In the days leading up to the AFL draft Sporting News is taking a look at each club’s selections, needs, likely draftees and historical performance on draft day.
Do they like to load up on youth, or prefer to trade away early picks?
Will they lean towards home-grown talent or trust their systems to stop homesick kids leaving in a couple of years’ time?
MORE: Collingwood Magpies' 2018 AFL season review
And what’s on this year’s shopping list: talls, midfielders or a creative small forward?
COLLINGWOOD MAGPIES
Draft picks after the trade period: 41, 44, 51, 57, 93
What Collingwood needs
About the only thing the Magpies really needed this year was fit players.
Another key forward wouldn’t go astray though, with Mason Cox occasionally dangerous, but more often than not less than threatening.
Nathan Buckley started 2018 saying Darcy Moore would be redesigned as a backman, but by the end of the season Collingwood had a glut of tall defenders. With Moore recommitting to the Pies he may find himself heading back into the forward line.
Collingwood’s likely draftees
The Pies have traded away their early picks, but come in with four third-round selections that have been stockpiled for points value.
There’s no secret Collingwood wants to meet any bids on two kids the club has guaranteed access to: Next Generation Academy product Isaac Quaynor and father-son prospect Will Kelly.
Quaynor is a medium defender who can take on bigger opponents and offers plenty of run and carry, while Kelly is another key-position defender to join the black and white back half.
Both Quaynor and Kelly are considered late first-round, early second-round talents so the Pies will do well to snap them up using later picks.
Collingwood’s draft history 1986 – 2017
Number of top-20 selections: 35
Average games played at the Magpies by top-20 selections: 80.0
Most games played for the Magpies by a top-20 selection
277 Scott Pendlebury (pick 5, 2005)
233 Simon Prestigiacomo (pick 10, 1995)
211 Steele Sidebottom (pick 11, 2008)
Most games played for the Magpies by later selections
264 Scott Burns (pick 90, 1992)
258 Dane Swan (pick 58, 2001)
246 Travis Cloke (pick 39, 2004)
Most games played by rookie draft selections:
227 Tarkyn Lockyer (1998)
198 Nick Maxwell (2004)
186 Heritia Lumumba (2006)
Through AFL draft history Collingwood has …
… picked up 15 father-son draftees, which is more than any other club and includes three Clokes and three Shaws. They may tend to overpay for the family connection though, taking four offspring with top-20 picks, something that’s only been done three other times by other clubs, and none of those four (Nick Davis, Rhyce Shaw, Jason Cloke and Darcy Moore) has reached 100 games in black and white.
