Gary Buckenara analyses North Melbourne’s list after the 2017 season
NORTH Melbourne got rid of four ageing guns at the end of 2016, but list guru GARY BUCKENARA says the Roos should have been even bolder and traded ruckman Todd Goldstein.
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NORTH Melbourne started the process at the end of 2016 to rebuild its list, but there is a long way to go before the club can get itself into a position to play finals and then challenge for a premiership.
The club invested in the draft last year by taking four picks — including three in the top 40 — at the national draft, and it needs to continue that trend for at least the next three years.
That means the 2017, 2018 and 2019 drafts will be crucial for the Kangaroos in setting up the club for the next 10-15 years.
It needs to take as many picks as it can and get as many high picks as it can to really capitalise.
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Rebuilding a list takes courage and bold and brave decisions.
List managers need to be brutally honest about what’s in front of them — is this list or are these players going to win us a premiership?
In my experience with Hawthorn, we decided the group we had in the early 2000s wasn’t going to win us a premiership, so we made the really tough decision to trade Trent Croad (and Luke McPharlin) to Fremantle for two early picks — 1 and 36 — that we invested in the draft and selected Luke Hodge and Sam Mitchell.
Nathan Thompson was another who wanted to be traded at the end of 2004 — it would have been easy for us to reject that request because he was a key player for us, but we decided to be brave and do a deal with North Melbourne for picks 10 and 26.
We on-traded that pick 10 to Collingwood in a deal for their pick 7 because we wanted Jordan Lewis and knew he wouldn’t be there at 10.
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Yes, the club struggled for a while — and we copped heaps from the supporters for doing it — but those are the types of brave decisions that need to be made in order to rebuild your club properly for sustained success — taking full advantage of the draft and banking early selections.
The Kangaroos started last year by moving on favourites sons Brent Harvey, Drew Petrie and Michael Firrito, while Nick Dal Santo also wasn’t given a contract.
But it should have gone one step further and traded Todd Goldstein while he still held good trade value.
The Kangaroos held on one year too long and his currency has now dropped because his form this year was really disappointing and a massive fall from grace after being the dominant ruckman of the competition only two years ago.
I hope he was carrying an injury he can get right and bounce back.
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I think the Kangaroos believed trading Goldstein would have got them a first-round draft pick, but it just won’t happen unless there is a massive turnaround.
The Kangaroos probably tested the waters to gauge what any interested clubs might be willing to pay, and I think they would have been shocked.
That’s probably why the club said during the trade period he won’t be traded.
So what player or players could the club be brave and trade for a high pick in the next year or so to fast-track the rebuild?
I’m struggling to find any — and that’s the big problem facing North Melbourne.
There are good players, yes, but where is the star power? Who are the matchwinners?
A lot of the players on the list are either young or at the end of their careers.
Shaun Higgins is a good example — he’s probably one of their best players, but he’s 30 in March.
A club wouldn’t give up their first pick for him at this stage of his career.
Ben Brown (25 in November) — who has re-signed until 2020 — and Robbie Tarrant (28) are probably the only candidates.
There simply hasn’t been a lot of structure or planning to the list management at North Melbourne.
Of the club’s young brigade I like Jy Simpkin — he’s a clever little player who did some really nice things at AFL level this year, but when I go through the list I think “who is going to be the next star?” and I can’t find one.
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Jack Ziebell is a very good player and a leader, Brown has really developed and become one of their best players, Ben Jacobs plays on heart and does a job but has been injured a lot, Shaun Atley is OK but he wastes the ball, Ben Cunnington is hard at it and a good honest player and Luke McDonald has shown signs but has his limitations.
Mason Wood has also shown signs but has been injured a lot, Taylor Garner has shown glimpses but is he going to be a star?
We haven’t seen much of Ben McKay as a potential key forward.
Are Ryan Clarke, Trent Dumont, Marley Williams, Nathan Hrovat, Kayne Turner, Garner, Jed Anderson, Majak Daw and Braydon Preuss going to win this club a premiership?
In other teams these guys are all C-grade or lower players, even depth players, but at North Melbourne they are seen as key pieces for the future — and that’s where the huge problem lies.
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If I did a breakdown of A, B and C-grade players and developing players it would look like this:
A: None
A to B-grade: Higgins, Ziebell, Brown
B: Cunnington, Thompson, Wright (just when fit), Tarrant, Waite
C: McDonald, Dumont, McDonald, Goldstein (on form), M. Williams, Hrovat, Turner, Garner, Atley, Jacobs, Swallow, Thomas (on form), Macmillan
Developing: Simpkin, Clarke, Wood, Anderson, Ahern, Durdin, McKay, Nielson, Preuss, Daw, Vickers-Willis, Hibberd, Watson, J. Williams, Larkey, Mountford, Zurhaar, Junker.
Clubs need at least 12-15 A and B-graders combined to be playing finals at the very least to then challenge for a premiership.
North has eight and three of those — Higgins, Jarrad Waite and Scott Thompson are at the end of their careers.
This list is in trouble, and I think the club might discover some of the kids that are on the list and have been there for the last few years are short of the mark.
The club has a huge amount of money in its salary cap, but can you really blame Dustin Martin and Josh Kelly for not wanting to go there?
This is not a destination club.
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WHAT THEY NEED
The Kangaroos need a bit of everything, such is the position they’re in, but the real deficiency is down back.
Thompson has one, maybe two years left as a maximum and that will leave Tarrant as the recognised key defender.
Sam Durdin and Daniel Nielson were trialled down back this year and Nick Larkey can play as a defender, but the club needs to draft at least another one or two key position players to develop and build depth in that area.
Outside pace with really good skills is an obvious need, as North Melbourne is actually pretty well off for inside grunt players.
What I’m talking about are wingers and rebound defenders who create, break the lines and have good endurance and kicking skills.
The club could also use a developing ruckman behind Goldstein, because Daw has been around for years and still can’t cement a spot, while Preuss is still raw and we don’t know yet if he’ll make it.
A dynamic small forward who applies pressure and has good goal sense is also a need.
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UNDER THE PUMP
Goldstein will be putting himself under pressure to regain his standing as one of the game’s best ruckmen and leave no doubt who is North’s No.1 big man.
What do they do with Andrew Swallow? He wanted a trade to Gold Coast, but that didn’t happen and there is talk he could be delisted despite having a contract so he can get to the Suns as a delisted free agent.
He’s a former captain of the club, but is he keeping a young player out of the team?
His level of performance has dropped away, so I would let him go if he really wanted to move to play with his brother.
He has been an outstanding servant of the Kangaroos, but the reality is he will most likely take the spot of a youngster coming through, so it would be best for both parties to part ways as he would most likely spend most of the year in the VFL.
Lindsay Thomas is in the same boat — it’s probably time for him to either look for a new club or be moved on.
Paul Ahern came in from Greater Western Sydney with a long-term knee injury and spent his first season at the club on the sidelines, but he’ll need to have a big pre-season and get his body right.
He has a history of not working hard enough and keeping fit despite having talent.
Nielson and Durdin need to stand up and become the key defenders of North Melbourne’s future.
They have been there long enough now and a decision needs to be made on whether these guys are the defenders in the next premiership team.
Daw is obviously under the pump again — as he has been for the past few years.
Can he put together consistent four quarter performance for two or more weeks in a row?
He’s never done that, and it’s a massive worry.
BUCKY’S LIST CHANGES
Lachie Hansen, Aaron Mullett, Corey Wagner and rookies Will Fordham and Matt Taylor have been delisted, while Sam Gibson wasn’t offered a new contract and was traded to Adelaide.
I’d also move on Thomas and Ed Vickers-Willis.
CRYSTAL BALL
North Melbourne is a long way away and there is a lot of work to be done.
Any future success will come down to how it recruits via the draft now and the decisions it makes on players in order to get the required top picks.
The club should look at what Carlton has done with its drafting in the past two or so years and implement a similar model.
It wouldn’t surprise me if the club is at least 10 years away from challenging for a premiership — and that’s if players it picks or has picked from the 2016, 2017, 2018 or 2019 drafts become genuine A grade stars.
Originally published as Gary Buckenara analyses North Melbourne’s list after the 2017 season
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