With the AFL Draft been and gone, I'm just about ready to wind down what has been a busy year in Football.
But before I do, we're going to have a look at which clubs won out in the AFL Draft, with another piece about the teams that have had questionable Drafts to come a little later in the week.
So without further ado, let's have a look at the six clubs who I have identified as the winners of the 2018 AFL Draft.
Gold Coast
Gold Coast were perhaps one of the more obvious winners of the Draft – simply because of having three picks inside the top six. They could've done no wrong drafting at these selections – they found good replacements for Tom Lynch and Steven May by drafting Jack Lukosius and Ben King, whilst they also found a young jet in Izak Rankine, who can flourish in the middle. They also traded up the order to pick up intercept defender in Jez McLennan and finished their draft haul by selecting Academy player Caleb Graham, who also plays as a key defender.
Now the Suns must focus on retaining the quartet of Lukosius, Rankine, King and McLennan beyond 2020. Lukosius, Rankine and McLennan are all South Australians and could possibly build a connection at the club, and they look arguably the keys to getting the Suns back up the ladder. King might be a little harder to persuade to stay as he is Victorian, whilst his twin brother Max is staying at home to forge his AFL career, being drafted by the Saints.
GWS Giants
They lost hard at the Trade Period, but the GWS Giants won out pretty big over the two days of the AFL Draft. They had three picks inside the first round and nailed all of their selections. Jye Caldwell wasn't expected to slide down to their first selection – Pick 11, but he brings with him a very good contested game. Jackson Hately is another midfielder who is ready to go and extremely talented, whilst securing Xavier O'Halloran with the 22nd pick might surprise some, but he possesses elite athleticism and extraordinary leadership.
The biggest win of the draft came with the selection of Ian Hill with the 24th pick. A lot of experts predicted Hill to go well and truly inside the first round, given how elite his speed is and his ability to make things happen. The Giants had to trade two second round picks to get him, but I think he'll be a very good player down the line, sliding down the order due to a shoulder injury this year. They got a bid for Kieran Briggs afterwards, which is a plus, given that he was perhaps the best ruck in the draft pool this year.
Western Bulldogs
Keeping this as unbiased as possible, I believe four of the five players that the Bulldogs selected will play senior Footy early next year. In their first-round selection Bailey Smith, they get a midfielder that boasts class, has good pace and has a tremendous work ethic. Father/son selection Rhylee West plays a similar game to his father, Scott. He loves contested footy, can tackle and is capable of kicking a goal or two. They also like the foot skills and speed on Laitham Vandermeer and could be one to keep an eye out down the track.
However, it's their two mature-aged selections that could have a lot of Bulldog supporters – myself included – raving. Will Hayes was the last pick in the Draft, but he won Footscray's best and fairest in the VFL this year and is a proven ball-winner. Williamstown's Ben Cavarra has kicked 66 goals in the past two seasons as a brilliant small forward and given that finishing in front of goals is something that the Dogs need, he could see game time early on in 2019.
Adelaide
The Crows started off the Draft with three picks inside the first round. And whilst they secured very talented players in Chayce Jones and Ned McHenry, it's the trade with Carlton that has the Crows potentially winning hugely in 2019. With live trading at the Draft a first in the league this year, the Crows traded their third first-round selection, along with their 2019 first-round selection, for Carlton's 2019 first-round selection. This means if Carlton finish bottom of the ladder again in 2019, the Crows get the number one pick in the 2019 Draft. That's a bold move from the Blues, but they're believing they can push up the ladder once again – only time is going to tell here.
With Jones and McHenry, they could potentially fill in spots as small forwards, given the departures of Charlie Cameron and Mitch McGovern over the past couple of years. Jones has a lot of talent and McHenry has shown his worth as a pressure-type small forward. They rounded out their draft by selecting versatile players in Will Hamill and Lachlan Sholl, but all eyes will be on their acquired first-round pick for next year.
Port Adelaide
A bit like GWS, Port had three selections inside the first round (three in the first 15 before the Academy picks) and they nailed all of these picks, addressing the lack of midfield depth. Selecting an SA-boy Connor Rozee at pick five is a plus, as he is a very classy user of the ball and is extremely versatile. Zak Butters (Pick 12) and Xavier Duursma (18) both possess pace and they both use the ball well by foot. It is possible all three could be in the round one team come next year.
From there, Port weren't seen until late in the Draft when they took Riley Grundy – a key defender who is extremely competitive and is the brother of Collingwood's Brodie – and Boyd Woodcock – a small forward who kicked three first-half goals in the SANFL Grand Final this year. Grundy might be more of a developing prospect, but the upside is very promising. As a matter of fact, all five of these players could find themselves as regulars in Port's 22 in a few years time.
North Melbourne
It was a pretty straight-forward Draft for North Melbourne, as three of the four selections were Father/Son or Academy selections. However, the trio all have a bit of talent. A bid was expected somewhere in the first round for Tarryn Thomas. North matched a bid from the Crows with the eighth pick in the Draft – with his pace and kicking skills, looks a real get and could possibly be in North Melbourne's round one team next year.
Two of the following three selections were Father/Son selections, but not before the Roos pounced on a bargain with Curtis Taylor with the 46th pick. Taylor was expected to go much higher, given his abilities to hit the scoreboard and his ability to win the ball in the air or at ground level. Bailey Scott went a bit further down than expected, but North would be delighted he slid down to Pick 49. The son of Robert Scott has good Football IQ and is very smart around the goals. A bid didn't come for Joel Crocker – the son of Darren Crocker – given that he spent much of this year injured. But he is a very good user of the ball by both hand and foot, and his ability to read the play well.
A Special Mention
I feel a special mention has to go out for the Sydney Swans for managing to break the Draft system. For those unsure how this happened, they were expected to get a bid for Academy player Nick Blakey inside the top 10 – however their first pick wasn't pick 26, which would've been given up if Sydney matched the bid Through live trading, the Swans handed that pick to West Coast for a future third-round pick before a bid came through.
When GWS placed a bid at pick 10, this meant Sydney gave up a few later picks in order to match the bid. After this happened, Sydney struck another deal with West Coast, which saw the Eagles receive a future second round pick for the 24th pick in the Draft. There may be a few people who don't like how this happened – I personally think it was really clever of the Swans – but I think until the AFL actually outlaw this, then it'll happen a bit more next year.