Of all the picks in this year’s national draft, one of the best value was North Melbourne getting Sam Durdin at pick 16.
For all the question marks over the North Melbourne free agency period the selection of Durdin could be as big a get for any of the top contending teams in 2015.
Durdin’s value is two pronged. Firstly, he helps fill a need in the short term with North Melbourne needing more depth down back.
Durdin’s game is made for North Melbourne’s defensive six structure given at underage level he was elite in terms of intercept marks.
This is one area that North Melbourne excel in and will allow them to continue to dominate in this area going forward long term.
The second part of Durdin’s value is in his background. He has been a part of successful teams, successful cultures and been a driving impact on that success.
Durdin’s value to the victorious South Australian under 18s team was noted by most scouts, yet none, other than North Melbourne seemed to put value on that trait when it came to draft day. Durdin is a winner and will do that, help North Melbourne win.
Somewhat surprisingly North Melbourne opted to continue to bolster their defence later in the draft with fellow defenders Daniel Nielsen and Ed Vickers-Willis joining Durdin as additions to the club for 2015.
Like Durdin both Nielsen and Vickers-Willis fell from initial draft projections as teams again put midfield and forward talent ahead of defenders.
In Nielsen, North Melbourne have got a complimentary player to Durdin. Where Durdin has the ability to take the game on and turn defence into attack, Nielsen is a modern day stopper. He can be groomed to be a league best one on one defender. In Durdin and Nielsen North Melbourne have in one draft potentially grabbed a one-two defensive punch.
Topping the defensive rebuild is Vickers-Willis who has the ability to play tall or small but is likely going to be best suited as a third defensive option in a contending team. Vickers-Willis is outstanding defensively and is one of the best to come from this draft in terms of defensive efficiency.
Again, he compliments both Durdin and Nielsen well.
Perhaps this loading up on defenders points to the likelihood that Luke McDonald will move into a midfield role after a successful debut season down back.
Or even maybe he will move into an attacking role out of the backline that allows Shaun Atley to go into the midfield. If either of those moves happen this could be a smart move by North Melbourne and they may have added depth in their most pressing area but opened the team up for further growth up the field.
Regardless North Melbourne looked defensively for value in the national draft and found it. What may have been draft day sliders has opened up development for the club going into 2015 as they look to rise a week later in the 2015 season.
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