It was the stand off that dominated the headlines throughout the AFL trade period.

St Kilda wanted Jake Carlisle.  Essendon wanted pick five in return.

But for that to happen, the Saints wanted something else thrown in.

After Jake Melksham’s trade to Melbourne went through, the Bombers held two second round picks.

But Essendon resisted the temptation to sweeten the Carlisle deal by throwing in these picks.

So what were they fighting for?

In a draft where the top 30 are highly regarded, having four picks inside the top 25 is a powerful position.

“The Bombers were rapt to keep a hold of those picks as part of the Jake Carlisle trade,” Draft expert Callum Twomey said.

“I think they go best talent early on and then potentially go for their targeted players at 24 and 25.

“I expect some good players to still be available at that sort of range.”

A number of clubs have multiple picks in the first round and early second round of the draft.

A possible result of that is clubs looking to address needs a little earlier than they usually would.

This raises the specter of highly rated players sliding down the draft list, simply because they don’t fill the need of a particular club. 

“We saw that last year with Jayden Laverde when he got to pick 20 – no one expected that to happen,” Twomey said.

“Someone really good is going to get through to picks 24 and 25.

“Could it be Jade Gresham, could it be Harley Balic, could Darcy Tucker be available?

“Callum Ah Chee is a chance (but) he’s probably unlikely to get through. 

“Do they go for a tall like Ben McKay?  Riley Bonner is another who is in with a chance to be a top 25 pick.

“Someone is going to slip through.”