THE BYSTANDERS by Whispering Jack

It was an eerie feeling, like floating on air high above the events taking place on the ground below. This was the New Draft, a two day festival of little importance to Melbourne supporters on the first night and seemingly, of little consequence on the following day. It was as if we were the bystanders of the 2018 AFL National Draft.

From the time the Demons traded away their first round selection in this year’s event as part of the deal to secure Jake Lever more than 12 months ago, it was always likely to turn out this way. A little over a month ago, the club held picks 36, 46, 54, 62 and 65 which, once transposed into a world of potential priority picks and father-son and academy bidders, meant that its first choice would be pushing close to a pick near number fifty. It was akin to leaving you standing three city blocks away from Marvel Stadium and well outside the Jack Lukosious zone in draft night calculations. Even when the trades improved things somewhat marginally to a starting point of 23 and 28 (eventually 27 and 33), it meant you had just moved from William Street to King Street but the entrance to the venue was still on the distant horizon.

It was probably just as well that we were that far away because opening night was excruciatingly painful, producing a clumsy and almost unwatchable production compared with the American counterparts in the NFL and NBA which it shamelessly sought to emulate. Gillon McLachlan produced a fitting highlight when he pounced onto centre stage only to discover he had nothing to announce despite the sounding of all the bells and whistles but for us - nothing. Not even the prospect of a live trade managed to keep us in the game. 

When the show was over, Sam Walsh, the precocious Croweaters, the King brothers (we drafted the wrong big Max King a few years ago) and a bevy of others were gone. The Swans pulled a swifty trade to get a great deal for their next academy sensation and the Blues did nicely to steal the 2018 Morrish Medallist from the Tigers. Those who were previously uninformed of the new format were left baffled and confused that the Demons weren’t selecting on the night.

By the rising of the sun on day two, we were virtually on the promenade at Marvel Stadium, hoping for a little action now that we were a matter of a few picks away from pole position. The AFL had sneakily changed the starting time from 10.00am to noon but even then we were hardly bashing down the doors to get in despite the dreary conditions outside. But when the draft restarted, we somehow remained the bystanders.

The months (and for some, the years) of following potential draftees, the national championships, junior competitions, TAC Cup finals, draft combines, phantom drafts, power rankings, teams of the year and the late speculation all flashed past our eyes to produce ... on the face of it ... not a great deal. On top of that, there were no bolters, no All-Australian sliders who somehow mysteriously drifted into our laps, nor even any players finding their way to us from a list of so-called hidden gems” that was floating about.

In the end, Melbourne took an inside midfielder in South Australian Tom Sparrow with pick 27 after making an unsuccessful bid for the Bulldog’s father-son prospect Rhylee West. Then came a real bolter in Oakleigh Charger James Jordon at 33, another South Australian, Aaron Nitschke, at 53 and a mature aged defender in Collingwood VFL’s Marty Hore with 56. If there was any icing on the cake, it came when the club was not required to bid for Next Generation Academy dasher Toby Bedford who was taken late at pick 75. The return to type came with the selection of Kade Chandler in the rookie draft.

I should make it clear that this is not a criticism of the selection decisions but rather I’m pointing to the low profiles of those picked. As with any draft decision made, the proof of their value is never determined on the night but well down the track, often years into the future.

The apparent left-of-centre approach to the draft may well pay dividends in the future for a club with a young team on the ascent  - the players selected are not shrinking violets. They are all aggressive ball-winners known for their relentless attack on the football. In that respect, none of them are bystanders.

Good wrap.  That’s about the Full Stop in the trades and drafts period.  

 I would summarise our drafting as ‘Smoke gets in your eyes’.  At every pick, there were kids available that we would have been slated to take.  Instead, we read from our own hymn sheet and picked absolute Smokey’s.  Half the kids had no profiles, and were taken well out of where they were expected to go.

But I love that we do what is right, not what is expected.

And overall, we have added most of what we needed.  I still think we are one project big man shy, but we have addressed a lot of needs with May, KK and Preuss, adding Midfield depth with Sparrow, adding potential small forwards, and building more depth across the lines.

Overall, we will probably be rated as mid-level in the draft/trade period, but that is actually a good thing.  We are sharpening the axe, not racing around Bunnings trying to find one.

Well worth it recruiting this pair.

Have to agree, with what has been said.

WJ when you pointed out about the lack of Information on the players we drafted, i also thought about this last night.

No matter if a player is number 1 or 100, the AFL should be able to provide fans with much more than what was given the last two days. I think the AFL as a whole needs a kick up the backside, because it's seems to be run more like an ameture organiseation than a professional one, and sadly i can't see it channing anytime soon?

20 hours ago, spirit of norm smith said:

Good wrap.  That’s about the Full Stop in the trades and drafts period.  

No full stop really.

We have one place on our senior list vacant at the present time and therefore have the capacity to select one more player under the PSSP system between 1 December and 15 March next year.

The beat goes on.