Lyon questions draft pick consensus

Garry Lyon has spoken out about the lack of discussion by recruiters around the top two draft picks this year.

Gold Coast have picks one and two in next week's draft and are expected to take Matt Rowell and Noah Anderson, but Lyon thinks there should be more critical analysis.

“It’s going to help them (Gold Coast) retain (Anderson and Rowell) and I get all that,” Lyon said on SEN Breakfast.

“But you wonder when of all the people in the recruiting world, someone is going to turn around and say, ‘he’s not number one’.”

“Historically I reckon there’s a fair bit of (group think) that takes place.”

“I don’t think anyone said that Jack Watts wasn’t the universal pick at number one (in 2008). Was anyone at that time saying, ‘he’s a nice player but maybe he’s a question mark over his competitiveness’.”

Tim Watson argued that Gold Coast's reasoning was sound, noting their record of keeping Victorian-based recruits.

“There’s a specific reason behind why the Gold Coast Suns have identified Rowell and Anderson and that’s because they’re great mates,” Watson said.

“This goes to the heart of them being able to retain players, they may think that Anderson is not the second-best player, but they get two players who are great mates – they’ve already embraced the Gold Coast footy club.”