Having already nominated Dylan Buckley under the father-son rule, Carlton entered the NAB AFL Draft with only two live picks. They chose to use them on lively West Australian defender Josh Bootsma and mature-ager Sam Rowe, who will aid the Blues deficiencies in their big man stocks in attack.
What the recruiter said
"Obviously we only had a couple of live picks with the father-son choice. We picked players who will be ideal for us." Carlton recruiting manager Wayne Hughes
Pick 22: Josh Bootsma, South Fremantle
Hughes says: "He didn't come into the WAFL system until about halfway through the year. He was living in Albany and had his apprenticeship transferred up to Perth, before he starred at South Fremantle. He finished a very good player and played in the premiership team."
Pick 44: Sam Rowe, Norwood
Hughes says: "We watched Sam last year and were actually going to pick him as a rookie a year ago, but he had a year to go on his carpentry apprenticeship. So, in fairness to his long-term welfare, he said he'd rather try to finish his apprenticeship. I actually told him he was going to get picked five or six weeks ago because he was going to Europe for a holiday."
Pick 62: Dylan Buckley, Northern Knights
Hughes says: "I've known Dylan since he was 14. He's a very skilful player who obviously had a lot of injury this year and that actually probably helped us because we didn't have to bid for him against other clubs. We think he'll have a long career at the Carlton Football Club."
