TEN MINUTES after Melbourne announced Paul Roos as its latest messiah/senior coach on Friday, questions turned to the priority pick. 

Interim CEO Peter Jackson, a dogged character in Roos' words, was quick to present his case for Melbourne receiving an extra selection at this year's draft. 

Jackson's argument was based on the club winning just 34 games since 2007, a figure which places it on a par with Fitzroy's numbers between 1991-96 (31 wins), the fact the club has defeated just one top-eight team in that same period, and ended the 2013 season with a percentage of just 56.

This lack of competitiveness has diluted its appeal to members, sponsors and broadcasters. 

Bad luck, say other clubs, which argue Melbourne does not deserve the pick given the draft selections at its disposal in recent years:

2012: 3, 4, 13 and 26 (Jack Viney father-son)

2011: 12 (trade for Mitch Clark)

2010: 12

2009: 1 (priority selection), 2, 11, 18

2008: 1, 17 (priority selection), 18

2007: 4, 14

While the moral hazard argument is hard to deny, the Commission will be considering whether Melbourne needs the priority pick, rather than whether it deserves one. 

It clearly doesn't deserve one. 

But the competition as a product needs competitive teams so it might need one. 

Jackson's argument on Friday took a turn for the worse when he highlighted the efforts of Port Adelaide and Fremantle in losing to Melbourne before working their way from the bottom of the ladder to finals. 

What the CEO failed to say is that neither of those clubs needed a priority pick to claw their way to the top. 

The two clubs got the right people on board and fought. 

Melbourne should face the same challenge as those clubs and no-one, including the AFL Commission, should be seduced by Jackson's arguments, however persuasive they sound when said in haste. 

On Friday, Jackson asked reporters to research the club's record and make an assessment. The record is one thing; the circumstances surrounding that record make for a more compelling argument. 

The bunch of picks available to the club from 2007-12 enabled Melbourne to acquire Jesse Hogan, Jimmy Toumpas, Chris Dawes, Dom Barry, Viney, Clark, Lucas Cook, Tom Scully, Jack Trengove, Jordan Gysberts, Luke Tapscott, Jack Watts, Sam Blease, James Strauss, Cale Morton and Jack Grimes. 

Twelve of that 16 remain at the club. Most are unrealised talent. 

Melbourne's two wins this year came against a backdrop of instability, where it moved on senior players and retained others who were clearly unhappy.

It was also hit with injury to key players, and only courage kept James Frawley on the ground. 

It made long-term investments, selecting Jesse Hogan – the second-most talented 17-year-old in the country – in the mini-draft. 

Jimmy Toumpas was picked at No.4 despite the club knowing hip problems would stifle his performance in 2013, while Clark played just four games due to injury. Dawes managed 12 games and battled through injury. 

Jack Watts was unhappy and performed accordingly. One wonders what effect the burden the captaincy placed on Jack Trengove and Jack Grimes had on their performances. 

If Roos can't improve the team purely on that basis, he might not be as exciting a selection as he seems to be. 

While the club was found not guilty of tanking, the question of whether the club performed on its merits in 2009 remains, as Jackson said, the elephant in the room. 

The disconnect and lack of trust between the football department and the administration also filtered down to the playing group and affected its collective psyche. 

Roos joked about how useful a priority pick might be to help the club gain some immediate talent, but getting one clearly had not been a key to his thinking in returning as coach. 

"If we did get a priority pick … we'd be happy to put that back in the mix and maybe that helps the AFL make a decision: put that out to tender for like and say if anyone out there wants pick 1, give us a couple of good players," Roos said. 

The number two pick it already has in its hands – if traded, as Roos suggests it might be  – could put the club in the market for a player such as Greater Western Sydney's Taylor Adams, David Swallow from the Gold Coast Suns (who has another year left on his contract) or contracted West Coast Eagle Andrew Gaff. 

Melbourne needs to be successful and the competition needs to give it every chance to do so now that it is getting its house in order. 

But its performances in recent years make it an underperforming stock rather than a basket case. 

With Roos on board, it should be able to attract talent via trade or through free agency. 

This club needs to build its backbone. 

It has made a good start under Jackson. 

A priority pick would make it a charity case, less deserving of any success most hope soon comes its way. 

Jackson seems to think without a priority pick, success will be 10 times harder. Perhaps that is what the club still needs. 

After all, the worse it sounded, the more attractive the job as coach came to Roos. 

Jackson said righting Melbourne is something in which the entire competition has a vested interest. 

"The football club will provide a return to the whole industry. It's not just about the Melbourne football club and the parochialism of the Melbourne football club. It's a whole industry thing. We're a drag on the industry," Jackson said.  

But the League also has a vested interest in rewarding hard work and smart decision-making, not handouts. 

New coach Paul Roos says Melbourne is open to trading pick No. 2; who might the Demons chase? 

The club needs midfielders, and it would be smart to chase those in the 23 and under age bracket. 

Here are those that might be considered as part of a package:

Looks likely to return to Victoria and is attractive to Victorian clubs. Melbourne is keen on him, but until Roos arrived the Demons were hardly enticing. The Demons have competition, but pick no.2 would put them in the race and give the Giants something to on-sell for senior players. 

The Victorian is in contract, and while he has undoubted talent, he has shown this year that he struggles to break a hard tag. The departure of John Worsfold might be a circuit breaker for Gaff to consider his options outside Western Australia. Despite enquiries from the Demons about Scott Selwood, he is very happy at the Eagles. 

With Adelaide trying to trade higher up the draft, you can bet that a package of midfielders including the likes of Mackay or Vince would be thrown forward as an option. Rory Sloane, Patrick Dangerfield and Brad Crouch appear untouchable – why trade certain superstars for uncertainty? – but the others might be an option. 

Both risks, but have enormous upside. Melbourne needs some midfield mongrel and run through the middle. Roos is known to be a fan of running half-backs, so Yarran shapes as a possible target.