The Buzz: How your top draft pick is travelling

EVERY CLUB RATED: Who will be the best kid from this year's draft crop? Jon Ralph gives a status report so far.

ollie wines

DEREK Hine literally couldn't get Brodie Grundy's name out quick enough.

Having waited through 17 agonising selections in last year's national draft, the Pies recruiter realised he had hit pay dirt.

A player in Collingwood's top five talent list was still available at pick 18, with Hine stumbling before blurting out the name of the best junior ruckman in the land.

It was the first of three consecutive top-20 selections for Collingwood, part of a bold bid to rejuvenate a list still competing for a premiership.

In came Grundy, Ben Kennedy (at pick No.19) and Tim Broomhead (No.20), plus free agency acquisitions Clinton Young and Quinten Lynch.

Out went Sharrod Wellingham for that No.18 selection and Chris Dawes for pick 20, with Wellingham getting a clip on the way out from Geoff Walsh about his attitude.

Grundy is only three games into his career, but already he looks like he could be anything.

So much so that he could well keep premiership ruckman Darren Jolly out of the Magpies' line-up come September.

Against Sydney's premiership ruckman Mike Pyke and Shane Mumford he more than held his own on Saturday, combining his unique blend of physicality, second-effort football, and raw athleticism.

Basically, he is Ben Hudson but with polish and dash.

And the extraordinary part: his pre-season was so decimated by injuries the 19-year-old only started running about April and playing VFL in May.

It would be wrong to say the Pies are the sole winners from the flurry of trades given West Coast's Wellingham has finally hit form and the hamstrung Young has played just two games.

But the Pies were prepared to roll the dice and have squirrelled away three first-round picks without any major rebuild.

Kennedy seriously needs to build a tank but has real promise and 10 senior games under his belt, while Broomhead's debut year has been hampered by glandular fever.

Hine is reluctant to get too excited, but it's fair to say behind the scenes the Pies are giddy with anticipation.

"I remember watching him (Grundy) in Europe with Joe Daniher doing this drill at the AIS Academy and they were going one-on-one and they were just two bulls going at it. After the drill they have blood dripping from their heads, and I remember being hugely impressed. He is definitely a competitor," Hine said.

The 2012 national draft already has some beauties, given the form of Lachie Whitfield (pick 1), Ollie Wines (pick 7), Sam Mayes (pick 8), Nick Vlastuin (pick 9), Joe Daniher (pick 10), Troy Menzel (pick 11), Grundy, Nathan Hrovat (pick 21) and more.

Former Bulldogs ruckman Luke Darcy saw Grundy live on the weekend for the first time and walked away mightily impressed.

"He looks like a ripper. He just looked like he had real presence. He was up against two really powerful units who would normally wear him down and he wasn't out-positioned. I love his second efforts and he has a bit of natural aggression.

"As a 19-year-old the bigger boys will take you on physically. He had no issues standing up under physical duress and it's something you can't teach. You want your 200cm 100kg ruckman to have presence about him. He slid through in the draft and they have found one."

Brodie Grundy

A video edit circulating inside Westpac Centre this week focused on that presence in a clip where Mumford is coming off the interchange bench and tries to physically challenge Grundy.

Grundy effectively rag-dolls him in a telling show of strength.

"Imagine what he will be like after three pre-seasons," says one insider of Grundy.

Clubs rarely recruit ruckmen with high picks these days, prepared to poach them from rivals or develop them with speculative selections.

But the harder you work and the braver you are the luckier you get.

Collingwood, both of those things in the off-season, might just have a premier ruckmen on their hands as a result.

EVERY CLUB RATED

GRUNDY looks a steal after slipping through to pick 18 in last year's national draft.

But when you survey the top-20 picks in that draft a host of rivals would be just as excited about their first selection.

Who will be the best kid from this draft? Hard to know.

Richmond would be just as impressed with Nick Vlastuin as Essendon would be with Joe Daniher.

Sam Mayes looks on the verge of stardom, but Brad Crouch might be the best of the lot.

Melbourne's Jimmy Toumpas has made a slow start yet talent-spotters felt Melbourne had a bargain on their hands when he got through to pick four.

Here is your club-by-club guide to your first-round pick's progress.

ADELAIDE

Surrendered their first two picks voluntarily through the Tippett shemozzle, but Brad Crouch is effectively their No.1 pick given he was taken in the previous year's mini-draft. A total jet. 11 games and eight of them over 20 possessions, including a super 26 touches last week v North Melbourne.

Brad Crouch

BRISBANE: Sam Mayes

They took the North Adelaide midfielder at pick eight, and he's been a beauty so far.

Balanced, kicks goals, runs the lines, does it all. Has played 15 games and averaged 17 possessions. He had to be good given former pick eight Billy Longer is behind Matt Leuenberger and pick five Jared Polec is out of favour.

CARLTON: Troy Menzel

Something of a risk at pick 12 given his knee history, but just coming into his own.

An elusive mid-sized forward who battled osteitis pubis early, but even in kicking an early goal against the Dogs with a clever-left foot snap on Saturday showed he has something. Nick Graham (pick 54) should debut in coming weeks.

COLLINGWOOD: Brodie Grundy

Has shown in three games he could be a star of the future after being taken with the value pick of No.18. Ben Kennedy (pick 19) has promise, while Tim Broomhead (pick 19) was set back by chronic fatigue.

ESSENDON: Joe Daniher

Should have been pick one of the draft on the open market, but the father-son selection has been made to work for his games. Dominated at VFL level, but in and out of the AFL side. Still, his three goals against Gold Coast showcased his potential. Only three games so far from the pick 10 but wait until he grows into his 2m frame.

FREMANTLE: Josh Simpson

Taken at pick 17 and was always going to take some time. Silky skills on display in the WAFL for the medium forward/midfielder. It is kids like Lachie Neale and Lee Spurr emerging for Rossy Lyon right now.

GEELONG: Jackson Thurlow

Pick 16 looks a ripper. The Cats love the medium-sized defender, who played four AFL games and was best on ground in the VFL on the weekend. Played a great game on his senior debut against Essendon with 17 poised touches. Just the four games, but Stephen Wells known to be very happy with taking him so late.

Jackson Thurlow

GOLD COAST: Jesse Lonergan

Just four games from the hard-at-it midfielder taken at pick 13, who was set back by a broken wrist in the pre-season has been sidelined until the end of the year with a hamstring. Enough signs to show he will be a player.

GREATER WESTERN SYDNEY: Lachie Whitfield

It was always going to be tough for the No.1 pick to put his wares on show in a team that rarely wins, but that hasn't stopped him. A monster game against Melbourne last week (26 touches and two goals) just capped off a super year. Has flown under the radar but has played 17 mostly impressive games.

Lachie Whitfield

HAWTHORN: Tim O'Brien

The Hawks' top pick was tall forward Tim O'Brien, who is quietly impressing in the VFL after being taken with pick 28, a draft pick they got back from the Dogs in the Brian Lake trade. The Crows had been keen to secure him in the draft before they lost their early picks. But the jet is Jed Anderson, who they received from GWS as part of their list compensation. He is quick and runs the lines and looks anything. He has battled hamstring issues, but Hawks fans are already excited about the Brad Hill-Jed Anderson combination.

MELBOURNE: Jimmy Toumpas

Toumpas (pick 4) and Jack Viney (father son, pick 26) are effectively a package deal given Viney was lucky to slip through under the bidding system. Viney looks hard and prolific like his old man. Toumpas's confidence unfortunately looks shot. He was always going to take time after hip surgery, but Melbourne fans are already wondering if their draft-development system has struck again. Massive junior wraps. Needs a big pre-season, so let's hope he is the player his junior career showed him to be. Later picks Matt Jones, and Dean Terlich are the real finds so far, with Dean Kent also showing something.

Jimmy Toumpas

NORTH MELBOURNE: Taylor Garner

The No.15 pick debuted last week against Adelaide as the sub and had just one possession in 20-odd minutes. Again, why can't there be a rule against players debuting as the sub? The medium forward has played 11 games for North Ballarat in the VFL this year.

PORT ADELAIDE: Ollie Wines

How good is this kid? Runs all day, uses it well, hard as a cat's head. Exactly what Port Adelaide needed. How did he slip all the way to pick seven? And a big game player, too. He has had some quiet patches - just 11 and 12 possessions in his past two matches - but he has played some monsters as well. Looks like a mini Dolph Lungren, and plays like him, too.

ollie wines

RICHMOND: Nick Vlastuin

The Tigers went for a midfield hard nut at selection nine. What we didn't know was that he had tricks, could mark overhead, and make such an instant impact. Had to wait until Round 5 to debut but has starred since with 15 games in which he has averaged 16 touches. His tackles stick, he kicks it well, and he went back with the flight from 30m a few weeks back to take a mark that will stick in the mind for a long time. A real find. They also have Liam McBean, a 200cm tall forward kicking goals by the bagful in the VFL after being taken at pick 33. The hype is building about him, too.

ST KILDA: Nathan Wright

Officially their first pick is Wright at no. 24, but you need to roll in Tom Hickey, Spencer White, Tom Lee, Brodie Murdoch and Josh Saunders too, all taken through a combination of picks and trades used by a club that made the tough decision to let Brendon Goddard go to Essendon.

Lee has just come into his own as a second forward with a classic kicking style, Hickey has struggled to find his niche, and White is an exciting young colt of a tall forward who might be Buddy Lite. The rest have all had their moments, Murduch, Wright and Saunders included. They have plenty of young kids who will play 150-200 games.

Now with this year's No.3 pick they need another midfield champion.

Nathan Wright

SYDNEY: Dean Towers

This is a bonus any way you look at it, given Sydney was about to give up its first-round pick and Jesse White for Adelaide's Kurt Tippett and got him anyway while keeping the pick (22) and player. Towers is a mature-aged VFL star who they took as a 22-year-old North Ballarat midfielder. Playing well in the NEAFL league but he hasn't cracked a debut.

WEST COAST

Traded for all of Jamie Cripps, Cale Morton and Sharrod Wellingham, giving up pick 18 for the former Pie. He has improved by the week since his trampolining accident. That means West Coast took Brant Colledge at pick 45. He hasn't cracked it for a game as a 192cm forward or back, but mature-ager Mark Hutchings has played nine games after being taken with pick 60.

Sharrod Wellingham

WESTERN BULLDOGS: Jake Stringer

The nominal first pick at no 5, with Jackson Macrae (pick 6) and Nathan Hrovat (pick 21) all part of the Doggies rejuvenation package. All of them look 200-gamers.

Stringer has been the No.1 forward target when playing and can play as a key tall or bulky midfielder. He only has seven games and three goals, but was always going to take time after a badly broken leg. Hrovat is just 174cm but is a pure ball winner, and Macrae is a silky left-footer who has looked at home in his 13 games.