“Meaningless win” versus Harley Reid? Debate rages surrounding Roos result that may shape the decade
We’re only a month into the career of Harley Reid, but his projected excellence already has many wondering whether North Melbourne made a crucial error in Round 24 last year.
After West Coast defeated the Western Bulldogs the previous week, the Kangaroos entered the final week of the season in the box seat to secure the number one draft pick.
And not only would it be Pick 1, with Ben McKay set to leave in free agency, they would have controlled the top two selections in the draft.
However, the Roos defeated Gold Coast in Round 24, handing the top pick back to the Eagles and allowing them to draft Victorian product Reid, who was already the most hyped draftee in a long time.
Had North Melbourne lost to the Suns in Tasmania and secured the top two picks, they likely would have drafted Reid and Colby McKercher. They ultimately ended up with McKercher and Zane Duursma – who looks a handy player himself.
On the other hand, North’s win broke a 20-game losing streak – one that would be sitting at 26 right now otherwise. It’s hard to measure the impact of that on the playing group.
However, Reid’s projection as a superstar of the competition, coming off his starring performance against Richmond on the weekend, has many doubting the Roos’ decision, including Essendon great Matthew Lloyd.
“I’ve been adamant and against (tanking), but I think for one win versus catapulting your club up the ladder, I’ve never thought this way in my whole life until I’m seeing what Harley Reid is going to do for West Coast for the next 15 years,” Lloyd told Footy Classified.
SEN’s Andrew Gaze said similarly on Monday afternoon.
"I'm going to tell you what mattered..."@AndrewGaze10 outlines the win that could have cost North Melbourne dearly for the long term.#AFL pic.twitter.com/14u3qlbVXw
— Andy & Gazey (@TheRunHomeSEN) April 15, 2024
Garry Lyon and Tim Watson added their thoughts to the discussion on SEN Breakfast. Would Alastair Clarkson’s attempts to create a culture of winning be disrupted by one tainted loss or would the acquisition of Reid and a fresh year completely offset that?
Watson: “What Lloyd is saying is that North Melbourne should have tanked one game to secure the number one draft pick.”
Lyon: “Well, there’s nothing new in that. The pragmatic view is this – in all that North did and the narrative around that from Clarko was that they don’t win very often and winning culture will supersede getting Harley Reid.”
“Of course he’s got to say that, but in the cold, hard light of day, what’s more important?”
Watson: “As Lloyd explained, that meaningless win, that didn’t do anything for them really…”
Lyon: “He says meaningless, North Melbourne would say winning is a priority for this club because they haven’t done it for a while.”
Watson: “I think we spoke about it at the time and we applauded that stance, but right now when you look back on it and they’ve missed out on somebody who is a generational talent, did they make the right decision?”
Lyon: “I think in the end, tanking is the word that gets sexy, but he can play this team in such a way where winning isn’t at the forefront. This goes back to Melbourne. Now, the fundamental difference would be Melbourne would appear to have manipulated the results over such a long period of time to get draft picks that it affected the club and it’s capacity to develop culture and they paid for that.”
“One game? Would that be the end of the world? You’re going to get a player for 10 to 15 years that’s going to be potentially the best player in the competition at some stage. Pragmatically, you look at that and go of course it makes sense for them not to win.”
Watson: “The Roos beat the Suns in the final round of last season, did they make the right decision?”
Lyon: “I understand the counterargument and I suspect that you’d have to come up with a counterargument if you were the Kangaroos. ‘We don’t win, this club hasn’t won for a long time, we are not giving up the opportunity to experience winning and taking that into six months of pre-season’.”
Watson: “And it goes to the heart of what you were talking about and how difficult it is to build your list and elevate yourself in this competition.
“So when you do get the opportunity staring you in the face like they had last year, and we’re not just talking about another midfielder, anyone who has watched Harley Reid play will understand that he is an exceptional talent and a skillset that very few players come to the game with and it was always going to make a difference to whichever team he went to and they’ve passed up on that opportunity now.”
Lyon: “I love the fact that we don’t talk about tanking now. Back in the day … Melbourne and Carlton and Collingwood, I don’t care what anyone says, they all did it.”
Watson: “Of course they did.”
Lyon: “But, you go and look overseas now, clubs start tanking halfway through the year unashamedly.”
Reid was nominated for the AFL’s Rising Star award following his 27-disposal performance against Richmond on Sunday afternoon.
