Draft’s about to start, here we go!

Pre-ordained picks based on media talk:
• Jack Watts at #1 to Melbourne
• Nicholas Naitanui at #2 to Eagles
• Ayce Cordy at #14 to Bulldogs of course
• Nathan Carroll to Saints
• Tom Hislop to Tigers
• Danny Meyer to Hawks
• Tom Lee at #32 to Bulldogs (according to Scott Clayton on SEN)

I am still iffy on the talk about Rich dropping as low as #7. Lions would get an early Christmas present if it does play out that way. It would be just like Freo to sabotage themselves like that… Hill is another Mundy type, who they already have too many of, whereas they need another Palmer type which is Rich to a tee.

10:00 AM: Vlad congratulating Al Clarkson, woo! Plus a bunch of boring admin and marketing crap.

1. Jack Watts Melbourne
2. Nick Naitanui West Coast
3. Stephen Hill Fremantle
4. Hamish Hartlett Port Adelaide
5. Michael Hurley Essendon
6. Chris Yarran Carlton
7. Daniel Rich Brisbane
8. Tyrone Vickery Richmond
9. Jack Ziebell North Melbourne
10. Phil Davis Adelaide
11. Steele Sidebottom Collingwood
12. Lewis Johnston Sydney
13. Tom Lynch St Kilda
14. Ayce Cordy Western Bulldogs
15. Mitch Brown Geelong
16. Ryan Schoenmakers Hawthorn

10:08: Extremely quick first round! Went as media predicted.

17. Sam Blease Melbourne
18. Luke Shuey West Coast
19. James Strauss Melbourne
20. Tom Swift West Coast

10:11 Eagles loading up on midfielders, they would be happy so far, especially with local boy Swift at 20.

21. Hayden Ballantyne Fremantle

10:12 Freo also going local… almost looking like an old zonal draft at this stage!

22. Jackson Trengove Port Adelaide
23. David Zaharakis Essendon
24. Nick Suban Fremantle
25. Jack Redden Brisbane
26. Jaydyn Post Richmond
27. Sam Wright North Melbourne
28. Shaun McKernan Adelaide
29. Dayne Beams Collingwood
30. Dan Hannebery Sydney
31. Jordan Roughead Western Bulldogs

32. Liam Jones Western Bulldogs
33. Tom Gillies Geelong
34. Liam Shiels Hawthorn

10:19 Still no Nick Heyne or Michael Walters. Expect Walters to be called as early as next pick… he’d be a great fantasy option at Melbourne.

35. Jamie Bennell Melbourne
36. Ash Smith West Coast
37. Zachary Clarke Fremantle
38. Matthew Broadbent Port Adelaide

10:23 There’s Freo’s new backup ruckman… wonder if he’ll start featuring in plan teams.

39. Steven Motlop Geelong
40. Mitch Robinson Carlton
41. Todd Banfield Brisbane
42. Mitch Banner Richmond
43. Liam Anthony North Melbourne
44. Rory Sloane Adelaide

10:27 Choco Williams will be displeased he couldn’t get the third Motlop brother. Robinson is one of the major drops in the draft. Still no Walters!

45. Jarrad Blight Collingwood
46. Luke Rounds Sydney
47. Rhys Stanley St Kilda
48. Nick Heyne St Kilda
49. Taylor Hunt Geelong

10:32 Heyne is a good fit at the Saints, that lifts his fantasy stocks.

50. Jordan Lisle Hawthorn

10:34 Wow, that is a great get by the Hawks! There was some talk early that they might have had to burn their first-rounder on Lisle but this is a steal.

51. Neville Jetta Melbourne

10:37 Surely Walters at 52, Jetta going before him is a shock.

52. Jordan Jones West Coast

10:40 Nup…

53. Michael Walters Fremantle

10:41 Yay! Great fit, he’s a fantasy star in the making as a Purple Jesus replacement.

54. Jarred Redden Port Adelaide
55. Michael Still Essendon
56. Ben Bucovaz Fremantle
57. Aaron Cornelius Brisbane
58. Tom Hislop Richmond
59. Nathan O’Keefe North Melbourne
60. Thomas Lee Adelaide
61. Campbell Heath Sydney
62. Alistair Smith St Kilda
63. Luke Lowden Hawthorn

10:49 Bucovaz at Freo is interesting, I wonder where they will use him. He’s another tweener type.

64. Rohan Bail Melbourne
65. Rhys O’Keeffe Carlton

10:53 Nice pick by the Blues, another small forward to help Yarran. Will probably become a fantasy trade-down target for a matured cash cow.

66. Glenn Dawson Port Adelaide
67. Tyson Slattery Essendon
68. Tim Ruffles Fremantle
69. Bart McColluch Brisbane
70. PASS Richmond
71. Warren Benjamin North Melbourne
72. Will Young Adelaide
73. Leigh Brown Collingwood
74. Paul Cahill St Kilda

11:04 Still waiting on Pearce and DeBoer.

75. Shane Savage Hawthorn
76. PASS Melbourne
77. Chris Hall Fremantle
78. Jason Davenport Port Adelaide
79. PASS Essendon
80. Caleb Tiller Carlton
81. Kieran King Brisbane
82. PASS Brisbane
83. Colm Begley St Kilda
84. PASS Port Adelaide
85. PASS Carlton

11:07 And we’re done. No Pearce, DeBoer, Klemke or Gaertner. Also no lifelines given to Nick Davis, Nathan Carroll or Ben Cousins.

11:17 Quick fantasy impact: Rich and Vickery lowered their price much closer to basement, which will paradoxically increase their fantasy popularity. Rich going to the Lions, who were gagging for inside mids, is possibly even a better fit than Freo. Sidebottom to Collingwood at basement price is also excellent, since the Pies know better than anyone else how to handle goalkicking mids - the fact that there are already six of his type there shouldn’t block his progress since Malthouse seems to want to play 22 of them. Blease at Melbourne will get games so his stock rises. Suban at Carlton Fremantle will also jump up their depth chart quickly, you’d think. Lisle at the Hawks is great for the club, but perhaps not so good for fantasy because he’ll spend a long time at Box Hill.

11:30 Hawks recruiting adjutant Chris Pelchen on SEN quoted as saying they will convert Schoenmakers from a forward into a defender (read: project player), plus Lisle “could play next year” and was one of the surprises of the draft, with Heyne being the other in his opinion. The other Hawks are all still 17 and from the sounds of it will be warehoused in preparation for the GC17 raping of the draft in future years.

11:37 Geelong recruiter saying Brown will take a while to come on in defence. Doesn’t sound like any of their picks are going to muscle their way into the 22 early in 2009.