Now the keepers are all locked in, the most anxious 2 weeks of the year begin – the time when the draft pool will be raked over with a fine-tooth comb looking for every diamond in the rough, wondering how many will fall to the 7th round or beyond (all bar 60 at a guess).
In current draft order, here is my very quick analysis as to what each team could be looking for in the draft.
Pick 1 – Feelin’ Dusty
A big hit with pick 1. With an average age still mid-range of the league having won the spoon, the need for a youth led rebuild is here. A handful of players are starting to approach the wrong side of 30, and so maybe not a part of Jaye’s next premiership push, so time to look to the future and find their future replacements. With pick 1 literally the entire rookie class is at his disposal to start this process. Does Jaye think he can find the next A+ mid in the crop? Is he looking at structure and a particular position? Will he shock us all and pick a player that isn’t a rookie (long odds here)? Time will tell.
Pick 2 – The Taxmanian Devils
Some midfield grunt. A very good mix of positions in Max’s 20 keepers have him not looking to the ends that can be hard to fill, but instead into what players could help him with building a new A grade midfield. Of all the pure mids he kept, only one is below 25 years old (Ryan Clarke). Given his list is the second youngest in the comp, that speaks volumes for the young talent he has forward and back. This should be the year he focusses on the midfield to make the spread complete.
Pick 3 – The Lethal Vipers
Enough players to compete week to week. The youngest list in the comp has a lot of players yet to really make their mark on the AFL landscape, but you just feel them coming (hopefully not the same feeling Carlton promised their fans 10 years ago). Some helpful selections at AFL level could get this team moving the right direction very quickly. The question for the newly engaged Nathan (congrats by the way) is whether he will look to bring more rookies in to continue the youth quest, or if he is going to aim for some more reliable players to make sure he fields a team that can compete every week.
Pick 4 – Shire Scourers
Forwards and better injury luck. I’m trying to keep it to one thing, but you can’t help but feel for Nelson trading to gain a ruck that moved into a great situation, only to less than a week later find him missing 4-5 months. Apart from the now apparent need to land a ruck, Nelson finally cut ties with the dual Lance Franklin medallist, Lance Franklin, and so has a more pressing need to fill his forward line once again. Will rookie forwards be the way to go? Or does he try to compete right away and bring in a Tom Hawkins/Jeremy Cameron type? Could Ugle-Hagan be available at this pick still? Would be the steal of the draft if so in my opinion.
Pick 5 – Mahershalalhashbaz
Reliable defenders. Jordan went very young, very early in last year’s draft, and so with the third youngest list in the comp (and a 32-year-old Zorko probably quite gettable in trade), there seems less need for a rebuild, and more a reset now for the 2019 premiers. Will he still look to the rookie ranks for one last swing before trying to add to the trophy cabinet? Or is the time now to field a stronger 22 and scare all rivals not named Nelson? With 5 defenders on his 20-man keeper list it doesn’t seem a dire need, but then you look at the names and Rivers, Budarick and Scholl, while all quite likely decent players down the track, aren’t the sort of players that you would rely on to win a game of fantasy footy.
Pick 6 – Solomon’s Soldiers
Win now forwards. With an average age a touch over 24 years, the time is now to go one step further than the prelim finals, and be the team losing to Mark in the grand final. To get there will take a refocus that no one knows if I have in me – could I possibly not take a rookie with my first pick, and instead look straight to players that help my 2021 campaign? This sort of thinking hasn’t happened since 2017 at Soldiers HQ, and so it is a big unknown if it is even possible. The list need is clear – only 3 forwards were kept, and one of those is Luke Jackson who is a development project, so very much a case of knowing the need, and now needing the courage to do the right thing. To the coaches above me – please don’t leave Ugle-Hagan to this point. I don’t want to have to make that decision.
Pick 7 – Roughnecks
No injuries. Adam has been a perennial threat throughout the league’s entire existence, and yet events always conspire to stop him from going that one step further, with an 0-2 grand final record thus far. This year 11 mids and 2 rucks have been kept by the roughnecks, which while giving some high scoring potential through those areas, does leave only 7 of the 12 forward/back spots covered (and one of those being Schoenberg, who may not be a walk up start with the Crows right away). A good position focussed draft will once again have this team a threat, but the big need is still the injury list management.
Pick 9 – Defenestrators
Is it time to go rookies? Along with Greg, Paul has been very hesitant in years past to use first round picks on rookies – instead, aiming for young, delisted players who might be ready to break through. With pick 9 it’s hard to know what rookies worth taking will be left, but if someone like Hollands slips through, would Paul be prepared to take that gamble? With an average age of over 25, there may be cause for a young player to come in, but this is prime age to have players at their peak pushing to go one better than last year, so one last mature roll of the dice? Positionally Paul has a great spread, so the question won’t be on which position he takes, but rather the specifics of the individual players.
Pick 10 – Puttanesca Chiefs
LET THE DYNASTY END ALREADY. There will be no help offered here. If anyone is able to hack his computer and let us see his target list, or even better make some bad selections for him, please do so, otherwise his reign may never end. How much did he bribe the people who make the decisions to make Whitfield a defender and give Dangerfield back his forward status? At least injuries may be hindering him early. Let’s hope they continue and make this fantasy deity mortal for 2021. Now let’s move on.
Pick 16 – The Love Sparkles
Youth. The oldest list in the comp has already (somewhat) made his intentions to get younger clear by trading pick 6 to bring in 2 younger players in Anderson and Allen. Another team with a good mix of positions, so there will be a mix of filling the missing slots with prioritising ages of the players chosen this year at a guess. A good young ruck to take the reigns away from 32 year old Goldy will be an interesting decision for Greg to make, a decision that has been a non-factor for him since inception in 2016 (with pick 3 overall if memory serves). My understanding is also that a few players (Toby Greene perhaps) could be offered as trade bait to help with this youth movement, or this might have been limited to preseason. Either way, another fun team to watch draft, and with a strong one will never be considered an easy win for opponents.