Things were so dire at Melbourne in 2009 that players were asked to buy and bring their own footballs to training.

Between 2007 and 2015, the Demons never finished higher than 12th, won two consecutive wooden spoons, and finished in the bottom three a grim five times.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Inside Melbourne’s most dire period in recent memory.

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Sam Blease walked into the club right in the midst of that period when he was taken with pick No.17 in the 2008 draft, the same year the Demons took Jack Watts with the No.1 pick.

Blease played 33 games across his six years at Melbourne before adding one more for Geelong in 2015.

Recalling his introduction to the AFL system, Blease said “it was pretty awful”.

“I think even in our first year, we were paying for our footies, that’s how dire it was with our financial position at the footy club,” he told What Could’ve Been.

“They’d take $150 out of your pay for the footies and you had to take them home. Every player was (paying for them), and we’d have our numbers on them.

“Not a lot of people probably know that.

“And if you lost it, you had to pay for another one.

“This is what we were dealing with.”

Listen to What Could’ve Been with Sam Blease below, or subscribe on Spotify, Apple, or watch on YouTube.

But the 34-year-old, who retired due to concussion in 2015, said he still looked back on it with fond memories.

“The thing is, we go into this not knowing (anything different); that’s what we know. You don’t know what it’s like to be somewhere else,” he said.

“I got drafted from Eastern Ranges with Liam Shiels; I think he played in three flags, I think I played in three wins.

“But it all happens for a reason, right? You can’t pick and choose. You go into that knowing that’s all you know.

“But going back to the draft, that was a really special thing.

“It’s just such a cool day. When you’re at the draft and waiting for your name to get called out.

“Typically you sort of know the top 20.

“I think I met with every club but Essendon and Carlton leading into the draft, so I sort of had a bit of an idea where I was going.”