CHANGES 2005: THE NAB AFL NATIONAL DRAFT

by The Oracle

"For every face that disappears from the club scene, another new one will emerge to replace it."

I wrote those words a little while ago about Melbourne's list and now, following the trade period, the delistings and the National Draft, the Demons' Senior List for 2006 has been finalised with five new faces replacing four delistings and a retirement.

Gone from the scene is Guy Rigoni who has retired while Steven Armstrong, Chris Heffernan, Cameron Hunter and Luke Williams have been delisted. Rigoni has not left the scene entirely as, in an excellent move by the Zebras, he has been picked up by to fill an assistant coaching role, which also involves playing for Sandringham in 2006 where, he can keep an eye on the young up and coming Demon midfielders. Of the others, Armstong, Heffernan and Hunter are still hopeful of AFL selection in the Pre Season Draft while Williams might also chose to continue with Sandy where he is already a triple premiership player (2000, 2004-5).

Byron Pickett's fearsome shadow looms large among the new faces on the scene at Melbourne. The Demons gave up their second round draft pick and made a few adjustments to their later selections in order to secure the dual premiership player. Pickett is a big occasion footballer having won the Norm Smith Medal for his brilliant game for Port Adelaide in the 2004 grand final when he picked up 19 kicks 1 handball, 8 marks and kicked three goals from a half forward flank. Before that he was named in the best players in the Kangaroos premiership team of 1999 where he played on a defensive flank. In between and since, he has struck fear in the hearts of many an opponent and, if his training form is any guide, he is set to continue wreaking havoc for a good few years yet.

Four youngsters plucked last weekend out of the NAB AFL National Draft by the club's list and recruiting manager Craig Cameron will join Pickett and it's no surprise in view of the departures that all four a medium sized.

Speaking on radio SEN immediately before the draft meeting, Cameron had this to say about his club's needs in its coming draft selections: -

"We need a range of things - we need to keep building up our midfield stocks, we need to keep bringing some tall defenders through to help guys like Jared Rivers and Ryan Ferguson and we probably need a developing ruckman somewhere along the line"

It seems that his main wish was addressed given that all four of the selections have the capacity to fill a medium midfield although one or two may also get a defender's role somewhere and sometime along the way. The other requirements will hopefully be addressed in this month's rookie draft.

Nathan Jones was the almost universal choice for Melbourne of the draft pundits and many Demon supporters (including yours truly). His appearance on the training track has confirmed the excitement and expectation felt for this extremely fit and tough inside midfielder who dominated both the National Under 18 Championships for Victoria Metro and the TAC Cup finals series for the Dandenong Stingrays.

There's been a lot said and written about Jones but the best summary I can come up with is that of draft guru Colin Wisbey said in his profile of the youngster -

"Indestructible, indefatigable self-made tank who runs hard all day, never gives up, is very clean, and drives the ball forward relentlessly. Ultra-consistent, running, inside ball magnet with great work rate. Routinely runs hard and smart to get, to link and to apply pressure. Hits the contest hard and with purpose and efficiency. What you are buying is not just a hard working genuine footballer with physical presence but an impact player - impacts for 4 quarters each and every week like clockwork. And a quality kid with leadership potential. "

Just for the record, here is the profile from my pre draft article where I correctly tipped him as Melbourne's pick at 12):-

Nathan Jones (Dandenong Stingrays) Height: 178.7cm Weight: 84.5kg DOB: 20-Jan-88 Position: Small Midfielder

"A super fit hard it midfielder whose 36-possession game in the TAC Cup Grand Final for the Stingrays raised his stocks considerably. Before that however, he gained All Australian honours averaging 20 plus possessions in the three games including 27 for Vic Metro against WA. A player who is ready to go."

And his coach's comments from Inside Football:-

"Nathan ... had a massive impact at the national carnival. Possesses an enormous work ethic ... he's one of the hardest working kids I've ever seen and he's only 17." - Graeme Yeats, former Demon player, Sandringham premiership coach and now coach of Dandenong Stingrays.

After the club's first selection of the draft meeting at 12, we had to sit through what seemed to be ages as another forty names were called out before Melbourne's next pick at 53 (Collingwood passed at 52). The three final names all pretty well represented what you would call "speculative" selections. Like Jones and like Matthew Bate, Lynden Dunn and Michael Newton from a year ago, two of them were bottom age players who had another year at TAC Cup level in front of them had they not been drafted. The other draftee, Simon Buckley, came good with a rush for the Sandringham Dragons late in the 2005 season and was best on ground for a Victorian side that played an Allies team in Grand Final week. He also remains in the speculative category because he has not shown the same consistently strong form in the TAC Cup of the higher selections. But despite this, there is a strong potential upside with such players and that makes them smart selections as late draft picks.

Each and every one of the club's draftees is an athlete. And, as Bomber coach Kevin Sheedy said recently, the new rules are geared towards the more athletic types. Jones is a super fit triathlete, Buckley and Neville have pace to burn and Bartram held a 2005 AIS Scholarship. Here is a rundown of the Demons' selections 53, 60 and 68: -

Simon Buckley (Sandringham Dragons) Height: 189cm Weight: 77kg DOB: 18-Apr-87 Position: Small Midfielder

This natural right footer came on in leaps and bounds in the latter half of 2005 and picked up 9 votes in the TAC Cup Coaches Award: He averaged almost 17 possessions a game and was named in the best for the Victorian team against the Allies match during grand final week in September.

"He played in the All Stars v Allies game and did very well. He's a wingman and a beautiful kick of the footy and is improving every time he plays."

Sandringham Dragons Coach Gary Colling. in Inside Football.

Clint Bartram (Geelong Falcons) Height: 182cm Weight: 73.5kg DOB: 16-Feb-88 Position: Medium Midfielder

Another supremely fit youngster who travelled to Ireland with the AIS team, Bartram is a hard-working midfielder who still qualified for another year in the TAC Cup competition..

"Clint went to Ireland and despite having a lot of injuries this year he finished the year off very strongly. He's tough, courageous, quick and has a 15.8 beep test. Plays on ball and on the wing. His weakness is his kicking but the positives far outweigh the negatives. A great prospect as a run with player at AFL level."

Geelong Falcons Regional Manager Michael Turner. in Inside Football.

According to Neale Daniher he's "a good young player, only a young bloke but he'll add to our midfield and he's got the time to develop. He's going to be very good for us, he was on our high priority list and luckily he fell through to us."

Heath Neville (Tassie Mariners) Height: 186cm Weight: 83kg DOB: 2-Feb-88 Position: Small Midfielder/Small Defender

A player who was described on the SEN draft day broadcast as having "exceptional pace". According to an independent report from Tasmania he may have a touch of osteitis pubis.

"A 17-year-old wingman-cum-defender who did some good jobs minding some big name players at the national championships. Trained for a week at St. Kilda as part of his TIS Scholarship this year."

Hamish Ogilvie Tasmania U18 Coach in Inside Football

The club now goes into the Rookie Draft on 13 December on the lookout for four more rookies to round off its playing list for 2006:-

MELBOURNE FOOTBALL CLUB - PLAYING LIST (SEASON 2006):

SENIOR LIST:

Matthew Bate, Daniel Bell, Clint Bartram, Clint Bizzell, Nathan Brown, Cameron Bruce, Simon Buckley, Nathan Carroll, Aaron Davey, Lynden Dunn, Ryan Ferguson, Simon Godfrey, Brad Green, Ben Holland, Mark Jamar, Chris Johnson, Paul Johnson, Travis Johnstone, Nathan Jones, James McDonald, Brock McLean Brad Miller, Brent Moloney, Shannon Motlop, Michael Newton, Heath Neville, Alistair Nicholson, Byron Pickett, Phil Read, Jared Rivers, Russell Robertson, Nick Smith, Colin Sylvia, Daniel Ward, Paul Wheatley, Matthew Whelan, Jeff White, Adem Yze.

VETERAN LIST:

David Neitz.

ROOKIE LIST:

Matthew Warnock plus four vacancies to be filled in the Rookie Draft.