Mark Neeld addresses Melbourne players during his time as the Demons’ coach in 2012-13. Photo: GETTY IMAGES

As the old proverb goes: “It’s an ill wind that blows nobody any good”, or, as we might say these days, there’s almost always some good in everything no matter how bad it seems. And in that spirit, let me present a defence of Mark Neeld’s time as coach of the Melbourne Football Club.

Almost anyone who was paying attention then knows that Neeld’s time as coach wrought havoc on the club, and probably on the man himself. Under his tutelage, the so-called Demons won just five of their 33 games.

This is even worse than the performance of the late Dennis Jones, who coached Melbourne in 1978 for five wins in 18 games. He was supposed to coach again in 1979, but at the end of that year, a dispirited Jones quit 12 months early saying: “I just want to fade out of football quietly”.

Neeld has faded out of the game too, but since the Demons have returned to premiership glory in the meantime, fans can be generous. Neeld’s last contribution to Melbourne – fans’ post-traumatic disorder notwithstanding – can be summed up in two words: “Jason Taylor”.

Neeld was recruited to the Demons from Collingwood, where he was an assistant under Mick Malthouse. Taylor was also at the Magpies for several years as part of the recruiting team. Simply, this is where Neeld served Melbourne best, astute enough to tip off the club and put Taylor on to the club’s radar.

To understand just what a profound contribution that was, consider Taylor’s record after moving across from the Magpies at the end of 2012.

He began with the skilled small defender Christian Salem in 2013 at pick nine, and followed that up with Jayden Hunt at pick 57. The following year, the Demons’ focus was on midfielders.

Now, anyone would have taken Christian Petracca at pick two after the Saints opted for Paddy McCartin, so no real kudos for Taylor there, but his next pick – Angus Brayshaw – nailed it.

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Having finished third in the Brownlow Medal playing as a midfielder, Brayshaw has shone as a winger and a defender. But the standard label “utility” does not do him justice: he is a football polymath. That is, he knows plenty about lots of different roles.

Later that same draft, Taylor added Alex Neal-Bullen, now an automatic selection for the reigning premier, to the list rebuild at pick 40. While the remaining selections of 2014 are no longer at the club, Billy Stretch and Oscar McDonald played a combined 133 games for the Demons.

Taylor promoted Clayton Oliver well ahead of expectations to snare him with pick four in 2015, but for major impact, consider his work at the 2017 national draft.

Charlie Spargo (pick 29), Bayley Fritsch (31) and Harrison Petty (37) is a fair day’s work. And this after Melbourne had traded out its first-round pick to obtain Jake Lever. Indeed, in this period Melbourne has regularly traded future draft picks for short term advantage and still worked its way back into the draft later.

That troupe was followed by two more of the premiership 23 in Tom Sparrow and James Jordon at picks 27 and 33 in 2018. Yet arguably Taylor’s best work was yet to come.

In 2019, he added Luke Jackson at pick three, surprised a few observers with the dynamic Kysaiah Pickett at pick 12, and completed a hat-trick with Trent Rivers at 32. To match that, he added Jake Bowey, a near instant fan favourite and team fixture, in 2020. And still unseen at senior level but much anticipated is Bailey Laurie, who was drafted alongside Bowey.

All this has come at a club that had acquired a reputation for squandering high draft picks as it battled through the dark times after Neale Daniher’s departure as coach midway through 2007.

Of course, Taylor does not work alone and he has his misses like any recruiter who, after all, is trying to do the impossible several times a year: predict the future. But Melbourne’s strike rate under him is strong and for that, Mark Neeld deserves some thanks. Whatever his ratings as a coach, he was a keen judge of judges.

Ian Munro is the author of ‘Between The Flags – Making Sense of 57 Years of Heartache’, about the Demons’ wilderness years and their return to glory in 2021. You can purchase the book at WWW.BETWEENTHEFLAGS57.COM.AU