Many have rated this year’s draft pool as shallow and weak after pick 30. That is not necessarily the case. There are many questionable players, but also many proven players who will be absolute steals. Rankings are obviously opinion based, but they certainly provide an alternative insight and contrast phantom drafts. Without further ado, here is my own 2013 draft rankings:

Absolute elite:
Tom Boyd (Eastern Ranges)
Christian Salem (Sandringham Dragons)
Jack Billings (Oakleigh Chargers)
Ben Lennon (Northern Knights)
James Aish (Norwood)

A few surprises here, but we’ll start with the obvious ones. Aish, Boyd and Billings clearly have the tools and the runs on the board. Aish is somewhat of a question mark due to his injuries this year, but skills like his don’t grow on trees. Salem is the best midfielder in my eyes. Having seen him six or seven times live this year, I see absolutely no flaws to his game. His upside is enormous, and he has the vision, skills, pace and versatility to be an elite AFL player. Ben Lennon just dominates the game. Like Billings he can win the game off his own boot and he has the tools to become an outright star.

Borderline elite:
Josh Kelly (Sandringham Dragons)
Nathan Freeman (Sandringham Dragons)
Kade Kolodjashnij (Launceston)
Luke McDonald (Werribee)
Dominic Sheed (Subiaco)
Lewis Taylor (Geelong Falcons)
Billy Hartung (Dandenong Stingrays)
Dayle Garlett (Swan Districts)
Matt Crouch (North Ballarat Rebels)

A few omissions and a few surprises. Kelly and Freeman are very impressive athletes and high level footballers, but they’re a little overhyped in terms of their foot skills. Kolodjashnij and McDonald should be excellent half backs with their exposed form and incredible potential. Hartung and Garlett are electric and game changers, but they might be too outside to be complete players, and obviously Garlett has his issues. Crouch, Taylor and Sheed are all ball magnets who should be able to play 150+ games.

Excellent players:
Matt Scharenberg (Glenelg)
Marcus Bontempelli (Northern Knights)
Luke Dunstan (Woodville-West Torrens)
Blake Acres (West Perth)
Jay Kennedy-Harris (Oakleigh Chargers)
Jarman Impey (Murray Bushrangers)
Mitch Honeychurch (Eastern Ranges)
Cameron Conlon (Northern Knights)
James Sicily (Western Jets)

Scharenberg and Bontempelli are well over rated because of their size. Seen plenty of the latter and even in his 30+ possession games I haven’t found him to be overly game changing or damaging. Dunstan looks to be a very well rounded player and Acres could be anything. Kennedy – Harris, Impey, Honeychurch and Sicily are so explosive. They all have the tools to become excellent players. Conlon is a bit of an unknown considering how much footy he has missed, but his knee injury was a freak accident, and he’ll be the biggest steal of the draft.

Very solid to great:
Trent Dumont (Norwood)
Darcy Gardiner (Geelong Falcons)
Zac Jones (Dandenong Stingrays)
Patrick Cripps (East Fremantle)
Michael Apeness (Eastern Ranges)
Toby Nankervis (North Launceston)
Zac Merrett (Sandringham Dragons)
Lloyd Perris (St George)
James Tsitas (Geelong Falcons)
Dan McStay (Eastern Ranges)
Darcy Hourigan (South Adelaide)
James Battersby (Sturt)
Darcy Lang (Geelong Falcons)

Most of these guys are proven performers, but they all have their obvious downsides. They should all make the grade at AFL level in the right conditions, and some of those at the top of the list could even be great. Darcy Lang is a bit of an under rated commodity, but he has shown how solid he is in the early part of the year. Mick Turner rated him as the second best midfielder behind Lewis Taylor at the Falcons. Big wraps.

High potential to somewhat over rated:
Malcolm Karpany (Woodville – West Torrens)
Rory Lobb (Swan Districts)
Tom Cutler (Oakleigh Chargers)
Nick Bourke (Geelong Falcons)
Cam McCarthy (South Fremantle)
Mitch Harvey (North Adelaide)
Jonothan Marsh (East Fremantle)
Cameron Giles (Woodville-West Torrens)
Darcy Byrne-Jones (Oakleigh Chargers)
Nick Holman (Murray Bushrangers)
Alex Pearce (Devonport)
Orazio Fantasia (Norwood)
George Hewitt (North Adelaide)

A bit rough to call them over rated, but many of these guys have stood out on a few flash in the pan moments or games, or have just been generally over rated due to their size and athletic ability. Either way, these guys could definitely have a bright future, yet at the same time I have queries over them. Byrne-Jones is a fairly under rated player, but many look at him as a pure athlete, which is why he has been put in this section.

Under rated, but will need to be in the right situation:
Kane Lambert (Northern Blues)
Jacob Chisari (Bendigo Pioneers)
Sam Heavyside (Bendigo Pioneers)
Jake Greiser (Western Jets)
Alex Spencer (Sandringham Dragons)
Michael Gibbons (Murray Bushrangers)
Brady Gray (Burnie)
Kurt Heatherly (Sandringham Dragons)
Josh Scott (Gippsland Power)
Hugh Beasley (Oakleigh Chargers)
Guy Dickson (Oakleigh Chargers)
Ben Cavarra (Eastern Ranges)
Jake Kolodjashnij (Launceston)
Clayton McCartney (Dandenong Stingrays)
Karl Amon (Sandringham Dragons)
Alex Spina (North Adelaide)
Eli Templeton (Burnie)
Riley Knight (Woodville – West Torrens)
Dwayne Wilson (Sturt)
Fraser Fort (Geelong Falcons)

The smaller, yet well accomplished midfielder and the somewhat undersized key position players make up a majority of this section. Cavarra, Chisari, Heavyside, Gibbons, Scott, Beasley, Dickson, Knight. All fantastic players who shouldn’t have any question marks on them, yet their height makes them slide. An interesting one is Karl Amon, who I rate as a very solid player who is the draft-able size. If he averaged five touches more he’d be a second round pick undoubtedly.

Late Value:

Isaiah Miller (Bendigo Pioneers)
Nicholas Robertson (West Perth)
Luke Reynolds (Port Adelaide)
Will Maginness (Oakleigh Chargers)
Max Hayes (Sandringham Dragons)
Jared Jansen (East Fremantle)
Tom Langdon (Sandringham Dragons)
Aiden Franetic (Oakleigh Chargers)
Louis Herbert (North Ballarat Rebels)
Dallas Willsmore (North Ballarat Rebels)
Isaac Conway (Aspley)
Darcy Cameron (Claremont)
Jack Leslie (Gippsland Power)
Jake Barrett (Temora)
Hugh Curnow (Northern Knights)
Nathan Drummond (Murray Bushrangers)
Aaron Christensen (Calder Cannons)
Jake Owen (Calder Cannons)
Jason Cooke (Calder Cannons)
Matthew Haynes (Northern Knights)
Jedd Clothier (Calder Cannons)
Ben Brown (Werribee Tigers)
Aaron Heppell (Gippsland Power)
Lewis Fitzgerald (Oakleigh Chargers)
Jake Kalanj (Northern Knights)
Josh Turner (Northern Knights)
Chris Cain (Port Melbourne)
Billy Hogan (Oakleigh Chargers)
Ed Morris (Gippsland Power)
Matthew Boag (Geelong Falcons)

Probably the longest list of them all, and this is why I believe this draft could be fruitful. There is a ton of players who could be picked up after pick 50 in the under rated and late value sections. In the late value section, I have faith in Boag, Hogan, Kalanj, Fitzgerald and Clothier to be decent value as rookies. Barrett looks to be a great pick up for the Giants. Guys like Willsmore, Miller, Hayes and Maginness could make the grade at AFL level, but their draft stocks aren’t high.