As Ollie Wines starred in Port Adelaide’s incredible upset win over the Fremantle Dockers, it brought a tear to the eyes of Melbourne supporters.
It was similar to the tear that appeared after Brent Moloney was forced out of the Demons and went on to play well for the Brisbane Lions.
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It was also akin to the tear that came about as Patrick Dangerfield and Cyril Rioli became stars at their respective clubs of Adelaide and Hawthorn, while Melbourne’s number four pick in the 2007 draft, Cale Morton, struggled to hit targets with a handball.
The tears have been flowing from Melbourne fans over the last eight years, as poor recruitment, incredibly stupid decisions and awful development of players have haunted the Demons.
Ollie Wines could prove to be the stupidest yet.
Wines was almost a certain pick for the Demons in the 2012 national draft, with the blonde dynamo looking to be in the Joel Selwood/Patrick Dangerfield mould.
A good mate of Jack Viney, Wines would provide a good running style for the club, and would most likely work well with Viney in the midfield.
But a last-minute move that boggles the mind, they decided to pass on Wines to take up running midfielder Jimmy Toumpas.
Now, two years on from the draft, Wines probably thinks he dodged a bullet with the Dees, impressing in the Power’s miraculous win over the Dockers in the West and throughout the season, averaging a tick over 25 disposals per game.
Toumpus however, has struggled to make himself a regular member of an already depleted Melbourne side, and has not shown much in the opportunities he has been afforded. There are rumours of the Dees considering him as trade bait.
Toumpus could prove himself to be a worthy footballer in years to come, a late bloomer if you will. But that is not the point.
Melbourne have poorly drafted and developed their players. The Mark Neeld administration simply had their one final say through Toumpas and Wines before Neeld was sacked and replaced by Neil Craig halfway through the 2013 season.
But surely all the blame cannot be laid upon the recruiting?
Players such as Jack Trengove, Jack Watts and Jack Grimes have not even scratched their full potential, and these picks have not been busts. The picks that Melbourne made on these players were not shock selections, as if the Dees had not taken up these players, another club surely would have straight away.
It goes to show that development plays a massively important role in the future of young footballers, and Melbourne has failed miserably in this department.
Jack Watts’ shock debut against Collingwood in the Queens Birthday clash of 2009, simply to draw larger crowd numbers, comes to mind.
These types of decisions brought the Melboune Football Club, one of the founding clubs of the sport, to its knees last year, as the smell of death hung around, reminiscent of Fitzroy before it finally fell in 1996.
The club has finally managed to get rid of those who started the rot in 2011, by sacking Dean Bailey. After Bailey’s sacking, and his replacement in Mark Neeld, Melbourne started the greatest downward spiral in it long history, struggling to win a game with tactics and game plans that boggled the mind, all the way from treating the players like dirt to incomprehensibly stupid game tactics.
Those within the club who brought the club to its knees have all been banished, and Melbourne is now in the safe hands of Peter Jackson and Paul Roos.
The right decision has been made in appointing members from other clubs that have been successful, and has improved tremendously over the course of a season.
There is still more work to do, but the Demons are now looking upwards for the first time in years.
However, there are still some remaining scars of the last five years, and they continue to haunt the Melbourne faithful.
Tomorrow night, the Power travel to the MCG to play Hawthorn for a grand final berth.
Ollie Wines will play a pivotal role for the Power, and if Port Adelaide manage to get through to the grand final on the back of Wines’ performance, Melbourne fans may have tears flowing once again.
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