MELBOURNE has called upon its Next Generation Academy to bring crafty small forward Ricky Mentha Jnr to the Demons as a Category B Rookie.

The Alice Springs local has had a close relationship with the club, training with the Demons before their 2024 campaign after working his way through the academy system.

Mentha made the move to Melbourne this year to further his draft hopes, playing football for the Gippsland Power, National Academy, Northern Territory and the Allies in 2024.

The agile and elusive athlete is the first Demon academy product to be signed from the Alice Springs region and the first from the area signed to an AFL list in over a decade.

A late-season move into defence for the Northern Territory showed another string to the 178cm forward’s bow.