CHANGES 2010 - TILL WE MEET AGAIN

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CHANGES 2010 - TILL WE MEET AGAIN by The Oracle

The recurring theme of the CHANGES series is that nothing stands still in team sport and this has certainly been evident in the events of the past month or so. At Melbourne, we've seen retirements, delistings, a player switching clubs and two rookies upgraded to the primary list.

This is how the club's lists looked during the 2010 season:-

MELBOURNE FOOTBALL CLUB - PLAYING LIST (SEASON 2010)

SENIOR LIST:

Rohan Bail Clint Bartram Matthew Bate Daniel Bell Jamie Bennell Sam Blease Kyle Cheney Aaron Davey Lynden Dunn Jack Fitzpatrick James Frawley Colin Garland Max Gawn Brad Green Jack Grimes Jordan Gysberts Mark Jamar Neville Jetta Paul Johnson Nathan Jones Liam Jurrah Joel Macdonald Tom McNamara Addam Maric Stefan Martin Brad Miller Brent Moloney Cale Morton Ricky Petterd Jared Rivers Tom Scully James Strauss Colin Sylvia Luke Tapscott Jack Trengove Matthew Warnock Jack Watts Austin Wonaeamirri

VETERAN LIST Cameron Bruce James McDonald

ROOKIE LIST:

Rhys Healey Daniel Hughes John Meesen Jordie McKenzie Michael Newton Jake Spencer

The season was in its dying days when we learned of skipper James McDonald's retirement after 14 years and we saluted our "accidental hero" with his final round farewell. Stalwarts Brad Miller and Daniel Bell were delisted at about the same time and ended their time at the club as members of the Scorpion's losing VFL semi final team at TEAC Oval, Port Melbourne.

More recently we learned of the delisting of Paul Johnson and Tom McNamara from the primary list along with a clean out of rookies Rhys Healy, Daniel Hughes and the perennially injured ruckman John Meesen. Jordie McKenzie and Jake Spencer were promoted off the rookie list and Brad Green was moved to the veterans list where he temporarily joined his good friend Cameron Bruce.

Then came the bombshell last weekend when life member Cameron Bruce walked out on the club after telling coach Dean Bailey that his time at the club had come to an end after eleven seasons, 224 games and 216 goals.

The sudden departure on the eve of the commencement of pre season training left Bailey shocked and Demon fans divided on the impact which the surprise move by the 31 year old utility will have on the club.

Some say he had passed his prime and was no longer indispensable; that he eventually had to make way for the club's emerging crop of youngsters. Others bemoaned the loss of yet another experienced player and team leader on the back of the recent retirement of skipper James McDonald and the delisting of Brad Miller.

Cameron Bruce was recruited from VAFA team Melbourne High Old Boys and did not go through the usual TAC Cup pathway. He spent 1999 as a supplementary list player at Melbourne and the Demons snapped him up at pick 64 at the end of that year in what turned out to be one of the club's best ever draft selections.

At 190 cm 85 kg, Bruce was a picture of fitness and could run all day. He made his senior debut wearing the number 32 against Richmond in Round 1 of season 2000, kicked a goal with his first kick in AFL football and quickly established himself as a regular in the team's midfield gaining an early rising star nomination. He combined with close mate Brad Green who was also picked in the same draft at 19 in a memorable semi final victory against Carlton but he missed the 2000 Grand Final because of injury. Ironically, Green was put out of that game early in the proceedings by an errant blow to the windpipe.

In just his third season at the club, 2002, Bruce was runner up in his club's best and fairest to that year's Coleman Medallist, David Neitz. He was also a member of the International Rules sides of 2002 and 2004 against Ireland.

Melbourne opened season 2005 brilliantly with Bruce dominating the club's three opening games until he was crunched by St. Kilda tagger, Brent Guerra early in a round four game at the Docklands suffering a serious shoulder injury that severely curtailed his season. At the time of the injury, he had already polled eight Brownlow Medal votes and his team sat on top of the ladder. In his absence, the Demons stumbled into the finals but neither the club nor the player managed to overcome the effects of the incident.

On his return later in the season, Bruce's role changed to more of a negative tagging role and, at other times, he was used across half-back. He was still effective in both roles but fans would rarely see him the brilliant attacking form he displayed at times in 2004 (he booted seven goals against the Blues early in the season) and in those big wins of early 2005.

This is not to say that he suffered a decline in form but rather that his career took a different direction. He was still an invaluable member of the team but instead of making the play he was stopping others. He became an excellent tagger and took on and beat such high-profile players as James Hird, Chris Judd, Adam Goodes, Peter Bell and Nathan Buckley. Bulldogs skipper Brad Johnson spoke of him as his most difficult opponent.

The versatile utility continued to produce highlights, of which his match winning goal against the Swans at the SCG in round 4 of 2006 was just one in a year in which his team was acknowledged as the best Victorian side in the AFL after finishing in fifth place behind four clubs from outside the State. Bruce was again runner up in the club's best and fairest that year.

After a disappointing year for the club and player in 2007 during which he incurred a nagging hamstring injury, Cameron Bruce took on a more defensive role under new coach Dean Bailey at the start of 2008 - probably of necessity given the club's difficult season. When David Neitz retired eight games into the season, he became co-captain with James McDonald and he was soon switched to more attacking roles as the club's injury toll mounted before capping the year off by winning the Bluey Truscott Memorial Trophy with an average of more than 24 disposals per game.

Bruce continued to fill a number of roles over his last two years at the club in his capacity as vice captain to McDonald and maintained a consistently high standard of play in a number of roles. Despite criticism of his disposal and kicking for goal which seemed to have dropped off over the years, he still managed to finish sixth in the best and fairest for the 2010 season, his last under a five year contract with the club.

At 31 years of age, Bruce was offered a new one year contract but he failed to come to terms with the club in the wake of his apparent concerns about his place in a young emerging team. The move to another club (probably Hawthorn)means he will be denied the honour of being a one-club player.

It will also be an eerie feeling after so many years of good service to the Demons to see someone else wearing the number 32 on his back. It's sad to see a player of his longevity leaving in the circumstances, especially in light of comments attributed to him in a media article during the week.

The other 100 gamer to depart the club was Brad Miller. The son of a South Melbourne player who moved around the country a bit, Miller was drafted by the Demons at number 55 in the 2001 AFL Draft from Mount Gravatt in Queensland as a key position forward. It took him a while to get going and he played mainly in defence in his early days and for the first few years he was switched from defence to attack on a number of occasions.

Early in his career, he became best known for stopping big forwards like Barry Hall, but he was inconsistent in defence and finally hit his straps with a four goal haul against the Tigers in round 17 of 2004, he kicked a rare bag of four goals. However, he gained a reputation as a tough man and some visits to the tribunal resulted in the call to curb his aggressive attacks on the ball which sometimes achieved unintended results.

Miller's form slumped in 2006 and he was dropped to the VFL where he was a member of the Zebras' flag winning team but not before saving his skin with a great performance at centre half forward for Melbourne in a losing semi final team at Subiaco. He struck a purple patch in 2008 with several fine games and soon joined the team's leadership group but struggled as a forward in a weak team in 2009 and, in his final year at the club, he was more usually back in the VFL. Miller showed great loyalty to his teammates at Casey by shunning a farewell game in favour of playing finals football with them. Earlier, he entered the record books when he kicked 10 goals in a VFL match against Gold Coast Suns in his team's come from behind four point victory.

Brad Miller who played 133 games for 89 goals with the club is likely to play next year as a mature age rookie with Richmond and we wish him well.

Daniel Bell, a defender, was drafted in the 2002 AFL Draft at pick 14 from SANFL club Glenelg and made his debut in round 15, 2004. For various reasons including injury, it took until 2007 for him to achieve regular match status. Late that season he was involved in an incident with Ben Johnson in round 20 at the MCG against Collingwood in David Neitz' 300th game. Bell had his head over the ball when Johnson crashed into his head and there were grave concerns for his wellbeing lay motionless on the ground in the hands of medical staff. Bell was eventually stretchered off the ground and taken to hospital and missed the rest of the season. Johnson was suspended for six weeks for head high contact

Bell played returned 18 games in 2008, mainly as a half back flanker but managed just three games in 2009 and none this year and was delisted ar the end of the season after 66 games. He kicked one goal in a rare foray up forward.

Ruckman Paul Johnson who crossed over from West Coast in 2005 after just one game at that club and played 69 games for 20 goals mainly as a back up ruckman and forward. He won the VFL's JJ Liston Medal best and fairest with then affiliate club Sandringham in his first season at Melbourne. He was delisted this year along with young South Australian defender Tom McNamara (3 games, 1 goal) although the latter is still in training in the hope of being redrafted in the rookie draft.

Kyle Cheney leaves the club after 14 games in three seasons. He was traded to Hawthorn during the exchange period. Rookies Danny Hughes, Rhys Healey and the perenially injured John Meesen are also off the list.

Thus, as we near next week's 2010 AFL National Draft the club's list looks like this:-

SENIOR LIST:

Rohan Bail Clint Bartram Matthew Bate Jamie Bennell Sam Blease Aaron Davey Lynden Dunn Jack Fitzpatrick James Frawley Colin Garland Max Gawn Jack Grimes Jordan Gysberts Mark Jamar Neville Jetta Nathan Jones Liam Jurrah Joel Macdonald Addam Maric Stefan Martin Brent Moloney Cale Morton Ricky Petterd Jared Rivers Tom Scully James Strauss Colin Sylvia Luke Tapscott Jack Trengove Matthew Warnock Jack Watts Austin Wonaeamirri National Draft Picks 12 33 50 and 53

VETERAN LIST Brad Green

ROOKIE LIST:

Michael Newton plus six selections