As part of Port Adelaide's entry to the AFL they were entitled to recruit some uncontracted players from other AFL clubs and players from the SANFL prior to the national draft. Clubs that lost players were entitled to compensation selections before both the first and second rounds of the 1996 national draft.
Uncontracted player selection •
Ian Downsborough (): compensation selections #1 (
Michael Gardiner) and #24 (
Josh Wooden) •
Gavin Wanganeen (): compensation selections #2 (
Chris Heffernan) and #25 (
Andrew Bomford) •
Matthew Primus (): compensation selections #3 (
Rory Hilton) and #26 (
Tim Notting) to •
Adam Heuskes (): compensation selections #4 (
Mark Kinnear) and #27 (
Troy Cook) •
Scott Cummings (): compensation selections #5 (
Daniel McAlister) and #28 (
Jason Johnson)
Zone selections ==Brisbane Lions pre-draft selections==