NATIONAL recruiting manager Jason Taylor says it was an easy decision in the end to select young gun midfielder Christian Salem with its first pick in the NAB AFL Draft.
The Demons took Salem at No.9, with much pre-draft talk focused on whether the Dees would take him or his Sandringham Dragons teammate Nathan Freeman. But Taylor said Melbourne had Salem in their sights for a long time.
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Draft recap with Paul Roos
Draft recap with Jason Taylor
Pick 9: Christian Salem interview | Highlights
Pick 40: Jay Kennedy-Harris highlights
Pick 57: Jayden Hunt highlights
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“It was reasonably easy to pick him. We were reasonably keen to pick Christian. We rate him highly and he’s got a really good footy skill set and he’s an outstanding character,” he told melbournefc.com.au.
“He’s got enormous upside in him. He ticked the boxes in his endurance running in his testing … there’s not a lot of areas of the game that he doesn’t do well, so we’re pleased to get him.”
Taylor said the Demons were delighted to snare small forward Jay Kennedy-Harris, who was highly-rated by the club all season.
“Along with the midfield, the area we needed to try and address [was] a small pressure forward and Jay really brings that,” he said.
“He’s an extremely hard running player for his age, like not many I’ve seen before really. He’s a really good character and has got some speed, and we just need a player like that. We really haven’t got a lot in that area. He’s going to take some time to come on.”
“I think most clubs probably get players they rate a bit higher – and it’s all in the eye of the beholder, but we’re really pleased to get Jay because we think he brings a lot of the stuff that we just need to keep adding to the footy club. The way he goes about his footy, his work rate and his character – we’re fortunate to get him at pick 40.”
Taylor acknowledged Jayden Hunt, who was taken with Melbourne’s final pick at No.57 was somewhat of a smoky, but he was particularly impressed by what he had seen.
“We’d seen him in a school game and our scouts go to school games and he was brought to our attention. He then played in the APS v AGS [representative] game and played pretty well in that. He’s fairly eye-catching in some of the stuff he does,” he said.
“He was then invited to play in the young guns game (a representative game for draft prospects), which was played towards the end of the year … and again he did some eye-catching stuff there.
“We did some research behind Jayden … at the end of the day, he is pretty raw, but in all the evidence that we gathered, we feel that with time and the strong development program we’ve got in place that we might be able to have something there.”
Given the Demons added five midfielders via the trade and free agency period, plus three youngsters via the NAB AFL Draft, in summarising Taylor said the club had achieved what it wanted so far.
“We’ve liked Christian for a long time. We think he’s a midfielder that can add a bit of class and a bit of aggression to our mix, so we were really pleased to get him with our first pick,” he said.
“Then along with Jay Kennedy-Harris, it’s an area of the ground we need to add to as well, with that small pressure forward. We’re pleased with that.
“And then to bring in Jayden Hunt, who is a young guy and is reasonably raw – he’s only had exposure at school football this year – but he brings some genuine speed and good height at 187cm.
“To add to what we’ve been able to bring in through the trade period – and there is a long way to go and this all has to play out – but right at this point in time, we’re pleased.”
Taylor, who was at the helm of his first draft for Melbourne, said it was a great experience, although he was a little nervous early.
“It was a little bit nerve-racking to start with to be honest. When we got under way, it was pretty good, but I had to make sure I had a good strong loud voice to read the numbers out,” he said.
“We are pleased with how it panned out.”
