While ruckman Ayce Cordy was certain to be used by the Dogs' with their first-round pick under the father-son rule, the club stuck to type with its other two selections.
Jordan Roughead was snapped up by the club at pick 31 and Liam Jones followed immediately at selection 32. Like Cordy, both players are tall – prospects for the ruck or key positions – and give a strong hint as to where the Dogs believe their weakness lies.
Clayton made no secret of the club's need to bolster their stocks of tall players, but said height was by no means the only factor taken into consideration when selecting the trio.
"We went tall today not for the sake of it but [because] their names were right ... We think Jordan Roughead and Liam Jones have got long careers ahead of them.
"Roughead is a ruckman and Jones is a central key position player and we’ll give them every chance by developing them for long careers," he said.
While excited by the long-term prospects offered by the three young talls, Clayton was quick to hose down any immediate expectations, saying each was a work in progress.
"All three boys need conditioning with a long term future in mind, not short term ... I don’t think we stand here today saying they’ll play round one", Clayton said.
