After helping deliver five new recruits to Arden St in a bumper 2021 NAB AFL Draft, North Melbourne Kangaroos List Manager Glenn Luff is already planning for the next opportunity to strengthen the club's developing list.

New arrivals Jason Horne-Francis and Josh Goater will add power and versatility to a Kangaroos midfield already stacked with emerging talent, while Miller Bergman and Jackson Archer strengthen the club's defensive stocks and small forward Paul Curtis promises goalkicking punch.

Draft class of 2021
Meet the Kangaroos' five newest recruits

Among the questions Kangaroos' fans submitted for the club's recruiting staff in the latest Member Q&A, presented by AIA Vitality, was why the recruiting team opted not to target a key defender in this year's draft.

“We recognise that list need (for a key defender), but we also recognise we had to address the areas of small forward and rebounding defenders,” Luff said. 

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Member Q&A: Recruiters answer your big questions - Presented by AIA (December 2, 2021)

The Kangaroos recruiting team fields your questions following the 2021 NAB AFL Draft, thanks to AIA Vitality.

“It happened that in our draft order we were able to pick up Paul Curtis, Josh Goater and Miller Bergman to fill those needs. We didn’t ignore (the need for a key defender), but it just wasn’t the right timing in terms of the draft, the picks we had and the players that were available.

“There will be opportunities. 12 months ago people were asking about the key position up forward, and then within that time you pick up Jacob Edwards and Callum Coleman-Jones who can help in that area.

“All in all it was a pretty thin space, the key defender space in this draft, and we think there’s a bit more next year.”

Callum Coleman-Jones arrived at Arden St during the 2021 AFL Trade Period

Answering a question posed by fan Blake Karas, who asked about the talent available in next year's draft, Head of Player Personnel Scott Clayton agreed with Luff on the need for a key defender, and said next year's draft is shaping to be a solid year for key position prospects.

"We’ve had an initial look and there’s been some good under-17s games … it looks to be a very good tall player draft, albeit a long way out,” Clayton said.

“Normally if there’s half a dozen or 10 reasonable tall players everyone thinks it’s a great draft, but it was quite evident in some of those games across states that there’s a very good crop of tall players.

“It looks promising … SA and WA both look lively, and Tassie looks like they have some good players, and a couple of really reasonable tall players, coming through.”

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