A veteran AFL recruiter has declared Collingwood the 'winner' of the 2020 national draft, reportsย The Herald Sun's Sam Landsberger.
The Magpies were coming off a tumultuous trade period where they offloaded Adam Treloar,ย Jaidyn Stephenson,ย Tom Phillipsย andย Atu Bosenavulagi to clear salary cap pressure.
However, the club maintained that a key part of their plan was to attack the draft with extra picks to rejuvenate their list.
Collingwood did just that on the night, wheeling and dealing to acquire extra selections while parting with their 2021 first rounder.
And with father-son prodigy Nick Daicos looming to join the club in next year's draft, their first-round pick was effectively expendable.
The Pies came away with a strong haul, including five top 31 selections, to redeem themselves from what has been a horror off-season.
They added Oli Henry (Pick 17), Finlay Macrae (19), Reef McInnes (23) and Caleb Poulter (30), all of which were in the top 20 of their rankings.
Complete wrap of our 2020 #AFLDraft.
Words from our recruiting boss, new draftees and more.
Enjoy.
— Collingwood FC (@CollingwoodFC) December 10, 2020
Henry was considered a top 10 pick for many clubs, while Macrae and McIness were tipped to go in the 10-15 range.
The younger brother of Geelong's Jack Henry, Oli toldย The Herald Sun he felt no extra pressure arriving at the Holden Centre with their first pick after a messy trade period.
โI donโt think thereโs any pressure,โ Henry said.
โWhat number pick you are doesnโt matter now, so Iโm just looking to work hard, mix in with the group and hopefully build some friendships and weโll see where it takes me.โ
Collingwood took key forward Liam McMahon with Pick 31 - a position they desperately needed to address - and finished their night by selecting Beau McCreery with Pick 44 out of South Australia.
"The heat was on, and Collingwood has come out as the winner of the draft," the recruiter toldย The Herald Sun.
"Given what they started the night with it is hard to go past the Pies."
