CHANGES 2024 Part 2: The Accidental Rebuild by The Oracle

[Demonland 70,968]

CHANGES 2024 Part 2: The Accidental Rebuild by The Oracle

While the main phase of the 2024 Trade and Free Agency period ended last week, some activity in this area will continue over the next month in the lead up to the national draft. Trading of draft picks will continue on an intermittent basis and clubs will also have the opportunity to select delisted free agents and to delist more players. So, it ain’t over yet!

Meanwhile, the football world continues to speculate about who won the trade and free agency period. This is a subjective exercise that might be worthy of debate but because the fruits of the process are rarely felt immediately, there’s little point in claiming victory at such an early stage.  

This is what’s transpired with the changes at Melbourne since the 2023 national draft.

Players In: Tom Campbell (St Kilda) Harry Sharp (Brisbane) [Luker Kentfield (Subiaco WA) selected in the midseason draft]

Players Out: Angus Brayshaw (retired) Ben Brown (retired) Kyah Farris-White (delisted ®) Lachie Hunter (retired) Alex Neal-Bullen (Adelaide) Josh Schache (retired) Adam Tomlinson (delisted)

Draft Picks: 5, 9

Of the players on the main list who leave the fold, only Neal-Bullen played a significant role in 2024. Brown has been hampered by knee issues over the past couple of years and similarly, Hunter could barely put together more a couple of games due to a recurring calf problem. Schache couldn’t break into the side after his only game for the season in Round Zero vs the Sydney Swans. The club was unable to arrange a trade for out-of-contract defender Adam Tomlinson who was delisted after trade week. 

Melbourne was able to arrange a trade with the Brisbane Lions for athletic speed machine Harry Sharp who is expected to play on a wing or at half-forward, but missed out on getting tall utility Wade Derksen across from the GWS Giants. Sharp, holds the AFL Draft Combine record for the 2km time trial, and was named as an emergency for this year’s Grand Final. Earlier, the Demons had secured experienced veteran Tom Campbell as a break glass in case of emergency ruckman through free agency.

One of the rays of light for the club is the fact that when the dust settled on the trade and free agency period, it’s draft hand was composed of selections 5 and 9, a good place to be given its evenness as the pointy end. The club doesn't hold a future first round selection, after giving that to the Bombers to get pick nine but that’s not considered a big deal 12 months out of next year’s draft when there’s still a month left to speculate on this year’s version. 

Melbourne’s list manager Tim Lamb has declared that "supporters should be really excited" with the pending arrival of two top ten picks on top of retaining Clayton Oliver, Christian Petracca and Kozzy Pickett on the roster, but more of that later.

Lamb’s optimism is based on the club backing itself to bring about a better measure of team stability after the turbulence of 2024. The results of the club’s internal views are almost at hand and there seems to be some confidence that positive change will be implemented as a result. Of course, this remains to be seen but a strong preseason, with many leading players coming through fully fit will be a boon for movement up the ladder. A less stringent fixture is also anticipated and that will most certainly help.

Let’s not underestimate the effect of a settled pair of superstars in Clayton Oliver and Christian Petracca. Their return to full fitness along with key defenders Steven May and Jake Lever and the two on-field leaders in Max Gawn and Jack Viney, all of who had niggling injury issues at times during the year, means much more than the introduction of a single random newcomer to a club’s list. As Lamb has said:

“Christian Petracca’s one of the best players in the competition. I don’t think anyone is recruiting a better player than Christian, and we missed him for the second half of the year.”

The club’s process and procedures in relation to the handling of Petracca’s Kings Birthday injury has been given the tick of approval approval by multiple reviews conducted by the AFL and the AFL Doctors' Association, despite questions raised about the treatment of its player at the ground and when he was in hospital.

Possibly the most room for optimism stems from the almost accidental rebuild that came about as a result of the year’s injury and form woes and gave more game time to the younger brigade of 23 and unders. 

Like the move of Trent Rivers into the midfield, the limited moments there given to a variety of others including the likes of Pickett, Koltyn Tholstrup, Christian Salem and even up and comer Judd McVee had his midfield moments. The club’s first pick in the 2023 draft Caleb Windsor, was outstanding from the get go on a wing. Next year, he could well get a share of midfield duties.

We saw defenders Blake Howes and Andy Moniz-Wakefield introduced into the lineup, slow but gradual improvement from Taj Woewodin and fellow father/son prospect Kynan Brown with a couple of cameos. Two young emerging key forwards Jacob van Rooyen and Daniel Turner continued to improve suggesting a further boost in the club’s scoring capacity. With the potential of uncapped youngsters in Matt Jefferson and Will Verrell likely to step up in 2025, Lamb’s prediction of exciting times ahead is not just wishful thinking. And then there are picks 5 and 9.

The pundits are expecting the first to be used to obtain a quality midfielder, the second on a key position player. Further down the draft, there’s the prospect of acquiring Gippsland Power small forward Ricky Mentha as a Category B rookie, through the Next Generation Academy and Noah Yze as a father/son selection although neither can be assured of selection at this point. 

Demon fans can all take comfort in the knowledge that head recruiter Jason Taylor has established a good reputation for picking out top young talent. Let’s take last year’s national draft as an example. 

At about this time last year, the AFL’s Cal Twomey issued a mock draft which read as follows (eventual destinations in brackets):-

1 Harley Reid (1, West Coast Eagles)
2 Jed Walter (3, Gold Coast Suns)
3 Zane Duursma (4, North Melbourne)
4 Colby McKercher (2, North Melbourne)
5 Nick Watson (5, Hawthorn)
6 Daniel Curtin (8, Adelaide)
7 Ryley Sanders (6, Western Bulldogs)
8 Nate Caddy (10, Essendon)
9 Ethan Read (9, Gold Coast Suns)
10 Connor O’Sullivan (11, Geelong)
11 Caleb Windsor (7, Melbourne)
12 James Leake (17, GWS Giants)
13 Jordan Croft (15, Western Bulldogs)
14 Jake Rogers (14, Gold Coast Suns)
15 Darcy Wilson (18, St Kilda)
16 Koltyn Tholstrup (13, Melbourne)
17 Lance Collard (28, St Kilda)
18 Riley Hardeman (23, North Melbourne)
19 Will McCabe (19, Hawthorn)
20 Ollie Murphy (41, Fremantle)

It would be fair to say that Taylor’s two picks have proved by their debut season performances, pleasing choices. In the main, the best picks came in the top dozen or so players with the main exceptions outside that group being Brisbane’s Logan Morris (31), Hawthorn’s Calsher Dear (56) and Geelong’s Lawson Humphries (63). 

Which brings us to the club’s playing list at this point of time, four weeks out from the national draft.

PRIMARY LIST: —

Jed Adams Jack Billings Jake Bowey Tom Campbell Kade Chandler Tom Fullarton Bayley Fritsch Max Gawn Blake Howes Matthew Jefferson Ed Langdon Bailey Laurie Jake Lever Shane McAdam Tom McDonald Steven May Clayton Oliver Christian Petracca Harrison Petty Kysaiah Kropinyeri Pickett Trent Rivers Christian Salem Joel Smith Harry Sharp Charlie Spargo Tom Sparrow Koltyn Tholstrup Daniel Turner Jacob van Rooyen Jack Viney Caleb Windsor Taj Woewodin 

ROOKIE LIST: CATEGORY A 

Kynan Brown Marty Hore Luker Kentfield Judd McVee Jake Melksham Oliver Sestan Will Verrell

ROOKIE LIST: CATEGORY B  

Andy Moniz-Wakefield 

[Dingo 1,032]

Thanks for the very good summary.

It’s interesting to see Joel Smith’s name - l hope he can get back.

[DistrACTION Jackson 8,300]

I keep seeing posters say McVee will be upgraded, but pretty sure he was upgraded end of last year wasn’t he? I could be wrong though!

[Nascent 8,962]

15 minutes ago, DistrACTION Jackson said:

I keep seeing posters say McVee will be upgraded, but pretty sure he was upgraded end of last year wasn’t he? I could be wrong though!

Fairly certain his upgrade was due for the 2025 season. 

AMW will have to be upgraded to rookie cat-A list (or senior list) as he's been on the cat-B list 3 years. He can go to the Rookie-A list as he's played less than 10 games

Kynan Brown is a Cat-A rookie.

Edited yesterday at 06:19 by Nascent

[DistrACTION Jackson 8,300]

3 minutes ago, Nascent said:

Fairly certain his upgrade was due for the 2025 season. 

AMW will have to be upgraded to rookie cat-A list (or senior list) as he's been on the cat-B list 3 years. He can go to the Rookie-A list as he's played less than 10 games

Kynan Brown is a Cat-A rookie.

Thanks. Its not outlined on the website anymore and pretty sure it used to be.

Lets hope Judd signs a new contract extension as part of moving to the senior list!

[manny100 1,457]

On 22/10/2024 at 14:44, Demonland said:

CHANGES 2024 Part 2: The Accidental Rebuild by The Oracle

While the main phase of the 2024 Trade and Free Agency period ended last week, some activity in this area will continue over the next month in the lead up to the national draft. Trading of draft picks will continue on an intermittent basis and clubs will also have the opportunity to select delisted free agents and to delist more players. So, it ain’t over yet!

Meanwhile, the football world continues to speculate about who won the trade and free agency period. This is a subjective exercise that might be worthy of debate but because the fruits of the process are rarely felt immediately, there’s little point in claiming victory at such an early stage.  

This is what’s transpired with the changes at Melbourne since the 2023 national draft.

Players In: Tom Campbell (St Kilda) Harry Sharp (Brisbane) [Luker Kentfield (Subiaco WA) selected in the midseason draft]

Players Out: Angus Brayshaw (retired) Ben Brown (retired) Kyah Farris-White (delisted ®) Lachie Hunter (retired) Alex Neal-Bullen (Adelaide) Josh Schache (retired) Adam Tomlinson (delisted)

Draft Picks: 5, 9

Of the players on the main list who leave the fold, only Neal-Bullen played a significant role in 2024. Brown has been hampered by knee issues over the past couple of years and similarly, Hunter could barely put together more a couple of games due to a recurring calf problem. Schache couldn’t break into the side after his only game for the season in Round Zero vs the Sydney Swans. The club was unable to arrange a trade for out-of-contract defender Adam Tomlinson who was delisted after trade week. 

Melbourne was able to arrange a trade with the Brisbane Lions for athletic speed machine Harry Sharp who is expected to play on a wing or at half-forward, but missed out on getting tall utility Wade Derksen across from the GWS Giants. Sharp, holds the AFL Draft Combine record for the 2km time trial, and was named as an emergency for this year’s Grand Final. Earlier, the Demons had secured experienced veteran Tom Campbell as a break glass in case of emergency ruckman through free agency.

One of the rays of light for the club is the fact that when the dust settled on the trade and free agency period, it’s draft hand was composed of selections 5 and 9, a good place to be given its evenness as the pointy end. The club doesn't hold a future first round selection, after giving that to the Bombers to get pick nine but that’s not considered a big deal 12 months out of next year’s draft when there’s still a month left to speculate on this year’s version. 

Melbourne’s list manager Tim Lamb has declared that "supporters should be really excited" with the pending arrival of two top ten picks on top of retaining Clayton Oliver, Christian Petracca and Kozzy Pickett on the roster, but more of that later.

Lamb’s optimism is based on the club backing itself to bring about a better measure of team stability after the turbulence of 2024. The results of the club’s internal views are almost at hand and there seems to be some confidence that positive change will be implemented as a result. Of course, this remains to be seen but a strong preseason, with many leading players coming through fully fit will be a boon for movement up the ladder. A less stringent fixture is also anticipated and that will most certainly help.

Let’s not underestimate the effect of a settled pair of superstars in Clayton Oliver and Christian Petracca. Their return to full fitness along with key defenders Steven May and Jake Lever and the two on-field leaders in Max Gawn and Jack Viney, all of who had niggling injury issues at times during the year, means much more than the introduction of a single random newcomer to a club’s list. As Lamb has said:

“Christian Petracca’s one of the best players in the competition. I don’t think anyone is recruiting a better player than Christian, and we missed him for the second half of the year.”

The club’s process and procedures in relation to the handling of Petracca’s Kings Birthday injury has been given the tick of approval approval by multiple reviews conducted by the AFL and the AFL Doctors' Association, despite questions raised about the treatment of its player at the ground and when he was in hospital.

Possibly the most room for optimism stems from the almost accidental rebuild that came about as a result of the year’s injury and form woes and gave more game time to the younger brigade of 23 and unders. 

Like the move of Trent Rivers into the midfield, the limited moments there given to a variety of others including the likes of Pickett, Koltyn Tholstrup, Christian Salem and even up and comer Judd McVee had his midfield moments. The club’s first pick in the 2023 draft Caleb Windsor, was outstanding from the get go on a wing. Next year, he could well get a share of midfield duties.

We saw defenders Blake Howes and Andy Moniz-Wakefield introduced into the lineup, slow but gradual improvement from Taj Woewodin and fellow father/son prospect Kynan Brown with a couple of cameos. Two young emerging key forwards Jacob van Rooyen and Daniel Turner continued to improve suggesting a further boost in the club’s scoring capacity. With the potential of uncapped youngsters in Matt Jefferson and Will Verrell likely to step up in 2025, Lamb’s prediction of exciting times ahead is not just wishful thinking. And then there are picks 5 and 9.

The pundits are expecting the first to be used to obtain a quality midfielder, the second on a key position player. Further down the draft, there’s the prospect of acquiring Gippsland Power small forward Ricky Mentha as a Category B rookie, through the Next Generation Academy and Noah Yze as a father/son selection although neither can be assured of selection at this point. 

Demon fans can all take comfort in the knowledge that head recruiter Jason Taylor has established a good reputation for picking out top young talent. Let’s take last year’s national draft as an example. 

At about this time last year, the AFL’s Cal Twomey issued a mock draft which read as follows (eventual destinations in brackets):-

1 Harley Reid (1, West Coast Eagles)
2 Jed Walter (3, Gold Coast Suns)
3 Zane Duursma (4, North Melbourne)
4 Colby McKercher (2, North Melbourne)
5 Nick Watson (5, Hawthorn)
6 Daniel Curtin (8, Adelaide)
7 Ryley Sanders (6, Western Bulldogs)
8 Nate Caddy (10, Essendon)
9 Ethan Read (9, Gold Coast Suns)
10 Connor O’Sullivan (11, Geelong)
11 Caleb Windsor (7, Melbourne)
12 James Leake (17, GWS Giants)
13 Jordan Croft (15, Western Bulldogs)
14 Jake Rogers (14, Gold Coast Suns)
15 Darcy Wilson (18, St Kilda)
16 Koltyn Tholstrup (13, Melbourne)
17 Lance Collard (28, St Kilda)
18 Riley Hardeman (23, North Melbourne)
19 Will McCabe (19, Hawthorn)
20 Ollie Murphy (41, Fremantle)

It would be fair to say that Taylor’s two picks have proved by their debut season performances, pleasing choices. In the main, the best picks came in the top dozen or so players with the main exceptions outside that group being Brisbane’s Logan Morris (31), Hawthorn’s Calsher Dear (56) and Geelong’s Lawson Humphries (63). 

Which brings us to the club’s playing list at this point of time, four weeks out from the national draft.

PRIMARY LIST: —

Jed Adams Jack Billings Jake Bowey Tom Campbell Kade Chandler Tom Fullarton Bayley Fritsch Max Gawn Blake Howes Matthew Jefferson Ed Langdon Bailey Laurie Jake Lever Shane McAdam Tom McDonald Steven May Clayton Oliver Christian Petracca Harrison Petty Kysaiah Kropinyeri Pickett Trent Rivers Christian Salem Joel Smith Harry Sharp Charlie Spargo Tom Sparrow Koltyn Tholstrup Daniel Turner Jacob van Rooyen Jack Viney Caleb Windsor Taj Woewodin 

ROOKIE LIST: CATEGORY A 

Kynan Brown Marty Hore Luker Kentfield Judd McVee Jake Melksham Oliver Sestan Will Verrell

ROOKIE LIST: CATEGORY B  

Andy Moniz-Wakefield 

Thanks, great summary. Going by Twomeys efforts last year picks in the top 10 are usually with 2 of his predictions. The out by 2 was McKercher and Curtin. The rest were either spot on or out by 1. Good effort by Twomey.

Its a good time to be bringing in early picks on top of last years draft given Tassy coming in.

The club IMO is on the ball. Well done Tim Lamb. Let's hope JT and his team once again draft well.

[monoccular 17,381]

Thanks D’land for that excellent and optimistic summary.

One thing I did wonder about was the current and future status of Joel Smith.  IMO regardless of his physical state, would he ever be able to regain the trust and confidence of his colleagues in the playing group, the off field staff and the supporter base?  And what is the current situation regarding his suspension and investigation?

Thanks