It’s the biggest night of the year for recruiters across the country and Brad Lloyd, Fremantle’s general manager of list management, is prepared for any scenario at Friday’s NAB AFL Draft in Sydney.

Lloyd says his team is “really excited” about the depth of the talent pool available and Fremantle is poised to capitalise with pick seven in the opening round, picks 35 and 40 in the second round and pick 71 in the fourth round.

Fremantle secured pick 35 in a late deal with the Gold Coast Suns in the AFL Trade Period.

“We looked at the draft order this year, we feel like there’s a lot of good players there and a lot of names we’d like to get into the club,” Lloyd said.

“So that extra pick gives us a good capacity to pick a player with two picks in the second round.”

But the work is far from over, as Lloyd and his team finalise their list of prospective Fremantle Dockers 

“We don’t pick anyone off the board,” said Lloyd, highlighting the importance of their draft preparation.

“We have our order ranked from one to 65 or so - so at this year’s draft we will mix and match along the way.”

And when it comes to pick seven, don’t expect to see any last-minute changes, however the board will become more flexible into the later rounds 

“Particularly early in the draft we stick closer to the order,” Lloyd said.

“As the draft unfolds we look more at what’s come in through our previous picks and we look at our playing list.

“A lot of our planning is done well in advance, so on the night you’re just coming back to the strategies in place, but there’s always a few things that pop up that may not have been expected so we’re ready for that also.”

One debate that continues around AFL circles at draft time is between picking the best available talent against filling in positional needs within a club’s list.

Lloyd opened up on Fremantle’s perspective, with the club traditionally taking the best talent available.

“It’s a challenge but we just tweak things along the way, “ Lloyd said.

“We don’t want to be bringing players from the back of the draft order up just to get the right shape and size. So it’s just looking at what the needs are on the list, but also getting good players in the footy club. So that’s something that’s pre-planned but also monitored as the draft goes on.”

Another debate that rages within the AFL community is between going for local against interstate talent, and Lloyd finds his team in a good position with plenty of players from both pools to choose from.

“There’s a good strong group this year from WA, and the guys there at the WA academy have done a really good job with the playing group and have developed them well,” Lloyd said.

“But it’s a national competition and we see a really good group across the country. 

The 2016 NAB AFL Draft will take place Friday 25 November at the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney.

The club will provide live coverage via twitter and up-to-date information on their website, fremantlefc.com.au.