South Australian Troy Menzel is now a Blue. Picture: Sarah Reed Source: adelaidenow
CARLTON landed the coup of the draft snaring freakish goalkicker Troy Menzel at pick No.11.
Rated by some as the second-best player in the draft, Menzel fell into the hands of the Blues who were prepared to take the risk on his injured knees.
Menzel, the brother of Geelong's Daniel Menzel, had radical LARS surgery as a 16-year-old, which was enough to scare off rival clubs.
As recently as last week Greater Western Sydney was toying with taking the Central Districts left-footer with selection 2 or 3.
Every pick - check out our draft tracker here
Similar fears saw Joel Selwood overlooked until Geelong grabbed him at pick 7 in 2006.
"Menzel to me was actually pick 2 and it was hard to split him for pick 1," Carlton recruiting chief Shane Rogers said.
"Obviously the knee pushed him down the list a little bit. But both knees have been collision injuries, not ligament injuries - so we are pretty confident that we can get him up and going.
"We think he will have an impact pretty soon.
"He doesn't just play senior footy for Central Districts, he actually dominates games."
The Blues swooped on hard-running Sandringham Dragons defender Tom Temay at selection 35 and Gippsland Power midfielder Nick Graham (54).
Whitfield taken at pick No.1
Rookie pair Levi Casboult and Zac Tuohy were upgraded to the senior list at picks 89 and 102.
Top-10 predictions changed by the day but Richmond was always a lock for red-headed hard-nut Nick Vlastuin.
Vlastuin, likened to Hawthorn's Brad Sewell, became a Tiger at pick No.9 and fits the Damien Hardwick mantra of solid citizen and fierce competitor.
The 187cm Northern Knights midfield-defender captained the Vic Metro state side and was rated one of the best clearance players in the TAC Cup.
The Tigers also admitted they looked closely at Menzel.
"He is certainly a very talented player, but in the end we rated Nick very highly because of his competitive instincts," recruiting manager Francis Jackson said.
"He's a good kick and hopefully he will play very early."
Like 2010 top-10 draftee Reece Conca, Tiger fans can expect Vlastuin to start out as a half-back flanker, before moving to the midfield.
And with the childhood nickname "Tigger", it's a union that was always meant to be.
Richmond also dined out on three second-round picks taking Peel Thunder defender/midfielder Kamdyn McIntosh at 31, Calder Cannons ruckman Liam McBean (33) and South Australian forward/midfielder Matthew McDonough (42).
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