If we assume Essendon* are barred from the first two rounds of the draft, and I use a ladder order based on the AFL ladder predictor, this is what the first round of the draft will look like, bearing in mind GWS activated their compensation pick to come in at the end of the non-finalists' first round pick, and Gold Coast activated theirs at the end of the first round.

1> GWS
2> Melbourne
3> Bulldogs
4> St Kilda
5> Gold Coast
6> Carlton
7> Lions
8> West Coast
9> GWS
10> Port Adelaide
11> North Melbourne
12> Richmond
13> Collingwood
14> Fremantle
15> Geelong
16> Sydney
17> Hawthorn
18> Gold Coast

This would give clubs the following picks in the first 3 rounds:

Adelaide: 43
Brisbane: 7, 25, 41
Carlton: 6, 24, 40
Collingwood: 13, 30, 47
Essendon*: 48
Fremantle, 14, 31, 49
Geelong: 15, 32, 50
Gold Coast: 5, 18, 23, 39
GWS: 1, 9, 19, 35
Hawthorn: 17, 34, 52
Melbourne: 2, 20, 36
North Melbourne: 11, 28, 45
Port Adelaide: 10, 27, 44
Richmond: 12, 29, 46
St Kilda: 4, 22, 38
Sydney: 16, 33, 51
West Coast: 8, 26, 42
Western Bulldogs: 3, 21, 37

My targets in that draft are Gardiner, Hourigan and Salem. Going by that draft order, I think Gardiner could last till 12, depending on what happens with pick 9. I think Hourigan would go to Fremantle with their first pick, Salem could go anywhere from 11-22.

Ergo, I'd trade pick 6 and 24 to GWS for pick 9, 19 and a fringe player (lets say Golds). 9 takes care of Gardiner, 19 may not get Salem, but would still net us a quality mid (Cal Twomey and a few other phantom drafts have Dunstan being the slider).

Chris Yarran to Fremantle for pick 14 would be sufficient for me also, (hell, throw in pick 40 for pick 49 if need be).

Hampson or Warnock to whoever for something 35 onwards would net us Matt Honeychurch.

Looking at that, for the loss of Yarran and one of the back up rucks, we'd net 3 of the best talents in the draft (a key forward, key defender and a quality mid) as well as a very good speculative pick in Honeychurch.

Great effort there Rhino.
I'll be looking and referring to this list over and over for the remainder of the year.

You never cease to impress me....what was I thinking?

That's a great picture you create and not much loss for so many filled gaps in one swoop...plus there's a bit more we can do if we are rebuilding.

I hope the Carlton brains trust are thinking their way through this and make things happen, not just think about it.

We still have to build the class on this list and to lose one to gain 3 is a win imo....as long as they are class hard at it footballers who have a never say die character

Why pick 1? Why sell the farm, when we can realistically pick up 3 good kids in the top 20 for even less?

Boyd isn't the be all and end all, and when depth is an issue, selling 2-3 players for one doesn't seem like the best piece of business.

Best players last night: Judd (by a mile), McLean, Henderson

Says it all really.

None were drafted by Carlton.

Best players last night: Judd (by a mile), McLean, Henderson

Says it all really.

None were drafted by Carlton.

I don't mind the idea of a key forward with an early pick, but geez, he's not THAT great.

Lucas was our best.

Judd got it but wasted a lot.
McLean was pretty constant. Didn't look good with Swan running away from him, though.
Hendo did OK but he can't play both ends of the ground at once.

It is horses for courses, and our course at the moment does NOT have a Key Position Forward who looks like being a Coleman medal contender anytime in the next 5 years. People might throw out the example of Sydney being able to win a flag without a single dominant forward which is true, but guess who they picked up in the trade period last year? A single dominant forward! And they WON the bloody flag!

We desperately, desperately need to secure a big, 60 goal per year, contested marking and hard leading big bodied genuine forward. Not a fwd/ruck. Not a 28 year old WAFL bloke who did OK. The real deal.

I reckon we need to do it fast and if we don't sell the farm to get it, we will never make it to the level of a 'dominating team' in the next few years.

My in-laws sold their (fourth generation family) farm a few years back and bought a bed and breakfast. They turned their finances around big time and have been hugely successful. Don't be too afraid to pull the trigger on the farm when it is necessary!

I'm sold too....don't think it'll work though.

happy to add sugar as a sweetener

happy to add sugar as a sweetener

Add Curnow, Bell to delist. Both aren't good enough to play in a top 4 side. To many flaws.

Add Hampson to trade list. Pick some mature ruck as a backup to Kreuzer.

Add Betts to free agent lost. My gut feeling.

Keep McCarthy as we lack KP depth and need some cover. The kid also hasn't been given a chance at senior level yet to see if he can handle it. By chance I mean at least 4-5 games. Same applies to Mitchell.

Mate I agree with you.

My view is that the position needs to be filled; if it isn't Boyd, it needs to be someone else and I think we are going to have to give up something significant to get it.

As you say, we need to be very astute with our draft selections to get some high potential players elsewhere around the ground too. In my opinion, the priority of effort needs to be that KPF spot first though. Hopefully, we don't lose too many high draft picks to do so.

Yarran, Warnock and second round pick to GWS for pick #1 maybe.

Maybe we pull the trigger on Andrew Walker as a trade to a club to gain another first round pick? He would be a big loss but isn't a key position player and might be worth the hurt. He has high value at the moment with his performance this year, and probably yesteryear when he was up forward. There would surely be a team out there that would give up a bit to have him. Just throwing ideas out for discussion here.