Essendon’s hopes of trading back into the first round of this year’s draft are appearing more and more unlikely.

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The Bombers traded out pick 9 to Melbourne during the trade period, receiving a bunch of later picks, plus a future first, back in exchange.

There has been plenty of speculation as to whether the Dons will make a trade on Wednesday night that allows them to take another super talent, but it appears those hopes are fading, according to AFL.com.au’s Cal Twomey.

“With challenges, I think it’s going to be hard for them to come back in,” Cal Twomey said on AFL.com.au’s Gettable Draft Countdown.

The Dons have access to Next Generation Academy star Isaac Kako but had traded pick 9 out given the uncertainty of where that Kako bid will land.

If it were to land before pick 9, that selection would be used to match the bid, while now, the Bombers can bundle up a bunch of later selections, while still holding a first-round selection in next year’s draft.

Twomey believes that bid for Kako is likely to come somewhere between picks 7 and 13.

“The watch really is whether the bid comes at St Kilda, which is still a strong possibility, or Richmond, I don’t think he gets to Port Adelaide, the bid at Port Adelaide is the furthest he gets,” Twomey said.

Twomey floated the GWS Giants as a potential trade partner for one of their three first round picks, but believes they will be getting better offers than the Bombers’ from rival clubs.

“The Giants would be a watch; I think the Giants are open to trading out one of their picks but they’re going to have some better offers I think for that pick. I don’t know, maybe they think Essendon will be a bottom four team next year and if they do then it’s a compelling offer for them,” he said.

“In the end I think it’s going to be a challenge for them to get back in.”

While the Bombers’ movements are up in the air, Twomey was pretty confident that there would be some live trades during the draft, albeit for later picks.

“I always err on the side of holding by this point because clubs become attached to their players. They know what they’re going to get essentially, one of three or four options,” he began.

“There’ll be trades. The Bombers will do a trade pretty early with their picks and points and the Lions will do a trade as well I’m nearly 100% sure of.”

Should the Giants be open to trading out one of their early picks, Twomey believes there would be several clubs in the running.

“I think they’ll get some good offers for future ones to consider at that point,” he said.

“That could be potentially Gold Coast, whether North Melbourne goes quite back that far that’s a call they have to make but if they have a player that they rate in the top 10 I think they will throw that one up.

“Then there’s the Bombers who have multiple picks.”

Meanwhile, Carlton recruiting boss Mick Agresta says his team “don’t leave anything to chance” amid the most open draft pool in recent memory.

Carlton executed several trades with the likes of Hawthorn and Richmond during the trade period, that eventually saw the Blues land the coveted pick 3.

Agresta said their interview process had ramped up in recent days, with coach Michael Voss also being involved.

“There’s probably five (players in the mix), we’ve done a number of interviews and had ‘Vossy’ involved. We think there’s a real pointy end and we’re pretty excited that one of those five will definitely be there at three, that’s why we were so keen to get into that part of the draft,” Agresta told Gettable.

“We don’t leave anything to chance, we’re really well prepared. There’s a lot of variables with live trading, we’re prepared and ready to go.”

Foxfooty.com.au’s Phantom Draft has the Blues selecting Oakleigh Chargers midfielder Jagga Smith with pick 3, but the likes of Dandenong Stingrays midfielder Harvey Langford and South Australian on-baller Sid Draper are also options.

Koroit native Finn O’Sullivan would also be a big chance should he slip past both Richmond and North Melbourne with the first two picks of the draft.