Gary Lyon has held firm on his original re-draft of the 2018 draft crop, keeping Blues young gun Sam Walsh outside of his top five players, per SEN.
Lyon ranked Gold Coast pair Ben King and Izak Rankine, St Kilda forward Max King, Bulldog onballer Bailey Smith and Port Adelaide forward Connor Rozee all ahead of the in-form Carlton midfielder.
โIโm a huge fan of Sam Walsh, these are just opinions,โ the Demons great told SEN Breakfast.
โI like the two big boys, so I would be going for two King boys if I had to pick again and I like Bailey Smith ahead of Sam Walsh.
โAnd then itโs probably Walsh, Rozee and Rankine.
โHe is a star in the making is Sam Walsh, I couldnโt be more glowing in my praise for him.
โI thought his first year was sensational, I thought he was a bit slow out of the blocks this year โฆ but thatโs what happens after you have a big year, it takes a little while to get rumbling along โฆ heโs a star.โ
Lyon supported his reason for having Smith ahead of Walsh.
โItโs just a preference. Itโs just a preference thing,โ he added.
โI think he (Smith) is probably a little bit more inside, and it was great that Sam Walsh went inside yesterday (Tuesday) into the centre square.
โIf you said you got Sam Walsh instead of Bailey Smith, youโre not going to have a sleepless night, thatโs just a preference.โ
