• 10 things we learned from Thursday night's draft
• Check out your club's draftees at the Draft Hub
FREMANTLE provided one of the biggest surprises of the NAB AFL Draft, opting for midfield talent over key position players with all four of the club's picks.
The Dockers were widely tipped to take either a key defender or forward, given Luke McPharlin, Matthew Pavlich, Michael Johnson and ruckman Aaron Sandilands are all over 30.
But they've opted to bolster their midfield stocks instead and landed highly-rated Queensland midfielder Lachlan Weller – brother of St Kilda's Maverick – with their first selection at No.13.
Weller was expected to be drafted around that mark but the Dockers elected to pass up on key defenders Jake Lever and Sam Durdin to recruit him, with the pair going to Adelaide and North Melbourne at picks No.14 and 16 respectively.
Then, they used their next pick – No.34 – to secure local medium midfielder Connor Blakely from Swan Districts.
The Dockers used their third selection to secure a medium forward – Victorian Ed Langdon – who measures at 182cm.
And, they went with another local youngster - small and quick midfielder Josh Deluca-Cardillo from Subiaco – with their final pick at No.68.
General manager of player management Brad Lloyd said Weller had been ranked ahead of the talls at that stage of the draft and the decision was made to not only pick the best player but to focus heavily on midfielders.
"We actually drafted really heavily with talls over the last couple of years – Michael Apeness last year, Alex Pearce, Matt Tabener, Tanner Smith, Jack Hannath," Lloyd told AFL.com.au.
"So there's been a lot of talls we've added so we've gone out of our way there.
"We thought this year there was going to be a couple of really good quality midfielders around our first pick and we just thought it was time to top our midfield up.
"The talls did dry up late in the draft but we just wanted to really add some run to the group."
Selection No.13 – Lachlan Weller (Broadbeach/Southport)
Brad Lloyd says: "He's Maverick's brother, is originally from Burnie in Tasmania and the family moved across to Queensland when Mav was picked up by the Suns. He's got really good speed, endurance, he can go overhead as well, but athletically he's very good as well and has a good sidestep and skills. He's a really nice kick of the footy and is a hard worker and quality person. He's going to come in and really love to train and do the work. He's got a fair bit going for him."
Selection No.34 – Connor Blakely (Swan Districts/Bunbury)
Brad Lloyd says: "We were really excited that Connor was still there and available - if he was there we were always going to read his name out there. He's a local boy, 189cm midfielder. We just see him as a really good stoppage clearance player. He gets in nice and close at the stoppages and he really impressed us this year playing senior footy for the Swans – he really impacted at senior level, which was a big tick for us."
Selection No.54 – Edward Langdon (Sandringham Dragons/Melbourne Grammar)
Brad Lloyd says: "He can run and work hard, like Josh. He's just an elite runner who can find the footy and really cover the ground. He's got a strong level of speed and endurance, which really suits the way we play so to get him in with the way he's able to cover the ground really adds to us."
Selection No.68 – Josh Deluca-Cardillo (Subiaco/Sorrento Duncraig)
Brad Lloyd says: "Again, we were impressed with how we went about it at Subiaco. He's a young player who impacted through the finals and has really strong endurance, really attacks the ball and is prepared to do the defensive work, chase and tackle, and again, he's a quality worker so he'll fit in really well."
