It is a fair question given the overwhelming dominance of Greater Western Sydney at the top of the draft and that the first Victorian club to have a selection, will be Richmond at no.15.
Draft analyst par excellence, Emma Quayle has crunched the numbers in The Age and speculates that only 65 'fresh' players may enter the system on November 24.
The Giants have plenty of selections, Fremantle and Geelong have five or six selections and St Kilda might also get involved in a big way if salary cap restrictions force the club to offload some veteran players before the end of the month.
Otherwise, most clubs will have the minimum three selections, which may include father-son picks and rookie upgrades.
"Clubs are holding out until next year's draft, with many promoting rookies and making minimal delistings, with the 2012 draft crop already considered highly talented and of great depth," Quayle writes.
The build-up to the draft - a footy oasis in the middle of the off-season - will be still be intense, and the final stage of the construction of the Giants' list for 2012 will be fascinating. But when the big clubs - no disrepect to Greater Western Sydney, the Lions and Port Adelaide - don't pick until late in what is already a thin and highly-compromised draft, the interest of the casual footy fan might be less than in other years.
Next year, with an uncompromised draft and free agency on the agenda, interest in the draft will sky rocket once more.
As reported in the Herald Sun, the free agency and trade period will last nearly a month next year. It also appears that there won’t be any mid-season draft, an idea that was floated earlier in the year but has now been quietly shelved.
Harvey heads anywhere but home
What to do with a favourite son?
Mark Stevens reports in the Herald Sun that despite their best endeavours, the Saints might be about to lose Robert Harvey from their coaching staff for next season.
Harvey was overlooked for the senior coaching position with the Saints and is reportedly unhappy with parts of the selection process. New coach Scott Watters has pleaded with Harvey to remain on board, but the dual Brownlow medallist and club record games holder appears likely to resume his coaching career elsewhere, with Collingwood set to swoop.
Harvey spent two years as an assistant coach at Carlton after retiring as a player at the end of 2008. The thinking at the time was that it was better for him and the club to go and experience a different environment before returning to the Saints.
He did return in 2010 as an assistant to Lyon and he was even - strangely - appointed interim senior coach last month when Lyon departed for Fremantle. But now Harvey appears to be set to depart the Saints once more and we're betting he won't be drawn back to the fold any time soon.
Stadium shortfalls
Trouble for the Saints on another front, with the Herald Sun also reporting that St Kilda, along with the Western Bulldogs and North Melbourne continue to pay a heavy financial price for the deal they have to play home games at Etihad Stadium.
North received $97,540 from its 11 home games at Etihad, while the Saints have forecast that they would be $210,000 better off every time they play home games at the MCG rather than at the Docklands.
Interestingly, it was Collingwood president Eddie McGuire who took up the cudgels on their behalf on Wednesday, saying on Triple M: "The greatest disaster in football is Etihad Stadium. It’s a great stadium, great to watch - shocking deals.
"This was meant to be the salvation of all the clubs … we're just copping it left right and centre."
The AFL has acknowledged the inequities in the deals between the MCG tenant clubs and those at Etihad and the disbursements announced last month as part of the League’s funding and equalisation strategy will help deal with that.
Half-forward Hill
New West Coast forward Josh Hill has told The West Australian he is targeting the half-forward role that has been vacated by the departing Brad Ebert.
"I'm not going to come in thinking it's all going to be easy," said Hill, who arrives at the club after five years with the Western Bulldogs.
"I'm going to definitely work hard, but try and earn the respect from not only them (my friends), but the leadership group and the older boys at the club."
