn | Murray Bushrangers | Fremantle |
| 1 | 11 | Beau Waters | West Adelaide Football Club | West Coast Eagles |
| 1 | 12 | Ryan Murphy | Gippsland Power | Fremantle |
| 1 | 13 | Brent Stanton | Northern Knights | Essendon |
| 1 | 14 | Fergus Watts | Sandringham Dragons | Adelaide Crows |
| 1 | 15 | Troy Chaplin | North Ballarat Rebels | Port Adelaide |
| 1 | 16 | Josh Willoughby | Glenelg Football Club | Sydney Swans |
| 1 | 17 | Billy Morrison | Tassie Mariners | Collingwood |
| 1 | 18 | Llane Spaanderman | East Perth Football Club | Brisbane Lions |
| 2 | 19 | David Mundy | Murray Bushrangers | Fremantle |
| 2 | 20 | Sam Butler | Central District Bulldogs | West Coast Eagles |
| 2 | 21 | Alex Gilmour | Tassie Mariners | Richmond |
| 2 | 22 | Cameron Thurley | Tasmanian Devils Football Club | Geelong |
| 2 | 23 | Matthew Moody | South Fremantle Football Club | Brisbane Lions |
| 2 | 24 | Chad Jones | Claremont Football Club | Kangaroos |
| 2 | 25 | Harry Miller | Port Adelaide | Hawthorn |
| 2 | 26 | Daniel McConnell | Eastern Ranges | West Coast Eagles |
| 2 | 27 | Adam Campbell | North Ballarat Rebels | Fremantle |
| 2 | 28 | Jay Nash | Central District Bulldogs | Essendon |
| 2 | 29 | Tim Schmidt | West Adelaide Football Club | Sydney Swans |
| 2 | 30 | Brad Symes | Central District Bulldogs | Port Adelaide |
| 2 | 31 | Joshua Krueger | Glenelg Football Club | Adelaide Crows |
| 2 | 32 | Brayden Shaw | Northern Knights | Collingwood |
| 2 | 33 | Jed Adcock | North Ballarat Rebels | Brisbane Lions |
| 3 | 34 | Luke Peel | Sandringham Dragons | Port Adelaide |
| 3 | 35 | Brent Hall | South Fremantle Football Club | Collingwood |
| 3 | 36 | Chris Johnson | East Fremantle Football Club | Melbourne |
| 3 | 37 | Thomas Roach | Oakleigh Chargers | Richmond |
| 3 | 38 | Mark Blake | Geelong Falcons | Geelong |
| 3 | 39 | Robert Forster-Knight | Essendon | Port Adelaide |
| 3 | 40 | Eddie Sansbury | Central District Bulldogs | Kangaroos |
| 3 | 41 | Zac Dawson | Calder Cannons | Hawthorn |
| 3 | 42 | Matthew Spencer | Swan Districts Football Club | Geelong |
| 3 | 43 | Brett Peake | East Fremantle Football Club | Fremantle |
| 3 | 44 | Ricky Dyson | Northern Knights | Essendon |
| 3 | 45 | Amon Buchanan | Sydney Swans | Sydney Swans |
| 3 | 46 | Michael Pettigrew | West Perth Football Club | Port Adelaide |
| 3 | 47 | Andrew Eriksen | Sandringham Dragons | Sydney Swans |
| 3 | 48 | Heath Shaw | Northern Knights | Collingwood |
| 3 | 49 | Tom Logan | Waratah Football Club | Brisbane Lions |
| 4 | 50 | Izaac Thomson | Woodville-West Torrens Football Club | Western Bulldogs |
| 4 | 51 | Matthew Ball | Box Hill Hawks | Hawthorn |
| 4 | 52 | Pass | Melbourne | |
| 4 | 53 | Daniel Jackson | Oakleigh Chargers | Richmond |
| 4 | 54 | Pass | Geelong | |
| 4 | 55 | Sam Fisher | West Adelaide Football Club | St Kilda |
| 4 | 56 | Brent LeCras | West Perth Football Club | Kangaroos |
| 4 | 57 | Ricky Mott | Fremantle rookie list | Carlton |
| 4 | 58 | Ben Hudson | Werribee Football Club | Adelaide Crows |
| 4 | 59 | Matthew Davis | North Adelaide Football Club | Sydney Swans |
| 4 | 60 | Julian Rowe | Oakleigh Chargers | Collingwood |
| 4 | 61 | Michael Rischitelli | Western Jets | Brisbane Lions |
| 5 | 62 | Pass | Western Bulldogs | |
| 5 | 63 | Glen Bowyer | Hawthorn | Carlton |
| 5 | 64 | Shane Morrison | Brisbane Lions | Richmond |
| 5 | 65 | Craig Callaghan | St Kilda | St Kilda |
| 5 | 66 | Pass | Kangaroos | |
| 5 | 67 | Pass | Adelaide Crows | |
| 5 | 68 | Clinton Thomas | Eastern Ranges | Brisbane Lions |
| 6 | 69 | Jordan Bannister | Essendon | Carlton |
| 6 | 70 | Brent Hartigan | Calder Cannons | Richmond |
| 6 | 71 | Pass | St Kilda | |
| 7 | 72 | Adrian Deluca | Port Melbourne Football Club | Carlton |
| 7 | 73 | Shane Tuck | West Adelaide Football Club | Richmond |
| 7 | 74 | Pass | St Kilda | |
| 8 | 75 | Stephen Kenna | Box Hill Hawks | Carlton |
| 8 | 76 | Andrew Raines | Southport Australian Football Club | Richmond |
| 8 | 77 | Pass | St Kilda | |
| 9 | 78 | Pass | Carlton | |
| 9 | 79 | Simon Fletcher | Carlton | Richmond |
| 10 | 80 | Pass | Carlton | |
| 10 | 81 | Kyle Archibald | NSW/ACT Rams | Richmond |
| 11 | 82 | Pass | Richmond | |
| 12 | 83 | Pass | Richmond |
2004 pre-season draft
2004 rookie draft
Rookie elevation
In alphabetical order of professional clubs. This list details 2003-listed rookies who were elevated to the senior list; it does not list players taken as rookies in the rookie draft which occurred during the 2003/04 off-season.| Player | Recruited from | :Category:Australian Football League clubs|Club |
| Hayden Skipworth | Woodville-West Torrens | Adelaide Crows |
| Joel Macdonald | Mt Gravatt | Brisbane Lions |
| Jonathan McCormack | Murray Kangaroos | Carlton |
| Ben Haynes | Western Jets | Essendon |
| Courtney Johns | East Fremantle | Essendon |
| Luke Webster | East Perth | Fremantle |
| Daniel Gilmore | South Fremantle | Fremantle |
| Will Slade | Oakleigh Chargers | Geelong |
| Ben Kane | Eastern Ranges | Hawthorn |
| Brad Sewell | North Ballarat | Hawthorn |
| Jeremy Clayton | North Ballarat | Kangaroos |
| Michael Firrito | Eastern Ranges | Kangaroos |
| Nathan Carroll | Claremont | Melbourne |
| Allan Murray | Port Adelaide | St Kilda |
| Heath James | Port Adelaide Magpies | Sydney Swans |
| James Meiklejohn | NSW/ACT Rams | Sydney Swans |
| Zac Beeck | East Perth | West Coast Eagles |
| Mark Nicoski | Subiaco | West Coast Eagles |
| Matthew Boyd | Frankston | Western Bulldogs |