Mick Malthouse says Melbourne can break finals drought if they add one important ingredient
MELBOURNE in and West Coast out. Legendary coach Mick Malthouse believes Melbourne can break its finals drought in 2018 but must drop a nasty habit of getting ahead of themselves.
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I SEE just one change to the final eight this year ... Melbourne in and West Coast out.
But for the Demons to make it they will need to drag themselves away from the mirror for the entire season.
No team can be as happy with themselves as the Demons’ players after a win.
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But when it comes to the crunch, they dramatically fall off the pace. This yoyo effect happens regularly during the course of a game.
If they all took a leaf out of Nathan Jones’ book, for sheer desperation, Melbourne would be a finals shoo-in.
As a club it has the ingredients to step up, but the hot and cold nature of Melbourne’s game needs to stop.
The Demons can’t afford to pat themselves on the back until they make the eight and take on the finals with effort and consistency.
Richmond in 2017, like the Bulldogs of 2016, have given great hope to those clubs who haven’t featured in the premiership race for years.
Now, at the start of each new season, anything is possible.
But make no mistake, the clubs that win premierships don’t just rely on a group of talented footballers.
Premiership clubs need strong and supportive boards. They need an administration equipped to handle anything that’s thrown at them. And they need a cohesive football department. That gives you a chance.
Then it’s up to the team. And when all the stars align, you’re in with a shot.
Last year Richmond had a solid game plan and the player talent to uphold it.
They had an administration working for one another. And, as importantly, they had a board that demonstrated resilience and strong support for their coach.
That’s what set up the chance for the Tigers to win the premiership.
It was the same for the Bulldogs the previous year.
The Tigers can learn some lessons from the Bulldogs of 2017.
The Dogs’ game plan became tough to maintain for tired bodies and minds. Somehow there was a break in formation.
There were rumblings right through the club that resulted in players and administration leaving. And the board began to run things in an autocratic fashion.
It all had an ill effect on the team and the Dogs fell to 10th.
This won’t happen to the Tigers, as long as the club stays strong and tight.
Last year Richmond remained relatively injury free and got away with playing a “one tall and five smalls” forward line. Every player was abundantly clear what his role was each game.
I see it being a tougher year for the Tigers because they will be hunted and being a relatively young side they will succumb to that relentless pressure from time to time.
I don’t think they’ll finish in the top four at the end of the home-and-away rounds but that does not mean they can’t win back-to-back premierships.
Adelaide will no doubt be stinging from last year’s Grand Final loss. While Bryce Gibbs is an important inclusion, Jake Lever and Charlie Cameron will be hard to replace.
The easy wins at home don’t equate to victory at the MCG and this is the big area that needs to be addressed at the Crows.
Eleven wins at Adelaide Oval and six interstate last year wasn’t enough to win the Crows the flag.
Geelong in 2017 relied too heavily on Patrick Dangerfield and Joel Selwood. Now there is a feeling that the panacea for premiership success will be Gary Ablett. I beg to differ.
At almost 34, with shoulder and knee issues (and more recently hamstring troubles) he will play some good games and attract a lot of attention, but he may struggle to string those games together.
On top of that, if his games become “me” games, the Cats are in danger of becoming too Ablett-centric.
The Cats have been thereabouts since their 2011 premiership, but have let themselves down by not being mentally strong enough in finals since.
Greater Western Sydney has the most upside from last season.
With another year of finals experience the young club has gained invaluable maturity.
The team should settle in coming weeks and with bigger bodies to match their speed, they are going to be hard to beat.
Preliminary final losses hurt. They have lost the last two. This will have hardened the Giants’ resolve.
The addition of Jack Watts, Tom Rockliff and Steven Motlop to Port Adelaide’s list should serve it well, although a question mark still remains about the Lindsay Thomas move.
Like their South Australian counterparts, Port needs to win away more often, and against good company, which it failed to do last season.
Essendon can and should make the top four.
The Bombers have recruited brilliantly, with Jake Stringer, Adam Saad and Devon Smith able to slot straight into the team.
I expect Joe Daniher to have another big year, this time with Brownlow Medal potential.
To exceed last year’s eighth placing the Bombers’ bench needs to respond faster to what it sees. Essendon’s great speed is an asset going forward, but it needs to be as intense going back.
Too many of the Bombers’ medium-sized forwards have a tendency to leave the hard work all to the backline.
Orazio Fantasia, Josh Green and David Zaharakis need to improve their tackling and pressure, as do Stringer and Smith. Essendon needs complete team defence for a complete game.
A slow start for Sydney last year meant it played catch up for the rest of the season.
The Swans’ two finals were indicative of their season, a tremendous first-up win against an inexperienced Essendon, before being soundly beaten by a finals-hardened Geelong.
A lack of ruckmen will be a major issue for the Swans this year and another worrying sign is Lance Franklin’s failure to fire in finals.
I still consider him one of the best forwards in the league, but, at 31, he isn’t getting any younger and neither is the rest of the team.
Sydney’s salvation sits with Isaac Heeney and Callum Mills, who have tremendous potential to take the Swans, perhaps, to the next level.
I’m tipping the happy Demons to replace West Coast in the top eight because I see this season as a transition year for the Eagles.
To lose ball-getters and champion players Matt Priddis and Sam Mitchell in one year is tough. Not to mention Nic Naitanui as a late starter due to knee surgery and Josh Kennedy hasn’t been seen in any pre-season match after ankle surgery in December.
Jack Darling, who hasn’t yet measured up to the demands of away footy, isn’t enough to cover the slack. West Coast will rebound, but not this year.
It will be another close competition this year.
Twelve wins has historically put sides in the finals, so with the Brisbane Lions, Carlton and Gold Coast set to cause some damage throughout the season, clubs cannot afford to drop games they “should” win.
For St Kilda, Collingwood, the Western Bulldogs or Hawthorn to be in contention to make the final eight they have to be at full fitness and have luck throughout the season.
The Saints and Collingwood are too inconsistent, with their highs and lows dramatically different.
The Bulldogs are vulnerable and unstable after an exodus of on-field experience and Hawthorn is still restructuring for its next big build.
The top clubs won’t lay down for this four, so entry into the top eight will come at a price. The teams in the bottom half of the eight only need to lose one or two key players to injury or inconsistency though, and they become vulnerable to being replaced.
We learn something new every season. Game plans evolve, trends turn, and different players step up to the spotlight.
The pre-season competition is not necessarily a convincing precursor to home-and-away form, making March predictions difficult.
But that’s also what makes Round 1 so exciting — the unknown, the unpredictability and the hope that this year your club will be the one adding the cup to its trophy cabinet.
Originally published as Mick Malthouse says Melbourne can break finals drought if they add one important ingredient
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