Dees should give thanks as not losing draft picks is certainly a blessing

COMMENT: WHEN Melbourne is found guilty of manipulating matches and/or bringing the game into disrepute, and the penalties announced, it will feel aggrieved.

WHEN Melbourne is found guilty of manipulating matches and/or bringing the game into disrepute, and the penalties announced, it will feel aggrieved.

It should feel lucky.

That people such as Dean Bailey and Chris Connolly will be suspended from their jobs is distressing, and they might not let it rest so easily.

But not losing draft picks, the essence of building a football club, is certainly a blessing.

It's three years since Melbourne transgressed and after a seven-month investigation, the AFL's response would appear feeble. We await Melbourne's.

If the Dees were guilty of influencing the result of matches, then the AFL should have stripped the club of draft selections.

Let's hope it wasn't penalty by negotiation.

Both organisations talked tough through the investigation and its lead-up, but by its end both might have simply scratched each other's back.

A bit of, 'You don't take us to the Supreme Court, and we won't decimate your footy club'.

We don't know Melbourne's response, but you would expect president Don McLardy to come out blazing.

Despite widespread belief that the Demons are guilty, McLardy said the club would fight to clear its name.

In August 2012, he said: "I want to make it very clear that we will defend our club's integrity in the strongest fashion."

In December 2012, he said: "I can assure you we will use every resource available to defend the integrity of Melbourne Football Club in the strongest possible way."

The suggestion was the club would take Supreme Court action.

The AFL, which finally accepted tanking was an issue after former Melbourne player Brock McLean offered his opinion, has also been fierce in its determination to fully investigate the matter.

In August 2011, chief executive Andrew Demetriou said any coach who had admitted to manipulating the result of a game would "never work in football again".

"There would be an investigation into the club and there would be severe sanctions," he said.

In August 2012, he said: "If you adopt a mentality to manufacture an outcome that's going to get you a top pick, and (think) it's going to solve all your problems, then you are delusional and stupid.

"Any issue that involves the integrity of the code is something we should thump on the head."

In the same month Demetriou said: "Anything that affects the integrity of the competition, we put in that basket.

"Things like the salary cap ... performance-enhancing drugs ... things that relate to betting scandals, information sharing and, of course, tanking if that exists."

So, the AFL suspends Bailey and Connolly, penalises the club in the vicinity of $500,000 and lets Melbourne keep its draft picks.

Yep, I reckon the Dees will think they're lucky.