With the 2015 NAB AFL Draft just hours away, hawthornfc.com.au caught up with Recruiting and List Manager Graham Wright to get his thoughts on the night ahead.
The Hawks will enter the draft with three live picks - 15, 18 and 48.
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How are you feeling going into the draft?
Wright says: “We’re confident, but we’re not confident with what we’re going to get. By that I mean we’re really unsure what’s about going to happen in front of us – you can’t predict who’s going to be there for our picks. We’re really confident in our planning and we’ve been really throughout and know these players inside and out. We’re confident that whoever is there at our picks, we’re prepared for them and which way we will want to go.”
How much preparation goes into getting ready for the draft?
Wright says: “There’s a year that goes into it nearly, by the time we get to this stage. You basically finish the draft and start looking at the boys who are coming through for next year. Whether it’s watching vision, interviewing players, looking at psychological reports or testing results, it’s basically a process of elimination over a 12 month period.”
We've got two picks inside the top 20, do you see them moving much with the new live bidding system?
Wright says: "It’s a little bit different this year, being the first year we’ve had the academy bidding system live in the draft. We feel as though there will be at least three players who move inside us in the order, and an extra two picks will move inside us, with GWS only having one pick in there. That will get used on a player, and potentially there will be two picks that come over the top of us as well. We think we’ll end up with probably pick 17 or 18, and pick 20 or 21, but we’re not quite sure exactly what they will be.”
How much does the bidding system affect your preparation?
Wright says: “It affects your preparation, but it just means you include a few more numbers in your considerations for our first two picks. It’s a little bit the reverse with pick 48, that pick will come into about pick 40 or 42, somewhere in that vicinity, so we don’t have to look at as many numbers in the back end of the draft. We’d much prefer to have picks 15 and 18 exactly where they are, but we understand they’re going to move a little bit.”
Do you look at drafting players on a needs-based system, or more on talent?
Wright says: “Certainly early it will be more about footy talent – we’ve always been big on picking talent over need. I think you can probably pick need over talent a little bit if the players are really close and you can’t split them, but generally we go best player regardless of their position. Maybe at the back end, pick 48 might be a bit more about need, depending on who we get early."
How have you found the new electronic system in place for this year's draft?
Wright says: “We’ve got it on our computers and we’re able to run through mock drafts, and we’ve also done a live mock draft with the AFL a few weeks ago. We did another one Monday night before the draft. We’ve seen plenty of it and we understand how it works. We’re going to be like everyone else, we’re going to be going in with this new system for the first time (on draft night).”
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