CHANGES 2011 - GOODBYE AGAIN

CHANGES 2011 - GOODBYE AGAIN by The Oracle

It's been a while since the last Melbourne player kicked a football in anger but in those two and a half months we've seen many changes at the club. A large number of those changes have been in the coaching area with an almost complete overhaul to the group. The playing list has also altered. Eight players have moved on and another arrived recently as a result of what was generally regarded as the biggest trade of the AFL's exchange period.

The starting point was the club's lists as it stood throughout looked the 2011 season:-

MELBOURNE FOOTBALL CLUB - PLAYING LIST (SEASON 2011):-

PRIMARY LIST:

Rohan Bail Clint Bartram Matthew Bate Jamie Bennell Sam Blease Lucas Cook Aaron Davey Troy Davis Lynden Dunn Jack Fitzpatrick James Frawley Colin Garland  Max Gawn Jack Grimes Jordan Gysberts Jeremy Howe Mark Jamar Neville Jetta  Nathan Jones Liam Jurrah Joel Macdonald Addam Maric Stefan Martin Tom McDonald Jordie McKenzie Brent Moloney Cale Morton Ricky Petterd Jared Rivers Tom Scully Jake Spencer James Strauss Colin Sylvia Luke Tapscott Jack Trengove  Matthew Warnock Jack Watts Austin Wonaeamirri

VETERAN LIST: Brad Green

ROOKIE LIST:

Robert Campbell Michael Evans Cameron Johnston Kelvin Lawrence Tom McNamara Michael Newton Dan Nicholson

Mitch Clark's recruitment to Melbourne from the Brisbane Lions certainly caused a stir drawing admiration and even some envy from certain quarters when the Demons finally snared the tall key position prospect it has sought for years. It remains to be seen what the 200cm ruckman/forward can achieve, but his arrival certainly gives new coach Mark Neeld several options with his forward and on ball set up.

So far, Clark is the only addition to the list but he is soon to be joined by three "seniors" and four rookies.

With the departures at the end of 2010 of captain James McDonald, another veteran in Cameron Bruce as well as Brad Miller, Melbourne's losses measured heavily in terms of experience.

The same cannot be said of this year's departures. The classiest player to leave in terms of ability and potential was Tom Scully with 31 games to his credit but, due to injury, only 10 of these were in 2011 and most were below the standard one would expect from a number one draft pick. Perhaps Scully had other things on his mind but his second and last season at the club was a shadow of his first. Scully was uncontracted at the end of the season and accepted a massive contract with start up club, Greater Western Sydney after months of speculation, denial and much scepticism about his earlier pronouncements of loyalty to the club.

Leaving aside mature aged rookie Robert Campbell who didn't get to play an AFL match with the Demons, key defender Matthew Warnock was the most experienced of the departing players.

Warnock was traded to the Gold Coast Suns for a third round pick during trade week. The solid defender who turns 28 early next season will add solidity to the Suns' defence but has struggled to retain a key defensive post at Melbourne ahead of the likes of James Frawley, Jared Rivers and Colin Garland.

The 194cm, 95kg Warnock was a local product from the Sandringham Dragons Under 18 TAC Cup team and spent a year on the Zebra's VFA list before he was taken at 26 in the 2005 Rookie Draft. He struggled for AFL games early but in 2008 and 2009 held a regular defensive position with the Demons and, in the latter year, finished fifth in the club's best and fairest. Although out of favour at Melbourne, he played several high quality games at full back with Casey in the following two seasons when he finished third and fourth respectively in the Scorpions' best and fairest award. He leaves the Demons after 55 games and is expected to add many more to that number with the young Gold Coast side.

Addam Maric was drafted by the Demons as a small forward (177cm) from the Calder Cannons at 21 in the 2007 National Draft with a reputation as the most accurate kick in the TAC Cup competition. However, he struggled to cement a place in the Demons' line up and after 21 games and 15 goals in three seasons he asked to be traded. Negotiations were held with North Melbourne but the Kangaroos' interest appeared to drop off and Maric was recently delisted. He still holds hopes of finding a new AFL home in the coming month or so and is training with Richmond.

Austin Wonaeamirri's career was covered in Whispering Jack's series on Indigenous footballers Indigene - Chapter Ten.

The stocky small forward has, like Scully, played 31 games of AFL but leaves as a much loved player with many fond memories, most notably his breakout game in 2008 when he played a major role in his team's second half revival against Fremantle. Many will also recall with affection his game later that year against Brisbane and the sight of his late father Matthew hugging Jim Stynes as the team stormed to what had seemed an unlikely victory.

Wonaeamirri's career was stalled by a string of injuries and then by the deaths in the short space of a little over a month of his father Matthew and mentor Maurice Rioli.

He injured an ankle late in 2011 after returning from a sustained period of mourning and this required surgery. He failed to return to the club for the commencement of pre season training and was delisted as a result of the uncertainty surrounding his future.

Rookies Tom McNamara and Cameron Johnston were also delisted along with Michael Newton who was at the club for seven years, the last two as a mature age rookie.

Whispering Jack takes up Newton's story:

Michael "Juice" Newton's unusual and in many ways unfulfilled AFL career began when the 17 year old youngster from the northern Victorian bush town of Whorouly was taken at pick 43 in the 2004 AFL Draft. He took time to mature with the club's then VFL affiliate Sandringham but by mid-2006 he was still struggling to break into the Zebra's senior side. I saw him carve up the Bendigo Bombers Reserves at Windy Hill one morning. Wearing flashy red boots, he was moved to full forward after half time and kicked 5.1 in the first 9 minutes of the third term mainly from strong marks and he finished with eight goals for the game. That effort gained him senior promotion but, with Nick Sautner ruling the roost in the seniors, he continued to struggle for game time. 

He played a memorable game at Casey Fields a few weeks later. After getting limited time early in the game, he showed out in the second half with a wonderful little cameo. His marking, decision-making and passing of the football were all exquisite that afternoon. He took three marks that could easily have featured as mark of the year including a ripping hanger in the final quarter and he finished with three goals, one from a  near impossible shot on the boundary line. At the time, I thought we had a potential champion in the making on our hands.

Apparently, coach Neale Daniher must have thought otherwise because, despite the fact that Juice kicked big bags of goals on a number of occasions in the VFL over the ensuing 12 months, it was not until Daniher's final game as coach (Round 13, 2007) that he finally made his AFL debut. After a nervous start, he kicked a goal in that first game and he then booted an impressive three goals against Carlton. Against North Melbourne, he took the 2007 Mark of the year, rising high above a pack and over skipper David Neitz's head.

After that, injury and confidence issues took the sting out of his career. A knee injury early in 2008 derailed that season and he was in and out in 2009 managing just five games for six goals. He was then delisted but reselected as a rookie but played only four games in 2010. He was the designated rookie list senior player for 2011 and, after a promising start in the VFL gained promotion for three games before injury virtually put an end to his season (he came back for a couple of Casey games late in the year). He was delisted as a rookie after 28 games and 35 goals with many of us wondering what might have been.

With today's second AFL list lodgment, all clubs have prepared their lists in anticipation of next week's national draft. While the newcomers from Greater Western Sydney will dominate proceedings, Melbourne has just three selections, the first coming at 36. The final draft order is:-  

Adelaide: 27, 41, 46, 64, 82 (PR), 89 (PR)

Brisbane Lions: 8, 12, 30, 47, 69 (PR)

Carlton: 22, 44, 62 (FS)

Collingwood: 50, 65, 67 (SP)

Essendon: 19, 31, 59, 75 (PR)

Fremantle: 16, 20, 29, 58, 71, 72, 83 (PR)

Geelong: 32, 34, 48, 66, 78, 86 (FS)

Gold Coast: 24, 80 (PR), 88 (LT), 91 (LT)

Greater Western Sydney: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 56, 79, 87, 90, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96

Hawthorn: 33, 38, 53, 77 (PR)

Melbourne: 36, 52, 54

North Melbourne: 18, 40, 74 (PR), 84 (PR)

Port Adelaide: 6, 45, 51, 81

Richmond: 15, 26, 55

St Kilda: 25, 35, 37, 42, 60, 68, 76

Sydney Swans: 21 (FS), 43, 61, 85 (PR)

West Coast: 23, 28, 63 (PR)

Western Bulldogs: 17, 39, 49, 57, 70 (PR), 73 (PR)

(FS) Father/son Selection

(PR) Promoted Rookie

(SP) Scholarship Promotion

So ... with the 2011 AFL National Draft not far off, the club's list looks like this:-

PRIMARY LIST:

Rohan Bail Clint Bartram Matthew Bate Jamie Bennell Sam Blease Mitch Clark Lucas Cook Aaron Davey Troy Davis Lynden Dunn Jack Fitzpatrick James Frawley Colin Garland Max Gawn Jack Grimes Jordan Gysberts Jeremy Howe Mark Jamar Neville Jetta Nathan Jones Liam Jurrah Joel Macdonald Stefan Martin Tom McDonald Jordie McKenzie Brent Moloney Cale Morton Ricky Petterd Jared Rivers Jake Spencer James Strauss Colin Sylvia Luke Tapscott Jack Trengove Jack Watts National Draft Picks 36 52 and 54

VETERAN LIST: Brad Green

ROOKIE LIST:

Michael Evans Kelvin Lawrence Dan Nicholson plus four rookie draft selections