A deep dive into how the Demons adapted their recruiting strategies and list management departments, the blueprint for a run at sustained success it created and how North Melbourne need to follow the examples laid out.
#afl #northmelbourne #melbourne #listmanagement #afldraft
0:00 Intro
2:13 Melbourne Recruitment (2007 – 2012)
8:35 Richmond Recruitment (2007 – 2012)
9:35 Melbourne Recruitment (2013 – 2020)
21:26 North Melbourne Solutions
draft night it’s the land of hopes and dreams for clubs that expend the resources into the recruitment process they live in the hope that these young men will fulfill their potential and help to drive their teams towards success for the teenage prodigies fortunate enough to be selected it’s a dream come true a culmination of all the hard work and sacrifice to this point and for us the fans we dare to dream that our club might have just selected our next Premiership captain that this young man might just be the next Luke Hodge or Trent kotchen or Joel selwood We Live in the hope that our team has just drafted not only a great player but a great person someone with the Charisma and Leadership to fill us with pride the land of hopes and dreams the reality is that picks are only as good as the club making the selections it really doesn’t matter how many top 20 picks a team has over a 5year period all that matters is how consistently they pick the best talent available with those Selections in an 8-year period from 2007 to 2014 the Melbourne football club won an average of 4 and a half games a year they collected two Wooden Spoons pre the introduction of the Suns and giant Giant and finished 17th in 2013 and 2014 in the 6-year span between 2007 and 2012 the D’s had 13 top 20 draft selections and not one of those players was on their list when they won their drought breaking flag in 2021 this is the story of the Melbourne football club and how they got it so very wrong before they got it so very right and the blueprint for Success that North Melbourne should attempt to recreate in order to drag themselves out of their current cycle of Doom welcome to AFL Insight the origins of the 2021 Premiership go back well before the Brilliance of Christian Peta and Clayton Oliver before the much laed development of Mark Williams before the leadership of Gary per this story was was being drafted up before Simon Goodwin Paul ruse and succession plans had even set foot in the place the beginning of this journey can be traced back to 2012 when two relatively unknown men who had never played a game of top level football between them took on major roles in the recruiting department of the Melbourne football club Tim lamb and Jason Taylor but before we tell the story of how the D’s got it right let’s go back a further half dozen years and show you what happens when you get it wrong in 2006 the demons were going well enough to win a final remarkably just 12 months later they would win only the five games and finish 14th armed with picks four and 14 which they had received in exchange for former number one pick Travis Johnston the D selected kale Morton at pick four with Patrick Dangerfield and sirel rioli still on the board at 14 they would select Jack Grimes overlooking key defensive prospects Robbie tarant Harry Taylor and Alex rant who were picked at 15 17 and 18 respectively Melbourne sunk lower in 2008 collecting The Wooden Spoon and just the three victories a priority pick was given to both them and the Eagles at the inclusion of round one of the draft meaning they had picks 1 17 and 19 the Great White Hope in Jack watts would be taken with pick one while Sam B was selected with the priority pick the Eagles would pick Nick natui and Luke shuy with their coveted selections at selection 19 the demons chose James Strauss ahead of gun midfielders danne beams Daniel hanury Jack Ren and Rory Stone 2009 and the D’s went back to back winning another wooden spoon thanks to the trade of another former top five pick in Brock McLean Melbourne would again have the strongest draft hand with picks 1 2 11 and 18 Tom Scully was a no-brainer at pick one but the demons chose Jack Treno ahead of Dusty Martin they would further botch the draft by taking Jordan gizz and Luke Tapscott with their subsequent picks meaning they overlooked Nat F who was taken at pick 20 four times it was not all doom and gloom with the D’s taking a punt on a raw and skinny Ruckman named Max gor with pick 34 can you imagine if they had taken Scully Dusty F and gone in the one draft my goodness in 2010 the demons began to improve and won eight games finishing 12th again they would waste their first round pick by selecting Lucas cook with Pick 12 Premiership players Isaac Smith cam Guthrie and Jack darling would all be selected in the next dozen or so picks 2011 and Melbourne would again win eight games and have the 12th pick in the draft this time they would trade it to Brisbane for their troubled Mitch Clark the Lions would select s Sam docky whilst Taylor Adams dein Smith and Brandon Ellis were the next three selections Clark had limited impact at the D’s and would be traded later to the cats 2012 was a nightmare for the demons not only had they lost former number one pick Tom Scully to the expansion Giants but they had also tumbled back down the ladder winning just four matches and finishing 16th for losing Scully Melbourne would receive first round compensation after their first pick which could be activated in any of the seasons 2012 13 14 or 15 given they already had pick three they chose to activate Straight away they also received a midir round compensation given the heftiness of scully’s deal and they had access to one of the most talented teenagers in the land in fatherson prosp Jack viney with speculation mounting that picks one or two could be used on viney he vowed to make the demons pay should they refuse to match any bid placed on him so armed with picks 3 44 and the rights to viney the D’s would once again have the strongest hand on draft night picks three and 14 were packaged up and sent to the Giants for the rights to The prodigiously Talented 17-year-old Jesse Hogan and pick 20 Melbourne then used that pick 20 along with their own pick 47 and sent it to Collingwood for Chris doors with pick four the demons would select young South Australian Jimmy tus the next three picks would progress into all Australians with the dogs taking Jake Stringer and Jack McCrae whilst the power would take Vin’s best mate future Brown lalist olle wines a bid for viny came shortly thereafter meaning the D’s only had to part with their second round pick to secure him a bargain if ever there was one and there you have it 13 top 20 selections none of whom would go on to taste Premiership success now whilst I’m aware that you could perform this exercise with just about any club in the land and come up with some shocking oversights I think it’s fair to say that the had far more misses than hits which sto any progression that they should have been making during that exact time span the Tigers were also notoriously bad and had it not been for a Jordan mcmah kick after the siren it would have been the Tigers who collected two Wooden Spoons throughout this period but Richmond had just the eight top 20 picks in this era and whilst They too had a couple of Misses in Ty vicory Ben Griffith and arguably ree conquer they absolutely nailed the picks that bought them in premiership Skipper Trent kotchen three time Norm Smith medalist Dusty Martin generational Defender Alex rant the underrated Nick blone who is still dominating as an intercept Defender and important role player Brandon Ellis the foundations of a triple Premiership dynasty was selected during that tumultuous time in Richmond’s history and this is why I reiterate that draft picks are only as good as the people selecting them when Melbourne decided to put their future in the hands of Tim lamb and Jason Taylor it changed everything the duo have hardly put a foot wrong in the decades since so let’s dive in and reminisce on how they would correct the mistakes of the past while simultaneously picking the eyes out of the draft the 2013 SE season would prove to once again be disastrous on the field as the D’s won two games and finished 17th former top five pick Colin Sylvia walked in free agency leaving Melbourne armed with Picks 2 20 and 23 in what many considered to be a super draft but these new BLS were smart and knew that it was no good having another bunch of talented teenagers if they had no veteran leadership sh to learn from hard-nosed inside mid Daniel Cross a man with a reputation for having a psychotic work ethic on the training track had fallen out of favor at the rebuilding dogs and walked through the door for free the compensation they received for losing Colin Sylvia in pick 23 was traded to Adelaide for the hard-bodied Bernie Vince whilst in the boldest move of all they traded back in the draft giving up the highly coveted pi two and pick 20 to the Giants for another inside mid in Dom Tyson Pick N which they would use on the sublimely skilled Christian Salem and pick 53 which they used to select Speedster Jaden hunt another hard added Bull in James harms would then be added in the rookie draft now like I said this draft was stacked the D’s could have taken Josh Kelly and Matt Crouch or bont and Zack Merritt but they instead prioritized veteran leadership and stronger bodies that could teach a young Nate Jones and Jack viney how to be not only professional but influential footballers over more precocious young Talent on their list and the thing is when you have a great recruitment team you can always find more young Talent which the D’s would do just 12 months later 2014 was was another trying year and Melbourne finished 17th again doubling their win tally to four gun Defender James folley was another to abandon ship leaving for the Hawks in free agency which would land the D’s pick three as compensation armed with Picks 2 3 and 23 their gun recruiting staff wouldn’t miss two and three would be used on gun midfielders and High character Personalities in Peta and Angus brayshaw needing a replacement fullback the demons would send pick 23 to the Giants for Sam frost and picks 40 and 53 which they would use on Alex Neil bullan and Oscar McDonald in 2015 Melbourne would begin its rise up the ladder seven wins and a 13th Place finish was an improvement having quickly identified that he didn’t suit their needs top five pick from just 3 years earlier Jimmy tus was shipped off to port for a measley second rounder armed with pick number six the D’s would again be aggressive with their strategy and traded pick six the 29 they received for tus and their own future first round pick to the Suns for picks 3 10 and 43 they had moved up to select yet another hardbodied inside mid in Clayton Oliver not content with that the demons then untraded picks 10 and 43 to the Giants for Tom bug and Pi seven which they would use to select Sam Weedman a young key forward to pair alongside Jesse Hogan the Pick 10 they traded would eventually end up with the blues who selected Harry Mai whilst Charlie kerno was taken just a few piics later a rare Miss from the D’s recruiting department overlooking two common medal although admittedly by the conclusion of the 2018 final series Weedman had shown just as much promise continuing their trend of adding mature-aged big bodies the demons would trade their own second rounder pick 25 to the bombers for Jake mam 2016 and things were starting to progress nicely Melbourne would win 10 games and finish 11th their highest lad position in a decade having traded way their first round pick the previous year the D’s decided to add yet more experienced campaigners to help nurture their young Talent trading a second and fourth round pick to secure Michael hibid whilst the third and fourth were enough currency to trade for four-time Premiership player Jordan Lewis Improvement was appearing to be linear as the demons won 12 games and just missed the finals in 2017 and it was this next three off Seasons that really set them up for their Premiership run with an abundance of Assets in their Midfield a gun Ruckman and two potential young key forward prospects in hand Melbourne identified that they needed to address their key defensive posts as well as role players to cover the rest of the ground and support their emerging Superstars stocked with picks 10 29 and 48 the D’s would send Pick 10 of along with their future first and fourth to the crows for Jake lever a future third and pick 35 which they would use to select Harrison Petty as was the case just two years previous Melbourne would send another former topend pick to the power in exchange for their second rounder Jack Watts the number one selection was gone and in his place the demons would use pick 31 to select Bailey FR at pick 29 they took small forward Charlie Spargo meaning they had added four future Premiership players in the space of one offseason in 2018 the Melbourne football club would taste final success for the first time in a Dozen Years yet they still did not rest on their Laurels this group was not content with a prelim final they wanted the ultimate success having zero draft Capital thanks to finishing higher up on the ladder and trading their first rounder to secure Jake lever the previous year the D’s first selection was not until pick 36 still they somehow managed to walk away with three more future Premiership players the other Crown Jewel from their previous era in Jesse Hogan was sent to freem Manel for Picks 6 and 23 the D’s had bar stormed their way into a prelim with a young group and had managed to snaffle a selection in what many draft experts were calling the elite eight with the likes of Sam Walsh Connor Rosie bayy Smith as well as the king twins up for grabs Melbourne would use pick 23 on Tom Sparrow but gave up their position in the Elite 8 sweep Stakes to the Gold Coast for Defender Steven May paired with Jake lever the duo would go on to form the best key def defensive pairing we have seen since Matthew scarlet and Harry Taylor not done there the D’s then packaged up pick 36 and the future third they received as part of the lever trade and sent it to the Saints to move up to pick 28 where they would select James Jordan I don’t think any of us saw the drop off of Melbourne’s 2019 campaign coming from 16 wins and a fourth place finish to just the five victories and 17th on the ladder again the recruitment staff would aggressively go about their business pick three would be spent on the young Western Australian Luke Jackson picked 2279 and a future second would be sent to freem Manel in exchange for hard running wingman Ed langon pick 26 and a future fourth the D would then package that pick 26 along with pick 50 and their own future first first to the Kangas for pick eight having shown a history of picking the eyes out of the second round of the draft the demons slid back on trading pick eight to the Dockers for picks 10 28 and a future fourth whilst Frio would go on to select future all Australian Caleb song with pi8 the D’s also got their men targeting the electric KY picket and then selecting Trent rivers with pick 28 four more future Premiership players secured bringing natal to 11 over a 3-year period to add to their Core group of gor viney petraka Salem brayshaw and Oliver who were all starting to have a significant influence over the competition just incredible Drafting and list management strategy the puzzle pieces were completed after a Ninth Place finish in 2020 when in a whirlwind of draft moves the D’s were able to secure established goal kicker Ben Brown from the Kangas and Jake B with pick 18 now if that doesn’t prove my point of quality over quantity then nothing will 13 top 20 picks over a six-year span that led to zero finals appearances versus 10 top 20 picks over an 8-year period with nine out of those 10 going on to share in Spoils of Premiership Glory but this only illustrates one part of the story it’s what the Melbourne recruiters were able to do with picks 20 to 40 that really set them up to succeed of the 12 second rounders used to pick or trade in that same time span 10 would end up Premiership players whilst an 11th in Jake mam remains on their list what this equates to is a staggering hit rate of 91% with Sam Weedman and Jay Kennedy Harris the only missteps from 22 top 40 Selections in an 8-year period the previous recruitment regime had a hit rate of if we’re being generous here around 38% and this is just with the top 20 picks with Hogan and Scully the only gun players whilst Watts Grimes and trango were serviceable the remaining eight had little to no impact at all so whilst I’m not being dismissive at all of the roles of people like Goodwin choco per Richardson because it really does take an entire Club alignment to create success none of it is possible without that 91% hit rate from these two relative unknowns and the team around them and so this leads us to North Mel in their current plot as it so often does the chatter has once again shifted to Priority picks and whether an additional pick at the top of the draft will speed up the kanga’s progression it won’t unless the right people are making those picks or coming up with the strategies to maximize their currency then it won’t make a licker difference they’ve had 12 top 30 picks in the last 4 years alone and continue to look and play worse if the AFL really want to expediate this process then it’s off the field where North need assistance the draft is already compromised enough as it is why not give them some soft cap relief for 3 years and allow them the means to recruit the right people off the field Steven Wells has served the jalong football club exquisitly for 40 years and has hardly put a foot wrong he trained Andrew Macky up to take his position and now has a lesser role why not give him extra incentive to serve the game even further and do the same for north and show them how to do it properly how about Jason McCartney a former favorite son who helped build the dogs a Premiership list before moving to the Giants and helping with their Ascension into a Powerhouse perhaps he could be reunited with Simon Del rimple who acquired the dogs Talent before moving on to do the same with the swans or what of the two men who were the focus of this video in Tim lamb or Jason Taylor could one or both be swayed over by some extra money in their pockets and the thrill of the challenge at hand with the right people identifying and selecting the talent then development and coaching is the next obvious progression that requires upgrading young Midfield Talent needs to be taught how to be hard and tough and skillful and who better than the guy who already has two young all Australians in brayshaw and song under his tutelage in Joel Cory a man who also oversaw the development of the bont liba and Jack McCrae inter Premiership Champions do whatever it takes to get him Melbourne are having one of the best defensive statistical profile files we have ever seen this season and have been so strong in this area for years now the steady and underrated hand of Troy chaplain has guided this area of the ground for the D’s since 2016 who else would be better equipped to teach these young RS and what about a gun assistant someone right on the verge of a senior coaching gig or who has had previous experience in the top job Melbourne snaffled mcwalter the PS took Brendan Bolton give them the means to attract and recruit a mark McVey or an ash Hansen type even further than that there are strong football people surrounding these coaches in great teams go and get a leon Cameron or Justin LePage type to strengthen the support around Clarkson and viney a partial and momentary subsidy in one or two of these off- field departments to enable them to attract and compensate the best Minds in the game would do more for the North Melbourne football club than any amount of draft picks could ever do at the moment Clarkson is surrounded by Lee Adams Xavier Clark and Jed Adcock whilst the recruitment team is headlined by Will thfi Brady Rawlings and Scott Clayton who should never be allowed anywhere near any football club remember back to that 2007 draft where the D’s took kale Morton at pick four with the likes of danger sirel tarant Taylor and rant still on the board well the dogs had the next pick in the draft and took Jared Grant The Man In Charge Scott Clayton Clayton rated Grant as the third best Prospect behind picks 1 and two Matty Cruiser and Trent kotchen boldly stating if Jared Grant’s not the best player after them then swim to Williamstown from here well he soon swam to the Gold Coast where he put together a list that still hasn’t made the finals before escaping across the nullor to the Eagles after their flag and the start of their Decline and now to North the stench of lost follows this bloke wherever he goes to me the level of top tier Talent off the field that the kangaroos have surrounded Clarkson with is just not good enough and needs to change they need to be bold Melbourne were not afraid to cut their losses and ship off players with top five talent in topus Hogan and Watts Jack Watts was a massively hyped number one pick who was supposed to be a generational forward he kicked 143 goals in 153 games he was traded for pick 31 Bailey frit a player who came in with no hype and has kicked Pi 232 goals in just 134 games this season he will likely move past Jeff farmer and David Schwarz on the D’s goal kicking list do the Rus have the same level of gumption to do something similar with the cam zurar at the end of the 2016 season the D had just nine of the 23 players required to win the flag of those nine only three in gone V and Tom McDonald were consistent at senior level players brayshaw Oliver harms Peta and Salem were all averaging less than 20 possessions per game whilst Neil bullan managed just the four games yet they went all in and would not draft a player in the first round between Clayton Oliver in 2015 and Luke Jackson in 2019 they believed in their young core and the veteran leadership they had surrounded them with in that final game of 2016 the last under Paul ruse before he handed the Reigns to Simon Goodwin the D’s would lose to the cats by 111 points that’s how quickly things can turn when you make smart decisions so the question for Kangas fans is do you think your Club has the right people in place to make these intelligent and bold decisions the blueprint is there Melbourne showed us all that putting the right people in the recruiting department they could then identify the best talent they then surrounded this Talent with strong veteran leadership to help protect and instruct they were bold with their trading of draft picks with no fear they would identify their targets and move up or down the draft to acquire them regardless of the sacrifice or Surplus in pcks it brought them they cut their losses on highly talented former topend picks and Salvage what they could for them by trading them for much less than what they paid when the onfield Improvement took shape they were ruthless and did whatever it took to bring in gun players from other clubs they surrounded the coach with experienced football men who knew how to win you put it all together and you end up with four straight years of serious contention and a Premiership flag so where do North Melbourne sit when compared to the D’s are they at the stage where Melbourne were from 2007 to 2012 when they would miss more than they would hit probably not but there are still some Shockers in the last half a dozen or so years will Walker at 23 in 2017 when Tim Kelly Noah Bolter Liam Ryan Brent Daniels Sam Taylor Charlie Spargo Sam Ding and Bailey FR were all selected with the next eight picks really hurts the investment in Taran Thomas in 2018 and the subsequent Fallout has been a disaster no first round pick in 2019 to get two first rounders in 2020 was bold but the selections of mani and Perez with 34 and 35 wasn’t great selecting Phillips ahead of Logan McDonald seemed strange at the time and feels even more so now the horn Frances stuff was bizarre and the recruitment of players such as Jared poock Aiden boner Jaden Stevenson Loy young Hugh Greenwood Darcy Tucker even into this last off season with Dylan Stevens and Zack Fisher has been puzzling The Shining Light is that they also have quite a few potentially influential players do they already have the eight or nine guys that Melbourne had at the end of 2016 a wlor sheel MCCA pal ldu dma Scott Cherry and ly already enough to start building around to me not without some veteran help and I’m not talking about The Fringe type that have already been bought in I’m talking about hardbodied running machines that know how to win Premiership players like Elliot yo Jack McCrae Tom Sparrow Jack Graham guys who aren’t washed up and still have a lot to offer and will push North’s young talent to reach their potential fast track this thing be ruthless if zerar and ldu want out don’t let the door hit him on the way out the D’s lost top end talent in Travis Johnston Brock McLean Colin Sylvia and James froley they became Assets Now the old Melbourne regime wasted the currency they got for the first two but they turned Sylvia into Bernie Vince who helped change the culture and won a best and fairest and they turned frolly into brayshaw if Phillips isn’t up to it then trade him cut your losses and don’t about the embarrassment that comes with him being a top three pick the D’s had their own Will Phillips in Jimmy tus they traded him for a second rounder that they then used to move up and secure Clayton Oliver win they traded Jack Watts for a second rounder and selected biley frit win they traded Jesse Hogan to obtain Steven may win start identifying some of the key targets that need to be filled if ly needs some help up front go and get a jack laus it might cost you a future first or even the number one pick this year but if it’s needed do it the Giants have four good goal kickers in Hogan Callum Brown Jake ricardi and Aaron Cadman why not put an 8-year deal at 10 million in front of Cadman it might cost you two first rounders but these are the Bold moves that need to be made and if you don’t want to pay that price have a good look at the gun teams and what they have coming through Shannon Neil has been patiently waiting for Tom Hawkins to retire and shows more and more every time he plays pay overs and take him after all of the development and hard work has already been done by the cats defensively Nick Haynes will cost you nothing and stabilize that back six get him in he’s played in so many big games Lewis melin may not be a big name but he is better than anything you have and will help until dwson develops buku caras has been outstanding as a midsized Interceptor the dogs were lucky to keep him last offseason and he signed just a one-year deal give him five package him up with Jack McCrae and give the dogs the future first you get for zurar but only if the dogs pay part of mccrae’s wage be ruthless with the assets you have North and and I guarantee you’ll be out of this thing in no time the possibilities really are endless the blueprint for success is out there the Kangas just need to have the right people in place to maximize these assets they have and football in September won’t be far away at all Melbourne fans waited 57 years for their Club to finally get it right again follow their lead North Melbourne they did it the right way and went from a laughing stock to a juggernaut you can too thanks for watching AFL Insight if you like this sort of content please be sure to like And subscribe we’ll see you next time
1 Comment
Brilliant doco 🙂 thanks for that!!! Love our recruiters..