For those of us who don't work in football, Christmas is still four weeks away. However for the Blues' recruiting team Christmas is already upon them!

After the hundreds upon hundreds of hours spent interviewing players and attending matches right around the country, the 2014 AFL Draft will soon be underway.

For Carlton's National Recruiting Manager Shane Rogers, it's a mixture of nerves and excitement from here onwards.

"I reckon when you get to this point it's just pure excitement," Rogers said

"You're a little bit nervous to see who is going to come through to your pick.

"It's a little bit like a game of football, if you've done the work then nothing is going to stop you from getting in the way of a good performance.
"I think we're ready to go, we couldn’t have done any more work. The boys in the team have done a really good job."

Rogers describes the 2014 draft as "wide open" and "even" compared to previous years. This, he says, makes predicting the outcome all the more difficult.

"We've been putting a lot of work into trying to work out who's going to be pick 19, and at this stage we don't really know," Rogers said.

"We know the 20 names and we think we've got those in order. As to who picks those names I'm no wiser today than what I was six weeks ago."



And what type of player is Carlton looking for?

Whilst Rogers won't give too much away, he has offered some insight for Carlton supporters.

"If a player gets read out in the national draft by me and it's a half-back flank, our supporters shouldn't panic that that's the only position this kid is going to play," Rogers said.

"What happens at junior level in this day and age is that they play their best players at half-back.

"The best kickers, the best ones that run and carry the footy, usually will be playing half-back flank."

Once the draft selection meeting has concluded it's all systems go to ensure the new recruits make a smooth transition to their new home.
"The boys send out an email to all footy staff," Rogers said.

"It will include their (draftees) name, phone number, address – all those things. We need to start to work to get them to the footy club as quick as we can."