Ever since the AFL introduced the priority draft pick system, it has caused trouble. First, it resulted in struggling clubs tanking games to ensure that they got their priority pick.
Now it is causing dissension among the 18 clubs as Melbourne have requested that they be awarded a priority draft pick to help them rebuild.
There is no doubting that Melbourne are going through arguably the toughest times of their 150-year history, but has this been through a lack of draft picks or poor draft choices on their behalf?
Here I will go through some of the recent drafts and look at who Melbourne picked and who they could have had:
2007
In 2007 the Demons picked Cale Morton with pick number four, who is now at West Coast. They could have had Patrick Dangerfield, Cyril Rioli and Brad Ebert who went with the 10th, 12th and 13th picks respectively.
With the 14th pick of that draft they chose now skipper Jack Grimes, when they could have had Harry Taylor or Callan Ward who went with the 17th and 19th picks.
2008
The 2008 draft is one that would still haunt the Melbourne recruiting department as they took Jack Watts with the number one choice when they could have had Nic Naitanui, Stephen Hill, Hamish Hartlett or Michael Hurley, who all went with the rest of the top five picks in the draft.
At pick 17 (their priority pick) Melbourne chose Sam Blease, while David Zaharakis went at number 23 to the Bombers, and Jack Redden went at number 25 to the Lions.
2009
After another tough season in 2008, Melbourne were awarded another priority pick in the 2009 draft, and this time it was the coveted number one pick.
This time they took now GWS Giant Tom Scully at number one and co-captain Jack Trengove at number two, meanwhile Dustin Martin went to Richmond with the very next pick, and Daniel Talia and Lewis Jetta went with the 13th and 14th draft choices respectively.
Later on in the same draft they picked Luke Tapscott with the 18th choice, while Nathan Fyfe went to Fremantle with the 20th pick and Jake Carlisle went to Essendon with the 24th pick.
2010
2010 would be the first compromised draft, as the Gold Coast Suns began to build their list. The Demons chose Lucas Cook with the 12th pick of the draft, when they could have had Millie Smedts or Jack Darling who went with the 15th and 26th picks.
These four drafts could have made or broken Melbourne, and it looks as though the legendary club’s recruiters and talent scouts had a lot to answer for.
When you realise that they could have had Patrick Dangerfield, Harry Taylor, Nic Naitanui, Jack Redden, Dustin Martin, Lewis Jetta, Nathan Fyfe and Jack Darling, it makes you wonder if they deserve a priority pick in 2013, or whether they should have simply made smarter choices at the time.
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