Experienced Richmond Recruiting Officer Matt Clarke rates the 2015 National Draft as the most difficult to predict throughout his time in the AFL talent scout industry.
“I think what’s happened this year is the multiple-pick scenario has made it really hard,” he told ‘Roar Vision’ in Adelaide, where the draft will be held tonight.
“The multiple picks that Essendon have got in the first 10, Melbourne have got a couple, Carlton have got three in the first 11 . . . and there’s the Academy bidding as well.
“Clubs that have got those multiple picks want to try and get the best of both worlds . . . work out how they can manipulate teams and picks to actually get the two guys they want, rather than just picking off one and missing out on another.
“So it’s been extremely difficult this year, that’s for sure.”
The many football fans who tune in to Fox Footy’s live coverage of this evening’s National Draft will find it quite different to the televised event in the past, due to several factors.
“Points-based system, bidding on Academy players on the night, and electronics . . . There’ll be no booming voice from a couple of the recruiters that we’ve seen in recent times,” Clarke said.
“It’s a little bit more razzle dazzle, I suppose, which the AFL’s been trying to get into the piece.
“We’ll be out the back putting the selections into a computer, and the pick will go into the main room.
“So, there are a lot of changes, and I think that’ll continue in the next few years.”
Clarke also explained the change in Richmond’s approach to the 2015 National Draft compared with this time last year.
“We’d been forecasting for a couple of years that last year was strong and our list balance was able to cope with five kids in the National Draft, which we went with . . . This year not so much,” he said.
“We’re predicting that in the future years it might a bit stronger, but this year we decided to go back a few and try to be a bit more aggressive in the trade period, and we brought in three guys (Chris Yarran, Jacob Townsend and Andrew Moore).”
