BACK TO SQUARE ONE

BACK TO SQUARE ONE by Whispering Jack

Much of the discussion concerning this year's AFL National Draft has been on the subject of whether the quality and depth of the players available are such that would make it a "super draft" in much the same way as it was back in 2001 when Luke Hodge, Luke Ball and Chris Judd went 1-2-3, Jimmy Bartel and Nick dal Santo also went in the first round,  Stevie J, Sam Mitchell, Dane Swan and Brian Lake went further down the list and Melbourne bombed out as usual.

Emma Quayle, who is the resident draft guru at the Age newspaper, considers this year's version to be "Good, but not quite a 'super draft'." She cites the AFL recruiters (and they should know) whose feeling is "that the coming draft hovers somewhere between 'normal' and 'pretty good,' but that it is not one with the potential to solve everyone's problem in one hit."

To that, I say "darn" because, from a Melbourne perspective, the club continues to have problems after five years of rebuilding and with plenty of early draft picks on its list. Destined to finish bottom four and having activated both Scully "compensation" selections and with the advent of free agency, the Demons must make the most out of its recruiting at the end of the year. 

This horror year for the club in terms of on and off field disappointments must be turned around by some deft work at the trade table, some smart use of free agency and by getting its draft picks right. There have already been suggestions that it will not be relying simply on the draft to regenerate its list and perhaps, the recruiters have been looking to ladder leading Sydney for inspiration. At the end of season 2009, the Swans were on what seemed to be a downward spiral into possible oblivion before trading into an extra first round draft pick for Darren Jolly. They ended up with Gary Rohan and Lewis Jetta as first round selections followed by Sam Reid at number 38 to go with trade picks Shane Mumford, Josh Kennedy and Ben McGlynn. That was on top of securing the NAB rising star from the previous year's draft (at 30). They develop their players well up there but there's no doubt that Sydney's recruiting has been first class.

Meanwhile, we Melbourne fans have been waiting patiently for our bevy of early draft picks to come on stream and show us more than just promise. There are some extenuating circumstances behind the performances of the Demon youngsters including some extraordinarily bad luck injuries but, on the whole, "disappointment" is the best description of the club's recruiting efforts over the past half decade (and beyond). We have yet to develop a player into a champion or even one who might one day wear that mantle and, after all this time, the feeling is very much that we are back to square one.

There might still be a few months of football left in this season, but for those of us who support clubs that can't make the finals, it's time to look to the off season trading and drafting period that will last till close on Christmas. 

For Melbourne, this is the time frame it has to repair a list that has a number of deficiencies, most notably its substandard midfield and its lack of forward fire power, particularly those who can apply pressure to keep the ball in attack and to crumb and kick goals.

Fortunately, the club does have one piece of the jigsaw under control in the form of father/son prospect Jack Viney who is a small midfielder of the inside variety who is hard at it and committed to the club. Viney is already within the system and has played one game at Casey where he acquitted himself well until Geelong's David Wocjinski connected with his jaw and broke it. The youngster came back in time to play two fairly decent games for Vic Metro in the national under 18 championships but he missed out on All Australian selection (see below). 

The trade/draft period kicks off officially soon after the grand final with the Draft Combine followed shortly thereafter by an elongated trade "week" which starts with the father/son bidding and the GWS Mini Draft. Viney's fate is therefore likely to be one of the first outcomes of the off season activities.

The big question is whether he will cost the club a first or second round draft selection under father/son bidding and, given that most experts consider him to be just outside the top five, this would depend mainly on the integrity of the clubs finishing below Melbourne on the ladder. 

Would a club like GWS bid for Viney simply to act as a spoiler for Melbourne to force it to use its first pick? One would have thought such a move to be counterproductive. It could take a potential pick out of contention for use in the GWS Mini Draft and even more so, would benefit a number of rival clubs by effectively moving them up one rung in selection. And that's even before one considers issues such as draft tampering and clubs acting as honest brokers.

I recall Craig Cameron once commenting on how important honesty and straight dealing have become in the modern, professional era of recruiting. There will be days when the actions of those who act in spite, will come back to bite them on the bum.

This year, the GWS Mini Draft will be interesting and Melbourne is a likely player with three first round picks currently at its disposal and two WA 17 year old sensations in Jack Martin and Jesse Hogan already front and square in the calculations of the recruiters - Young guns Jack Martin, Jesse Hogan remain stoic. Both lads are All Australians and most good judges consider the wait for their services (they can't play AFL until 2014) more than worthwhile. 

Next time, I will take a look at the likely prospects for the national draft. Foremost among them will be the 22 who made the 2012 NAB AFL All-Australian team:-

Defenders: Sam Colquhoun (SA), Matt Scharenberg (SA), Luke McDonald (Vic Metro), Jimmy Toumpas (SA), Jesse Hogan (WA), Nick Vlastuin (Vic Metro)

Midfield: James Aish (SA), Oliver Wines (Vic Country), Lachie Whitfield (Vic Country), Brodie Grundy (SA), Jonathon O'Rourke (Vic Metro), Nathan Hrovat (Vic Metro)

Forwards: Jack Billings (Vic Metro), Taylor Garner (Vic Country), Jack Martin (WA), Ben Kennedy (SA), Joe Daniher (Vic Metro), Matthew McDonough (SA)

Interchange: Andrew Boston (QLD), Dayle Garlett (WA), Jake Neade (NT), Jackson Thurlow (TAS)

Later: Whispering Jack will reveal his favourite among the young up and comers. Hint: last year he picked Jack Viney who wasn't drafted and this year's pick wont be drafted either!