If you’re a Melbourne supporter ... look away now, Demons draft bungles aplenty

AS JOSH Kelly danced atop a soaked Spotless Stadium last weekend, it was Melbourne fans who may have felt that familiar sinking feeling.

Melbourne star Jack Watts at training. Picture: Getty

AS JOSH Kelly danced atop a soaked Spotless Stadium last weekend, it was Melbourne fans who may have felt that familiar sinking feeling.

With players slipping and sliding around him, Kelly threaded two last-quarter goals — the second sealing victory for the GWS Giants against the Demons.

It was a mere glimpse of the midfielder’s class, but a glimpse that much of the talent industry says vindicates their belief that the Demons have committed another draft crime.

Melbourne stunned the football world last October when it struck a deal with GWS that included giving the Giants picks two and 20 in exchange for Dom Tyson and pick nine, which the Demons used on Christian Salem.

Tyson has made an immediate impact and Salem is yet to debut, but even before Kelly’s head-turning one-and-a-bit AFL games, industry sources were convinced Melbourne would long be haunted by its decision to overlook the Brighton Grammar prodigy.

“Oh, there’s no question they have made a mistake. Gee, it’s going to be nasty,” one recruiter told the Herald Sun this week.

Another said: “The talent industry was quite gobsmacked at the decision, to be honest.”

Melbourne star Jack Watts at training. Picture: Getty

In 2008 the Demons chose Jack Watts (pick No. 1) over Nic Naitanui (No. 2); in 2012 it was Jimmy Toumpas (No. 4) instead of Jack Viney’s mate Ollie Wines (No. 7). Throw in the likes of Lucas Cook (pick 12 — no games), Jordan Gysberts (pick 11 — 19 games) and Cale Morton (pick 4 — 76 games) and you have what a rival club official declared was an “ongoing” issue.

One talent spotter said overlooking Kelly, 19, could prove worse than the well-documented Watts-Naitanui decision.

“It will be a bigger blue. I mean, this guy (Kelly) is a natural player. Naitanui had a little bit of doubt and you can still see it with him to a certain degree ... but this guy has got it all,” he said.

“(Salem) will be a good player and Dom Tyson, don’t get me wrong, he might play 200 games. But (Kelly) has got everything that their list hasn’t got and that’s class.

“He’s an unbelievable talent ... a once-in-a-decade player. If they thought, ‘We’ll take Dom Tyson because Kelly is going to take a while to play’, I mean please, this kid is going to play 250-300 games.”

There is no criticism in recruiting circles of Tyson or Salem as players. Indeed, Tyson has added much-needed grunt at Melbourne, ranking 10th in the AFL for average disposals per game (29) and 11th for average contested possessions (13.3) in the first three rounds. Salem impressed in an early intra-club game and had 20 touches for Casey Scorpions in the VFL last weekend.

But there is a collective and overwhelming opinion among AFL recruiters that Kelly will be something special, with his Round 3 performance prompting Michael Voss to say he looked a future Brownlow medallist.

Demons recruit Dom Tyson in action. Picture: Wayne Ludbey

Melbourne’s belief was that little separated the midfielders at the pointy end of last year’s national draft.

“We think Josh (Kelly) will be a good player ... but there was a bit of conjecture,’’ coach Paul Roos said in November.

“We didn’t think those top four picks were as clear-cut as some believed. We effectively got two players for one ... for us to come out with Tyson and Salem is a really good result.”

As it was, Melbourne overlooked Kelly twice; once in 2012 when they opted for Jesse Hogan in the mini draft, and again last year after a standout performance at October’s draft combine. Kelly ran a 15.1 beep test, won the 3km time-trial in a blistering 9min 32 sec and finished top five in the repeated sprints.

“Melbourne is going to end up with two really good players as opposed to one star,” a recruiting official said.

“I could see what they were doing, but I was surprised. I thought Kelly, maybe aside from Jaeger O’Meara, was the best midfielder in the draft for probably the last five years.”

One recruiter said the Demons’ two-for-one attitude was a “flawed theory”.

“Let’s take the names out of it so it’s not personal — to move back from an elite position in the draft is fatally flawed. It was an absolute no-brainer for GWS,” he said.

So instantly enamoured were the Giants with Kelly that they signed him to a two-year contract extension after little more than a quarter of football against St Kilda in Round 2.

In trumpeting the trade back in October, Melbourne said it loved the fact Tyson could “come in and play straight away”.

The things is, Kelly isn’t exactly a long-term project.