"There were a few surprises and a couple of pleasant ones for us. When you're going into a draft with picks spread out like they were, we weren't quite sure how it was going to work out. We wanted to continue to bolster the midfield if we could but we were aware we needed to do some work on our key position players.
"Lamb was an obvious one for us and we were a bit surprised Luke Parker was still there at 40. We had three or four players we thought might've been around the mark at 21. But you're just never sure how it's going to pan out. It only takes a couple of early picks to throw everything out and that is what happened. We thought Isaac Smith was going to Geelong at 15, he didn't."
Selection No.21: Jed Lamb (Gippsland Power)
"Jed played last year in the TAC Cup and during the championships he stood out. Also towards the end of the year he did well for Gippsland in the finals. He is a talented player and we think he is going to have the running capacity to come up and play in the midfield, so we don't see him as just a small forward. We think he's better than that. We think he's got a good balance and uses the ball well."
Selection No.40: Luke Parker (Dandenong Stingrays)
"We were quite surprised Luke was still there at pick 40. He's a genuine leader and that is a pretty important factor. Some of our more established leaders are moving on. Kirky has retired, the two Boltons are getting on. We hope they play a bit more yet but maybe not. We've got to look to replenish the stocks there."
Selection No.57: Alex Johnson (Oakleigh Chargers)
"He can play both forward and back but we are thinking of using him more as a defender because of his leg speed. He is still fairly light, as most 18-year-old players are. Alex's leg speed was definitely his most appealing asset and we are also impressed that he can play at both ends."
Selection No.73: Matt Spangher (West Coast)
"His experience came into it, thinking do you go for another young developing key player or do you go for someone who can play now? That was part of the discussions when deciding on drafting Matt. We hadn't spoken to Matt but we had spoken to his manager about what his thoughts would be on that. His manager said all along he just wants an opportunity. When they nominate for the draft it's open slather. I've been through that before when I was at Brisbane with Craig Lambert. He thought he was going to go to North Melbourne. That's just the way the game is. He has the ability to cover the ground as a high half-back and run with forwards like Nick Riewoldt who cover enormous amounts of ground."
