Former North Melbourne defender Sam Durdin is confident he can make an immediate impact at Carlton after being handed an AFL lifeline by the Blues.
Durdin was selected with pick No.13 in the mid-season draft on Wednesday night as Carlton looked to plug their injury-hit defence.
The Blues were dealt a huge blow this week when star defender Jacob Weitering was ruled out for six weeks with a shoulder injury.
He joins Oscar McDonald, Celeb Marchbank, Mitch McGovern, Luke Parks and Zac Williams on the injured list, while Liam Jones was forced into retirement earlier this year after not meeting the AFL's vaccine mandate.
There were big hopes for Durdin when he was selected by North Melbourne with pick No.16 in the 2014 national draft.
He made his debut in 2017 and notched 22 games over the next four seasons before being delisted at the end of 2020.
The 25-year-old joined Glenelg in the SANFL in 2021 and his impressive form attracted the interest of Carlton.
Durdin is well aware of Carlton's defensive injury crisis and the 199cm key backman says he's "100 per cent" ready to make a difference.
"I'm ready to go," Durdin told the AFL website.
"I'm very fortunate to have a second crack at it. Not many guys do. I'm very excited, very keen to get stuck into it.
"The first time round at North didn't work out how I would have liked.
"I went back to Glenelg to play and I absolutely loved my time there and was able to play some good footy.
"I just wanted to get back to enjoying footy and kind of work on what makes me a good player ... launching at the footy and really dominating my opponent."
Carlton used pick No.22 to hand out another AFL lifeline, this time to former Bulldogs midfielder Will Hayes.
Hayes was delisted by the Bulldogs at the end of last year, but was picked up by Carlton after averaging 33 disposals and a goal a game for the Blues' VFL team this season.
West Coast used their No.1 pick to select 19-year-old midfielder Jai Culley, while North Melbourne snared defender Kallan Dawson with their No.2 pick.
A total of 17 players were taken in the mid-season draft, with St Kilda, Melbourne, Brisbane and the Bulldogs the only clubs not to select a player.
1 West Coast - Jai Culley (Dandenong Stingrays)
2 North Melbourne - Kallan Dawson (Williamstown)
3 Essendon - Massimo D'Ambrosio (Western Jets)
4 Adelaide - Brett Turner (Glenelg)
5 GWS - Wade Derksen (Peel Thunder)
6 Hawthorn - Max Ramsden (Sandringham Dragons)
7 Gold Coast - Oskar Faulkhead (Bendigo Pioneers)
8 Port Adelaide - Brynn Teakle (East Fremantle)
9 Collingwood - Joshua Carmichael (West Adelaide)
10 Richmond - Jacob Bauer (North Adelaide)
11 Sydney - Hugo Hall-Kahan (Sandringham Dragons)
12 Geelong - Zane Williams (Woodville-West Torrens)
13 Carlton - Sam Durdin (Glenelg)
14 St Kilda - Pass
15 Fremantle - Sebit Kuek (East Perth)
16 West Coast - Pass
17 North Melbourne - Pass
18 Essendon - Jye Menzie (South Adelaide)
19 Adelaide - Pass
20 Hawthorn - James Blanck (Box Hill)
21 Collingwood - Pass
22 Carlton - William Hayes (Carlton VFL)
23 Fremantle: - Pass
