Essendon Senior Coach Brad Scott expects plenty of opportunities for live trading in Monday's opening night of the AFL Draft, with his club among those considering ways to work higher in the order by using future selections.
The Bombers hold pick No.9 as their first selection, which should fall to No.11 after bids on Gold Coast Academy pair Jed Walter and Ethan Read, with the club in the mix for Victorian key forward Nate Caddy, versatile Tasmanian James Leake and Allies key defender Connor O'Sullivan.
Scott said the Bombers would also be delighted if WA talent Daniel Curtin was available at their first selection, with the club open to opportunities to work higher in the order to secure their preferred player.
"He's in that group of players that we really like. The fact that he's from WA doesn't deter us one little bit," Scott told AFL.com.au's Gettable Draft Countdown on Sunday.
"We really like him, he's a really versatile player and if he's there at our pick, we'd be delighted. But that probably means that some other players have jumped in.
"Again, pick nine, would we like to come up a little bit? Potentially. We're open to everything, probably like most clubs at the top end. I think there's going to be some good opportunities for live trading, so we're certainly open to that.
"But if a player like Dan's there at our pick we'd be very pleased."
Of their likely options at pick No.9, Scott said it was hard to separate Leake, Caddy and O'Sullivan, and the likely scenario was that Essendon would be picking the one that remains available to it if it doesn't trade its way higher.
"All of those players are very good players. I think every AFL club would love to have them on their list," the coach said.
"The difficulty probably comes between splitting them. It's almost a bit of a cop out having pick No.9 because we can take what's left sort of thing.
"With our pick, wherever it falls, we're very confident we're going to get a good player."
On his own involvement on Monday night, Scott said his role had been to come in late and support the Bombers' recruiters, rather than offering strong opinions on the direction the club should take.
His passion for the draft meant he had to hold himself back at times so he didn't influence those who have a much better level of knowledge on the player pool.
"My own view is it can be quite dangerous when a head coach comes in and has an opinion late, because I'm not the expert on the young talent, they are," Scott said.
"I support them, and when asked for my opinion I give it. But the recruiting team pick the talent, not me."
