In a room littered with black, anticipation sweeps over Collingwood’s suite in the upper levels of Marvel Stadium darker than any collection of Club polos and signage could, as the clock ticks past 8:20pm on Thursday evening.

It’s the second night of the 2024 national draft, with Collingwood’s recruiting team finally getting their chance to leave their fingerprints on the evening’s happenings, after 46 agonising selections had come before them.

But the draft isn’t as simple as it was perhaps two decades ago. Academy selections, bids, trading up, and a host of complexities mean nothing is assured in the 2024 reality of securing the nation’s best talent.

Glasses on, and whiteboard marker at the ready, Head of List Management Justin Leppitsch has barely moved a host of key position players’ names from the top of his board all night; with one of those being Joel Cochran, a 195cm defender from New South Wales. But securing his place in the black and white isn’t as simple as it might come across on broadcast.

It’s a pick that Leppitsch and his team haven’t taken lightly. Having waited over 24 hours to be given the chance to select, the Pies know the importance of opening their draft hand in emphatic fashion.

And it seems other clubs do too. Despite holding a selection in the mid-40s themselves, an opposition team comes knocking – or rather calling – when Head Recruiter Derek Hine’s phone buzzes barely 10 minutes before it’s the Pies’ chance.

They propose swapping a future third round selection for the Pies’ first pick of the night, which at that point sits at number 46. The team declines, with Cochran’s name still reverberating around the room.

It’s not hard to see why. Tall in stature, yet the most aerobically fit player in the draft pool with a 2km time trial victory eight seconds faster than any other draft hopeful, Cochran has an athletic profile that has those in the know salivating. According to Hine, he could go at either of the selections prior to Collingwood which sit with St. Kilda and West Coast, meaning Leppitsch must put contingencies in place on his whiteboard, with magnets changing direction faster than Bobby Hill inside fifty.

But much to the room’s delight, the Saints and Eagles go in a different direction, meaning Cochrane’s name is still on the board when the Pies are on the clock.

The first step is easy – recruitment and talent ID duo Adam Sheppard and Shannon Collins punch Joel Cochran’s name into the official submission tile – however it is after those two words after confirmed that the hue of anticipation fills the room.

See, Cochran is tied to the Sydney Swans through their academy, meaning the Pies’ selection is eligible to be matched by the team that sport the red and white.

There are priors here too. Almost exactly a year to the day ago, the Pies used their first pick in the 2023 draft to bid on another Sydneysider in Caiden Cleary, a bid the Swans swiftly matched. That was expected at the time, but there’s hope things aren’t as clear cut almost 365 days later.

“It’s an interesting one,” Shepard proclaims to the room. “He’s going to suit the way we want to bring the ball out of defence, hopefully he gets to us.”

It’s a scenario that Shepard himself knows all too well. With Cochran a member of not only the Swans’ academy, but the AFL academy too, the powers that be in those programs have dictated his playing status as 2024 has gone on. While those circumstances make it a balance on the time put into profiling academy players, that hasn’t stopped him and the Pies’ team putting in their due diligence at having a chance at one of the most athletic players in the draft.

As the five minute timer winds down as Sydney debate stopping the Pies in their tracks, the room holds its breath.

“They’re going to match it, it looks that way,” Leppitsch says with barely sixty seconds remaining on the clock.

But as eyes dart to the myriad of TVs plastered across the walls of Marvel Stadium, the AFL’s Executive Manager Laura Kane strolls to the stage with a black and white backdrop, and the beak of a Magpie peering past her head in the distance, meaning only one thing – Cochran is on his way to the AIA Vitality Centre.

“We got him?!,” everyone says in unison, somewhat in shock.

A symphony of reigned in cheers are let out, knowing there are still picks to nail, but that the night has begun in brilliant fashion.

“He reminds me of that Nick Blakey type, the way he runs and carries the ball,” Shepard says.

“I love that he won the time trial, his all-round athleticism excites me,” joins in Senior Coach Craig McRae, who sits at the back of the room.

“He backed himself for that too. We’ve got a player,” confirms Hine.

There isn’t too much time to celebrate though, as the Pies are back on the clock within a matter of picks. Having used 47 on a key defender, attention turns to bolstering the Club’s key stocks at the other end of the ground, with a tall forward on the radar.

It’s been a watch all night for the Pies’ team, with five key forwards taken between picks 27-34, however one name Leppitsch is grateful that remains is South Australian Charlie West.

West’s name has been thrown around all night and was considered when the Pies’ first pick was imminent, but a coy decision pays dividends so that both Cochran and West can don the black and white.

“I think we take Cochran now, because West Coast and Gold Coast won’t take West at 48 and 49, they don’t want a forward,” Leppitsch says in the lead up to the Pies’ first pick.

“Yeah they’re not looking in the attacking half, I think we can hold and still get him,” Hine agrees.

They’re proven correct, with the Coast-based sides taking a midfielder and key defender respectively, leaving West on the board as Collingwood takes the stand for the second time at pick 50.

“He’s the Grandson of former AFL CEO Wayne Jackson, good family ties there,” Hine says as the pick is confirmed.

“And a good South Australian boy, we like that,” Adelaide-born McRae smiles.

Despite holding five selections on the night, the plan for Leppitsch and co. has always been to use three. With two players in the bank and Ash Johnson and Oleg Markov set to be re-instated on the list in Friday’s rookie draft, it is at pick 56 that the Pies will wrap up their night.

Chat about a speedy forward by the name of Will Hayes has been circulating since the mid-30s. McRae is a fan, with the 181cm “jack in the box” as put by Shepard a similarly impressive runner to Cochrane.

Having gone West by name with their second pick, the Pies go west geographically with their third, with the WA-based Hayes’ name a unanimous selection around the room for Club’s final selection.

With Joe Richards departing over the trade period, and half forward Harvey Harrison set to miss a large chunk of 2025 with an ACL injury, there is a desire to secure a damaging attacker, with Hayes bringing exciting qualities.

“He’s got elite running partners. He brings the up tempo energy we want to play with,” Shepard says.

“Him and Bobby Hill, what an exciting combination that could be” Leppitsch says.

So, the 2024 trifecta is complete, in the form of Cochran, West and Hayes. Three key needs of the list addressed, as the Club’s tilt at its second premiership inside three years begins.