Melbourne Demons president Brad Green on Clayton Oliver’s tears and what it would take to make a trade happen for Kysaiah Pickett

Pickett’s future

Pickett last week addressed persistent reports that he’d texted friends at Fremantle that he’d join them at the Dockers next year, conceding he was homesick at times. Green did not shut down the speculation.

“The Kozzy Pickett scenario, people will talk about that all year. I think we’re always about the player first. We love Kozzy as a teammate, he is such a lovable character around the place,” Green said.

“The thing that our members and supporters have got to know is if they (reports) come to fruition and he wants to go to Perth, then we’re going to be OK. He’s got three years on his contract, so we’re going to get two or three first round draft picks.

“So we either keep the player that we love and respect – and we want him to stay – but if for family reasons he wants to go back, that’s OK. Fremantle or West Coast or any other club can come up with three first round draft picks or he’s not going anywhere. I can tell you that – he’s not going anywhere unless we as a club get a deal we want.”

Oliver’s tears

The club ultimately refused to entertain a deal for Oliver to move to Geelong.

“We hold our players to a high account, and if we think that you’ve explored some options, but we don’t think that it’s viable for us, we’re going to hold you to your contract. We’re not going to let players walk out,” Green said.

He revealed the conversation that kept Oliver in red and blue.

Loading

“I rang Clarry around the time of the B[est] and F[airest night] and said, ‘This is the situation; you’re not going anywhere. Tonight I’m going up to give a speech and say to our members that our starting midfield for 2025 is going to be Petracca, Viney, Oliver and Gawn. OK?’ And he started getting all teary on me.

“I said ‘It’s OK, mate. I love you, I love having you around the club, you’re a four-time B and F winner, you’re going to go down as one of our champion players and hall of famer at our football club, and you’re going to be a big part of our future’.

“He said to me, ‘Please, don’t do that because the B and F night, it’s not about me, it’s about the guys that are going to get awarded for their individual seasons’. I said ‘No, Clarry, it’s not about you, but our members and supporters want to know we are committed in this place and this environment. And I’m just ringing you to say, ‘I love you. We love you and we’re going to move forward with that’.’ And he got off the phone and just said, ‘Love you, Greeny ’.”

Friendship, love and strength

At a pre-season Kumbaya session in Bright, the players came up with a mantra for the year: friendship, love and strength.

“They had their heart-to-heart conversations. They had probably 15-20 players sit around a room before the young boys came back and emotions got spoken about and how they love the club, but they had to first get some shit off the liver and have conversations.

“There’s nothing wrong with tough, hard conversations between each other.”

A new game plan

Loading

A review of the football department led to a change in the game plan, driven by players as much as coaches. There was frustration the team could get inside-50s but not score.

“He [Goodwin] wasn’t happy with any phase of the game: the way we defend, the way we move the ball, the way we attacked and the contest. People think we’re a contest team, but I think we went from first to eighth or ninth last year,” Green said.

“So we had to really strip it back. And I know they have stripped it back and really looked at the fundamentals on how they are going to perform.”

Proposed changes to the illicit drugs policy

Melbourne was challenged last year over an alleged drug culture when a former doctor at the club estimated a third of Melbourne players never touched drugs, a third were occasional recreational drug users and a third were regular users. Green said he was satisfied after his own internal inquires that the club’s issues were no greater or worse than other clubs.

The AFL has proposed changes that would tighten the illicit drugs policy. Green backed the existing model.

“I’ve been part of the medical model when I was playing, and there’s some serious stuff going on, not only with players, but with society about mental illness.

“Let’s look at it, let’s review it. But is being hard and fast the answer? I think the model that we have does catch and help players. Is it a deterrent? People are always going to challenge those things. Can we be harder on it? Maybe. But can we help and save players? Yes, in this model. I reckon if you go too far the other way, I reckon you’ll get less vulnerability in emotion and people being able to help.”

Loading

Caulfield development

Green is adamant a new home uniting administration and football at Caulfield racecourse will happen, despite the Demons needing to raise a further $70 million in funding.

“We’ve never had our administration, our football department, in one area. Never, and it’s a disaster. We need all those parties to be in one room because until you do that, you’re not one club. We’ll go from the worst facility in the league to the best straight away because we’ll keep Casey [Fields] and we’ll build this new facility,” he said.

Handing over the reins

Former Melbourne Cricket Club president Steven Smith recently joined the Demons’ board with a plan to take over the presidency at the end of this year.

“I’ve got a young family of a 14-year-old, 12-year-old and a 14-month-old. And I run my own business on top of it, so it’s fair workload,” Green said.

“I want stability and succession planning for Steve to take over and, potentially, once my boys finish school after three or four years, I take the presidency back over from him.”