Alice Springs product Ricky Mentha joins the Melbourne Demons

An Alice Springs talent who originally pursued basketball before making the full-time switch to footy has been named as Melbourne Demons latest rookie pick. Read about his journey.

Ricky Mentha playing for the NT Academy. Picture: AFLNT Media

Alice Springs product Ricky Mentha has become the latest Territorian to find his way on to an AFL list after being picked up by the Melbourne Demons.

The Pioneer Football Club junior was selected as a Category B rookie and becomes the first Centralian picked by the Demons in Next Generation Academy region.

Mentha’s talents have been lauded since he first took the field for the Eagles in the Central Australian Football League, and the small forward quickly progressed through the ranks

He moved to Melbourne earlier this year to further his draft hopes and in the process showed his stuff playing for the Gippsland Power, NT rep side and the Allies through the year.

His impressive performances earned him a spot in the Marsh AFL National Academy, where he played a key role through the 2024 AFL Marsh National Championships.

Ricky Mentha has been picked up as a rookie by the Melbourne Demons. Picture: Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images

Those performances secured Mentha a spot in the Under-18 Boys All-Australian team and put him in the Draft conversation and allowed him to showcase his skills at the 2024 Combine.

Mentha originally sought to make it in the basketball world, but his other passion in footy was where he found his passion and success.

The young gun who is known for his agility, goal sense and natural attacking instinct also showed his ability to play in the backline for Gippsland.

“I’m feeling very excited, it’s been awesome and I’m very happy to be selected by the Dees,” he said in an interview with the Demons.

“There wasn’t a lot of opportunities in Alice, so I made the move to Melbourne originally to try out basketball but footy somehow took over and it’s been all footy since.

“It was pretty hard moving because I barely knew anyone but my dad and brothers were down here and that’s helped keep me busy and comfortable.

“(Being with the Dees) was the best experience ever, I made some good connections and then meeting all the guys and seeing how professional they are was really cool experience.”