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MELBOURNE is "very close" to deciding who it will choose at pick three at this month's NAB AFL Draft, with several options still in the mix.
The third choice is expected to shape how the top-10 will unfold, with Carlton expected to snare Jacob Weitering with the No.1 pick and Josh Schache tipped to head to the Brisbane Lions at No.2.
Midfielder Darcy Parish has been heavily linked to the Demons' third choice, but the club's recruiting manager Jason Taylor confirmed forwards Charlie Curnow and Sam Weideman were also in the group of prospects in contention.
Taylor told AFL.com.au's Road to the Draft podcast the Demons were still to decide which way they would go with their first pick and that it was not certain they will go with Parish.
"It's not as simple as that at all. Not to speculate, you'll find out on the night on the 24th of November, but obviously Darcy's a quality player and his body of evidence has been terrific over the last two years," Taylor said.
"He can't do much more. He's certainly a player that we'd be looking at in that range."
The Demons also hold pick seven, having used the new points system to trade up the draft order in a deal with Greater Western Sydney.
Taylor said the club was not quite at the point it had locked in its first choice, using recent weeks since the draft combine to sort through vision and rank players at the Demons' internal recruiters' conference.
Essendon's two picks – No.4 and 5 – are bracketed by Melbourne's selections and the Bombers have been linked to a number of similar players to the Demons, but Taylor said the club had to concentrate on its own plans.
"Clearly the player we rate as the best at three we'll be taking," Taylor said.
The Demons secured the No.3 selection after swapping picks with Gold Coast, including sending next year's first-round selection to the Suns, but Taylor said they didn't complete that trade with any particular player in mind for the third pick.
Over the past two years, the club has brought in early draft picks Christian Petracca, Angus Brayshaw and Christian Salem, and traded for Dom Tyson and Ben Kennedy.
Taylor said the trade with the Suns was designed to bring through a group of youngsters together.
"We just wanted to hit that again and get on our bikes a little bit and start developing this group together and come through together to form those bond that we hope can start to build towards some sustained success," Taylor said.
