Perspective and inspiration. They can come from so many sources. Often unexpectedly.

Melbourne key forward/defender Tom McDonald was interviewed on the ground post game having played his 200^th game last Sunday.

He was asked what was the proudest moment of his career. Rather than the expected response of playing in last year’s premiership, his answer focused on the resilience that was shown in the lean years.

The commitment to grind through those testing times when on average about 9000 fans turned out to the MCG for a Melbourne home game. When the standing joke in Victoria was that you knew it was finals time because the Range Rovers of the Dees fans were making their way to the ski fields.

There are no jokes about Melbourne now.

Last year the Dees broke a 65-year premiership drought by winning the flag in a memorable grand final at Optus Stadium. They joined the Western Bulldogs (2016) and Richmond (2017) of clubs breaking decades of disappointment.

There is no secret to their success. Aside from getting things together off-field, they have also had early access to the best talent through the AFL draft and capitalised.

Of course coaching expertise, internal drive, unity, belief and myriad other factors play a part, but there is no substitute for elite talent.

All three clubs figure prominently in the number of first round draft selections on their current playing lists, while the Dees and Bulldogs also boast high numbers of top 10 selections in their squads.

There is no doubt that selecting quality players when a club has access to top 10 selections is improved infinitely.

For clubs that find themselves playing finals consistently access to that talent is a rarity, with Hawthorn, Geelong and West Coast featuring prominently in the bottom portion of both tables.

They have been reasonably active through the trade period, finding ways to keep their teams in finals contention. For example the Eagles had Elliot Yeo, Jack Redden, Nathan Vardy, Josh Kennedy, Lewis Jetta, Jamie Cripps and Mark Hutchings, who began their careers elsewhere, as part of the 2018 premiership.

The Eagles are likely to get early selections at this year’s draft, which feeds back into the Tom McDonald interview last Sunday.

The rebuild has been underway for some time. The age profile of the list has not snuck up on the club, but it has been exacerbated by extraordinary circumstances in 2022.

Now it will be crucial to take advantage of a finishing position that looks likely to be in the bottom few at the draft table.