MELBOURNE has secured young-gun Billy Stretch – the son of former club champion Steven Stretch – via the father-son rule on Monday morning.

Adelaide also bid for Stretch with pick No.29, but the Demons were land Stretch with a third round pick (No.39 overall).

Taylor said Melbourne was delighted to secure Stretch, a 180cm midfielder from South Australia, as “father-son stories are always good for the footy club.” 

“One thing you get with Bill is that you know he’s going to give himself every opportunity and prepare himself very well each time he runs out on the ground,” he told melbournefc.com.au.

“He’s a very professional boy and he’s been able to do that all year and he was rewarded with All-Australian selection after the NAB AFL under-18 championships.

“He finished the season off playing senior footy for Glenelg in the SANFL and he played some really good footy towards the end of the last three rounds. He was particularly impressive at that level, so he’s making the right steps.”

Taylor said Stretch was assessed like any other potential draftee.

“He’s like every player – we’ve got to put them in an order and we worked through them and we treated Billy like any other player we’d been assessing throughout the process.”

“There is a sentimental part to it, but it’s in the best interests of the football club.”

Comparing Steven and Billy in their playing traits, Taylor said they were pretty similar.

“They’re both balanced and have the ability to get through traffic. Steve might have had him through the air a bit, but that’s something Bill’s working on,” he said.

“He’s a very hard-running player and he’s got elite endurance and he’s got good speed, so it’s a handy combination to have. He runs very hard in the game both ways, so he’s well suited to the modern game in that sense.

“He’s ultimately, like his Dad, a winger and he’ll come in and play that half-forward role as well.”