AFL national talent manager Kevin Sheehan gives short shrift to the theory that there is a distinct split between the best and the rest in this year's draft crop.

With incoming club Gold Coast to get the lion's share of early picks, the first round pecking order of the existing 16 clubs will be sparsely spread.

It has prompted suggestions that finishing last might be more worthwhile than ever, given the last-placed club claims pick four, compared to sixth for 15th place and eighth for 14th.

But Sheehan says fears that the fourth pick would be considerably better than sixth, for instance, because there is a standout elite group, are unfounded.

"There's just not (a big gap)," Sheehan told AAP.

"There's terrific depth, to be honest.

"We're extremely pleased with this pool of players, given the premier won't get the chance to choose until choice 25.

"We think that 25's going to be a fairly good pick, there's lots of great potential players around that point."

He said recruiters had expressed confidence of acquiring good players into the 50s.

Sheehan pointed to the so-called superdraft of 2001, in which debate centred around the outstandingly talented top three - Luke Hodge, Luke Ball and Chris Judd - to underline the point.

Some current stars were taken much later - Jimmy Bartel at No.8, Nick Dal Santo (13), James Kelly (17), Jason Gram (19), Steve Johnson (24), Sam Mitchell (36), Leigh Montagna (37), Gary Ablett (40), Dane Swan (58) and Brian Lake (71).

While Ablett, now the game's best player, was a Geelong father-son selection, Sheehan said even on the open market he was rated top 20 at best at the time.

Likewise, he said no-one predicted how influential Montagna, Mitchell and Swan would become, while Lake had health queries.

"We all talk about Hodge at the top etc, Judd and the whole debate, but there's some beauties later on," Sheehan said.

"That's regarded as the best draft ever not just because of the top three, but because of the depth in it and (recruiters) would be hopeful that this year's might produce that."

Given Gold Coast's concession picks, Sheehan predicts this year's draft will stretch to about 85 choices, rather than the average of 70.

The AFL has therefore invited 100 potential draftees, an increase of 18, to the pre-draft national combine - formerly draft camp - plus another 112 to subsequent state-based combines.

Both groups will include mature-aged candidates from senior state competitions, given the need to increase the talent pool, and the success of the likes of Geelong's James Podsiadly and Fremantle's Michael Barlow this year.

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