St Kilda will enter next Friday night’s NAB AFL Draft with two picks inside the first half of the opening round.

While the Saints have had multiple first-round picks since the start of this century, it’s the first time since 2001 that the club will have two top-ten picks.

St Kilda has had some strong success in the first-round since 2000 with captains and best and fairest winners taken at the pointy end of the draft.

This year’s Trevor Barker Award winner, Seb Ross, was taken late in the first round back in 2011, back when the draft was significantly impacted by the inclusion of Greater Western Sydney and Gold Coast.

Highly rated young guns Paddy McCartin and Jack Billings were taken at pick No. 1 and No. 3 respectively in consecutive years to fatten up the Saints' top end talent. While Jade Gresham was the clubs last first-round pick two years ago and has already raced to 40 senior games.

Who are St Kilda's best value picks since the start of this century?

The three first-round picks the club recruited between Ross in 2011 and David Armitage in 2006 – Jamie Cripps, Tom Lynch and Ben McEvoy – have all moved clubs and gone on to carve out successful careers, with Lynch included in the last two All-Australian squads and McEvoy a two-time premiership player at Hawthorn.

In the first three years of this century, St Kilda had enormous success in the first-round of the draft.

Former Saints coach Grant Thomas and 2002 No. 1 pick Brendon Goddard after the draft that year.

The club secured a man who would go on to win more best and fairest’s than any other player in the club’s history and who would captain the club on more occasions than anyone else with the first pick in 2000.

A pick later, they grabbed another key forward in Justin Koschitzke who would squeeze every drop out of the sponge across 200 games.

In the next two seasons, St Kilda added seasoned stars of the game in Brendon Goddard, Luke Ball and Nick Dal Santo, who would give their all for the red, white and black before all finishing their decorated careers at rival clubs.

With picks No. 7 and No. 8 at the clubs disposal next week, who will become part of St Kilda’s pursuit of an elusive second premiership?

St Kilda’s history in the first-round since 2000

2015: Jade Gresham (No. 18)

2014: Paddy McCartin (No. 1), Hugh Goddard (No. 21)

2013: Jack Billings (No. 3), Luke Dunstan (No. 18), Blake Acres (No. 19)

2011: Seb Ross (No. 25)

2010: Jamie Cripps (No. 24)

2008: Tom Lynch (No. 13)

2007: Ben McEvoy (No. 9)

2006: David Armitage (No. 9)

2004: Andrew McQualter (No. 17)

2003: Raphael Clarke (No. 8)

2002: Brendon Goddard (No. 1)

2001: Luke Ball (No. 2), Xavier Clarke (No. 5), Nick Dal Santo (No. 13)

2000: Nick Riewoldt (No. 1), Justin Koschitzke (No. 2)