MELBOURNE has finalised the rest of its guernsey numbers for 2015, with top draft picks Angus Brayshaw and Christian Petracca given No.10 and No.26 respectively.
Brayshaw takes over No.10 from the retired Shannon Byrnes, who is now a welfare and development coach with the club. The No.10 was also worn by former captain/coach Carl Ditterich.
Petracca has gained No.26, worn by three-time premiership player Ian Thorogood, and most recently worn by Daniel Nicholson.
Oscar McDonald has been given No.28 – three numbers away from his older brother Tom, who wears No.25. No.28 was most recently worn by Joel Macdonald in 2013. Father and son combination Adrian and Anthony Dullard both wore No.28, although Adrian also donned No.34 and No.18. Adrian was a dual premiership player and Anthony played more than 100 matches in No.28.
South Australian Alex Neal-Bullen has been handed No.30 – the number made famous by 1957 and 1959 Melbourne premiership captain John Beckwith. Peter Moore also wore No.30 when he won his second Brownlow Medal in 1984.
Melbourne’s first pick in the NAB AFL Rookie Draft, Aaron Vandenberg, has inherited Max Gawn’s previous No.37. Gawn has taken on the late, great Jimmy Stynes’ No.11 jumper. He is the only Demon from 2014 to switch numbers for next year. Stynes also wore No.37 in his first senior match for Melbourne.
Mitchell White, who claimed the last spot on Melbourne’s list for 2015, will wear No.41. He takes over from former defender Alex Georgiou, who wore the number in seven matches this year.
Peter Rohde, the former Western Bulldogs coach and long-serving Port Adelaide general manager of football, holds the Melbourne record for the most matches played in No.41. He donned the number 163 AFL matches, including 117 with Melbourne from 1988-95.
Every number from one to 31 has been filled, but there are four vacancies in the 30s – No.32 to No.35.
From No.36 to No.48, all numbers have been filled.
Matt Jones (No.45), Dean Terlich (No.46), Max King (No.47) and Jack Fitzpatrick (No.48) have retained their numbers beyond the 44 players on Melbourne’s list for 2015.
As previously announced, Heritier Lumumba will wear No.8, with fellow recruits Billy Stretch (No.15), Sam Frost (No.17), Ben Newton (No.19) and Jeff Garlett (No.36) also given their new numbers.
2015 Melbourne numbers
1 – Jesse Hogan
2 – Nathan Jones
3 – Christian Salem
4 – Jack Watts
5 – Jimmy Toumpas
6 – Chris Dawes
7 – Jack Viney
8 – Heritier Lumumba
9 – Jack Trengove
10 – Angus Brayshaw
11 – Max Gawn
12 – Dom Tyson
13 – Jordie McKenzie
14 – Lynden Dunn
15 – Billy Stretch
16 – Dean Kent
17 – Sam Frost
18 – Daniel Cross
19 – Ben Newton
20 – Colin Garland
21 – Cameron Pedersen
22 – Viv Michie
23 – Bernie Vince
24 – Jay Kennedy-Harris
25 – Tom McDonald
26 – Christian Petracca
27 – Aidan Riley
28 – Oscar McDonald
29 – Jayden Hunt
30 – Alex Neal-Bullen
31 – Jack Grimes
32 –
33 –
34 –
35 –
36 – Jeff Garlett
37 – Aaron Vandenberg
38 – Jeremy Howe
39 – Neville Jetta
40 – Mark Jamar
41 – Mitchell White
42 – Jake Spencer
43 – James Harmes
44 – Rohan Bail
45 – Matt Jones
46 – Dean Terlich
47 – Max King
48 – Jack Fitzpatrick
