The holes in every club's list ahead of the AFL Draft

Whether in key posts or through a lack of depth, each team still has rostering potholes to fill.

SUBSCRIBER | November 5, 2021 - 12:25pm

Despite being less than a month until the start of the AFL Draft, almost all of the league's 18 clubs will believe their starting line-ups are close to complete

But irrespective of this confidence, every roster still has holes.

Due to the nature of the league, it is almost impossible for two sides to be in exactly the same place, so some of these gaps may be chasmic, whilst others may be wafer-thin.

However, if left unattended, those of any magnitude could lead a side to ruin.

Although fixing an issue can often be more challenging than identifying it, with these holes in mind, every side now has a starting point for sealing ahead of next September.

Collingwood

As the Pies’ road back to premiership glory is still being paved, there are still many cracks awaiting grout at the present.

While the hiring of an impressive coaching panel to work with their spate of kids selected and stuck with across last season should excite black and white barrackers, Collingwood is still light on key talent within their defensive arc.

Although an All-Australian calibre defender that wins as many one-on-ones as he loses currently calls the Holden Centre home, the falloff from Darcy Moore behind the ball is cause for mild concern.

AFL 1st Semi Final - Geelong v Collingwood — BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA - OCTOBER 10: Darcy Moore of the Magpies handballs during the AFL First Semi Final match between the Geelong Cats and the Collingwood Magpies at The Gabba on October 10, 2020 in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

Having conceded 269 goals across their 22 matches in 2021 – the league’s fifth-worst total – it was little surprise that the re-tooling Magpies fell sharply towards the ladder’s foot, and with few big-bodied kids on the roster, is history set to repeat in 2022?

Jordan Roughead may have turned in another sound season alongside Moore, but at 30 and with just a single season left on his current deal, a long-term partner for the son of a dual Brownlow Medallist is still yet to arise.

Even though Craig McRae will have a raft of other defenders at his disposal in Isaac Quaynor, Jack Madgen, Nathan Murphy, John Noble, Jeremy Howe and the continually improving, Brayden Maynard, none possess frames to run with rival gorillas on a weekly basis.

Following his remarkable career resurrection, a ready-made replacement for quiet achiever Chris Mayne could also cause previously unforeseen headaches at Olympic Park this summer.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 28: Chris Mayne of the Magpies celebrates the win with fans during the AFL Round match between Richmond v Collingwood at Melbourne Cricket Ground on March 28, 2019 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Michael Dodge/Getty Images)

Whether this potential for turbulence is something ‘Fly’ will seek to rectify at the draft in November or at the end of his opening year, given Collingwood’s stance to commit to youth, plenty of trial and the inevitability of error should be expected from their back-six over stretches of next season.

Though stocks behind the ball may be thin, the Pies’ machine gun approach to selecting midfielders at the 2020 draft should stand them in good stead when the final siren eventually sounds on the careers of club stalwarts Scott Pendlebury and Steele Sidebottom.

Irrespective of it being far too early to define the wheat and the chaff of said draft class, should Finlay Macrae and Caleb Poulter continue trending upwards, and Reef McInnes follows in a similar suit, the voids that are set to open won’t be as chasmic as some may imagine.