It was not long after the announcement that Melbourne's former number 1 draft pick Tom Scully was departing the club following 31 games and two relatively unremarkable seasons to join expansion team, the Greater Western Giants, on a six-year contract worth about $6 million, that a parody song based on Adele's hit "Someone Like You" surfaced on social media. The artist expressed lament over Scully's departure in song, culminating in the promise, "Never mind, we'll find someone like you," although I suspect that the undertone of bitterness in this version exceeded that of the original.

Ironically, the Demons' initial attempt to find someone similar to Scully ultimately resulted in the club signing a player who bore little resemblance to him, although he also went on to join the Giants and eventually rehabilitated himself there following a period of significant trauma; the compensation Melbourne received from the AFL for losing its player was Jesse Hogan.

By the time the newly departed millionaire had settled in at Blacktown, the Demons successfully uncovered a rich vein of mid-sized talent in footballers who not only outperformed the original but also became members of a premiership side, earning distinction in terms of Norm Smith medals, All Australian guernseys, AFL Coaches Association player of the year awards, and multiple Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Trophies. We all know who they are!

Now, two of the club’s all-time greats who formed an integral part of that talented group have split with the club (one of them is off to the Giants) and supporters are again moaning about the loss of their heroes. Today’s cry is "Never mind, we'll find someone like youse."

I am here to inform supporters that, following an in-depth examination of the 2025 draft pool, it appears highly unlikely that the search for a new Clayton Oliver and a new Christian Petracca will be successful in the space of the next month given the compromised nature of that draft. On a positive note, however, history has demonstrated that the team at Melbourne, led by recruiting manager Jason Taylor, have achieved similar success in the past. They can replicate this achievement, although it may require time.

Melbourne currently holds draft picks 7, 8, and 37, although AFL clubs are entitled to trade their picks up until and including draft night. In light of the many unknowns in the current draft landscape, I will refrain from speculating about potential pick trading and instead offer some insights based on my research, observations (somewhat limited this year) , and discussions with individuals more closely involved in the draft scene.

There is a consensus that the 2025 draft pool lacks depth and talent, further diminished by the likelihood of at least three northern academy members and one father-son player being selected within the top five or six picks. They are Zeke Uwland and Dylan Patterson (Gold Coast Suns Academy), Daniel Annable (Brisbane Lions Academy) and Blues’ Father-Son prospect Harry Dean.

Further, there is an expectation that Willem Duursma, Cooper Duff-Tytler and Sullivan Robey are locked in as early selections who will be taken before Melbourne’s first pick comes along, probably at pick 11.

There appears to be a genuine scarcity of exceptional midfield talent capable of seamlessly transitioning into that role in the AFL. This is not unprecedented, as numerous rookie players commence their careers on a flank or wing, and some will likely make their names there.

This is going to be a draft for mid-sized players, with 200cm whiz kid Duff-Tytler and possibly 198cm contested marking forward Aidan Schubert from South Australia being the exceptions. My uninformed wild guess is that Jason Taylor will not select Schubert, but I can always stand corrected.

The "someone like youse" seven

This leads me to the following players who I have in my sights in this draft. I call them the "someone like youse" seven and I’ve provided links to their Rookie Me Central Profiles which sum up the attributes of these players better than I could do:

• Sam Cumming 183cm

• Jacob Farrow 187cm

• Sam Grlj 182cm

• Josh Lindsay 183cm

• Jevan Phillipou 183cm

• Dyson Sharp 188cm

• Xavier Taylor 191cm

Remember, there is every likelihood that three of these players will be taken before Melbourne’s first pick comes around. This still leaves four exciting players who could reach elite AFL level even if they never make it to the someone like youse status of Clarry and Tracc.

The outsiders

Every draft throws up players who are selected outside the top dozen or so and make it big time ahead of the draft favourites. Our own skip Max Gawn was taken at number 34 in the Scully draft of 2009 and he’s still playing top football. Recent draftees who have already proven themselves as exceptional picks are Elijah Freijah (picked at 45 in 2023), Logan Morris (31 in 2023) and 2025 AFL Rising Star Murphy Reid (17 in 2024).

Our recruiters might want to consider the following players of interest (more likely if, for some reason, they decide to trade a pick down a few notches):

• Lachy Dovaston 177cm

• Oskar Taylor 182cm

I haven’t forgotten pick 37, which could ultimately fall anywhere in the 30s or 40s. This selection may be utilised to pre-empt a bid for father-son Kalani White or NGA prospect Toby Sinnema, if such a bid is made.

In this space I have my own favourite in Sandringham Dragons midfielder, Rory Wright 183cm https://central.rookieme.com/afl/player/rory-wright/.

Work in Progress

The official line following the club's completion of the Petracca trade was that it is in the process of building a premiership midfield, and by the end of next year, it will have had four first-round selections contributing to that achievement. In other words, we are in the middle of a massive work in progress that began with Caleb Windsor and Koltyn Tholstrup in 2024, Harvey Langford and Xavier Lindsay in 2025, this year’s selections and two more next year. Let’s see …

Incidental Notes

There are also a few quirky features about every draft. A few players I would like to have around the club for connections with the MFC but probably won’t are:-

• Tyron Ah Mu 198cm

He’s the physically imposing youngster with ties to Samoa who has participated in Melbourne’s Next Generation Academy but is ineligible for nomination due to the fact that he has Samoan heritage, rather than Finnish or Upper Voltan ancestry. Go figure? We could proceed with drafting him through conventional means, but he appears to be out of favour at present. He has a talented younger sibling who may potentially be drafted by the club in the future, and given my emphasis on familial connections, I believe it might be great to have them both eventually in our system.

• Sam Allen 182cm

A player with a great pedigree for life, he is a grandson of Ray Groom, who was a star player for the Demons from 1963 to 1968 (92 games, 36 goals), and won the Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Trophy in his final season at the club. He missed the 1964 Grand Final due to a knee injury but received Ron Barassi’s number 31 guernsey the following year. He later became a prominent figure in Tasmanian politics, serving as Premier of Tasmania from 1992 to 1996. If we can keep his grandson in the Demon family, I would be chuffed. I believe he can play a bit too!

• Noah Yze 190cm (2024)

Son of former Demon champion and current Tigers coach Adem Yze, Noah played with the Casey Demons after missing out on being drafted as a father-son last year. He showed good form there and in the Amateurs which included a 7 goal haul against Williamstown in a VFL final this year. An unlikely selection but you never know.

15 minutes ago, Demonland said:

This is brilliant! I’ve not seen this before. I was finding it funny until he mentioned Big Jimmy which made me momentarily sad/angry but then it’s straight back to funny. Thank you for posting : )

Fantastic!

54 minutes ago, Demonland said:

It was not long after the announcement that Melbourne's former number 1 draft pick Tom Scully was departing the club following 31 games and two relatively unremarkable seasons to join expansion team, the Greater Western Giants, on a six-year contract worth about $6 million, that a parody song based on Adele's hit "Someone Like You" surfaced on social media. The artist expressed lament over Scully's departure in song, culminating in the promise, "Never mind, we'll find someone like you," although I suspect that the undertone of bitterness in this version exceeded that of the original.

Ironically, the Demons' initial attempt to find someone similar to Scully ultimately resulted in the club signing a player who bore little resemblance to him, although he also went on to join the Giants and eventually rehabilitated himself there following a period of significant trauma; the compensation Melbourne received from the AFL for losing its player was Jesse Hogan.

By the time the newly departed millionaire had settled in at Blacktown, the Demons successfully uncovered a rich vein of mid-sized talent in footballers who not only outperformed the original but also became members of a premiership side, earning distinction in terms of Norm Smith medals, All Australian guernseys, AFL Coaches Association player of the year awards, and multiple Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Trophies. We are know who they are!

Now, two of the club’s all-time greats who formed an integral part of that talented group have split with the club (one of them is off to the Giants) and supporters are again moaning about the loss of their heroes. Today’s cry is "Never mind, we'll find someone like youse."

I am here to inform supporters that, following an in-depth examination of the 2025 draft pool, it appears highly unlikely that the search for a new Clayton Oliver and a new Christian Petracca will be successful in the space of the next month given the compromised nature of that draft. On a positive note, however, history has demonstrated that the team at Melbourne, led by recruiting manager Jason Taylor, have achieved similar success in the past. They can replicate this achievement, although it may require time.

Melbourne currently holds draft picks 7, 8, and 37, although AFL clubs are entitled to trade their picks up until and including draft night. In light of the many unknowns in the current draft landscape, I will refrain from speculating about potential pick trading and instead offer some insights based on my research, observations (somewhat limited this year) , and discussions with individuals more closely involved in the draft scene.

There is a consensus that the 2025 draft pool lacks depth and talent, further diminished by the likelihood of at least three northern academy members and one father-son player being selected within the top five or six picks. They are Zeke Uwland and Dylan Patterson (Gold Coast Suns Academy), Daniel Annable (Brisbane Lions Academy) and Blues’ Father-Son prospect Harry Dean.

Further, there is an expectation that Willem Duursma, Cooper Duff-Tytler and Sullivan Robey are locked in as early selections who will be taken before Melbourne’s first pick comes along, probably at pick 11.

There appears to be a genuine scarcity of exceptional midfield talent capable of seamlessly transitioning into that role in the AFL. This is not unprecedented, as numerous rookie players commence their careers on a flank or wing, and some will likely make their names there.

This is going to be a draft for mid-sized players, with 200cm whiz kid Duff-Tytler and possibly 198cm contested marking forward Aidan Schubert from South Australia being the exceptions. My uninformed wild guess is that Jason Taylor will not select Schubert, but I can always stand corrected.

The "someone like youse" seven

This leads me to the following players who I have in my sights in this draft. I call them the "someone like youse" seven and I’ve provided links to their Rookie Me Central Profiles which sum up the attributes of these players better than I could do:

• Sam Cumming 183cm

• Jacob Farrow 187cm

• Sam Grlj 182cm

• Josh Lindsay 183cm

• Jevan Phillipou 183cm

• Dyson Sharp 188cm

• Xavier Taylor 191cm

Remember, there is every likelihood that three of these players will be taken before Melbourne’s first pick comes around. This still leaves four exciting players who could reach elite AFL level even if they never make it to the someone like youse status of Clarry and Tracc.

The outsiders

Every draft throws up players who are selected outside the top dozen or so and make it big time ahead of the draft favourites. Our own skip Max Gawn was taken at number 34 in the Scully draft of 2009 and he’s still playing top football. Recent draftees who have already proven themselves as exceptional picks are Elijah Freijah (picked at 45 in 2023), Logan Morris (31 in 2023) and 2025 AFL Rising Star Murphy Reid (17 in 2024).

Our recruiters might want to consider the following players of interest (more likely if, for some reason, they decide to trade a pick down a few notches):

• Lachy Dovaston 177cm

• Oskar Taylor 182cm

I haven’t forgotten pick 37, which could ultimately fall anywhere in the 30s or 40s. This selection may be utilised to pre-empt a bid for father-son Kalani White or NGA prospect Toby Sinnema, if such a bid is made.

In this space I have my own favourite in Sandringham Dragons midfielder, Rory Wright 183cm https://central.rookieme.com/afl/player/rory-wright/.

Work in Progress

The official line following the club's completion of the Petracca trade was that it is in the process of building a premiership midfield, and by the end of next year, it will have had four first-round selections contributing to that achievement. In other words, we are in the middle of a massive work in progress that began with Caleb Windsor and Koltyn Tholstrup in 2024, Harvey Langford and Xavier Lindsay in 2025, this year’s selections and two more next year. Let’s see …

Incidental Notes

There are also a few quirky features about every draft. A few players I would like to have around the club for connections with the MFC but probably won’t are:-

• Tyron Ah Mu 198cm

He’s the physically imposing youngster with ties to Samoa who has participated in Melbourne’s Next Generation Academy but is ineligible for nomination due to the fact that he has Samoan heritage, rather than Finnish or Upper Voltan ancestry. Go figure? We could proceed with drafting him through conventional means, but he appears to be out of favour at present. He has a talented younger sibling who may potentially be drafted by the club in the future, and given my emphasis on familial connections, I believe it might be great to have them both eventually in our system.

• Sam Allen 182cm

A player with a great pedigree for life, he is a grandson of Ray Groom, who was a star player for the Demons from 1963 to 1968 (92 games, 36 goals), and won the Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Trophy in his final season at the club. He missed the 1964 Grand Final due to a knee injury but received Ron Barassi’s number 31 guernsey the following year. He later became a prominent figure in Tasmanian politics, serving as Premier of Tasmania from 1992 to 1996. If we can keep his grandson in the Demon family, I would be chuffed. I believe he can play a bit too!

• Noah Yze 190cm (2024)

Son of former Demon champion and current Tigers coach Adem Yze, Noah played with the Casey Demons after missing out on being drafted as a father-son last year. He showed good form there and in the Amateurs which included a 7 goal haul against Williamstown in a VFL final this year. An unlikely selection but you never know.

That is exceptional Whispering_Jack and in part quite moving, ending with the Adele “Someone like you” followed by the TS parody including the words that Ghostwriter noted regarding Jim Stynes.

2 hours ago, Demonland said:

Memory lane lol. Amazing how the 21 flag put all that doom and teeth gnashing around that time to rest. I would have loved a longer stay at the top just to underline it….but no one ever wants to fall, in whatever field, anywhere, whenever it is do they. Here’s hoping we get another taste in my lifetime.