Melbourne lodges application for draft help

MELBOURNE has lodged an application for a priority pick, and a decision by the AFL Commission will be made on the day of the Brownlow Medal count.

MELBOURNE has lodged an application for a priority pick, and a decision by the AFL Commission will be made on the day of the Brownlow Medal count.

AFL football operations boss Mark Evans will take the application to the AFL executive before it is presented to the September 23 commission meeting.

It is understood a priority pick panel that includes talent manager Kevin Sheehan, general counsel Andrew Dillon and total player payments manager Ken Wood will make a recommendation.

Melbourne Report Card

The Demons believe they have a strong case for an extra pick before or after the first round of the national draft.

Evans told the Herald Sun an official submission had recently been made.

"An application has come through from Melbourne quite recently and that will need to be tabled before the commission at its September meeting," he said.

But as the AFL has total discretion and a new formula for assessing picks, the club's painful "tanking" history might be considered.

The AFL's new rules state "the decision will be based on the club's on-field performance in recent years and any other matter the commission regards as relevant."

That means rather than a set formula of games won in a season it can take into account anything it wants, including the $500,000 fine the club received in February.

The Demons dodged a charge of tanking but were fined after the league said the club "must bear ultimate responsibility for the conduct of (former coach Dean Bailey and football manager Chris Connolly)."

The AFL's new formula takes into account games won, finals played, and premierships won.

On that score the Demons would deserve an extra pick, although it would likely be contested by rival clubs.

Melbourne has won 34 of 154 games in the past seven years, but received a pre-draft priority pick (Tom Scully) in that time as well as a pick post-Round 1 (Sam Blease). Colin Sylvia (pick 3 in the 2003 national draft) was also a priority pick.

Collingwood had won 52 games in the five years before it got Dale Thomas as a priority selection in the 2005 draft, and West Coast 53 games before Luke Shuey (pick 18) was taken as a priority pick after the first round.

Club chiefs such as Collingwood's Eddie McGuire, Hawthorn's Andrew Newbold and Carlton's Stephen Kernahan have railed against the allocation of priority picks.

Ironically, all of those clubs have received priority picks in the past decade, with Luke Hodge, Xavier Ellis and Jarryd Roughead all priority selections for the Hawks.