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Draft the catalyst for Demons: Bailey
12:26 PM Wed 31 October, 2007 | Back
By Jennifer Witham
Exclusive to AFL BigPond Network
12:26 PM Wed 31 October, 2007 | Back
By Jennifer Witham
Exclusive to AFL BigPond Network
News
WHEN approaching the 2008 season, Melbourne coach Dean Bailey will remain encouraged by the rapid turnaround of this season's preliminary finalists when looking at how the Demons can rebound from their disappointing year.
Bailey, who crossed from Grand Finalists Port Adelaide at the end of this season, is basing his first pre-season at the club on the mentality of "anything can happen", following the rise Geelong, the Power, the Kangaroos and Collingwood showed in a mere 12-month period.
He also said he would take heart from the way the Power used the draft in order to secure young talent, with the Demons already increasing their chances of finding an emerging gem by trading Travis Johnstone to the Brisbane Lions for pick no.14.
"What Port Adelaide was able to do was through their drafting; they were able to get an opportunity with five or six of the eight that were drafted in one draft actually playing senior footy [this year], and those players had impact in games, won them games," Bailey said, at the Demons' first official pre-season hit-out at Junction Oval on Wednesday.
"We've got three picks, [four, 14 and 21], and we expect to see those players be given the opportunity to play AFL football next year. There's no reason that they can't.
"The turnaround aspect… I think if you look at the teams that played in the prelim, 10, 12 and 14 is where they finished last year and three of them played in the preliminary final.
"So again, there's a message there that everything is possible. The advantage those clubs had was that they started pre-season now. We've got to see that as an advantage.
"Whatever happened last year happened, but the facts are we start today and we're looking forward to building on and ensuring our fitness programs are the best they can be."
Bailey is already encouraged by the enthusiasm shown by the nine players, (Ricky Petterd, Chris Johnson, Clint Bartram, Matthew Bate, Brock McLean, Paul Wheatley, James Frawley, Michael Newton and Lynden Dunn), who embarked on the club's recent marketing trip to China.
"I spent the five days in China, which was fantastic, and got to know the nine young blokes we had overseas, which was really good for me," he said.
"I'm really impressed with their character. They seem to be very driven as well. The time I spent with Petterd and McLean really impressed me.
"In fact, most of the nine blokes were really keen to get on with the pre-season, get on with the first day of pre-season, and get on with building a career for themselves. As a coach, that really excites you.
"I think there are going to be players here that will see a new coach coming in as a chance to build another career, or extend an existing career.
"Really to some degree, they're all starting on the same sort of base, other than the perception or the advantage of watching them from outside.
"Hopefully, they'll all come in and be excited about putting their best foot forward to impress, not only me, but the new coaching staff and the new structure we have in place."
The recently-appointed coach said he does not believe the club is entering a "rebuilding" phase, and is more interested in developing the entire list rather than starting again from the ground up.
"I think at the moment, if you look at our structure, we've gone to two development coaches," he said.
"Kelly O'Donnell, who has great experience, he's been an AFL assistant coach, and Mark Williams is a triple Sandringham premiership coach, which in itself is a fantastic achievement.
"The development aspect and the development term should not be programmed or pushed just towards the young players. We have a list of 44 players and we are going to develop all players.
"The word "rebuild" suggests that you're going to accept a loss here or there in the rebuild. I've said before the greatest challenge you can put to the players is, don't put any limitations on them.
"If you do that, then they're excited about achieving something they may never have done before, and it starts today.
"The most important aspect is they come back fit, ready to go. We've had a lot of blokes who have had operations, and 2007 for me, the season finished when I got the job.
"I'm now looking forward to what we can do now with our new structure, and the challenge ahead is the new players that come in. We're looking at 10 players to come into the list, and that's almost a 25 per cent change in the list."
WHEN approaching the 2008 season, Melbourne coach Dean Bailey will remain encouraged by the rapid turnaround of this season's preliminary finalists when looking at how the Demons can rebound from their disappointing year.
Bailey, who crossed from Grand Finalists Port Adelaide at the end of this season, is basing his first pre-season at the club on the mentality of "anything can happen", following the rise Geelong, the Power, the Kangaroos and Collingwood showed in a mere 12-month period.
He also said he would take heart from the way the Power used the draft in order to secure young talent, with the Demons already increasing their chances of finding an emerging gem by trading Travis Johnstone to the Brisbane Lions for pick no.14.
"What Port Adelaide was able to do was through their drafting; they were able to get an opportunity with five or six of the eight that were drafted in one draft actually playing senior footy [this year], and those players had impact in games, won them games," Bailey said, at the Demons' first official pre-season hit-out at Junction Oval on Wednesday.
"We've got three picks, [four, 14 and 21], and we expect to see those players be given the opportunity to play AFL football next year. There's no reason that they can't.
"The turnaround aspect… I think if you look at the teams that played in the prelim, 10, 12 and 14 is where they finished last year and three of them played in the preliminary final.
"So again, there's a message there that everything is possible. The advantage those clubs had was that they started pre-season now. We've got to see that as an advantage.
"Whatever happened last year happened, but the facts are we start today and we're looking forward to building on and ensuring our fitness programs are the best they can be."
Bailey is already encouraged by the enthusiasm shown by the nine players, (Ricky Petterd, Chris Johnson, Clint Bartram, Matthew Bate, Brock McLean, Paul Wheatley, James Frawley, Michael Newton and Lynden Dunn), who embarked on the club's recent marketing trip to China.
"I spent the five days in China, which was fantastic, and got to know the nine young blokes we had overseas, which was really good for me," he said.
"I'm really impressed with their character. They seem to be very driven as well. The time I spent with Petterd and McLean really impressed me.
"In fact, most of the nine blokes were really keen to get on with the pre-season, get on with the first day of pre-season, and get on with building a career for themselves. As a coach, that really excites you.
"I think there are going to be players here that will see a new coach coming in as a chance to build another career, or extend an existing career.
"Really to some degree, they're all starting on the same sort of base, other than the perception or the advantage of watching them from outside.
"Hopefully, they'll all come in and be excited about putting their best foot forward to impress, not only me, but the new coaching staff and the new structure we have in place."
The recently-appointed coach said he does not believe the club is entering a "rebuilding" phase, and is more interested in developing the entire list rather than starting again from the ground up.
"I think at the moment, if you look at our structure, we've gone to two development coaches," he said.
"Kelly O'Donnell, who has great experience, he's been an AFL assistant coach, and Mark Williams is a triple Sandringham premiership coach, which in itself is a fantastic achievement.
"The development aspect and the development term should not be programmed or pushed just towards the young players. We have a list of 44 players and we are going to develop all players.
"The word "rebuild" suggests that you're going to accept a loss here or there in the rebuild. I've said before the greatest challenge you can put to the players is, don't put any limitations on them.
"If you do that, then they're excited about achieving something they may never have done before, and it starts today.
"The most important aspect is they come back fit, ready to go. We've had a lot of blokes who have had operations, and 2007 for me, the season finished when I got the job.
"I'm now looking forward to what we can do now with our new structure, and the challenge ahead is the new players that come in. We're looking at 10 players to come into the list, and that's almost a 25 per cent change in the list."
