We are very interested in Balta and I think he gets to us at pick 17. The rest is a bit of a raffle but I know Clarke places a huge premium on leadership, that's why players like Garner & Worpel will come into the picture. The hard part will be knowing who to take first, Taylor is bolting up the charts so we may not even get the opportunity but if he's there we must give serious consideration to covering Astbury if he goes down. Balta is not the answer because he is a natural forward and that's where I want him to start.
Hayes is still on our radar but I simply don't like this pick, one thing we have done really well over the years is to pick off second string rucks in the third round. I'm firmly of the belief that we stick to this strategy. The argument against picking Worpel is that mids are available every year but for me you just have to take best available. Now that the game is becoming more and more about contested football the more depth you create the better placed you are to deal with injuries, and let's face it, we did have a charmed run on the injury front. One might say we have Miles to come in but Worpel is a better two way runner and is a lot quicker. Garner is an upgrade on Broad, no disrespect because he helped us to a premiership but there's a number of guys who have probably played out of their skins and may not be able to replicate their 2017 form.
If Naish gets an early bid then I'd like to get Dixon & perhaps Hayden with our third rounders. If Clavarino slips then he must also come into play, presuming of course that we don't land Taylor.
Clark isn't a pure mid just yet, it's only been a few standout performances in the TAC that's seen his stocks rise. For the most part he's played in defence and that's where he probably starts. I think the strategy for the Eagles will be to pick off mids with picks 21, 26 , 32 & 37. Homegrown talent like Ainsworth & Patmore will be there for the taking.
