Mitch O'Neill finally got to an AFL club a day late, Matt McGuinness became a state Next Generation signing and Mitch Hibberd was given a second chance in the AFL on a frenetic Friday morning.
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The day set out for rookies delivered after the AFL draft the previous two prolonged the agony for Tasmanians.
Tasmania Devils manager Craig Notman called the final outcome that included Hugh Dixon being redrafted as a Fremantle rookie a success after the doom and gloom of no draftees by late Thursday.
"If we were to walk away with two at clubs prior to the draft, we'd take that any other day of the week," he said.
"I don't see being a rookie as any issue. We've got two boys on AFL lists and they essentially get to do what every other player on the list does."
Some howls have resumed and still can be heard from the top half of the state again.
Every draft bar one after 2013 when Toby Nankervis, Kade and Jake Kolodjashnij, and Burnie pair Brady Grey and Eli Templeton was called out had Northern Tasmania been so constantly rebuffed.
Just Tarryn Thomas (North Launceston) before Chayce Jones (Launceston) broke the pattern of four years in 2018, going picks 8 and 9 at North Melbourne and Adelaide.
Jay Lockhart in that same season joined Melbourne via the preseason supplemental selection period after the North Launceston half-back moved to Casey Scorpions.
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Ryan Gardner from Burnie to Geelong and onto Western Bulldogs was the exception.
Notman rated Launceston class midfielder Jared Dakin, who played just once for the Devils amid a injury-plagued season, one for a shrewd recruiter while North Launceston forward Rhyan Mansell another who could have delivered a role for an AFL club.
"I think everything works in cycles even with draft numbers," Notman said.
"Look at clubs right across the history - they will have big numbers, they will have small numbers coming from different places.
"I don't think you can put your direct finger on reasons why they're low."
O'Neill was really the most deserving of all Tassie stories.
The prolific ball-winner capable of stepping through traffic landed at West Coast after a nervy Thursday. The All-Australian was set to go second or third round, but waited until rookie selection 25 - 88 picks down the line.
"It was a bit of a shock last night," O'Neill said on Friday.
"I was told I was expected to go, but it didn't happen.
"So I wasn't expecting this to happen today at all."
Hibberd will now move to Essendon after a year-stint at Williamstown following his North Melbourne axing in 2017 while McGuinness has become a Kangaroos rookie.
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Andrew Mathieson
The day I realised I wasn't good enough to play for St Kilda or be the No.1 spinner for Australia was when I realised journalism was the closest I could come to follow my passion for sport. And it's not just about the scores for me. It's the back story behind the game.
The day I realised I wasn't good enough to play for St Kilda or be the No.1 spinner for Australia was when I realised journalism was the closest I could come to follow my passion for sport. And it's not just about the scores for me. It's the back story behind the game.
