Part 6 of the series that looks at Jason Taylor's draft years at Melbourne

2018

Draft: 6/10 Trades: 8/10

Coming off our best season since 2000, our club was suddenly a desirable destination again and footy manager Josh Mahoney actually won the battle with Collingwood to secure the signature of Suns skipper Steven May for our pick 6 that had been gifted to us by Fremantle for Jesse Hogan.

Hogan had endured a few tricky years with testicular cancer, depression, his father’s death along with a few serious off-field misdemeanours and he was injured during our almost triumphant 2018 finals campaign – so letting him go didn’t seem like such a bad thing then, although his resurrection at the Giants makes pick 6 look about right. 

Freo‘s boss Peter Bell had played hardball with us but eventually gave up their early pick for Jesse which we packaged up for the Gold Coast. It could certainly be argued that at 27, May wasn’t worth pick 6 which ultimately they used on Ben King. 

But the deal included Kade Kolodajshnij, who before his concussion run looked a future superstar. 

May had a dirty first year with us with hamstring and drinking issues, but since then he’s found the right balance and I personally reckon he now rates as our best ever full-back – and that’s after just six seasons.

We also offloaded Dom Tyson to North for their back-up ruckman Braydon Preuss which meant we actually had a decent foil for Gawny and given Taylor’s ruck-prospect howlers, it was a clever move until we let him go two years later. 

The impact of the May trade and the Lever deal from 2017 meant that we didn’t get a go at the top-end of a draft that was rated the best since 2013 – so it was a significant gamble. 

The Power got Rozee (5) and Butters (12), while the Swans got Blakey (academy), Rowbottom and McInerny. The Blues got a superstar in Sam Walsh, but then in an act of excited stupidity by SOS, thought they’d charge up the ladder and offered GWS their 2019 first pick for Liam Stocker (pick 19).

27 Tom Sparrow – While the 2018 draft had a superstar top-end look, there weren’t too many standouts after Butters and Quaynor at pick 12 &13. Rowbottom at pick 25 is a quality kid, but I’m not too sure Taylor had him on his radar anyway and Tom was a strong-bodied midfielder who ultimately cost Melky a spot in our 2021 premiership team. There’s a few on Demonland who don’t rate him highly, but Goody certainly does. Bont destroyed his shoulder in 2020, but he returned in 2021 a better player and he nailed his spot on a flank just in time to be a key member of our flag.

33 James Jordon – Being the youngest in the 2018 draft, I think JJ was a bit of a punt by Taylor as he wasn’t regarded as a suoerstar at Caulfield in the APS or for Oakleigh Chargers until he played a blinder in the TAC Grand Final that got him noticed. But once drafted, he got to hone his craft under Ben Matthews and, along with Sparrow, matched up at training against Viney, Angus, Trac and Olly, so he definitely got the grounding that has helped him at the Swans. Our depth of midfielders meant Goody was only willing to give him a wing and whilst he was a hard worker, his lack of explosive pace meant he became known as a bit of a road-block for our attacks. We even rookied him in 2020, such was our lack of confidence in him making it. But he’s now winning rave reviews as a tagger in Sydney and will most likely play in their premiership side with Brodie – one better than being the non-utilised sub in 2021.

53 Aaron Neitschke – Another SA youngster, he was less of a punt by Taylor as he had some sensational junior form for Central Districts as a running half-back. But three ACL’s in three years meant we barely saw him, even at Casey. 

56 Marty Hore – Marty was coming off a year where he was B&F for Collingwood’s VFL team and you could see he was mega classy from the outset and he won some rave reviews in 2019, but once Lever got over his injuries and on a roll, there was no sweeping spot down back for him and he’s not quite tall/muscular enough to play key defender and not quite quick enough to provide run. I was a little surprised we went back to him this year, but he’s certainly classy with his ball use and courageous under a high ball.

75 Toby Bedford – Taken by us via our academy, he took a while to develop an AFL-sized physique but he did play a few useful games for us, often as the sub, in 2021 and 2022. With Kozzie and Spargo around it was hard for him to break in, even more so when Chandler came on. Adam Kingsley was rapt to get him in 2023 and has given him plenty of gametime, even utilising his aerobic ability to play him as a tagger. As I’ve said all along, since Roos arrived, we’ve known how to train the kids.

Having upgraded Category B rookie Corey Maynard on to our list, Taylor punted on another small forward – this time a SA country kid called Kade Chandler, who stood just 175cm tall but had shown a bit for Norwood juniors. We also snared delisted Roo Corey Wagner (Josh’s brother) and Casey’s Tasmanian Jay Lockhart via the supplemental selections. 

Chandler’s smarts and team play have made him a Goody favourite and whilst I’ve been a strong advocate that our list is way too small, I am starting to warm to him as our second small forward alongside Kozzie. He’s a nice kick and he’s got a great workrate and after Callum Wilkie (pick 3 of the rookie draft by the Saints) and Jordan Butts (pick 34, Adelaide), he’s probably the third best performed rookie from that year.

Lockhart was a nice kick with clever vision and there was a VFL game against the Magpies where he looked a million dollars but he probably was just too small and left his move from Tassie a little too late to make it, while Wagner also found it hard to break into our star-studded midfield but was just so disciplined, driven and courageous, even after we delisted him, that he’s getting a game at his third AFL club Freo on occasions. 

Did Taylor miss much in 2018? Once we’d given up our high picks to trade for Lever (from 2017) and May (2018), he didn’t get a shot at what many felt was the best draft since 2001. But unearthing Sparrow and Jordon, was pretty impressive, even though they are hardly world beaters – yes they are premiership players and good role players but that doesn’t make them stars of the game!

The only players after pick 27 who you’d look back and go ‘if only” from that year are Lachie Schultz (57) and Connor Idun (61) and more recently Justin McInerny (44) and Curtis Taylor (46) along with the unexpected jewel of the rookie draft – Callum Wilke. 

The pre-season supplemental picks saw Sydney snare Hayden McLean, while the mid-season saw Richmond grab Marlion Pickett, while Collingwood got John Noble. But despite the hype, it was hardly an earth-shattering draft, so Taylor gets a pretty solid mark. 

NEXT WEEK: His best year yet and his annus horribilus?

Agreed. 6/10 in the draft. I had Will Hamill (Crows) and Bailey Williams (Eagles) as highly rated youngsters , both from the Dandenong Stingrays.  Hamill has suffered injury concerns yet shown his ability when fit.   Williams is developing into a good young ruckman now.  Not surprised we picked Sparrow but was when we called out JJ.