Murray Bushrangers product Jack Whitlock eventually joined his twin brother Matt in the AFL ranks, 24 hours after he was overlooked in the first round of the draft.
Matt and Jack were both touted as potential first-round selections ahead of Wednesday night, but Jack — who many experts had rated higher than Matt — was made to stew on his chances of finding an AFL home for another night.
In a blockbuster conclusion to round one of the draft, Matt was picked up with the final pick after North Melbourne traded their future first-round pick to snare him at 27.
Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today 
It created emotional scenes at the Whitlock table at Marvel Stadium, with elation and agony permeating the family in equal parts.
But Jack’s moment would eventually come when Port Adelaide called his name out at pick 33, the sixth pick of Thursday night’s second round in one of the feel-good moments of night two.
By his side were brother Matt and a host of his mates, who had gathered at their local club, the Shepparton Bears in Victoria’s north.
Adding to the novelty of the night was that Jack’s support crew were suited up, which caught the curiosity of everyone watching at home.
“All the Shepp schools have year 12 graduation, so I’m meant to be there right now,” Jack told AFL.com.au’s broadcast of the draft.
“All the boys ditched graduation to see me drafted.”
Speaking to Fox Footy, Matt added: “Graduation on tonight, so (we) popped in for about five minutes, then I thought I better show up for Jack here.”
After initially admitting he was a bit “upset” on Wednesday night, Jack said it was still a great night for the family, despite being made to wait.
“I kind of just put my emotions to the side and was happy for Matt. It was good to see him go to a good club,” he said.
“There are heaps of us here, everyone just jumped on me, it was unreal.
“It was a rollercoaster of emotions. Matt and I were pretty good, I wasn’t too upset last night, but we still had a great night.
“We knew the moment was going to come, so it’s all good.”
Asked whether he would go back to the graduation, Jack couldn’t commit to it… and fair enough.
“I reckon we’ll just take it as it comes, I don’t know, we’ll see,” he said with a smile on his face.
Meanwhile, Richmond believe they have landed a midfield and spine capable of setting up another AFL golden era after selecting a third key forward when completing a bumper draft haul.
Having taken Dustin Martin-like Sam Lalor as the No.1 pick on Wednesday, the Tigers also had the first selection of Thursday night’s second round.
They rejected rival trade offers for pick No.28 — Essendon and Geelong were reportedly particularly interested — to land athletic key forward-ruck Thomas Sims.
The Northern Knights product joined fellow key talls Jonty Faull and Harry Armstrong at Punt Road.
It is hoped the trio can succeed retired triple-premiership spearhead Jack Riewoldt and, eventually, fellow flag star Tom Lynch as powerful targets in attack.
Lalor and fellow ball-winner Josh Smillie (pick seven) will bolster the midfield, which has lost Martin among a host of premiership stars through retirements, trades and free agency in recent years.
Mid-sized forward Taj Hotton (12) and intercept defender Luke Trainer (21) were also taken by the Tigers in the first round, while lightning-quick forward Jasper Alger arrived at pick 58.
In addition, Richmond landed a future first-round selection when they gave up pick 27 — at the end of this year’s first round — in the live trade with North Melbourne that helped secure Whitlock on Wednesday.
The eight fresh faces will attempt to help turbo-charge the Tigers’ rebuild after the club finished last in Adem Yze’s first season as coach.
“We feel like we have been able to set ourselves up both with these selections and for next year, as well,” Richmond football talent manager Blair Hartley said.
“The players we have picked all have the ability to play the game no doubt, but the focus for us next year is giving them the best chance to succeed long-term.”
Sims was picked ahead of fancied key forwards Jobe Shanahan and Jack Whitlock at the start of the second round.
Essendon had been keen on Shanahan, who impressed in three games for the Bombers’ VFL side last year, but missed out to West Coast.
The strong-marking tall, taken at pick 30, played with Eagles star Harley Reid for Talent League side Bendigo Pioneers.
Father-son twins Ben and Lucas Camporeale — sons of Carlton great Scott Camporeale — both landed at the Blues, who matched rival bids on the pair at picks 43 and 54 respectively.
Adelaide (Tyler Welsh, pick 59), Fremantle (Jaren Carr, pick 63) and North Melbourne (River Stevens, pick 67) also took father-son selections.
Werribee VFL star Riley Bice, a 23-year-old midfielder, was the first of the mature-age recruits when he was picked by Sydney at 41.
Bice’s teammate and captain Dom Brew missed out despite his stunning VFL campaign in the Bees’ first premiership in 31 years.
But Richmond VFL defender Sam Davidson became the 18th successive Fothergill-Round-Mitchell Medal winner drafted into the AFL thanks to the Western Bulldogs (via pick 51).
St Kilda drafted South Australian ruck prospect Alexander Dodson (pick 51), who played under-age basketball for Australia.
Sydney chose not to match Collingwood’s bid on academy product Joel Cochrane (pick 47), but took Melbourne academy product Riak Andrew (55) – the younger brother of Gold Coast star Mac Andrew – when the Demons opted not to match their bid.
The week’s drafting ends on Friday afternoon with the pre-season and rookie selections.
– With AAP