MELBOURNE has nixed any suggestion that it is still working on a deal involving its prized No.2 and No.3 picks at next month's NAB AFL National Draft.
Demons football manager Josh Mahoney told NAB Trade Radio on Wednesday that once it became clear that stars such as Adelaide's Patrick Dangerfield could not be lured to the club, the decision was made to hold on to the picks.
"It's not likely to happen," Mahoney said. "There are only a small number of players you would use them for.
"We went hard early, but once we were told 'no' then we decided to use the opportunity to bring in some high-end young talent into the club.
"There will be some good free agents this time next year and we will go hard at those," he said.
The Demons, who have brought Collingwood's Heritier Lumumba and Carlton's Jeff Garlett to the club, aren't finished trading just yet and will look to secure a deal to bring Greater Western Sydney defender Sam Frost to the club before the close of the trade period at 2pm on Thursday.
"He has developed well at GWS and if we can get a deal tomorrow that is a priority for us, otherwise we will use the pre-season draft to get him," Mahoney said.
The Demons are satisfied with their trading work to date, particularly in securing Lumumba, who was tied up in the three-way trade that resulted in former Demon Mitch Clark joining Geelong and sent Cat Travis Varcoe to Collingwood.
Mahoney said Lumumba would feature across half-back and also through the centre. "He's different to the other midfielders we have got. Other clubs have midfielders of his size and we can now match up with that.
"Both of these players fit in well with our list profile and the roles we need filled as well," he said.
Mahoney also confirmed that the Demons had no interest in either Adelaide's Jarryd Lyons or Geelong's Taylor Hunt.
Dockers power past Tigers to consolidate top-eight spot
The Dockers have charged past the Tigers at the MCG
Stream your team: Watch VFL, VFLW, SANFL and WAFL games LIVE and FREE
You can watch every game of the 2024 VFL, VFLW, SANFL and WAFL seasons LIVE on AFL.com.au and the AFL Live Official App
Return of the Mac: How tough love helped shape young Sun
After some tough and honest chats with Damien Hardwick over the summer, Mac Andrew got to work to prove to his new mentor that he belonged in Gold Coast's side
A flag, ban and trade: Jack's wild ride from anonymity to popularity
Jack Ginnivan has been on quite the ride on his way to 50 AFL games