Demons happy to trade early picks
Less than 24 hours after Melbourne applied to the AFL for a priority draft pick, Demons coach Paul Roos declared all of the club's early selections would be up for trade at the end of the season.
The Demons asked the AFL for draft assistance on Monday as a result of their poor performances over the past eight years.
They have won just 38 of their 174 matches in that time and never finished higher than 12th.
Melbourne are 17th with two rounds remaining and on track to receive pick No.2.
St Kilda will receive the coveted No.1 selection unless they upset Richmond or Adelaide (away) in the next fortnight.
If free agent James Frawley quits the Demons at the end of the season, they could be handed another early selection, raising the prospect of them boasting three of the national draft's first four choices.
Melbourne traded pick No.2 last year to Greater Western Sydney for Dom Tyson and the ninth selection. They used that pick to land midfielder Christian Salem.
Roos said Melbourne would do whatever it took to improve their list and hoped other clubs would be more inclined to trade this year. "Definitely pick two will be on the table again, as it was last year," Roos said.
"I felt we got something out of it. The thing that hit me last year was I think teams didn't believe us that we'd trade it. Maybe they'll believe us now. But equally, I'd be happy to take it also.
"We just need to get our list better. If that means taking a young kid at pick two, fantastic. If it means trading it, fantastic. But we are all about improvement and finding any way to do that."
Roos said he understood why other clubs would be reticent to see the Demons given a priority selection. They have had 18 picks in the top 20 since 2003, but are still languishing.
The AFL rejected their application for a priority pick last year.
Melbourne will fly to Perth tonight for Saturday night's game against West Coast.
Having lost to GWS by 64 points on Sunday, Roos was desperate to rebuild players' confidence.
He said it was unlikely there would be wholesale changes.
"You hope it's more the one-off shocker," Roos said.
"I think most people would agree we've been really competitive throughout the course of the season.
"That's the difficulty I face - working together as a group and making sure we don't further erode their confidence."
