BEING a recruiter at an AFL club couldn’t be easy.
They are asked to watch junior footy and forecast the future of thousands of kids based on talent and character alone.
Of course, clubs are always going to get some wrong – that is expected.
And with the draft, hindsight is a wonderful thing.
Football supporters love to reflect on who their club could have had, which is an easy trap to fall into.
In 2009, dual Brownlow Medallist Nat Fyfe was overlooked by 12 clubs (Fremantle included), before the Dockers snared him with pick No.20.
That is one of countless ‘hindsight drafting’ examples.
So instead of pondering what could have been, it’s time to look back at the past 25 years and see which late picks in the National Draft Melbourne got right.
1996 National Draft – Russell Robertson – Pick 68
The high-flying Russell Robertson initially landed at Melbourne via a late selection in the 1996 National Draft.
He failed to play a senior game in his first year on the list, before being delisted and reselected as a rookie the following season.
From that point on, Robertson’s record speaks for itself, playing 228 games and kicking 428 goals in a decorated career for the Demons.
1997 National Draft – Nathan Brown – Pick 66
Nathan Brown delivered more than what you could ask for with a fifth-round selection.
The hard-at-it defender was a key member of the Demons’ line-up for the best part of a decade, playing 146 games for the club in a competitive era.
1997 National Draft – Guy Rigoni – Pick 77
The Dees snared two gems at the backend of that 1997 National Draft, with Guy Rigoni joining Brown in the red and blue with the ninth-last pick.
Rigoni proved to be worth the risk, pulling on the guernsey 107 times across his eight-year career and contributing to a star-studded Melbourne midfield.
1999 National Draft – Matthew Whelan – Pick 50
It didn’t take long for Matthew Whelan to win Demons fans over, with the 50th selection in 1999 proving to be one of the club’s toughest players to ever take the field.
In his 150-game career, Whelan was as reliable as they come in defence and would always put his body on the line for the team.
1999 National Draft – Cameron Bruce – Pick 64
Cameron Bruce is as good a draft steal as it gets.
The midfielder took no time at all to develop into a premier player of the competition and went on to win the club's Best and Fairest Award in 2008.
2001 National Draft – Brad Miller – Pick 55
If you were offered 133 games from your 55th pick in the draft, you’d take it every day of the week.
Brad Miller developed into a handy key forward for the Dees, working in tandem with David Neitz before finishing his career at Richmond.
2008 National Draft – Neville Jetta – Pick 51
Neville Jetta began his time at Melbourne as a small forward, but his career didn’t truly get going until 2013 when the club gave him a lifeline via the rookie draft.
The 30-year-old has been a great servant of the club for a long period of time and will play his 150th game when the 2020 season resumes.
2009 National Draft – Max Gawn – Pick 34
While this list only includes players taken with pick 50 and beyond, Max Gawn is a worthy exception.
The skipper’s career got off to a slow start, taking him seven years to notch up 50 AFL games, but it has been worth the wait for one of the best ruckmen in the league.
2010 National Draft – Tom McDonald – Pick 53
Key position players are hard to find, especially when recruiting undeveloped 18-year-old’s, but Tom McDonald has proved to be a major success for the Demons.
Taken in the latter stages of the 2010 National Draft, McDonald began his career as a defender, but has become the club’s most valuable forward in recent seasons.
2014 National Draft – Oscar McDonald – Pick 53
With the exact same pick as his brother, Oscar McDonald found his way to Melbourne.
While McDonald seems to be the whipping boy for Dees fans when things go wrong, patience is needed with the 24-year-old.
He is a developing key defender who has already shown his worth as a third-round selection, and after carrying a heavy load in his first 75 games, will only improve with Steven May and Jake Lever by his side.
