Initially on the back foot after an early bid for Tarryn Thomas by Adelaide at No.8, North Melbourne’s national recruiting manager, Mark Finnigan, says the Roos were able to bounce back in a big way after father/son prospect Bailey Scott slid down the order the following day.
“We thought a bid for Bailey would come much earlier than it did, but it didn’t. We had him ranked much higher than where he went,” Finningan told North Media.
With the second and third rounds passing and still no bids for Scott, North realised it had more than enough points in the bank to secure the father/son, and made a brilliant move.
Using live trading the list management and recruiting team sent pick 51 to St Kilda for a third-round selection, then on-traded that to the Bulldogs in return for pick 46.
“That move resulted in us being able to land a player in Curtis Taylor at pick 46 – someone rated by many, inside the top 20,” Finnigan explained.
“A lot of it was out of our control. We had to sit back and wait for other clubs to bid. Tarryn went at pick eight when Adelaide made a play for him, and that was probably our worst-case scenario. But day two went in our favour and to come away with Thomas, Scott, Taylor and Joel Crocker, was a great result for us.
“It’s a great feeling knowing we achieved what we set out to achieve and we were able to bring some really talented players to complement the existing group, and also have enough points to secure all the academy and father/son players.”
In the Rookie Draft, Finnigan revealed how club champion and VFL/AFL games record holder, Brent Harvey, assisted with the acquisition of Tom McKenzie at pick 10.
“He did some work with Brent Harvey earlier this year at the Northern Knights,” Finnigan said.
“Boomer knows him quite well and we feel he’ll be a player that will thrive in an AFL environment and really get the best out of himself.
“Boomer gave us his thoughts and he was great with his opinion on Tom’s ability to improve and the upside that he has, so we took that on board when weighing up our options.
“Tom is a mid-defender-type who tested really well at the combine for both speed and endurance. He’s a beautiful kick of the football."
Finnigan said North leant on another former AFL great before picking Tom Wilkinson with pick 41.
“We tracked him through the NEAFL and Matthew Lappin, brother of Jason who works at North, was one of his coaches. Matthew was a massive supporter of his and that helped us form a view on whether to take him,” Finnigan said.
Wilkinson was overlooked in four Drafts, showing a huge amount of character and determination.
“He’s a story of persistence after being overlooked so many times, and that appealed to us,” Finnigan said.
“Tom is a Melbourne boy originally and played with the Sandringham Dragons and won the best and fairest as a 19-year-old. Then he moved to Queensland and played in the NEAFL with Southport and won the grand final. He kicked about 35 goals and knows how to impact the scoreboard.
“He’s an elite athlete with particularly elite speed and endurance, and we see him playing that small to medium/forward role for us because he can kick goals, pressure the opposition and run all day.”
