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Priority picks are wasted on the Demons

Roar Rookie
20th August, 2014
11

The Demons have asked for a priority pick at this year’s draft, but the AFL should consider the bigger picture before granting such a wish.

Melbourne have not played finals since 2006 and have won just 38 of 174 games dating back to the start of the 2007 season.

In anyone’s language, they are a club starved of success, seemingly unable to lift themselves from the foot of the table.

It is often said that the solution can be found in the problem. In the case of Melbourne, it is difficult to make a case that the problem is a lack of access to top-end draft picks. Thus, it is difficult to make a case that the solution to their problem is a priority draft pick.

Melbourne have called out the names of ten aspiring league footballers as first round or priority draft picks since 2007.

Cale Morton (pick four, 2007) played 73 games for the club over an underwhelming five years before being traded to West Coast.

Jack Grimes (pick fourteen, 2007) is now a co-captain but still a player of untapped potential, albeit with injuries having wreaked havoc on his career.

Jack Watts (pick one, 2008) has become the poster boy for Melbourne’s troubles. Considered the best young key forward in the country only a handful of years ago, he is no certainty to be at the club in 2015 and beyond.

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The investment in Sam Blease (pick seventeen, 2008) as a priority pick has produced an underwhelming total of 33 games across nearly six completed seasons.

Tom Scully (pick one, 2009), Jack Trengove (pick 2, 2009) and Jordan Gysberts (pick 11, 2009) represented the cream of the 2009 draft. Scully and Gysberts, for vastly different reasons, are no longer at the club, while Trengove has battled form, injury and the burden of the co-captaincy in his 81 games for the Demons.

Lucas Cook (pick twelve, 2010) was delisted at the first opportunity while the twelfth pick of the 2011 draft was traded to the Brisbane Lions in exchange for Mitch Clark, also no longer at the club.

Jimmy Toumpas (pick four, 2012) and Christian Salem (pick nine, 2013) have shown promise in the early stages of their careers, but it remains to be seen whether they are able to develop into consistent performers at AFL level.

Melbourne’s recent history paints the picture of a football club with cultural and developemental problems, not a football club with a lack of access to top-end talent at the draft. It is just not possible that the Demons have simply made poor choices at the draft table. Indeed, Cale Morton and Jack Watts were each awarded the Larke Medal as the best player of the under-18 state championships in the year of their respective drafts. The problems surely run deeper than talent.

The club’s successful pursuit of Paul Roos ensures they have a proven coach at the helm for the next two years. Roos is a renowned tactician who should command the respect of his playing group. It is imperative that the Demons look to further bolster their football department to provide support, and ultimately a successor, to Roos.

As it stands, Melbourne will have access to the second pick of this year’s draft. Depending on James Frawley’s movement as a free agent, they may even be compensated with the third pick of the draft. Roos has a history of trading aggressively for established talent. Expect that to continue this off season.

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The time for excuses at Melbourne has long passed. The AFL must resist the temptation to grant the club a priority pick at this year’s draft. Priority draft picks should not be awarded to clubs who have consistently shown an inability to develop talent into performance.

The AFL have already assisted the Demons by effectively bankrolling the recruitment of Roos as senior coach. It is now Roos’ responsibility to recruit and develop a football team without further special assistance from the AFL. The ball is in his court.

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