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2017 AFL Draft review: Part 2, Hawthorn Hawks to Western Bulldogs

30th November, 2017
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Nicholas Coffield of the Northern Knights (left) and Hunter Clark of the Dandenong Stingrays (right) pose for a photograph after being selected by the St Kilda Saints during the first round of the 2017 AFL Draft at the Sydney Showground in Sydney, Friday, November 24, 2017. (AAP Image/Brendan Esposito)
Expert
30th November, 2017
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3272 Reads

With the national and rookie drafts now complete, AFL clubs have finalised their lists for season 2018. Yesterday we looked at the draft hauls of Adelaide through GWS – today, it’s Hawthorn through the Bulldogs.

Hawthorn Hawks

National draft
45: James Worpel
67: Dylan Moore
71: Jackson Ross

Rookie draft
7: Harrison Jones
23: David Mirra
34: Dallas Willsmore

The Hawks have a knack for making the most of late draft selections, and they’ve done well again here. They needed to bolster their inside midfield after Sam Mitchell’s departure, and Worpel certainly gives them that. He’ll be able to step in and play next year, but his kicking needs work.

I was surprised Moore slipped to pick 67, as a pacy wingman/small forward, and Ross is a project forward.

The Hawks also took Box Hill skipper David Mirra in the rookie draft, which is both a great story and a shrewd recruiting move, as he’ll be able to make an impact from Round 1 next year, and knows the club’s game plan well.

Other than Mirra, it was another long-term looking draft for the club, which leaves its current list for Round 1 next year in an interesting position. I’m not sure the current list is good enough to seriously contend, so it will be interesting to see how it pans out next year.

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Melbourne Demons

National draft
29: Charlie Spargo
31: Bailey Fritsch
37: Harrison Petty
48: Oskar Baker

All in all, a good job from the Dees, who used their picks mainly to address needs. They drafted two speedy players in Spargo and Baker, took a medium forward in Fritsch, and a key defender in Petty.

The club was crying out for some more small forwards, and in Spargo they’ve got a beauty. With Jack Watts departing, Fritsch was a good selection too.

They definitely needed key defensive depth, so Petty was a good choice, while Baker is another player in the mould of Jayden Hunt, and should add more rebound and drive from defensive fifty.

All four players will be good depth, and all could play at some stage next year.

North Melbourne Kangaroos

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National draft
4: Luke Davies-Uniacke
23: Will Walker
62: Kyron Hayden
72: Tristan Xerri
77: Billy Hartung

Rookie draft
4: Thomas Murphy
20: Gordon Narrier

A bit of a mixed bag here. Davies-Uniacke, or ‘LDU’ as he has now informally been christened, will be a super player for the club, and is exactly what its midfield has been crying out for. He’ll slot in from Round 1 next year and have a big impact.

Hartung was also a good pick up – he’s ready to play next year, and hopefully is able to maximise his strengths, because his pace is exactly what the Roos need.

The rest of the selections, however, were more speculative than I would have liked to have seen from them.

They have a bit of a recent history of taking risks with later picks – Josh Williams last year is a good example of a talented, but very raw player, which is what North have done again this year.

Walker is extremely talented, and would have been gone by pick 62, so they had to pick him, but he’s quite raw and will take time to develop.

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Similarly, Hayden is flashy and skilful, but raw, and Xerri is a developing ruckman. There’s a lot to work with here, but other than LDU I’m not sure any of the other new draftees will be long-term successes.

Given its list is young and lacks real class, the Roos really need several of this draft class to develop into dependable players.

Luke Davies-Uniacke tall

(AAP Image/Craig Golding)

Port Adelaide Power

National draft
47: Sam Hayes
51: Kane Farrell
58: Jake Patmore
60: Joel Garner
61: Dom Barry

Rookie draft
12: Lindsay Thomas

Like Hawthorn, Port has made the most of its later selections. It addressed its need for a developing ruckman, and then bolstered its midfield and defence.

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Hayes was a good get at pick 47, and if his endurance improves he could be one of the steals of this draft. Being able to learn from Paddy Ryder will be a huge benefit for him.

Any of Farrell, Patmore or Garner could play next year, and enhance the club’s depth, while Barry was an interesting selection. He showed some talent and promise when he was on Melbourne’s list, and if he can show that consistently at Port then he could be a very astute pick up.

Given its trade period recruiting spree, Port have the luxury of giving these players time to develop, but have also done well to get some players who could play as early as next year.

They also did well taking Lindsay Thomas as a rookie – he’ll add some class and nous to their forward line, and will be a welcome addition.

Port’s selections are a mix of Victorians and West Australians (except Barry) – it’s interesting given Adelaide’s recent retention woes that the club opted not to take any South Australians, but Port has historically had a good retention record, and no qualms in selecting interstate players.

Richmond Tigers

National draft
17: Jack Higgins
20: Callum Coleman-Jones
25: Noah Balta
34: Patrick Naish
63: Ben Miller

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Rookie draft
18: Liam Baker

The Tigers did well here to address needs, but I’m not quite raving about their selections as much as some of the footy world.

Higgins was definitely a great selection – I don’t think they needed any more small forwards, and they probably didn’t go into the draft with the intention of selecting one, but at pick 17 he was far too good to pass up. He’ll likely overtake some of their current mosquito fleet in a few years, or will push into the midfield.

Coleman-Jones and Balta were interesting selections. Both address ruck and key defensive shortages, but they’re both quite raw, and Balta in particular is one who I can see not developing as they’d like. He is super athletic and exciting to watch, but doesn’t yet have the consistency needed. Given the current state of their list, they have the luxury of giving him time to develop, but I was a bit surprised they didn’t go for another, more well-rounded prospect, like Oscar Clavarino, at pick 25.

Selecting those two and Miller clearly indicates that the club is planning for the continual evolution of footy.

The club’s premiership-winning game plan came about, in part, because of the lack of key position players on the list. That approach may continue to serve the team well next year, but footy is an ever-changing game, and odds are they won’t win another premiership the same way.

Having some developing talls gives them more flexibility to adapt their game plan as the competition evolves.

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St Kilda Saints

National draft
7: Hunter Clark
8: Nick Coffield
35: Oscar Clavarino
46: Ben Paton

Rookie draft
8: Doulton Langlands
24: Lewis Pierce

All in all, a good draft from the Saints. They perhaps didn’t get the absolute class they were desiring, but Clark and Coffield will be excellent players for the next decade.

Clavarino addresses defensive depth, and should be a good replacement for Nathan Brown in a few years.

The one thing the club didn’t need more of was rebounding half-backs, but the club sees Paton more as a wingman, which is something they do need more of. His precision kicking will also be an asset.

It’s hard to go wrong with two top-10 picks, but I think the Saints took the two best available players at their selections.

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Before the draft, they were linked heavily with Aiden Bonar, which concerned me – Bonar will likely be a very good player, but this Saints list needed sure bets, players who will come in and have an immediate impact, as well as be very good players for the next 10 years. Clark and Coffield provide that, and leave the Saints in a much better position going forward.

The Saints have a tendency to draft Vic Country players of good character, and did the same this year, with all except Coffield hailing from Dandenong Stingrays and Murray Bushrangers. The Saints also put a premium on good characters and leadership ability, and again, these players fit that mould.

Nick Coffield Hunter Clark

(AAP Image/Brendan Esposito)

Sydney Swans

National draft
14: Matthew Ling
33: Tom McCartin
53: Ryley Stoddart

Rookie draft
14: Angus Styles
28: Joel Amartey
36: Alex Johnson

Another Kinnear Beatson special here, folks. The club clearly needed to bring in more speed, and find a developing key forward, and managed to do both those things.

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Ling probably went earlier than many expected, but he’s a quick rebounding defender, and will slot in nicely next to Dane Rampe.

Stoddart also brings pace off half-back, and will fast-track Callum Mills and Isaac Heeney’s moves into the midfield full-time.

It was a bit surprising to see Stoddart fall to pick 53, and he could be another slider who we rate more highly in the coming years.

Tom McCartin needs time to develop, and what better club to do that at than Sydney, where he can learn from Buddy Franklin.

Sydney has always done well at balancing playing its mature and developing players, and this draft haul shows the club is thinking to the future.

The only knock on this haul for me is that it would have been nice to see them add some more inside midfield talent to develop in the next few years alongside Josh Kennedy and Dan Hannebery.

West Coast Eagles

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National draft
13: Jarrod Brander
21: Oscar Allen
26: Liam Ryan
32: Brayden Ainsworth
38: Jack Petruccelle
68: Hamish Brayshaw

Rookie draft
13: Ryan Burrows
27: Tony Olango
35: Callan England

Let’s start with the positives. Brander is a massive talent, and they’d be rapt to have got him at pick 13. Likewise Allen at pick 21, who is a local kid. Liam Ryan is an excitement machine, and they addressed their need for speed by picking up Petrucelle.

Taken individually, these seem like decent selections. But when I consider them as a collective, I’m left scratching my head.

This is a club crying out for more midfield depth, yet it took two forwards with its first two selections. Both will be good players, and the club does need to think of a long-term replacement for Josh Kennedy, but it’s a need that could have been addressed later in the draft.

They may see Allen playing as a third tall at AFL level, and probably thought his talent was too good to pass up at pick 21. But at both of those selections, they could have taken a genuine midfielder, and the fact they didn’t is a little odd to me.

Ryan definitely addresses a need and has talent – he could kick 40 goals next year, all going well. They do need a medium forward to replace Marc LeCras going forward, so this was probably a good selection at pick 26, although it’s likely he would have been available at pick 32.

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I’m glad they took Ainsworth and Brayshaw, who will improve their midfield depth, but I feel they missed a trick by not taking a really classy midfielder earlier in the piece.

Petrucelle is the major query for me – he is definitely talented, but needs a lot of time to develop, and I have doubts about his consistency in the long run.

If any club needed ‘sure bet’ players, it was West Coast, and I feel like they missed the mark there. They traded out of the first round in 2018 for four second-round selections this year, which indicated that they were looking for players who could make an impact next year and in 2019.

They may get that from a few of these players, but that’s no guarantee. This shapes as an important draft for the club for its future development, and at this stage I’m really not sure that they’ve done well.

Western Bulldogs

National draft
9: Aaron Naughton
16: Ed Richards
74: Callum Porter

Rookie draft
9: Billy Gowers
25: Roarke Smith

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It’s a tick on both the best available and the addressing needs front here.

I was a little surprised they didn’t take Fogarty at pick 9, as he would have really added to their forward line, but Naughton will be an excellent key defender for them, and could play next year.

Likewise, Richards continues their penchant for running half-backs, while Porter adds midfield depth.

Aaron Naughton tall

(AAP Image/Craig Golding)

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