Collingwoodfc.com.au caught up with National Recruiting Manager Derek Hine after the Rookie Draft was completed on Tuesday and asked about a range of issues relating to the club’s list management heading into 2012.

In Part One of collingwoodfc.com.au’s exclusive interview, Hine discusses the key changes to Collingwood’s list during the off-season.

Luke Mason: As a result of our recent success and draft concessions afforded to the new franchises, Collingwood hasn’t had the access to any high draft selections lately. What was the strategy to combat this?

Derek Hine: Both drafts were obviously compromised. While picking very late in those drafts with pick No. 25 this year and pick No. 26 last year, we were able to bring in a developing player plus a mature-age player such as Andrew Krakouer who played almost every game and played in our Grand Final team.

There’s Jonathon Ceglar, who’s a developing tall ruckman-cum-forward who is going to take a bit of time but he gives us some succession as well. This year, for different reasons, there was Martin Clarke who is a 24-year-old boy who we know and can come in and play multiple positions as well as Jamie Elliott.

We were trying to look at it and maximise our opportunities and look at how we can develop the list in the short term but also have an eye to our succession and our planning so we weren’t going in blind, so to speak.

LM: How different is it to approach the draft when your first selection is No. 25 or No. 26?

DH: We haven’t had a pick down low for quite a period of time but pleasingly we’ve been able to have those mid-range picks and be reasonably successful with them. Alex Fasolo, who we rated quite highly, was able to come in and play in the Grand Final team and play 12 games in his debut season. This year with Jackson Paine, again, very early days, but I think that he’s shown that he’s certainly got the aptitude to be able to play this year.

I think that with the boys who we brought in, there are two or three of those guys who are definitely able to play senior football at some stage next year. Jackson is physically ready to go. There’s no doubt about that. I think Jackson’s certainly a very good chance.

I think that Jamie Elliott is a better chance as well, and the way that he’s prepared himself and the feedback that we’re getting from the coaches is that he may well play senior football. As with Peter Yagmoor as well. They’re very happy with the way those boys have gone but, again, it’s very, very early days. We couldn’t be happier with the way that they’ve approached it and they’ve been accepted into the group.

The really pleasing thing for us is that all the boys that we’ve brought in through the National and Rooke Drafts is that they’re all healthy so they can get out and train from day one. They’re not sitting out with operations or with rehab or anything like that. The pleasing thing with the compromised drafts both this year and last year is that the programs we’ve had in both a national sense and in a New South Wales sense have borne fruit for us. Tom Young, who really was a first year player as an 18-year-old to come in and play four games in our senior team was really pleasing. Jarrod Witts, who we all rate highly and I think the industry rates highly. He’s got a long way to go obviously, but he hasn’t done a whole lot wrong.

There’s Michael Hartley, who might be a little bit of a sleeper in the pack because of his lack of development at a NSW level. But he’s been very encouraging with what he’s done as well, as has Caolan Mooney and Paul Cribbin. Cribbin had an interrupted pre-season last year but the feedback from the coaches is that they’re very pleased with where he’s at as well.

LM: Taking a holistic view to the club’s list changes during the off-season, was there one particular attribute you sought in the new players?

DH: I don’t think that we looked at any one particular player. With Leon (Davis) going out, we felt that we needed some succession there with Peter Yagmoor coming in as probably a medium term potential replacement. Marty Clarke can come in straight away because he can play, as we all know. He’s played successfully down there at a very high level. We’re a little mindful of that (succession planning). There’s Jamie Elliott, who just gives us another dimension to our front half. He’s a high-end competitor that can take the ball in the air. He is very good at tackling in our front half so that certainly helps us with the way the trends of the game are going.

Probably the one area that we were mindful of was some succession for our taller players, particularly in our front half. Jackson Paine is that high-end competitor. He’s obviously not 195cm-196cm like Travis (Cloke), but he’s around the 190cm-192cm mark. It’s very early days yet but both Jackson and Corey (Gault) have really hit the ground running and really adapted very quickly into the system as have Elliott, Mooney and Yagmoor.

LM: You’ve mentioned high-end competitors - what are the traits that define this sort of player?

DH: We look at the way players are able to attack the game. They seek contact. They don’t shy away from physical contests. Jamie Elliott was very similar in those traits and Yagmoor as well is the same. In our processes this year, we really wanted to bring in guys that were really going to come at the game and have a physical impact on the contest.

LM: Two players who are relatively unknown to Collingwood fans are new rookies Caolan Mooney and Michael Hartley. What sort of players are they?

DH: In Caolan’s sense, he brings a bit of a package in terms of his speed and power. I think that he’ll start forward as opposed to Martin who started behind the ball and moved up into the midfield to a certain extent. I think Caolan shows the athleticism and power and the ability to jump at the football that will make him unique in our forward fifty. That speed will certainly assist him in terms of his defensive actions. We’re really excited about Caolan, albeit we’re also mindful that he’s got a long way to go in terms of his own football development, but he’s come a long way in a very, very short period of time.

With Michael Hartley, he’s a boy that we’ve had on our scholarship list for three years. He hasn’t played any football for any longer than three years, so he’s actually come into our system having not played the game in his first year of football. Michael is a 195-196cm key defender. His performances through the Australian carnival were very encouraging. He went to some really well credentialed players. He did a very good job on Pattern early in the carnival.

Given his basketball background, he’s played a lot of football in the ruck. Obviously at 195cm we’re not bringing him in for that but we really feel that he’s got the scope to go forward and back and the game against Tasmania at Skilled Stadium was a testament to that. He had an impact at both ends of the ground.

Stay tuned for The List - Part II with Derek Hine on Sunday.