Hundreds of games have been studied and the draft camp completed but still the number and name shuffling continues.And according to Adelaide’s recruiting manager James Fantasia, that’s the way it will be until the AFL’s national draft on November 26, when the Crows will have at least four openings for new footballers.All season Fantasia has updated his list of the best 50 to 70 draft candidates on a regular basis and although the last games of 2005 have been played, there is still fine-tuning needed in the next five weeks.“It’s starting to come together now and I don’t think we will be making many changes as far as the players we consider to be in the best 20,” Fantasia said.Adelaide’s first two picks in the draft are at 16 and 17, followed by further selections at 32, 48 and (if required) 64.“Obviously the players in our best 20 are going to be different to those at other clubs and that means that there will be players we really rate who are going to slip down to our first two picks,” Fantasia said.“There are probably six or seven players we know will be gone but this year’s group is so even that there is a good chance that players we rate in the top ten might still be there when we take our turn.“It is the same with the next couple of picks. You hope that players we have rated in our top 25 get through to 32 or even 48.”
The draft's waiting game
Hundreds of games have been studied and the draft camp completed but still the number and name shuffling continues.
Hundreds of games have been studied and the draft camp completed but still the number and name shuffling continues.And according to Adelaide’s recruiting manager James Fantasia, that’s the way it will be until the AFL’s national draft on November 26, when the Crows will have at least four openings for new footballers.All season Fantasia has updated his list of the best 50 to 70 draft candidates on a regular basis and although the last games of 2005 have been played, there is still fine-tuning needed in the next five weeks.“It’s starting to come together now and I don’t think we will be making many changes as far as the players we consider to be in the best 20,” Fantasia said.Adelaide’s first two picks in the draft are at 16 and 17, followed by further selections at 32, 48 and (if required) 64.“Obviously the players in our best 20 are going to be different to those at other clubs and that means that there will be players we really rate who are going to slip down to our first two picks,” Fantasia said.“There are probably six or seven players we know will be gone but this year’s group is so even that there is a good chance that players we rate in the top ten might still be there when we take our turn.“It is the same with the next couple of picks. You hope that players we have rated in our top 25 get through to 32 or even 48.”
