Dockers coy about draft order
Fremantle list manager Brad Lloyd says the club will keep its options open at tomorrow's national draft despite strong links to key-position players Sam Durdin and Jake Lever.
The Dockers will go into the draft on the Gold Coast with selections 13, 34, 54 and 68.
South Australian defender Durdin has been touted as Fremantle's first-round pick, with ruck-forward Peter Wright and defenders Lever and Hugh Goddard also expected to be in the mix if available.
However, Lloyd said the depth of this year's draft meant they might not have to select a tall player with their first pick.
"You've just got to, from a list management point of view, be careful," he said.
"There's always a discussion of best available and then list needs.
"There's some good talls around the mark at pick 13 potentially and there's also some good midfielders as well.
"It's really just the way it falls now, so we're not going to go too far out of our way to try and manufacture something for a tall."
Fremantle emerged from last month's trade period without an experienced recruit for the first time in four years.
Lloyd said the "tyranny of distance" prevented the club signing Melbourne free agent James Frawley, but all other decisions were made in the interests of retaining their first-round draft pick.
Pick No.13 is the earliest Fremantle have held at the national draft since snaring Anthony Morabito at pick No.4 in 2009.
"I always thought some of the best decisions you can make are the ones you say no to," Lloyd said.
"We were really careful with pick 13, we didn't want to tamper with that pick at all, so it was either try and improve our position from 13 or hang on to it."
Lloyd said the Dockers were still in the dark about who would be available in an unpredictable national draft.
"I think normally as each day goes by clubs sort of let out who they're going for, and that sort of goes along until it gets to your pick," he said.
"But this year the clubs at the top end, St Kilda and Melbourne, haven't divulged too much so that's really stopped it getting through."
"We were really careful with pick 13, we didn't want to tamper with that pick at all …"" Fremantle list manager *Brad Lloyd *
