For Carlton it’s very much a case of mission accomplished. The club has, with five selections in the 2010 NAB AFL Draft, effectively addressed all areas down the goal-to-goal line.

Carlton’s National Recruiting Manager Wayne Hughes said that the club’s five new draftees best illustrated the Blues’ commitment to shoring up both the back half and front half with size.

“The plan specifically this year was to address some issues down our spine,” Hughes said, “so we were really focused on some key defenders and a key forward . . . and we think we’ve achieved that - two key backs, a key forward and a couple of running half-backs . . . ”

In reflecting on the selection of Matthew Watson with the club’s first round choice (No.18 overall) Hughes said he was always reasonably confident Watson would be available when the time came.

“We like the way he’s gone about his year as defender, he’s a beautiful kick, his kicks break the lines . . . and he reads the game well,” Hughes said.

Of Glenelg’s 18 year-old key defender Pat McCarthy, whom the Blues took with their second selection at 34 overall, Hughes had thought he might have gone earlier, “and I know Scotty Clayton considered him as a Gold Coast 17 year-old last year”.

Hughes said that whilst McCarthy had regularly turned out at centre half back or full-back, “I’ve actually seen him play on a wing for Glenelg reserves also”.

“He’s pretty versatile, but long-term we think he’s a key defender, a good reader of the play, good contested mark and another player who kicks the ball well,” Hughes said.

Luke Mitchell, Carlton’s third selection (42nd overall) plied his craft with Watson at Calder Cannons, and whereas Watson was a commanding presence at centre half-back, Mitchell was the go-to man at centre half-forward.

“He (Mitchell) missed the majority of the year with an injured shoulder which he had operated on earlier on,” Hughes said.

“He came back and kicked five goals in the Grand Final having managed to play the last three games of the year. I think that if he’d played all year he would have been more highly-rated than some clubs had him at, and we liked him last year because we thought he showed enormous potential.”

Dandenong’s Andrew McInnes, taken at selection 67, was rewarded for the way he went about his game throughout the course of the 2010 season.

“He was another player our recruiting staff liked a lot of,” Hughes said. “He just gets the job done, is good in a contested marking situation, is right footer and a good kick. He structurally controlled the way Dandenong went with defence this year and he was a very important omission in the preliminary final . . .”

Finally, Norwood’s Nick Duigan (pronounced Dyegan) was the smoky at selection 70, and as fate would have it, the 2000th player ever selected at the draft table.

At 26, Duigan represented the more mature player the club had sought. As Hughes said: “He can come in and play defence straight away”.

“He (Duigan) had a few issues (with injury) over the journey, but he was all clear this year, was an important player for Norwood during the finals and at this selection we wanted someone who could basically play straight away,” Hughes said.

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