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.
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.
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.
Theo Pratt
Roar Rookie
Tend to agree. Roos is a proven coach but you do wonder how difficult it might be for some players to fully buy into his vision knowing he only plans on being at the footy club for three years before handing over to somebody else. There simply must be big improvements at the Dees over this off season and into next year.
Jakarta Jeff
Guest
If Melbourne get a priority pick it should be conditional on it and pick #2 being used as trades to get mature talent. Don't send more babes to Melbourne to be demonized for failing to reach expectations. Gecko's suggestion of a merger is perhaps the most realistic deal on the table. But what would you do with a Melbourne St Kilda merger - the demon saints or saintly demons!!!
Gecko
Guest
Gillian McLachlan should be saying to Melbourne, "We'll fund Jackson and Roos to run your club for 3 years. If you can't turn things around by then, we'll be gunning for a merger." AFL footy actually doesn't need the Melbourne footy club that much.
Col in paradise
Guest
No more top picks for melbourne..how many to draft picks have disappeared into the performance black hole that is Melbounre..a lot of good talent never given a real chance...!!!...thats why I prefer top picks for clubs that win..a reward..and the young guns would learn a lot more with better players and clubs...so the two GF teams get some top picks then..you go from the bottom up for the rest of the picks...but they have wasted a lot of years and picks due to poor club management and coaching....why should they be rewarded for that..clubs like Port Adelaide, Free, Swans and now the Saints are trying - have gone to the bottom and built back up...the cycle..Melbourne been flat lining in emergency for long enough that it shows money and picks are not the solution
SportsFanGC
Roar Guru
Cannot agree with Melbourne receiving a priority draft pick this year. They have had plenty of access to the draft and top end talent and other teams in the midst of a rebuild (St. Kilda, Western Bulldogs, Brisbane) should not be punished in the draft because Melbourne continually fails to put structures in place that breed a winning mentality and culture that does not accept mediocrity. Instead the players pick up their grossly inflated pay packets each week after sub-par performances and trot out the same lines in the media “We let ourselves down, we let the supporters down etc etc”. How about doing something about it in the next game? They tanked for picks in the past and somehow were found not guilty of doing it but fined $500,000 in anycase? A fine, which was not paid by the way. Then they go cap in hand to the AFL for roughly $3M which they choose to spend entirely on Roos and now they want more help? In this case I would say suck it up and fight your way back up the ladder and stop the loser mentality of – We can just ask the AFL for more (insert draft picks, money, board members etc) and all will be good. Hopefully Jesse Hogan will be fit next season and hopefully he is a strong character because you know that Melbourne will be using him as the beacon of hope for the future.
TomC
Roar Guru
As I wrote a couple of weeks ago, I'm torn on this one. It's easy to point out Melbourne's mistakes, but that would be true for any team in their position. Just having made bad decisions in the past shouldn't bar you from access to a priority pick, or it would never be given. But there are plenty of clubs around the bottom of the ladder battling to rebuild their lists in the wake of compromised drafts. We occasionally enthuse about some of the promising talent at clubs like Brisbane and Western, and to a lesser extent St Kilda and Carlton, but the truth is they have a lot of work to do and they shouldn't have to be continually pushed down the draft order. I reckon there should be a moratorium on priority picks for a couple of years. Lets revisit this in 2016.
Gr8rWeStr
Guest
As you point out Melbourne's problems do appear to go much deeper than needing more access to high draft picks, everything suggests to me that its the club mentality that needs changing. I do wonder how much of it is a sense of entitlement as the oldest club. The mentality that brought about the tanking can permeate a club and be hard to move on from, perhaps handling that more openly and honestly would have been more cathartic. I agree Roos is a good start and given time can reform a healthy club mentality.
Penster
Guest
It's too early to call. Decades of Loserville mismanagement won't be fixed by Roos and co in 12months, but 2014 seems to have overall been a lot more optimistic for the Demons, albeit p!ss poor form recently. Seems the administrators and AFL have the commitment and balls to turn the club around, just hope the wealthier clubs aren't taxed to the hilt to compensate for incompetence - give them Sydney's portion of the COLA (speaking of handouts.)
slane
Guest
Roos has already publicly stated he will be trading melbournes first pick and priority pick for established players.
Michael huston
Guest
Top picks aren't all they're cracked up to be and I never buy into the draft talk. I judge a player and their worth on the performance they give every week, not by a ranking. I feel like with all the help they've received, we have to begin to ask ourselves: when does it stop? They have a premiership-winning coach in Roos. The results may not be speaking for themselves, but their performances during the first half of the season were undeniable evidence that this team actually has potential. Roos just needs to delve into this team and find out what's going wrong. It's not that difficult. It's simple things like a lack of effort, discipline, motivation. They're things you can recover. It's not like he's coaching one of the NAB Footify Australia learners. These are footballers who want to play, and that can be improved. If this club is unable to find that improvement - let's be honest, club reinventions can happen (looking at you Port) - then it doesn't deserve any advantages I say.
berrlins
Roar Pro
I think it is also time for Roo's to accept that his three year commitment may not be enough, and that he may have to commit to five years to see this through, there is no doubt the demons are in for more tough times, it's been put on his shoulders by fans and the media alike to bring them out of those times, three years won't be enough