Franklin could still be No 1 Pick

[PuntRdRoar]

Whilst he was disappointing in the CB Cup...I still believe Lance Franklin is still a top contender for the No 1. The truth is Mobile 194cm Key Forwards/Backman who are as skilled as Franklin are hard to find...He is also playing against men in the WAFL...which should be taken into consideration. I dont believe Franklin has been crossed out for No 1 Pick. He may well be the No 1 pick. Im also looking for Richmond to pick a young South Australian key forward about 193cm who has not been mentioned in any phantom draft...and i wont name him here. But lets say he wasnt in the South Australian squad....but many believe that he is clearly a top 10 pick anyway. Hes been playing school footy this year. It would not be out of the question for Richmond to take franklin and make him a CHB and pick this other South Australian...and plonk him down at CHF or FF. The permutations of who will be picked and who wont be...will be fascinating between now and the draft!

[wrennyboy]

deledio is as clear as the number 1 as anything. If the doggies take roughhead at 3 then i would be in favour of Franklin at 4. Can he actually play back or not?

[mightytiges]

We have so many defencies all over the park why skip over someone of the apparent quality of Deledio  ???. With Cambo retiring next year we need a top skilled ballwinning midfielder as badly as we need a KPP/Backman. Everyone I've heard from has question marks over Franklin's temperament and that concerns me especially if he comes to Richmond. Maybe Wallace can hammer him into shape but IMHO he's too risky for #1 when there are other safer high quality options available.

BF has launched a "sister site" www.footydraft.com where they give a brief opinion on draftees and a phantom draft. All the phantom draft's I've seen have the same top 4 but after that the predictions are all over the place. What happens at the draft camp later this month may give everyone a better idea of the next 20-30.

As for "surprises". If other clubs really don't know about these then why waste a top pick on them when you can snatch them with a late one.

[Harry]

Interesting reading - thanks for that Mighty one.

If the reports are accuate then we must take Deledio at 1, and then whoever is left from Tambling, Griffen and Franklin at 4.  I hope we don't get too cute and go for a speculative smokey with these picks. 

We are in a great position as word around is that the top 4 are standouts........and we will get 2 of them.

Bring it on.

[Bulluss]

i think that we have to take Roughead at 4, tambling could stay too skinny and franklin being so left sided is a worry.

Griffen looks set to be number 2 and i also think taking Wood so early is a risk also. You never know whats going to happen with young rucks.

[mightytiges]

I agree Harry. We did a fair bit of speculating in last year's draft after we gave up our first pick to get Brown. Fortunately, although still a bit early to tell, it looks like a few have paid off. This time around with 2 picks out of the first 4 there's no need to try and be clever.

I notice from that site they have ruckman Wood and Meesen fairly high up (Wood is listed at 6). Hope that's not the case. Also I can't see us taking a wingman with pick 20. I agree with Bull about Tambling. He's listed at roughly 10kg below what you'd reckon the AFL weight for a midfielder is.   

[LondonTiger]

Franklin, Griffen and Delidio are all rated by the tigers. 

We want at least two of these.  Not sure how we are going to get them though.