Carlton draft: How the Blues can still land Cody Walker

Carlton’s run to an Elimination Final has made things slightly more complex in their pursuit of Cody Walker.

The father/son prospect, who has committed to the Blues, will likely be the subject of an early bid from a rival club in the bottom five who will land an extra compensation pick in the second round if their bid is matched.

For example, Essendon or Richmond could bid on Walker with Pick 1 or 2 with the expectation that Carlton matches. (Walker was also eligible to nominate the Tigers as part of their Next Generation Academy).

But the Blues need enough draft points on the Draft Value Index (DVI) to match if they want to secure the services of the son of 202-gamer Andrew.

Carlton currently holds Picks 11, 17, 23, 24, 52 and 65. Their top two picks add up to 2084 points. Given that 412 points is the maximum deficit allowed, they can curently match a bid at Pick 2 (2481 points) or lower.

Pick 3 (2178 points) would send them into a slight deficit, while Pick 4 (1962 points) or lower they would simply be able to match.

This whole situation also must take into account Port Adelaide father/son Dougie Cochrane who many expect will be taken with Pick 1.

The current picks of 11 and 17 could well become 12 and 18 after Ben King compensation with his move from Gold Coast to Hawthorn increasingly likely.

Having fallen down the draft order after an inspired run under Josh Fraser - which netted them an eighth-placed finish after winning a Wildcard Final - the Blues have cost themselves some valuable draft points and also lost the 10 per cent discount on bids afforded to bottom 10 teams.

It’s still entirely possible they draft Walker, but how do they get it done? Tom Morris explains what the situation looks like right now.

“If they go to the draft with Picks 11 and 17 - which is what they have at the moment - they are 504 points short of what they need to get Cody Walker into the club,” Morris said on SEN’s Fireball.

“That’s going into maximum deficit. 504 points short with Picks 11 and 17. If they make that Pick 5 and 17, that would be enough to match any bid. So they’re not too far off, but they’re going to have to be creative.

“They've got Picks 23 and 24 from a couple of other clubs last year. They could bundle that and maybe get another pick in the teens. Then bundle that selection and 17 to maybe get Picks 8 and 11 (that would be enough too).

“They can also use either one of their 2027 first rounders. One of these is from Sydney.

“Remembering you can only use two picks to match bids now. It’s not enough to have 11, 17, 20, 23, whatever. They need better than 11 and 17. For example, 8 and 11 would get it done, 5 and 17 would get it done.

“Either way they’ve got work to do. They’re very confident they’ll be able to do it. They’ll find a way.”

Carlton’s GM of football, Chris Davies, admits a lot of it could boil down to where the Sydney Swans end up given the first-round pick the Blues received for Charlie Curnow last trade period is tied to the Swans.

Davies was asked about the Walker situation on SEN’s Crunch Time on Saturday.

“Some of that will be dependent on where Sydney finish,” Davies said.

“I probably don’t have a firm answer for you now other than to say that Sydney’s finishing position… we feel like we set ourselves up as well as we possibly could given we didn’t even know the rules that the AFL were going to set at the end of last season.

“So we’ve done what we can and we’ll wait for the end of the year for Sydney and then work through what we need to to potentially get Cody into the club.”

Davies was then asked by Gerard Whateley: “Is it possible you’ll need to get a pick higher than the first two picks you’ll have?”

He replied: “I don’t think we’ll need a pick higher, but ultimately we’ll need to work through that over the next period of time once Sydney’s finishing position gets established.

“We’ve got two second-round picks, we’ve got picks in the future. I think there are ways that we can do it, but a lot will be dependent on where Sydney end up.”

The Swans are into the Preliminary Final after demolishing Brisbane on the weekend. The Blues will be hoping they are beaten by either Fremantle or Geelong in their prelim.

As it stands, Essendon holds Pick 1 in the 2026 draft while Richmond has Pick 2, West Coast Pick 3, Port Adelaide Pick 4 and North Melbourne Pick 5.