Bizarro World ... potential Melbourne recruits if the draft had gone differently. Source: AAP
Saturday will be a day of delight for the Dees. One huge flag fancy picking at the carcass of a side that has fallen off the proverbial cliff in front of a healthy MCG crowd.
Yep, fans from every club are looking forward to this one– and a quick glance around the ground makes it no surprise.
Nic Naitanui leaping high in the ruck against Ben McEvoy to kick things off will be a glorious sight.
| P | W | D | L | % | Pts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hawthorn | 12 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 143.00 | 44 |
| 2 | Geelong | 11 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 129.49 | 40 |
| 3 | Essendon | 12 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 131.57 | 36 |
| 4 | Sydney | 11 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 134.91 | 34 |
| 5 | Fremantle | 11 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 128.57 | 34 |
| 6 | Collingwood | 12 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 108.47 | 32 |
| 7 | Richmond | 11 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 114.27 | 28 |
| 8 | Carlton | 12 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 116.89 | 24 |
| 9 | Port Adelaide | 11 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 114.55 | 24 |
| 10 | West Coast | 12 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 111.53 | 24 |
| 11 | Adelaide | 12 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 103.55 | 20 |
| 12 | Gold Coast | 12 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 92.55 | 20 |
| 13 | North Melbourne | 11 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 111.13 | 16 |
| 14 | Bulldogs | 11 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 75.84 | 12 |
| 15 | Brisbane | 11 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 73.56 | 12 |
| 16 | St Kilda | 11 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 85.80 | 8 |
| 17 | Melbourne | 11 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 49.76 | 4 |
| 18 | Greater Western Sydney | 12 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 51.41 | 0 |
Should the superstar Demons ruckman let his athleticism get a hold of McEvoy it could get ugly for the Saints, with Patty Dangerfield, Scott Selwood and Nat Jones waiting at his feet.
All one of the gun Melbourne midfielders has to do is grab the footy, look up and it’ll be a smorgasbord of attacking power screaming for the chance to boot the opening goal.
Should the Dees go up the line and spot Chris Dawes? Or perhaps chip it to the side and back the run and carry of Dan Hannebery or Dustin Martin?
Maybe they can bomb long, where Sam Reid and Jack Darling will no doubt be lurking dangerously, with the devastating mix of speed, skill and poise that is Nat Fyfe and Lewis Jetta at their feet.
If there’s a blunder in the square and the Saints boot the ball clear - don’t fret. Surely the cool hands of Harry Taylor at centre half-back can quell any attack, before Dayne Beams can be unleashed to again drive the ball forward for the Dees.
Welcome to Bizarro World.
A planet where the Dees are a legitimate top-four contender and not an embattled club all too accustomed to 100-point demolitions.
Yes, Melbourne’s problems run deep - right to the core of the club - but let’s stop for a minute and skew their recruiting.
Without changing any trades or ladder placings, the side below is exactly the side that could run out against the Saints tomorrow should the club had drafted differently.
All we’ve done is substitute the players they took with players that were still available at each respective draft pick.
Yes, all clubs have their November horror stories - and a similar exercise could be conducted for every club. And the problem isn’t as simple as recruiting lapses for the red and the blue.
To make it fair, every pick from 2007 onwards has been overhauled, even if Melbourne got a couple right in Jack Grimes and Jeremy Howe. That excludes last year’s batch, which is too early to judge.
But, perhaps for a tease, imagine if this was Melbourne’s side today.
Oh, how different things would be.
ST KILDA v MELBOURNE
Saturday, 4.40pm, MCG
MELBOURNE
B: Colin Garland, James Frawley, Alex Johnson
HB: Dayne Beams, Harry Taylor, Colin Sylvia
C Gary Rohan, Scott Selwood, Dan Hannebery
HF Dustin Martin, Chris Dawes, Nat Fyfe
F Lewis Jetta, Jack Darling, Sam Reid
R Nic Naitanui, Nat Jones, Pat Dangerfield
I/C: Jack Newnes, Luke Parker, Mitch Clark
Sub: Aaron Davey
HOW WE GOT THERE
(Players they overlooked in capital letters. Players the Dees took in brackets.)
2011
JACK NEWNES (Rory Taggert)
TORY DICKSON (Josh Tynan)
2010
JACK DARLING (Lucas Cook*)
LUKE PARKER (Jeremy Howe)
JORDAN SCHRODER (Troy Davis)
ALEX JOHNSON (Tom McDonald)
2009
DUSTIN MARTIN (Tom Scully*)
GARY ROHAN (Jack Trengove)
LEWIS JETTA (Jordan Gysberts*)
NAT FYFE (Luke Tapscott)
SAM REID (Max Gawn)
2008
NIC NAITANUI (Jack Watts)
LUKE SHUEY (Sam Blease)
Any two of: DAVID ZAHARAKIS, DAYNE BEAMS, DAN HANNEBERY, RORY SLOANE (James Strauss) (Jamie Bennell*)
2007
PATRICK DANGERFIELD (Cale Morton*)
HARRY TAYLOR (Jack Grimes)
SCOTT SELWOOD (Addam Maric*)
*no longer at the Dees
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