North Melbourne’s slow rebuild could see it trade stars to stockpile high draft picks

North Melbourne concedes its rebuild has pushed out well into the future, with Brad Scott urging the club to select multiple first-round picks in coming years. So do they trade Ben Cunnington, Ben Brown or Robbie Tarrant to stockpile early picks?

Clubs would be lining up to secure Ben Brown if given the opportunity. Picture: Michael Klein

North Melbourne’s continuing rebuild could see the club trading some of its biggest stars as departing coach Brad Scott urged the club to hand its recruiters a stack of high draft picks.

Roos chairman Ben Buckley said on Sunday the club was still deep in its latest rebuild, with Scott happy to move on because he was not prepared for a long-term build.

Scott’s own presentation to the club’s board and list management group made it clear the list needed significant work to compete for a flag.

Buckley admitted the club’s horizon for its next period of sustained success had pushed out, even as the club secured established talent like Jared Polec, Dom Tyson, Aaron Hall and Jasper Pittard.

Having failed to secure high-profile free agents in recent years, the club’s clear path is to secure multiple draft picks in several drafts.

Clubs would be lining up to secure Ben Brown if given the opportunity. Picture: Michael Klein

It raises the possibility of the club moving on some of its most experienced players if trades can be made which maximise their talent.

Shaun Higgins is 31 and would have rival suitors if traded, Todd Goldstein and Robbie Tarrant are 30, Ben Cunnington is 27 and star forward Ben Brown is only 26.

Clearly some of those players are not in the club’s premiership window and could be used to secure extra draft picks in November’s national draft.

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Scott said the club had never stockpiled multiple high draft picks for a variety of reasons.

“I look at the way this industry works and the recruiters need more opportunity than they have in the past,” he said.

“In terms of our build we entered it on the back of a period of competitiveness but the downside is in the first three years we finished ninth, ninth and eighth.

“Then we finished in consecutive preliminary finals so our recruiters have had an incredibly tough time.

Shaun Higgins is still an elite midfielder. Picture: Michael Klein

“We haven’t in my entire time here had multiple first-round draft picks and it has never had a priority pick in its history. That makes it very difficult to build on the back of its competitiveness.”

Veteran Scott Thompson would seemingly be in his last year at 33 given the continuing rebuild, with interim coach Rhyce Shaw likely to play more kids who have been starved of chances.

Buckley admitted the rebuild was dragging on, with fans asking why the Roos couldn’t orchestrate a series of trades that kept their first-round pick and secured academy selection Tarryn Thomas for later selections.

“I think we are still to some extent in that rebuilding phase with what we set out from 2017 onwards” he said.

“Clearly at times it takes longer than you would expect. But when we had that conversation with the footy department and Brad, the time horizon might have shifted further out than we had originally planned and that was part of our decision we ultimately came to (to move on).”