Melbourne’s struggles unpacked: How the Demons missed out on Ben King, is Joe Daniher the answer?
When’s the last time Angus Brayshaw hit someone lace-out coming out through the middle? Or Jack Viney or Clayton Oliver? This is one of Melbourne’s many problems, according to Mick McGuane.
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Melbourne will confront the painful price of the Steven May trade when it plays Gold Coast on Saturday – boom key forward Ben King.
The Demons traded away pick No.6 in the 2018 super draft for Suns co-captain May, 28, and Kade Kolodashnij in the hope the fullback would be the missing piece in their premiership puzzle.
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While May was arguably the club’s best player in his eight games last year, Koldoashnij has not played since Round 3 last year due to career-threatening concussion problems.
The Suns used the No.6 draft pick to secure the 202cm King, who after 19 games looks set to take the AFL by storm.
The moves to overlook King and trade out Jesse Hogan has left the Demons with a malfunctioning forward line which has gone backwards this season.
The Demons have the worst forward 50m conversion rate in the league and their main target, Tom McDonald, has kicked only four goals in four games.
It means Melbourne is expected to make enquiries about Essendon free agent Joe Daniher to see if he would be interested in making a move across town at season’s end.
The athletic Daniher looms as the perfect fit for the Demons to bolster their forward line if he can overcome his debilitating groin injuries.
The Dees don’t have a first-round draft pick this year – they used it to nab Kysaiah Pickett last year – but could land Daniher for nothing as a free agent.
Sam Weideman and Mitch Brown are Melbourne’s back-up key talls who will come into the selection frame for Saturday night’s clash against the up-and-coming Gold Coast.
The Suns’ prized spearhead King booted three goals against dual best-and-fairest winner Mark Blicavs on Saturday, which included a nimble gather and kick from the goalsquare and a launch on the run from 55m.
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The Demons received the golden selection in a draft that also produced Max King, Sam Walsh and Connor Rozee after parting with troubled goal kicker Hogan.
King signed a lucrative $550,000 a year contract extension at Gold Coast last year despite strong interest from the Bulldogs and St Kilda, which wanted to combine the twin brothers at Moorabbin.
While Western Bulldogs were thrilled to draft Bailey Smith at No.7, King was such an obvious choice that even they had him ranked above the midfielder of their dreams.
Dogs list boss Sam Power was able to secure bookends Josh Bruce and Alex Keath without relinquishing a top-20 pick last year.
But Melbourne handed over No.6 for May and No.10 and 19 in a trade for Lever.
Analyst David King was bemused that the Demons had allocated so much of their salary cap to the back half when world sports are traditionally won by superstars who impact the scoreboard, such as strikers in soccer.
May and Lever, who missed a year after suffering another knee reconstruction midway through 2018, have gobbled up more than 10 per cent of the Dees’ cap.
MCGUANE: PETRACCA CAN’T DO IT ALONE
Melbourne’s hard nut midfield desperately lacks polish and needs an injection of class to complement coach Simon Goodwin’s young bulls.
News Corp analyst Mick McGuane said Christian Petracca was the only damaging playmaker who could be trusted to hit forward targets.
McGuane said the club needed a player in the mould of silky ball users Scott Pendlebury, Josh Kelly and Luke Shuey.
The Demons famously passed on the chance to draft Kelly by trading pick No.2 (Kelly) for No.9 (Christian Salem), No.53 (Jayden Hunt) and Dom Tyson (now at North Melbourne) in 2013.
SOURCE: Champion Data
Hunt, 25, has had just six kicks in the past two weeks and could be dropped.
Melbourne recorded the worst-ever forward conversion rate last season but is on track to break that unwanted record after a terrible start to 2020.
The Demons scored from just 38.2 per cent of their inside 50s last year but that figure has plummeted to 32.2 per cent this year, according to Champion Data.
The AFL average is 41.3 per cent. The 1-3 Demons are averaging just 12.5 points per quarter and are yet to kick nine goals in a game.
McGuane said their midfield lacked balance.
“They’ve got a lot of bulls that can hunt the footy – (Angus) Brayshaw, (Jack) Viney, Nathan Jones when he’s in the team, (Clayton) Oliver – but have they got a ball user above Petracca that sees and scans the ground really well and can execute?” McGuane said yesterday.
“I’ve always felt a really talented midfielder with ball in hand will see options others don’t. Petracca can’t do it alone.
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“When’s the last time Angus Brayshaw hit someone lace-out coming out through the middle? When did Jack Viney hit someone lace-out coming through the middle?
“Clayton Oliver tried it in the dying minutes (against Richmond) and couldn’t even hit a short 45. His handball-to-kick ratio is out of whack for a player who can carry the footy.
“Who is that player you’d honestly say, ‘I’m worried when he gets the ball because usually something productive happens’.
“Salem appears to be a good kick, but even he doesn’t hit enough targets. Can he be more a centre-forward player and get that money kick right?”
McGuane couldn’t understand why the Demons were trying to play a territory game while lacking connection between their midfielders and forwards.
He expected recycled utility Mitch Brown to play against Gold Coast on Saturday because of his “footy IQ” as a key forward, with Sam Weideman “stuck in the wilderness”.
“Why is it that (Weideman) can’t develop? They’re aching for a key forward that can be the No.1 like (Jesse) Hogan was, which will allow Tom McDonald to be the No.2,” McGuane said.
“Right now their pecking order is out of whack. They’re definitely in need of a key forward.
“But when it comes down to it (Brown) could get into the best spots in the world, but if the midfield aren’t creative enough to find the best option then Jesus Christ won’t help their cause.”
FANS FRUSTRATED: TIME FOR GOODWIN TO PLAY BENNELL
Melbourne will come under intense pressure to include Harley Bennell in its forward line revamp as the Demons hit home base Manly without nine listed players.
The Demons flew out for Sydney and a clash against Gold Coast at Giants Stadium on Saturday night aware they are running out of time to turn their season around.
Demons players including Jack Viney, Jake Lever, Tom McDonald, Nathan Jones and Jake Melksham travelled with their families.
Jack Viney’s wife Charlotte only gave birth to daughter Mila Grace in the last fortnight, with the Demons happy to accommodate all families who wanted to fly north.
But coach Simon Goodwin confirmed after the 27-point loss to Melbourne the club would leave a group behind to ensure the club’s focus was on winning games of football.
Players including Braydon Preuss, Oskar Baker, Josh Wagner and Corey Wagner have been left behind to conduct intensive coaching with several assistant coaches.
Melbourne’s analysts have reams of data about the club’s misfiring forward line but one passage of play exemplified the disconnect against Richmond.
At one stage Tom McDonald, the club’s only key marking forward, had to roam to half forward to mark the ball and then wheeled to kick deep to small forward Jayden Hunt, who gave away a push-in-the-back free kick.
Bennell has been missing while Goodwin tries to fashion a forward line that includes Mitch Hannan, Kosi Pickett and Hunt alongside Bailey Fritsch and McDonald.
He played in a scratch match against Richmond’s players on Sunday afternoon, a week after 25 possessions and four goals in the previous week’s clash against Geelong.
Pickett had an impressive six tackles to go with his five possessions and a behind, while Hunt had four possessions, two of them effective.
But while Bennell isn’t a certainty, fan frustration will continue to intensify if the Demons continue to lose while he is out of the side that is clearly crying out for a classy ball user.
Former senior coach Terry Wallace remains mystified why the Demons don’t include off-season recruit Mitch Brown or top-10 pick Sam Weideman alongside McDonald as a second marking target.
Originally published as Melbourne’s struggles unpacked: How the Demons missed out on Ben King, is Joe Daniher the answer?