In the final day or two leading up to the AFL National Draft, there is generally a pretty clear consensus among experts as to how the top 10 players will fall.

And to their credit, the usually get it right eight or nine times out of 10.

But Thursday night’s Draft looms as being one of the most unpredictable in years, with opinions changing almost every 24 hours.

On Wednesday, resident afl.com.au draft expert, Callum Twomey, published his annual prediction of how he sees the top 30 playing out.

According to Twomey, the Lions are set to draft 191cm South Australian defender Matthew Scharenberg with the Club’s first selection (Pick No.7 overall).

“Scharenberg has become the wildcard of the draft with most clubs unable to get a read on where he fits,” Twomey says in his 2013 Phantom Draft.

“He played most of the season across half-back and that seems his best spot but he can be moved around.

“He missed the end of the season with a foot injury, which also forced him to miss the NAB AFL Draft Combine, but most clubs don't believe it will have a big impact on his draft placing.”

But Scharenberg is just one of five players whose names have been linked to the Lions in recent weeks.

The Sunday Mail just four days ago published their own draft prediction, listing the Lions as taking Northern Knights midfielder Marcus Bontempelli with Pick No.7.

The Lions have also shown strong interest in West Australian Cameron McCarthy – who is regarded as the second best key forward prospect in the Draft behind likely Pick No.1 Tom Boyd.

James Aish and Kade Kolodjasnij are a couple of others whose names have been connected to the Club.

Plus, the AFL Phantom Draft got it wrong for the Lions last year, with Ollie Wines their pre-Draft prediction to land in Brisbane. 

It further proves just how much guess work is involved when it comes to the latest crop of draftees.

And if it wasn’t hard enough already predicting the top 10, imagine trying to foresee the order of the first 30 picks.

For the record, Twomey has the Lions taking Matt Crouch (Pick No.22), Darcy Gardiner (Pick No.25), and Daniel McStay (Pick No.28).

Only time will tell how close to the mark Twomey actually is.