MELBOURNE had pushed its chips into the middle of the table. The Demons were going all-in.

Still alive when a global pandemic brought the 2020 NAB AFLW season to an abrupt end, the club knew the campaign's premature conclusion couldn't stop it from reaching a cross-roads moment. The time had come to make a calculated gamble. Less than two years later, it is on the cusp of an historic maiden premiership.

Melbourne identified that its list at the time was good enough to at least challenge the competition's best. Its place in the 2020 season's preliminary finals was evidence of that. But doubts around whether it could take the next step nagged at the club's AFLW hierarchy, led by list manager Todd Patterson and coach Mick Stinear.

And so came the acceleration of a plan long debated. Having pondered all season whether to stick or twist, the Demons put their money where their mouth was. Within five months of the campaign being called off, six senior players were out the door and phase one of the side's plot to rebuild on the run was underway.

Harriet Cordner was traded to Richmond, Aliesha Newman to Collingwood, Bianca Jakobsson to St Kilda, Katherine Smith to Greater Western Sydney and Elise O'Dea and Maddy Guerin to Carlton. Headlines read 'fire sale at Melbourne' and questioned whether players wanted to be at the club. The reality, though, was far different.

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With expansion on the horizon, billed at the time for either 2021 or 2022, the Demons knew they had to strike while the iron was hot. Waiting another year would bring the risk of attempting to rebuild through a compromised expansion draft, and also brought the danger of wasting the prime years of players like Kate Hore and Lily Mithen, as well as the twilight years of important duo Daisy Pearce and Karen Paxman.

While drafting from a state-based model has its complexities, Melbourne's AFLW recruiting department took lessons from men's list manager Tim Limb and recruiting manager Jason Taylor – themselves both heavily involved in the women's program and eager to lend assistance where they can – in identifying the value of bringing in the right crop of young talent when possible. Patterson, having studied the upcoming group of youngsters intently throughout the recent COVID-19 shutdown period, knew that time was now.

So, the club laid its cards on the table. The plan was to get as many top-end draft picks as possible in return for their six outgoing players. The ultimate goal was to eventually land a top-three selection in the Victorian pool of the upcoming NAB AFLW Draft. The target from there was to be in with a shot at landing impressive 177cm Northern Knights forward Alyssa Bannan, a player Melbourne's recruiting team believed could add a new and important element to the side's attack. 

Slowly but surely, the pieces came together. The Demons secured four top-20 picks as a result of their aggressive trading, shifted two of those selections to the Cats in a pick-swap, and ultimately landed the third Victorian choice in the draft.

So, after Richmond took Ellie McKenzie with pick No.1 and the Western Bulldogs swooped on Jess Fitzgerald next, Bannan was a Demon. The teenager's 11 goals this year ranks behind only Tayla Harris and Pearce at Melbourne, while her defining haul of three majors in last week's narrow and thrilling preliminary final win over Brisbane almost justified the club's bold and brave decision in itself.

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But the leftovers from the previous month's dealings were hardly loose change, either. Melbourne still had picks No.9, 11 and 24 in the bank after bringing Bannan in and set about recruiting more players who could provide an instant impact. Eliza McNamara and Megan Fitzsimon have certainly done that this season, with both certainties to play important roles in Saturday's Grand Final. Maggie Caris, also drafted among that crop, is another seen with a big future at the club.

The plan hadn't just been limited to rebuilding through the draft, though. In recruiting Western Bulldogs star Libby Birch and popular Carlton forward Harris in the two years on either side of the club's 2020 overhaul, Melbourne had also brought in experience to complement an otherwise youthful new approach.

Both had been deemed on the outer at their previous clubs and subsequently came with an element of risk attached. But Stinear – renowned as a coach capable of bringing out the best in footballers as people away from the game, while eking out as much talent as possible from them on the field of play – was key to both their recruitment, and their ensuing success.

Pearce, captain of the club since its outset and arguably the most respected and influential figure in the game, was just as pivotal in ensuring both players would settle instantly at the club.

The addition of Liv Purcell also represented somewhat of a risk. Recovering from an ACL injury when she made the move from Geelong in exchange for a first-round pick on the eve of this season, the onballer was deemed young enough at 21 – and important enough courtesy of her aggressive nature in the midfield – to be worth the gamble. Again, it's another bet that has paid off.

Less than two years on, the culmination of Melbourne's successful rebuild has seen the club arrive at its maiden AFLW Grand Final against Adelaide on Saturday. It is seen as a pivotal moment, of course, but also the first in what the club believes has been a long-term vision from the outset.

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While the group of young, energetic talent brought into the club during the 2020 draft period is undoubtedly capable of lifting silverware this weekend, it is expected to only get better from here. The future, just as the present, is incredibly bright.