Should the AFL give North Melbourne a priority pick to accelerate their rebuild? Club great David King believes it should be on the table.
The Roos languish in 18th spot on the ladder having lost their last 12 games and appear certain to finish in the bottom four for a third straight year.
King believes accelerating the rebuild of perennially struggling clubs is in the best interest of the league.
“It’s okay to not give the Roos a priority pick, I’m not rusted on either way, but if you don’t, don’t whinge about the crowds not going to the footy next year because they’re underperforming,” he told SEN Breakfast.
“Don’t whinge about having to give financial assistance because the sponsorships are not there.
“This is what we’re talking about. Unless you give the fans something to watch, you become 1/18th of the business that’s underperforming and becomes a drain on the finances of the whole thing.
“We’ve always had priority picks and it annoys me because every team that has had success over the last 10 years has had a form of priority pick.
“I’ll give you some names of players who have been priority selections. Luke Shuey and Jack Darling. Jarryd Roughead and Xavier Ellis. Dale Thomas, Brett Deledio, Alex Rance, Adam Cooney, Ryan Griffen.
“They’re picks you can’t get wrong. What we did with Gold Coast giving them picks one and two a few years ago gives them a chance.”
The Kangaroos began their rebuild by delisting 11 players at the end of 2020, including the likes of Trent Dumont, Jamie Macmillan, Majak Daw, Mason Wood, Marley Williams, Ben Jacobs, Sam Durdin and Jasper Pittard.
However, King refutes the suggestion that North Melbourne has put themselves in this position, saying all rebuilding clubs choose to bottom out.
“No one has the answer. There’s no right or wrong way to build a list, but there’s no point building list that’s capped to finish 5th to 8th. That we know and we’ve seen a lot of those,” he said.
“So have the Kangaroos done the wrong thing? I saw a list of the players they’d delisted and I know you’re big on Trent Dumont … Mason Wood, are they going to be your guys that hang your hat on?
“I don’t mind if you don’t (want to give them a priority pick), but don’t whinge about the Kangaroos being 18th, 18th, 17th, 12th and 9th the last five years and saying ‘we’re not going to help them anymore, they’ve created this for themselves’.
“There’s not a rebuild that’s ever been done that the club didn’t create for themselves. This nonsense that you delisted too many players is ridiculous.
“Name me a rebuild that wasn’t caused by that club themselves.”
North Melbourne faces another enormous challenge on the weekend when they tackle Geelong at GMHBA Stadium.
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