AFL Draft: Gold Coast recruiter Scott Clayton not spooked by curse of pick No.6

GOLD Coast recruiting guru Scott Clayton says the Suns are not spooked by the “curse” of pick No.6 heading into the AFL draft in Adelaide.

Chris Yarran is one of the best pick No.6 in draft history. Picture: Bohdan Warchomij

GOLD Coast recruiting guru Scott Clayton says the Suns are not spooked by the “curse” of pick No.6 heading into the AFL draft in Adelaide.

The sixth selection at the national draft has been surprisingly unproductive over the history of the event.

Pick No. 6 is the 55th-ranked selection in terms of games played with those players taken averaging 53 senior games in their career.

Only four sixth picks have played 100 games — Chris Yarran, Kepler Bradley, Steven Salopek and James Walker — and the seemingly coveted spot in the draft has produced no premiership players and just one club best-and-fairest winner, Port Adelaide’s Chad Wingard.

In stark contrast, pick No. 7 has produced 17 premiership medals, six club champion titles and two Rising Star winners.

But Clayton said it is just a “silly anomaly’’ and the Suns were confident of securing some long-term, top-end talent.

“All I know is that we are happy to break the so-called curse,’’ Clayton said.

“We are not too superstitious.

Chris Yarran is one of the best pick No.6 in draft history. Picture: Bohdan Warchomij

“With pick six, you have the whole field to choose from bar five players so we are pretty comfortable about where we are placed and we’re excited about what the draft will bring.’’

The Suns also have picks 16, 29 and 56 at their disposal. The Gold Coast secured boom first-year midfielder Touk Miller with pick 29 last year.

Key defender Jacob Weitering is a virtual lock to go to Carlton with pick No. 1 with Brisbane set to select key forward Josh Schache with the second pick.

The rest of the top ten is open with the Suns closely monitoring a range of players who might still be available when their time comes.

The players on the Suns’ radar include Darcy Parish (midfielder), Sam Weideman (tall forward), Callum Ah Chee (medium forward), Aaron Francis (key forward/defender), Clayton Oliver (midfielder), Wayne Milera (midfielder) and Charlie Curnow (forward/midfielder).

Curnow was arrested in Geelong last Friday after allegedly refusing a breath test and has publicly apologised.

Clayton refutes the widely-held suggestion that the 2015 draft pool is shallow and believes there is plenty of gold for those willing to dig a bit deeper.

“I don’t subscribe to the talk of the draft being shallow at all,’’ he said.

“We think it’s a really interesting draft. It is not obvious who the top 10 are, which is good.

“If you back yourself, you can do really well.

“It is a very even draft. The first 10 picks could come from 20 names, that’s how even it is.

“We like the look of it and think we will bring in some good talent.’’

ON THE GOLD COAST RADAR:

Darcy Parish — midfielder/forward — Geelong Falcons (Vic)

Sam Weideman — tall forward — Eastern Ranges (Vic)

Callum Ah Chee — medium forward — South Fremantle (WA)

Aaron Francis — key forward/defender — West Adelaide (SA)

Clayton Oliver — midfielder — Murray Bushrangers (Vic)

Wayne Milera — midfielder — Central Districts (SA)

Charlie Curnow — forward/midfielder — Geelong Falcons (Vic)

Originally published as AFL Draft: Gold Coast recruiter Scott Clayton not spooked by curse of pick No.6