AFL draft 2015: Carlton ready to carry out year-long plan
CARLTON will attempt to recruit the bookends of a future premiership team - and is certain to select wildcard father-son forward Jack Silvagni.
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CARLTON will attempt to recruit the bookends of a future premiership team - and is certain to select wildcard father-son forward Jack Silvagni.
At Tuesday night’s national draft in Adelaide the Blues will pick four of the first 19 picks in a top-20 laden with key position talent.
The first name chosen will be Victorian 195cm defender Jacob Weitering, with the Blues not ruling out informing him of their decision before the draft.
Draft experts also believe Carlton list manager Silvagni could also secure 200cm Gippsland key forward Harry McKay with pick 8, then later his key defender brother Ben.
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Blues football boss Andrew McKay told the Herald Sun Carlton would need star talent from several national drafts as part of a list management plan.
But it would take the shock of the national draft for the Blues to overlook mid-sized forward Jack Silvagni as a father-son pick.
Even a rival bidding for Silvagni with a pick in the 30s would see Carlton matching the bid — pushing next year’s second-round pick moved back only a handful of spots under the new system.
McKay said a year-long plan was about to be executed, confident hundreds of hours of work would minimise the chance of any draft failures.
“We think we have done a lot of research and a lot of work has gone into getting the draft positions we have got. We are looking forward to making the most of them,’’ he said.
“It is proven if you can get picks within 15 the majority will work out.
“It is still no certainty but to have three picks within 15 and four within 20 makes us confident we can get good players.
“We devised a list management strategy at the start of the year and we are only early in that period. But it’s taking place and we have got a lot of hard work to do over the next few years.”
McKay said the quantity of early selections will allow the Blues to stockpile midfielders and talls but urged fans to have patience next year.
“It is a balance. This is about hope for the members but there is also an understanding these guys need patience,” he said.
They can’t be expected to come in straight away and play good footy for us and bounce us off the bottom of the ladder.”
Weitering is seen as ready to play in Round 1 next year given his athletic skill set, but the Blues will not publicly confirm his selection until Tuesday night.
Jack Silvagni played only a handful of games this year and has little exposed form.
While the Blues have made no promises about matching a bid the new structure means it would cost them little to do just that.
The club’s draftees will be thrust immediately into the pre-season with medical screenings on Thursday then training on Friday.
Originally published as AFL draft 2015: Carlton ready to carry out year-long plan
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