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With no TAC Cup games last weekend, ESPN draft expert Christopher Doerre has instead delved into the 10 burning questions ahead of this years national draft in November.1. How is the top-end quality in this years AFL draft? The top-end in this years AFL draft is flat - there is no clear No. 1 selection and overall there is a feeling of evenness up the top end of the draft.Clubs with first-round selections will be impressed by the inside bulls and other versatile midfielders who can play a variety of positions in this draft.The key position and ruck stocks by contrast are more speculative, with no standout performer to this point. The big men expected to be selected inside the first two rounds will likely be drafted based on their mix of attributes and long-term scope to develop.Knightmares AFL Power Rankings: July2. How deep does this draft go? Overall, the depth in this years draft could be categorised as above average.This draft features a solid best 40 who most clubs would come into the draft hoping to select. With the evenness of this years draft, and certain variation on all club draft boards, there are sure to be some late and rookie draft bargains this year.3. Which clubs hold the strongest hand in this years draft? GWS have arguably the strongest hand with not only their first-round selection but also Collingwoods and Geelongs after recent trades. This will put them in good position to add several of their Academy prospects.Gold Coast also planned ahead well, making a trade for Melbournes first-round selection, which in addition to their own first-round pick will be helpful with several promising Academy prospects theyll want to draft this year.4. Who are the players in contention for pick one? Midfielders Will Brodie, Hugh McCluggage, Sam Petrevski-Seton and Gold Coast Academy prospect Jack Bowes are the players thought to be contending to be the first selected in this years draft.Brodie is the most widely tipped to be the first selected this year. Views vary though, and with plenty of football still to be played, nothing is set in stone.5. Who increased their draft stocks during the National Under-18 Championships? Andrew McGrath showed positive signs before the under-18 titles with an exciting 44 disposals and 19 tackles during a TAC Cup game, placing him in first-round calculations. McGrath took that hot form into the under-18 championships, averaging 24 disposals per game out of the back half and through the midfield, with his athleticism and run and carry catching the eye of recruiters. McGrath is now viewed as a possible top-five selection and he will be inside the top 10 on most draft boards.McCluggage was impactful with 21 disposals and 1.75 goals per game across his four matches. Having missed a portion of the preseason, he has gone from strength to strength this year, seemingly improving with each game. Coming into the under-18 championships, McCluggage was viewed as a possible top-10 selection and is now seen as one of the few in the mix for the first overall pick.Doing damage forward of centre, Tim Taranto averaged 19 disposals and 1.25 goals. He made clear over the four weeks that he is one of the more damaging forwards in this draft class, setting up teammates by foot and finishing impressively in front of goal. On the back of his performances through the under-18 titles, Taranto has entered first-round calculations and with a strong second half to the season has the talent to push higher still up draft boards.6. Whose draft stocks dipped during the National Under-18 Championships? Coming into the championships, Bowes was seen by many as the likely No. 1 overall selection. Through the early rounds, he seemed to struggle with the pace of the game. While he improved over the three matches he played, his 14 disposals per game average left draft-watchers feeling underwhelmed. Given this, Bowes, while still likely a top-five selection, is no longer seen as the most likely to go pick one.Viewed as this years best key defender, Harrison Macreadie averaged just 9.5 disposals and 1.75 marks. Macreadies play overall felt quiet and his lack of influence has seen him drop down draft boards. He may still feature inside the first round in this years draft, but that is no longer certain.After making the Under-18 All Australian team in 2015, Jacob Allison proved far less influential and less efficient by foot this year. He averaged 11 disposals and 1.75 marks and like Macreadie is still a first-round chance, but not a first round certainty.7. Who are the potential father-son selections, and where could they be taken? Adelaide/Hawthorn: Ben Jarman (second round onwards)Carlton: Jake Bradley (rookie if picked) Collingwood: Joshua Daicos (second round onwards), Callum Brown (second round onwards)Essendon: Matthew Neagle (rookie if picked)Sydney: Jesse Maxfield (rookie if picked)West Coast: Jake Waterman (second round onwards), Zane Sumich (third round onwards - chance to be selected by West Coast or may be selected by another club)Western Bulldogs: Michael Romero (rookie if picked)8. Who are the Northern Academy players in the mix? Brisbane: Jacob Allison (late first to third round - likely selected by Brisbane), Jack Rolls (second round onwards - likely selected by Brisbane), Declan Watson (second round onwards - likely selected by Brisbane), Elliott Himmelberg (rookie if picked - chance to be selected by Brisbane or may be picked by another club).Gold Coast: Jack Bowes (top five - likely selected by Gold Coast), Brad Scheer (first to second round - likely selected by Gold Coast), Josh Williams (third round onwards - chance to be selected by Gold Coast or may be chosen by another club), Daniel Charlesworth (third round onwards - chance to be selected by Gold Coast or may be picked by another club).GWS: Harry Perryman (first round - likely selected by GWS), William Setterfield (first round - likely selected by GWS), Harrison Macreadie (first to second round - likely selected by GWS), Kobe Mutch (first to second round - likely selected by GWS), Zachary Sproule (late first to second round - likely selected by GWS), Connor Byrne (third round onwards - unlikely to be selected by GWS unless as a rookie, with other clubs to consider in national draft), Max Lynch (third round onwards - unlikely to be selected by GWS unless as a rookie, with other clubs to consider in national draft), Lachlan Tiziani (third round onwards - unlikely to be selected by GWS unless as a rookie, with other clubs to consider in national draft), Ryan Garthwaite (third round onwards - unlikely to be selected by GWS unless as a rookie, with other clubs to consider in national draft), Mitch Maguire (third round onwards - unlikely to be selected by GWS unless as a rookie, with other clubs to consider in national draft).Sydney: Jake Brown (second round onwards - likely selected by Sydney), Ned Reinhard (third round onwards - chance to be selected by Sydney or may be picked by another club), Matt Wilson (rookie if picked - chance to be selected by Sydney or may be chosen by another club).9. Who are the most likely state league prospects? NEAFL: Jordan Harper (midfielder), Blake Grewar (midfield), Matthew Payne (midfield), Matthew Rawlinson (midfield), Hayden Bertoli-Simmonds (midfield), James Ives (midfield).SANFL: Brett Eddy (key forward), Nicholas Holman (midfield), Kaine Stevens (midfield), Christian Howard (general defence), Zane Kirkwood (midfield), Christopher Jansen (midfield).VFL: Michael Gibbons (midfielder), Luke Ryan (general defence), William Sexton (general defence), Hisham Kerbatieh (forward), Jordan Kelly (general defence), Kade Answerth (midfield).WAFL: Tyler Keitel (key defence), Liam Ryan (general forward), Darcy Cameron (ruck/key forward), Francis Watson (general defence), Jye Bolton (midfield), George Hampson (general forward).There is no state league prospect at this point looming as an early draft selection. Keitel and Ryan are two of the more commonly spoken about this year. After that duo, clubs will look towards mature prospects in the most part to fill list needs, with some of the above players among those who may receive consideration from AFL clubs.10. What does next years draft look like? The top end is expected to be stronger in 2017, with a better selection of key position players and ruckmen looming as early draft choices.Among the players eligible to be drafted in 2017 who have shown considerable early promise are: James Worpel (Victorian - midfielder), Lochie OBrien (Victorian - midfielder), Callum Coleman-Jones (South Australian - key forward/ruckman), Connor Ballenden (Brisbane Academy - key forward/ruckman), Sam Hayes (Victorian - key forward/ruckman), Charlie Spargo (GWS Academy - midfielder), Jack Higgins (Victorian - midfielder), Hunter Clark (Victorian - general defender), Luke Davies-Uniacke (Victorian - midfielder), Jaidyn Stephenson (Victorian - forward) and Tyrone Hayes (Victorian - midfielder). . Thats not a comment on the suspension that banished the Portland Winterhawks general manager and coach from his Western Hockey League teams bench for most of the 2012-13 season. . - Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie never doubted he would bring back coach Dennis Allen for a third year despite back-to-back 4-12 records. . The All-Pro lineman got the leg bent under him while trying to make a tackle during the first half of a 22-20 overtime loss at Miami on Thursday night. The medical staff initially thought hed torn the ligament, and the test a day later in Cincinnati confirmed it. . Anthony Davis had 31 points and 17 rebounds in his seventh straight game with more than 20 points, but that was only enough to keep the Pelicans competitive into the final minutes. Andrew Bogut had 10 points and 15 rebounds for Golden State, which rebounded from a loss a night earlier in Oklahoma City and snapped a two-game skid. . A big centre with all the tools to be an elite player, Johansen paced the Blue Jackets with a standout game Saturday night. He had a goal and two assists for a career-high three points as Columbus beat the New York Islanders 5-2 to snap a five-game losing streak. Yorkshire 136 for 2 trail Lancashire 494 (Hameed 114, Clark 84, Procter 79, Jarvis 57, Brooks 3-81, Bresnan 3-80) by 358 runsScorecard Lancashires former players met for their annual reunion on the second day of this match and over thirty of the old boys turned up for the bash. No doubt tales were told and mayhap some had grown in the telling. An you know what they said / Well some of it was true! sang Joe Strummer, although probably not too many of the ex-cricketers meeting in the Emirates Old Trafford pavilion this warm Sunday will be familiar with The Clashs rich oeuvre.But however outrageous the stories of white on green might have been as the late-morning claret slipped down they would have been tall indeed to eclipse events taking place in the middle. For as if to heighten the strangeness of Lancashires rapid subsidence on Saturday evening, the home sides last three wickets added 195 runs in 37.2 overs during an extended session in which both Jordan Clark and Kyle Jarvis made career-best scores and the pair broke the countys tenth-wicket record for Roses matches.That mark was established in 1991 when Peter Martin and Ian Austin added a very rapid 82 at Scarborough, partly, so another tale goes, to expedite a rapid return home in a game Lancashire were going to lose. As it turned out, the visitors went down by a mere 48 runs.Clark and Jarviss stand was worth 107 when the latter was leg before to Adil Rashid for 57 and the partnership was thus a single run shy of the tenth-wicket record in all Roses matches, which was set at Old Trafford by Lord Hawke and Lees Whitehead in 1903. Yet as the historians remembered long-dead cricketers and the former players recalled their own days of glory, the crowd - well, most of them, anyway - enjoyed the excitement offered by a morning which had begun when Clark and Arron Lilley rattled off a series of boundaries against an attack which pitched the ball up without employing, or maybe perfecting, the yorker.Lancashires eighth-wicket pair put on 87 in a mere 13 overs and they established a completely fresh tempo for their sides innings. Instead of calling on Rashid - Henry the Hoover is just one of the leg spinners domestic appliance nicknames - to clean up Steven Crofts later batsmen, Yorkshire bowlers had to cope with two perfectly capable stroke-makers who employed the old tailenders maxim, if its up, its off to very good effect.ddddddddddddnd even after Lilley had been caught behind off Patterson for 45 when attempting an uppercut to third man and Buck had been leg before to a full length delivery from Bresnan five balls later, Yorkshire had to deal with the galling frustration that always comes when an attack believes its work is done, only to discover that an hours irritiation lies ahead.One mans irritation is anothers joy, of course, and so it was at Old Trafford late on the second morning of this game when Jarvis hit Rashid for a couple of big sixes over long on during an innings in which he took an equal share of that last-wicket stand with Clark.Yet the exuberant hitting and the uninhibited sense of fiesta during the morning session threw the rest of the day into sharp relief as Yorkshires batsmen made their way carefully to a 136 for two off 62 overs against an accurate attack and in a typically lively Roses match atmosphere. The only successes enjoyed by Lancashire bowlers were the dismissals of Adam Lyth, who was leg before to Jarvis for 25 and Jack Leaning, who was caught at slip by Liam Livingstone off Tom Smith for seven two balls after being dropped by Lilley, also in the slip cordon. Lyth walked across his wicket and hardly waited for the umpires decision while Leaning was discomfited by a little extra bounce.For the rest of the day Alex Lees and Andrew Gale accumulated runs in a fashion and tempo much more recognisable to those watching from the pavilion and, indeed, to Lord Hawke as well. A morning session that had seen 195 runs scored at 5.22 runs an over was followed a few hours later by an evening in which Lees and Gale, perfectly understandably, managed 61 in 35 overs, a rate of 1.74.Yorkshire have their eyes on the follow on target which lies a distant 209 runs away; Gale may also be relieved to score what would be only his second fifty of the Championship season, although it is probably three figures that he craves rather more and the return of the famous pennant most of all. Lancashire know that the new ball is only 18 overs away and are still nursing fond hopes of what would be their first victory in a four-day Roses match at Old Trafford since 2000. ' ' '
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