Today we will see the first round of the draft run (albeit, that will be around 27 players) and the first new Docker selected. Things are looking increasingly unlikely my hope of Tobie Travaglia falls to us as the Saints who have picks 7 and 8 appear likely to grab him first. From there, my next pick Lindsay is a chance to fall but has plenty of admirers ahead of our selection.
The
Rookie Me phantom draft has just been released with Lindsay actually lasting to our pick but Freo selecting Joe Berry instead who is probably the premier small forward in the draft. Personally, I don't think we need to use our first selection on a small forward with Bolton now in the side along with some good small forwards available at our 2nd pick (i don't think any of Hannaford, Dattoli or Alger or even a half forward like Hynes or Davis are that far behind Berry if at all and at least one should be available at our 2nd pick). As a result, I would prefer to aim for a wing or half back, certainly when there are very good options around our 1st pick.
They've gone for Angus Clarke with our 2nd pick who has had a lot of interviews with Freo and appears to be a favourite of Walls and co. He's a rebounding half back from SA who while being very good defensively, takes all their kick outs and loves to run with the footy. He'd be a decent fit but I do think it'd be quite early to grab him there.
Alternately,
AFL.com's Cal Twomey's phantom draft is probably the most likely to be how things play out this afternoon. He also has us taking Berry but that's with both Travaglia and Lindsay already picked up well before our pick. He doesn't get to our 2nd pick but with Hannaford and Oliver both off the board, I would probably be expecting a midfield or half back option with those available.
ESPN's phantom draft also has us taking Berry with our 1st pick, given all of the other options I'd prefer are off the board. They have mapped out a full draft including live trading which makes things complicated but to be fair, a lot of their scenarios are a chance to happen and have been floated before. They also have us grabbing Clarke with our 2nd pick and a midfielder in Xavier Ivisic at our 3rd selection. It's near impossible to predict who will be around at this stage or what Freo will be after but we'll see how that selection is used.
The Mongrel Punt have posted their phantom draft and pretty much all the players I would hope fall to us, are gone. They have us picking Murphy Reid who appears to be this year's Caleb Serong. A smaller inside midfielder with fantastic footy IQ and class. I don't think it's something we need so would hope someone else grabs Reid first however if Walls selects him, I'd trust his decision based on the Serong call. However, I could see Freo trading down our pick with other clubs, in a deal to move our 2nd pick higher or bring in future picks.
While the draft will begin at 4pm WA time, we probably won't pick for an hr or so after that. Plenty of time to see how things play out and make a good decision on who will be joining our 2025 premiership squad.
