Does Carlton, Essendon, North Melbourne, GWS, Gold Coast or Sydney have the best under 22 players?

VOTE: ARE Carlton’s young players any good, or have Essendon and the interstate expansion clubs got the pick of the crop? Read and vote in part three of our under 22 series.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - MAY 01: Patrick Cripps of the Blues is tackled by Tyson Goldsack of the Magpies during the round five AFL match between the Carlton Blues and the Collingwood Magpies at Melbourne Cricket Ground on May 1, 2015 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

IT’S widely accepted that Carlton’s shocking start to the 2015 is due in part to its woeful performance at the draft and trade tables.

But are the Blues’ kids that bad? How to do they stack up in comparison to some of the AFL’s other emerging young sides?

In the third group of teams in our under 22 series, Carlton goes head to head with the Bombers, and both interstate expansion teams.

Vote for your pick of the third group of six clubs in our three-part series below.

Tomorrow: The winners face off in our under 22 final.

GROUP 1 WINNER: Bulldogs (68.32 per cent of votes) beat Port Adelaide (13.78), Hawthorn (6.24), Brisbane (4.7), Geelong (4.45) and Adelaide (2.5).

GROUP 2 WINNER: Collingwood (47.08 per cent) beat St Kilda (20.08), Melbourne (15.81), Richmond (9.57), West Coast (3.58) and Fremantle (2.89).

CARLTON

Under 22s: Sam Docherty, Troy Menzel Nick Graham, Kristian Jaksch, Patrick Cripps, Nick Holman, Matthew Dick, Cameron Giles, Blaine Boekhorst, Clem Smith, Dillon Viojo-Rainbow, Jayden Foster

After years of disappointing recruiting, the jury is still out on whether the Blues have butchered their drafting again. Patrick Cripps has played just six games in his two-year career but stunned everyone with 33 possessions in Round 4, while Kristian Jaksch was a handy addition after being traded from GWS but was injured in Round 1. Troy Menzel showed star quality last year but has battled injuries thus far in 2015, and Clem Smith and mature age recruit Blaine Boekhorst have both been OK in their limited opportunities to this point.

ESSENDON

Under 22s: Zach Merrett, Joe Daniher, Shaun Edwards, Martin Gleeson, Elliot Kavanagh, Jason Ashby, Nick O’Brien, Orazio Fantasia, Lauchlan Dalgleish, Will Hams, Jayden Laverde, Kyle Langford

The Dons have provided only limited opportunities to their baby brigade, though the club has undoubted quality in string bean forward Joe Daniher and 19-year-old midfielder Zach Merrett, who has emerged as one of the team’s best in the early part of the season. Martin Gleeson has been OK, while the pick of the rest have rotated between wearing VFL guernseys and the subs vest.

Luke McDonald has established himself as a regular member of North Melbourne’s best team.

NORTH MELBOURNE

Under 22s: Luke McDonald, Brad McKenzie, Kayne Turner, Taylor Garner, Mason Wood, Daniel Nielson, Sam Durdin, Ed Vickers-Willis, Trent Dumont

Whether by accident or by design, North Melbourne has the smallest pool of kids in the AFL. It religiously ploughed games into top 2013 draft pick Luke McDonald last year, while midfielder Brad McKenzie is yet to be sighted in 2015 after playing 22 games in three years. Kayne Turner and Mason Wood have both slotted into the ‘Roos best 22 nicely, and Trent Dumont had one of the better starts to an AFL career when he came on as the sub and instantly had a hand in one goal and kicked one himself in the team’s groundbreaking win against Geelong in Round 4.

SYDNEY

Under 22s: Tom Mitchell, Harry Cunningham, Jake Lloyd, Brandon Jack, Isaac Heeney, Zak Jones, Abaina Davis, Jack Hiscox, James Rose, Aliir Aliir, George Hewett, Harry Marsh, Toby Nankervis, Daniel Robinson

Mitchell looked an out and out star last year but appears to be out of favour, while Jake Lloyd and Harry Cunningham have cemented their spots in the side for now. Isaac Heeney might well be the steal of the 2014 draft, after the 18th pick produced one of the most impressive starts to an AFL career in recent memory.

Greater Western Sydney's Devon Smith celebrates a goal against Collingwood.

GWS

Under 22s: Devon Smith, Matt Buntine, Will Hoskin-Elliot, Toby Greene, Stephen Coniglio, Lachlan Whitfield, Zac Williams, Josh Kelly, Lachie Plowman, Adam Tomlinson,

Jacob Townsend, Aidan Corr, Liam Sumner, James Stewart, Cameron McCarthy, Jake Barrett, Caleb Marchbank, Jack Steele, Jarrod Pickett, Jeremy Finlayson, Patrick McKenna, Paul Ahern

Stockpile, anyone? While not all of GWS’s arsenal of draftees will be tearing teams apart one day, weight of numbers suggests it’s struck more than a few nuggets of gold among its current crop. Greene, Smith, Whitfield and Coniglio will all be there when the Giants are vying for their first premiership ... if the club can hang onto them.

GOLD COAST

Under 22: Jaeger O’Meara, Kade Kolodjashnij, Jack Martin, Alex Sexton, Sean Lemmens, Timmy Sumner, Jesse Lonergan, Clay Cameron, Andrew Boston, Jack Leslie, Jarrod Garlett, Peter Wright, Touk Miller, Henry Schade

The news is both bright and bad for the Suns. Most of their youngsters look like they’ll be guns, but half of them are nursing injuries as the Suns languish near the bottom of the ladder. O’Meara was on the fast track to elite status before a season-ending knee injury while playing for the Suns’ reserves side, while Jack Martin has also shown glimpses of his prodigious talent. Touk Miller is posting brilliant numbers in his first AFL season and was an absolute steal for Gold Coast at pick 29 in last year’s draft.

Originally published as Does Carlton, Essendon, North Melbourne, GWS, Gold Coast or Sydney have the best under 22 players?