A COMBINATION of selecting the best available talent and boosting Melbourne’s midfield depth will be key focuses for national recruiting manager Jason Taylor at this year’s NAB AFL Draft.

Taylor said that “quite clearly” the Melbourne midfield needs some support.

“It’s best available [for us], but the midfield is an area we need to continue to address,” he told melbournefc.com.au.

“If there’s a key position type that we just couldn’t overlook, well that’d be the case, but we’ll certainly be looking at midfielders throughout the draft.”

Taylor said that, like most years, there was genuine talent early in this year’s draft.

“I think the depth of the draft – there is some real quality at the top, which is evident in most years,” he said.

“I think that if you do the work and you’re thorough enough, you’ll get players all the way through.”

Given several state league players have been selected in recent years – Matt Jones and Dean Terlich immediately spring to mind from a Melbourne perspective – Taylor wasn’t as sure if there would be as many plucked from the VFL, SANFL and WAFL and other states this year.

“I feel that there has been a heavy focus on that over the last three to four years and due to that, there may be less that comes out of those leagues, but there will still be clearly some,” he said.

“It might be slightly less, but I don’t know what other clubs are thinking. I can’t be 100 per cent accurate on that, but that’s just my gut feel.

“I think it (the state leagues) will replenish again and there will be another phase coming up, where there will be some stronger state league players. I just think at the moment that it’s been pilfered.”

Taylor, in his first year at the club after crossing from Collingwood, said he was excited about every selection possibility this year, and that preparing for every pick was exciting.  

“There’s certain non-negotiables in how we look at a player, whether it’s first, second, third or fourth pick,” he said.

“If you set a criteria that you know has been successful at AFL level and you stick to that – then that’s the key.”