Chief of football Donald McDonald indicated that the club had hoped to strengthen its prominence in the first round, maintaining a focus on youth that has paid dividends in recent seasons.
But because they won't pick again until 27, the Roos will select their first player on overall talent, regardless of whether he's a midfielder, defender, forward or ruckman.
"If we were able to trade for a few earlier picks, then we might have been able to add a little bit more flexibility to our tactics," McDonald said.
"Now, with that pick nine, you've just got to pick the best talent, the best player that's there at that pick in the eyes of our talent ID manager Bryce Lewis.
"Bryce has had an exhaustive look at this whole season and we'll back him in to pick the right boy for us."
And whoever he is may be given opportunities in his first season, after the Roos blooded seven youngsters in 2007 – a campaign that saw the side make a preliminary final – and did the same with another six players aged 22 or younger this year.
"When we played against the Hawks in '07 in that semi-final, we had nine boys in the team that had played 50 games or less," McDonald said.
"It's just at the very top end we had guys like (Brent) Harvey, (Shannon) Grant, (Adam) Simpson and (Glenn) Archer that had played an enormous amount of footy. But that was underpinned by a lot of inexperienced players.
"This year, that six-game winning streak that we had towards the end of the season (from rounds 15 to 20) that put us into a position to play for a top-four spot, a lot of those performances were [built] around the efforts from our younger guys.
"We're in as good a position as we've been in to attack this pre-season. I think there's some really exciting times ahead of us if our group really works harder than what the other AFL clubs are going to."
With the retirements of Grant, Nathan Thompson and Jess Sinclair, the Roos – like every club – must finalise its list before the October 31 deadline.
Decisions on players' futures will dictate how deep the club can draft, with selections stretching to 43, 59, 75, 91, 107 and 123 in a pool that's been compared to the talent of 2001.
"We still have a few guys who are out of contract, so we're busy speaking to player managers and just tidying a few things up," McDonald said.
"Everything's going all right and I reckon we'll be in a position at the middle of next week to let our supporters know exactly where we're at with our list and be able to make some announcements then."
The club's first two selections in the 2007 NAB AFL Draft, Robbie Tarrant and Levi Greenwood, are yet to make their debut.
