AFL Draft 2023: Expert Chris Cavanagh answers your questions, reveals Phantom Draft

Live trading has transformed draft night and added another layer of strategy for clubs. See who expert Chris Cavanagh says could make a huge first-round play in his Phantom Draft for 2023.

Pick swaps, academy bids and father-sons, the machinations of this year’s AFL national draft are yet to play out.

But how will it affect your team?

Draft expert Chris Cavanagh is here to answer all your questions ahead of November 20’s draft.

Phantom Draft: Who your club is eyeing in first round

It shapes as the most compromised national draft since 2020, when clubs matched bids on five Next Generation Academy prospects in the first round to force an AFL rule change.

Five bids are again expected to be matched within the first round of this year’s national draft on November 20, with Gold Coast tipped to get its hands on three Suns Academy prospects and the Western Bulldogs and Hawthorn poised to pounce on father-sons.

Jed Walter, Ethan Read and Jake Rogers will provide an early boost for new Gold Coast coach Damien Hardwick, while the Bulldogs will add yet another tall forward to their mix in Jordan Croft and Hawthorn will get its hands on key defender Will McCabe.

Unlike clubs in Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia, the Suns and other northern Academy clubs are able to match bids on players within the first 40 picks in the draft.

It is not all bad news for other clubs with first-round picks, though.

Next year shapes as a draft stacked with midfielders, but there are some top prospects in a range of positions this year.

About 55 selections are expected to be used in the national draft, meaning the first round could make up almost half of all draftees.

Here is an early look at how the first night of the draft is shaping up.