AFL list changes: Jake Melksham, Taylor Duryea to be redrafted after delistings
Western Bulldogs and Melbourne have committed to redrafting veterans who were delisted in the latest round of list lodgements. Plus, a popular Saint has been cut.
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Melbourne veteran Jake Melksham will be redrafted after he was delisted by the Dees on Tuesday, as the Western Bulldogs promised to do the same with Taylor Duryea and Lachie McNeil.
The Dogs cut both Hayden Crozier and Roarke Smith earlier on Tuesday, leaving just Dominic Bedendo stuck without a contract.
Former Hawk Duryea and 42-gamer McNeil were promised slots on the playing list and will be picked up again during the drafting period in November.
Duryea crossed from Hawthorn before the 2019 season and has played 74 of his 192 career games at his second club.
Melksham tore his ACL in round 24 and will miss the start of the next season but was confident he was making progress and could make an impact earlier than expected in 2024.
He turned 32 in August but the forward was a crucial part of the Melbourne set-up before his untimely injury and the Demons promised they would select him in the rookie draft.
Crozier crossed to the Dogs from Fremantle at the end of the 2017 season and played 73 of his 142 AFL games with his second club, but featured just 19 times in the last three seasons.
He turns 30 in December and could hit the delisted free agency market as a rebounding defensive option.
A plantar fascia injury sidelined Smith this year and he didn’t add to the 47 games he played after being taken in the rookie draft way back in 2015.
Bulldogs list manager Sam Power said Smith and Crozier “always had a team-first attitude and would play any role required for the team”.
SAINTS DEFENDER MOVED ON
Tom Campbell’s remarkable journeyman career will carry on into a 13th season after the ruck was signed up for another year by St Kilda.
After the Saints delisted defender Tom Highmore, Campbell was locked in for 2024 to continue as a back up for star big man Rowan Marshall.
The Saints looked around the ruck market and have had interest in Port Adelaide’s Scott Lycett.
Winger Dan McKenzie remains the last Saint without a contract, after he battled consistent injury issues this year and flew to Germany after the season to settle his soft-tissue woes.
McKenzie is being given as much chance as possible to prove he will get over his body woes before the Saints make a final call for 2024.
In his 12 seasons so far in the AFL – firstly with the Western Bulldogs, then North Melbourne and now the Saints, Campbell has never played more than nine games in a season and has appeared in 56 matches.
He didn’t play a game in 2023 and just two in 2022 but has been beloved at his third club.
“I’m still as passionate as ever to contribute and can’t wait to get stuck into a big pre-season ahead of next year’s campaign,” Campbell said.
Highmore’s Saints career started brightly, when he made his debut in round 1, 2021, just months after he was taken by the club with the 45th pick in the draft.
But he played just 16 games in his career and didn’t play in 2023.
St Kilda footy boss David Misson said Highmore was “a popular member of our playing group”.
“It’s never nice leaving a player in an uncertain situation, and it has been a very difficult decision to come to,” he said.
PIES LEAVE DOOR AJAR FOR KELLY AFTER DELISTING
Jon Ralph
Collingwood has moved on chief executive Craig Kelly’s son Will after five seasons but has told him he can train with the club over summer in an attempt to win a summer rookie spot.
The Pies on Friday officially delisted key position swingman Kelly after only five games in as many seasons, capping a frustrating career summed up by a dislocated elbow while he was enjoying a bright debut in round 6, 2020.
Half forward Josh Carmichael and ruck-forward Nathan Kreuger have both signed new deals while 197cm tall Aiden Begg has also been offered a one-year deal for 2024.
Taylor Adams and Jack Ginnivan were both traded by the Pies, with Arlo Draper, Cooper Murley, Trey Ruscoe and Tom Wilson all delisted.
The Pies will enter 2024 believing they have improved their list after the acquisition of Fremantle’s exciting half forward Lachie Schultz.
But while they have picks 19, 33, 80, 98 in the national draft they have traded away their future first-rounder in the Schultz deal.
Collingwood football boss Graham Wright said the club was keen for Kelly to consider training across summer with the Pies.
“We thank Will for all that he has put in across five seasons with the Club,” Wright said.
“Unfortunately for Will, he has faced injury challenges that have kept him out of the AFL side, but his strong willpower and ability to develop through our VFL program should be commended.
“We have informed Will we will consider adding him as a train-on player over the pre-season if we have SSP spots available following the completion of the draft process in November.”
BOMBERS CUT MID-SEASON SUCCESS STORY
Josh Barnes
Essendon mid-season draft success Will Snelling has been cut, alongside developing forward Patrick Voss, as the Bombers shore up their 2024 list.
Snelling, 26, played 64 games after being taken in the 2019 mid-season draft and appeared 15 times in 2023 but was delisted on Wednesday.
He enjoyed his best season in 2021, playing 20 games, booting 12 goals and finishing third in the club’s best-and-fairest, as the Bombers played off in an elimination final.
Voss, 20, was taken in the 2021 rookie draft and was seen as a project forward but didn’t play an AFL game and couldn’t win another contract.
“They are both much loved throughout the club and we wish them all the best for their future endeavours,” Essendon list manager Adrian Dodoro said of the pair.
With the dual-delistings, Essendon only has 2023 mid-season draftee Jaiden Hunter waiting on a new deal.
This off-season Essendon traded out Massimo D’Ambrosio and Brandon Zerk-Thatcher, brought in Xavier Duursma from Port Adelaide and currently hold picks 9, 31, 35, 61 and 88 at next month’s draft.
Meanwhile, the Western Bulldogs have continued a revamp of its staff around coach Luke Beveridge, with former St Kilda captain Jarryn Geary joining the Dogs as a development and player leadership coach.
The Dogs recently locked in ex-Cats development head Matt Egan and former West Coast backline coach Daniel Pratt to a new-look coaching panel, with Geary on board now to work in development and with the leadership group.
Dogs football boss Chris Grant described Geary as “a person of immense character”.
INJURY-RIDDLED PREMIERSHIP DOG CUT
Premiership midfielder Toby McLean will have to hunt for a new home after being delisted by the Western Bulldogs.
Luckless for much of his career, which included two ACL ruptures, McLean played 102 games across eight seasons.
That included an 18 disposal, one goal effort in the 2016 grand final triumph.
But the skilful midfielder played just six games this year, two of which he started as the sub and another where he was subbed off.
Bulldogs list manager Sam Power said McLean was moved on “given the outcomes of the trade period to date and the future direction of the list”.
Blues axe top-10 draft pick
Lochie O’Brien has been delisted by Carlton after 66 games in six seasons.
Selected with pick 10 in the 2017 draft, O’Brien played 19 games in 2022 – his most in a season – but just six this year. The last came in round 12 when he had nine disposals against Melbourne.
The 23-year-old was cut on Friday along with Josh Honey and Sam Philp.
Honey played 17 games in four seasons at the Blues while Phil played two senior games.
“Lochie had six seasons at the football club and forged some great relationships during that time. He is a quality character which we know will hold him in good stead for what lies ahead,” list boss Nick Austin said.
“Josh and Sam’s capacity to keep fronting up in the midst of adversity throughout their four seasons at the Club is a great testament to their resilience, which was certainly appreciated by their teammates, coaches and entire football department.
“The club wishes all three players nothing but the best for the next chapter in their journey.”
The list changes follow the retirement of defender Lachie Plowman, who informed Carlton this week he was hanging up the boots after 145 games in 11 seasons.
Plowman was originally selected at pick 3 in the 2012 draft by the GWS Giants.
Ed Curnow announced his retirement before the end of the home-and-away season.
Originally published as AFL list changes: Jake Melksham, Taylor Duryea to be redrafted after delistings
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