Get Kayo now ><\/a><\/p>\nMartin won three consecutive club champion awards for East Fremantle in the late 1990s \u2013 including during the Sharks\u2019 1998 WAFL premiership year \u2013 while he also recorded back-to-back top-five finishes in the Sandover Medal. He added another best-and-fairest award in 2000 during his three-year stint with Glenelg in the SANFL.<\/p>\n
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Prior to that, Martin also won the 1995 Norm Goss Medal when his Springvale side defeated Sandringham in the VFA grand final.<\/p>\n
So when 18-year-old Heath got the call-up to play for Claremont\u2019s WAFL league side this year, he had no shortage of advice. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s always been big on my footy and helped me out, especially from a young age,\u201d Mellody told foxfooty.com.au of his dad.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe played a bit of WAFL footy as well, so he was able to help me navigate that, which has been good. <\/p>\n
Martin Mellody back in 2001 \u2014 the Glenelg footballer and teacher.Source: News Limited<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was a good state-league player \u2026 He is pretty humble, but he does bring it up just to humble us sometimes, which is funny.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mellody averaged 19.7 disposals across six WAFL games with the Tigers, culminating in a grand final appearance against Peel Thunder at Optus Stadium.<\/p>\n
He said \u201ceverything clicked\u201d in his second match, when he collected 34 disposals and laid 10 tackles in a win over West Coast\u2019s reserves.<\/p>\n
\u201cI loved it (the WAFL experience),\u201d Mellody said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was so much fun playing with them. But it was definitely a step up; bigger bodies and a faster game. It took a little bit of time to adjust.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy first game was pretty average, I reckon, but from there I feel like I adjusted to how the game is played, and that resulted in me playing better, I think.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo go deep into the finals and play in a grand final with the football club was so good. It\u2019s something I\u2019ll remember forever.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mellody\u2019s performances at the national championships further strengthened his draft credentials, with a positional shift helping unlock his potential as a midfielder.<\/p>\n
Previously deployed mostly at half-back, the damaging ball-user was thrust into the midfield after half-time against Vic Country in WA\u2019s third game of the carnival. He helped inspire an epic comeback victory at Marvel Stadium before starring in a losing cause against the Allies five days later, impressing with his attack on the ball and ability to get from contest to contest.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce I got my opportunity (in the midfield), I didn\u2019t want to waste it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Heath Mellody of Western Australia. Picture: Janelle St Pierre\/AFL Photos\/via Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Mellody finished as the carnival\u2019s No.1 ball-winner, averaging 28.2 disposals, 6.2 score involvements and 5.0 marks. He claimed the Larke Medal as the carnival\u2019s best player, won WA\u2019s MVP award and was named All-Australian captain.<\/p>\n
The midfield move was a return to familiar territory for Mellody, who had played there throughout much of his junior career.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve played midfield pretty much my whole life, and it was good to go in there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m probably a little more comfortable playing an inside midfield role. I got a bit of experience playing inside in trial games and that kind of thing. I was originally going to play a little bit there in the first two champs games, but it didn\u2019t eventuate in the end.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was good to get that opportunity in the Vic Country game and play well there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mellody admitted playing as a defender had sometimes felt unnatural, but said the experience had helped make him a more well-rounded player.<\/p>\n
\u201cOver the last few years, I\u2019ve probably played more half-back and wing than inside, but I\u2019ve always felt a lot more natural going inside and playing there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like that showed throughout the champs and post-champs, when I got an opportunity in the midfield and ended up playing relatively well. (As a midfielder) I was getting forward, getting back and impacting in both areas. Playing half-back, I was probably a little tentative to push forward, I guess.<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt a lot more free playing a midfield role; I felt like I knew what I was doing a lot of the time, whereas at half-back there was some uncertainty. Still, I\u2019ve gained a good understanding and am able to play there (in defence) as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
‘Compromised’ draft to cause chaos? | 05:44<\/p>\n
It has been a remarkable year for the versatile Mellody, who can impact as an inside-outside midfielder as well as a rebounding half-back or winger.<\/p>\n
He became WA\u2019s first Larke Medallist since 2019, joining an esteemed group of winners that includes Will Ashcroft, Sam Walsh and Christian Petracca.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s super special. All those players are superstars in the game now, and watching them is really cool,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo be part of that group who have won, I\u2019m just so grateful for it. It doesn\u2019t feel real, to be honest, and it still hasn\u2019t really set in.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose names are special and give me so much confidence to hopefully get onto an AFL list and play well there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mellody has idolised and studied Brownlow medallists Nat Fyfe and Nick Daicos, but some of his most enduring lessons have come from closer to home.<\/p>\n
Martin remains committed to his fitness, regularly hitting the gym, running and riding his bike.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s in really good nick for a 57-year-old,\u201d Mellody said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s always at the gym. He actually had a hip resurfacing over Christmas, so he was out for maybe six months, but he was able to maintain a good physique through that.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s set a good example for us to maintain ourselves when we get older.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mellody describes himself as a \u201crunning, outside player\u201d and knows there is still work to do to prepare for the rigours of AFL football.<\/p>\n
He said he was \u201ca bit of a later developer\u201d, but had added around 10kg over the past year. While mentally ready for the step up, he acknowledged he would need more time to build his body.<\/p>\n
Heath Mellody poses during the AFL Draft Combine Headshot Session. Picture: Graham Denholm\/AFL Photos via Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d definitely need a pre-season to put on a bit of size and muscle,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Mellody has also been working to improve the contested side of his game, particularly his ability to compete against bigger-bodied opponents.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve tried to increase my (impact in) the contested area, but I\u2019m a bit more of an outside runner who uses his skills well, which is what I pride myself on,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn pre-season, I got to the midfield coaches and worked on bodywork and things around that. I\u2019m not the biggest bloke out there \u2013 I don\u2019t want to engage in too much of a wrestle \u2013 so I\u2019ve been working on how to work my way around that, and the coaches give me pointers on what to do.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat really helped, and getting experience in there was also really good.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite trying to avoid this year\u2019s draft speculation, Mellody is expected to hear his name called early on November 19, with multiple sources telling foxfooty.com.au they expect him to be selected by West Coast at Pick 3 or earlier.<\/p>\n
His character, self-belief, football ability and athletic traits have also put him in contention for Essendon\u2019s Pick 1 and Richmond\u2019s Pick 2.<\/p>\n
For a player who once followed the journeys of future AFL stars from afar, the prospect of joining them is beginning to feel real.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe draft\u2019s always been a thing that\u2019s (felt like) a while away, or probably not in the picture for a little bit. But it\u2019s kind of kicking in now,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m super excited. It does come with a bit of nerves and uncertainty, but I\u2019m super keen and hopefully I can just get picked up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Heath Mellody of Western Australia. Picture: Janelle St Pierre\/AFL Photos\/via Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images<\/p>\n
As a youngster, Mellody vividly remembers watching YouTube videos documenting the journeys of Sam Walsh, the King brothers and Jack Bytel as they pursued their AFL dreams.<\/p>\n
Inspired by those stories, he would tag along when his dad went to the gym, \u201cjust running up and back\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s pretty funny \u2014 I used to practice for Combines, even though I wasn\u2019t doing anything. He\u2019d go to the gym and I\u2019d (be) pretending to do a yo-yo test or something,\u201d Mellody said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was always trying to work alongside him, and we\u2019d always go for kicks and that sort of thing.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s someone I\u2019ve really learnt a lot from and has been really good for my footy.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Before Heath Mellody became a top-five draft prospect, he was a youngster tagging along to the gym with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":938481,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-938480","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/938480","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=938480"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/938480\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/938481"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=938480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=938480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=938480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}