St Kilda will select the best players available with their two top 10 picks at Friday night’s NAB AFL Draft, according to Saints List and Recruiting Manager Tony Elshaug.

For the first time since the club drafted Luke Ball at No. 2 and Xavier Clarke at No. 5 in 2001, the Saints hold two single-digit picks at No. 7 and No. 8, as well as No. 34 and No. 45, with the two later picks set to drift a couple back after academy and father-son bids.

Elshaug, who has played, coached and recruited at the highest level over the past four decades, doesn’t think there is much separating the top 10 players in the draft and is confident St Kilda will secure some elite talents.

“We’re really excited to be picking at seven and eight and to have two top 10 picks for the first time in 16 years,” Elshaug told Melbourne radio station 3AW.

“We think there’s really high-quality draft picks at the top end and to be frank a lot of them are fairly even.

“We’ll see what the other clubs do with the first six picks and scratch them off as they get called out and the two players that are left at seven and eight we will pick those.”

St Kilda's best top 10 picks since 2000

While the recruiters are the ones who analyse prospective recruits and conduct thorough interviews with draftees and those associated with them, Elshaug says they aren't the only people involved with making list management decisions at St Kilda

“We work as a list management group these days; it’s gone a bit beyond just the recruiters,” Elshaug said.

“You have the COO [Chief Operating Officer, Ameet Bains], the CEO [Matt Finnis], yourself, the football manager [Jamie Cox] and the coach [Alan Richardson] and other people that work within the football department; you’re making these sorts of decisions as a group.

“Fundamentally, the recruiters are the ones that have to go out there and watch the games, go into the homes and to all the testing and do all the reconnaissance that you’ve got to do. You’d like to think you’re all on the same page.”

The recruiter's path to this Friday night's NAB AFL Draft

Elshaug said the home visit is the most important part of the interview process because it allows recruiters to lift the lid and see where potential recruits have come from and where their values lie.

“Going into the homes is the most critical one because it gives you an understanding of their upbringing and what they stand for as a person,” he said.

“You do a lot of reconnaissance because you want to make sure you’re bringing in people with strong character.”