“THE UNPREDICTABILITY of this year’s draft is more than it’s ever been.”
As Carlton fans would be well aware by now, anything is possible on draft night.
Head of List Management Nick Austin confirmed as much just 24 hours before the 2020 NAB AFL Draft.
It’ll be a different feel to a night widely regarded as one of the best on the football calendar, keeping with the theme of an unprecedented year.
With no NAB League action this year and Victorian recruiters having to tune in to live games online, it’s a matter of ‘wait and see’ for Carlton, which holds picks Nos.31 and 38 in the draft.
“I think there’ll be a huge discrepancy: clubs are going to see the draft differently, there’s no doubt,” Austin said.
“Trying to piece together the first 15 or 20 now is a difficult task. We’re really confident that someone will get through to No.31: it’ll be best available at that selection and we’ll take it from there.”
What kind of player will Carlton be looking to target at its first two picks in the national draft?
While Austin wouldn’t give much away, he said the Club had identified spots in its list profile which it was looking to fill.
“We’re looking to improve our list in any way we can,” he said.
“There are some inside mids and small forwards that we’ve been looking at closely, there’s also some key position depth especially in the back half of the ground.
“Picking where we are, there’s going to be something out there for everybody and we’re just going to have to wait and see how it falls.”
Of course, there’s no guarantee that the Blues will actually be entering the draft at No.31, if the last two drafts are anything to go by.
With live trading having been in effect for the last two drafts, Austin said that anything was possible in the modern day.
“The live trading adds that extra element and with that unpredictability, you just don’t know who’s going to be there at what position,” he said.
“The option to move up is there if we can facilitate something, and the trading of future picks gives you the opportunity to move in as well if you need to.
“We’ll just wait and see, it’s another layer to the night.”
