CHANGES 2015 - The Nowhere Men by The Oracle

I suppose I should be thankful that back in July when the National Under 18 championships were coming to a conclusion I wasn't beamed up to the starship Enterprise by its chief engineer, Montgomery "Scotty" Scott. At the time there was something in the order of 200 young footballers taking part in the carnival and I knew well the names and attributes of the best of them but had I returned from a race around the stars under the guardianship of Captain James Tiberius Kirk last week to discover who Melbourne drafted, I would have been in a state of confusion.

Not a single player taken by the Demons represented his state in the championships - there were no All Australians and no familiar names from that period of several weeks when a number of those interstate games were shown in their entirety on Foxtel and discussed in the media and on the Net.

One might have been forgiven for thinking that the Demons had traded out of the first four rounds of the draft to pick up some big fish but no - in fact, they had two selections in the top ten and all of the players they took were off the radar for one reason or another before and/or during the season.

They were the "nowhere men".

Clayton Oliver, the first choice at three which was parlayed into four when Melbourne bid for Sydney midfielder Callum Mills was an injured, restless soul when the 2015 season started -

AFL Draft 2015: How Clayton Oliver came from nowhere

Recovering from osteitis pubis, overweight and unable to do much of a preseason, he moved from the Bendigo Pioneers to the Murray Bushrangers. He missed the cut for the Victorian Country team but by midseason, with improved fitness, the powerful inside midfielder made his run. By season's end he was the Morrish Medallist and a star of the draft combine with significantly reduced weight and skin folds.

This is what his coach at the Bushrangers told Inside Football:-
 

 

Clayton Oliver Murray Bushrangers DOB: 22/7/97 Ht: 187cm Wt: 86kg

"Clayton won the Morrish Medal after coming into our program this year from Bendigo. A ball-winning beast who likes contested ball, hes very hard to knock off the footy, holds his feet and gets to the right spots at the right times. Hes right up there with the best in regards to clearances, hes a very good kick, can mark it and runs hard. He just had a massive impact for us this year" - Murray Bushrangers coach Darren Ogier

Melbourne's other top ten selection which eventually came at pick 9 was Sam Weideman from the Eastern Ranges. An AIS AFL Academy member, he started early in the season against two VFL teams but succumbed to stress fractures in his ankle - season over. His story is chronicled in these articles.

AFL BLOODLINES: WEIDEMAN WANTS TO FORGE HIS OWN LEGACY

Sam Weideman reflects on draft expectation, famous surname, ankle injury

AFL Draft 2015: Sam Weideman wants to make a point

After the draft -

Sam Weideman documents his draft experience before and after joining Melbourne

The talent manager at the Eastern Ranges where he was a teammate last year of Christian Petracca had this to say:-
 

 

Sam Wiedeman Eastern Ranges DOB: 26/6/97 Ht: 196cm Wt: 94kg

"Hes a real humble kid, level-headed, a really good natural leader with beautiful hands, competes in the air, works up and down really, really well, so he just keeps presenting, and just a shame he wasnt able to get a good crack at it this year. Im glad that he had an opportunity in the first part of the year to show what he can do, especially after his bottom-age year and what he showed last year. Hes played mostly as a key forward but I think that you could be able to play him across half back as well he did it as a 16-year-old as a centre half back, cause he sees the ball really, really well and he does not take his eyes off the footy, hes so courageous " - Eastern Ranges talent manager Len Villani

The Demons continued to think big with their remaining choices, selecting ruckman Mitch King (who is shown in a number of Bushies highlight reels deftly palming the ball down the throat of Clayton Oliver) and key position player Liam Hulett.
 

 

Mitch King Murray Bushrangers DOB: 1/1/97 Ht: 200cm Wt: 92kg

"Mitch is a 200cm ruckman who came of an ACL injury last year and took over the number 1 ruck mantle the instant he got back after the game in Darwin. His tap work was superb and really helped our midfield and his hit-outs to advantage were top four in the TAC Cup, and he only played nine or so games. Very good mark and runs well. Will just get better now that he has that year under his belt following the knee injury. A great kid and a great character" - Murray Bushrangers coach Darren Ogier

 

Liam Hulett Dandenong Stingrays DOB: 17/3/97 Ht: 194cm Wt: 90kg

"Liam is another unlucky story as for the past few years he's been in our Round 1 side and got injured. Only played one game for us this year after a few last year as a 17-year-old. He's a 195cm genuine out-of-the-goalsquare forward who has great hands over his head and an eye for goal. Just needs to get games into him given the injuries but showed enough when he played to spark interest of some clubs. He's got genuine talent but might need another year in the system" - Dandenong Stingrays talent manager Mark Wheeler

Again, both players were highly thought of by the recruiters but injuries had conspired to keep them off the radar.

And the Demons' first rookie selection, Josh Wagner is a 21-year-old defender from the NEAFL.

 

Josh Wagner Apsley Q DOB: 24/6/94 Ht: 187cm Wt: 82kg

"Joshy is the brother of Corey and reads the game very well behind the ball. He takes intercept marks and is a good left-footer who is very precise with is kicking coming out of defence" Queensland high performance coach Adrian Fletcher

The club's other rookie draft selections confirmed the redrafting of Viv Michie and the selection of Joel Smith as a Category B rookie.

As a result of the drafts, the club's playing list for 2016 is:-

PRIMARY LIST:

Angus Brayshaw Tomas Bugg Chris Dawes Lynden Dunn Sam Frost Colin Garland Jeff Garlett Max Gawn Jack Grimes James Harmes Jesse Hogan Liam Hulett Jayden Hunt Neville Jetta Matt Jones Nathan Jones Ben Kennedy Jay Kennedy-Harris Dean Kent Mitch King Heritier Lumumba Oscar McDonald Tom McDonald Jake Melksham Alex Neal-Bullen Ben Newton Clayton Oliver Cameron Pedersen Christian Petracca Christian Salem Jake Spencer Billy Stretch Dean Terlich Jack Trengove Dom Tyson Aaron vandenBerg Bernie Vince Jack Viney Jack Watts Sam Weideman

ROOKIE LIST: CATEGORY A

Max King Viv Michie Mitch White Josh Wagner

ROOKIE LIST: CATEGORY B

Joel Smith

* player quotes from the current edition of Inside Football