Tanking to blame for Melbourne’s losing culture, says coach Paul Roos ahead of Round 20 clash with Hawthorn

MELBOURNE coach Paul Roos blames the club’s culture of losing on its past tanking controversies — and he won’t be following suit.

AFL Round 19- Melbourne v Brisbane Lions at Etihad Stadium. Coach Paul Roos.. 3rd August 2014. Picture : Colleen Petch

MELBOURNE coach Paul Roos blames the club’s culture of losing on its past tanking controversies — and he won’t be following suit.

Roos acknowledged some Demons players remaining from 2009 appear to be scarred from those experiences and must overcome them before the club can take further strides forward.

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In the wake of Sunday’s embarrassing fade-out against Brisbane, he dismissed suggestions he would ever consider a similar strategy, saying no club would now be willing to risk creating a losing habit for the sake of better draft picks.

“What I will say is that tanking has put the club where it is,” a blunt Roos said yesterday. “I will put that fairly and squarely on the map.”

“If we want to be in the same position in eight years, then I will tank, because now seven years down the path, we have not recovered from that era.

“If someone thinks I am going to put them in a position to be in the same spot in another eight years, then they are crazy.”

Paul Roos urges his players on. Picture: Colleen Petch

The AFL launched an investigation into the Melbourne Football Club two years ago over allegations that the club tried to secure a priority draft pick by not playing to its potential during stages of the 2009 season.

It came after former Demon and now Blue Brock McLean revealed he had requested a trade at the end of 2009 because of his dissatisfaction with the club’s match-day strategies. Roos was then a panellist with On The Couch, where McLean made his claims.

Melbourne was later found not guilty of “tanking”, but still fined $500,000. Two officials — the late Dean Bailey, who was senior coach at the time, and then general manager of football Chris Connolly — were suspended for “acting in a manner prejudicial to the interests of the competition.”

Then AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou had long insisted that tanking had never occurred.

While Roos insisted players always tried to win matches, he said several clubs — not only Melbourne — were not always doing their utmost to win in terms of management, selection and strategy.

“Let’s be honest, (Melbourne) wasn’t the only club doing it,” he said. “I don’t believe anyone in footy believes that to be the case, with the incentive that was there.

“As an opposition coach (with Sydney then) and being involved in footy, do you blame the Melbourne Football Club? I didn’t at the time.

“I think it was compounded at the time by some people saying there was no way it was happening.

“The carrot was there. We all know that teams were playing for ladder positions in the reverse order. Is it tanking? Is it strategy? Is it good management?

“I think half the footy world thought it was good management, including myself.”

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Roos said the failed Melbourne example meant it was unlikely to ever happen again.

“The positive is where we are at as a club now is that other clubs will look and say ‘Is the risk worth it to teach your team to lose?’,” he said.

“Teams really want to set good habits and want their young guys to come in and play well, so I think this year you’re going to have a really fierce competition to the end, which is terrific.

“I didn’t know what Brock McLean was going to say. It was quite confronting when he said it.

“Clearly, if it had an impact on him., it must have had an impact on the club generally, (and) a lot of the players (from that time) are still here.”

While he believes Melbourne has improved significantly this season, despite only winning four games, he says the players still needed to get rid of the shackles of the past.

“I feel guilty for what has happened in the past. I feel that burden,” he said.

He said the gap between the Demons’ best and worst had narrowed, but within games, sometimes there are still too many fluctuations.

Melbourne meets Hawthorn on Saturday, with Roos saying it provided his young team with a challenge to remain more consistent for longer.

Originally published as Tanking to blame for Melbourne’s losing culture, says coach Paul Roos ahead of Round 20 clash with Hawthorn