AFL 2021: How Melbourne’s post-season review quickly turned self doubt into self belief
Twelve months ago a disastrous trip to Cairns saw the the Demons’ finals hopes go up in flames. It was catalyst for the Demons to turn self doubt into self belief. How they did it.
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The booming voice of head of development Mark Williams neatly balanced the calm messaging among the Melbourne players and coaches at halftime in the cramped visitors’ rooms at GMHBA Stadium last Saturday night.
The scoreboard might have suggested otherwise, but there was no panic inside the rooms; only preparation and determination.
Moments earlier, Simon Goodwin’s team had come from the ground having had eight goals kicked against them in a quarter for the first time this season.
The Demons were 44 points down to Geelong. The minor premiership was teetering on the brink.
The old Melbourne might have just accepted its fate.
The new Melbourne wasn’t prepared to allow this to happen.
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Just 12 months earlier, the Demons’ finals hopes had been swept away in a whirlwind trip to Cairns where two games in four days — resulting in losses to Sydney and Fremantle — blew up their season.
The in-game inconsistency that had plagued the club since its 2018 preliminary final loss resurfaced at the wrong time. They missed the finals by half a game.
But that failed 2020 campaign set in motion a series of changes — including an internal club review — which has helped transform the Melbourne Football Club.
The effect of those changes played a part in the mood at halftime last week.
A greater synergy and a more evenly shared responsibility helped to lift Melbourne to one of its most significant recent wins.
Fittingly, a Max Gawn after-the-siren goal sealed the deal, securing the club’s first top of the ladder finish to a season since 1964 — the year of the Demons’ last flag.
Potentially only three wins stands between Melbourne and a long-awaited 13th VFL-AFL premiership after a cursed 57-year wait.
Here is how the Demons have turned self doubt into self belief.
Review
Carlton’s public, external and in-season 2021 review cost David Teague his job; Melbourne’s low-key, internal, post-season review actually strengthened Goodwin’s grasp on the coaching role.
Melbourne chief executive Gary Pert conducted 42 interviews with players, coaches and staff at the back end of last year’s Queensland hub and in the weeks after.
The two-part review — the first speaking to those within the club and the second in benchmarking the Demons against other successful organisations in Richmond, Geelong, Port Adelaide and Melbourne Storm — concluded the list was too talented not to be playing finals.
The fundamental problem was an inconsistency in the way the team performed at various stages.
The one constant, though, was that the players “trusted” Goodwin, and had “faith” in the game plan.
As Pert would say: “(There was) significant support for Simon Goodwin as senior coach with faith in his ability to take our team to AFL finals success.”
“There is a real belief in the game plan and strategy, however there is also an acknowledgment by all involved that there was an inconsistent execution of the game plan (in 2020), which ultimately cost us a place in the AFL finals.”
The recommendations centred on investing in the support team around Goodwin, as well as encouraging the leadership group to assume greater ownership.
A new role of Head of AFL Performance was created for Alan Richardson, allowing him to work closely with Goodwin on game plan, high performance and the football program.
His first task was to seek new energy and fresh ideas, and to chase new intellectual property.
Yze does it
Adem Yze’s return to Melbourne as an assistant coach wasn’t about bringing a favourite son back. It was about securing a bright young assistant coach with a calm voice and a capacity to challenge the status quo.
Yze played a key role for almost a decade under Alastair Clarkson.
Former Demon Jordan Lewis, who worked with Yze in his time at the Hawks, said he admired Melbourne — and Goodwin — for their boldness.
“It takes courage to bring in some senior assistants because I suppose in the back of your mind, you are thinking if this doesn’t work, they might be taking my job,” said Lewis, now a Fox Footy expert.
“On the opposite side to that, they can influence the way you can play, and the way you coach.
“Adem, from that strategic point of view, has been very good.”
He has also worked seamlessly with Goodwin.
Chasing ‘Choco’
Melbourne’s self-examination concluded part of the reason for the club’s inconsistency was that the group’s skills were not up to scratch.
The report determined that while the talent of the squad was collectively strong, at times the falling away of skills under pressure put them in the bottom third of the competition.
So Richardson went to Pert with a wildcard suggestion. Premiership coach Mark Williams was approached to be head of development.
Loud, passionate, a great teacher of young men, and possessing one of the best footy minds, Williams’ appointment has had a dual effect.
The players’ skills have spiked, not just off the back of Williams but also due to Goodwin’s footy program and a collective focus from the coaches and players.
But Williams’ passion within the playing group has also been invaluable, as Pert knew it would be.
One source said that while Goodwin can at times be introverted, Williams’ “controlled aggression” has fired up the group at times.
“‘Choco’, from a motivational and drive point of view, has been good, and that’s the type of coach they didn’t really have,” Lewis said.
“Some of the players hadn’t really experienced someone of his passion, so that’s been a good thing.”
Williams instituted a series of team-building exercises.
One has been a weekly award handed to the pressure player of the week.
“‘Choco’ Williams has a little award that he has each week and it sort of rewards the guys who have the spoils, the smothers, and the chase-down tackles … the stuff that is not so pretty, but we value very highly,” defender Steven May explained.
Williams also instituted a pre-season Saturday morning running session with past and present Melbourne footballers.
Lewis was there earlier this year, as were the likes of Clint Bizzell and David Neitz — some with their kids — and it was followed by a breakfast with the current players.
“It’s just about growing the culture,” Lewis said. “Choco loves getting people together.”
Campfire
A pre-Christmas honesty session conducted at forwards coach Greg Stafford’s Mornington Peninsula farm played a significant role in forging the new Melbourne.
Insiders insist the discussions around the campfire in a paddock cannot be underestimated.
This wasn’t coach-driven; this was a players’-only session which effectively put a stake in the ground in driving standards.
Stafford, who opened his farm to the players, had been involved in the club on a part-time basis since 2013, but was elevated to the coaching staff full-time late last year.
As part of the review findings, Gawn and the leadership group had been challenged about driving standards harder – and they responded.
The campfire session, which evolved naturally over a few beers and some frank conversations, was a tipping point.
Players spoke about non-negotiables; others stressed the group was “too talented to not be playing finals” and that “enough was enough.”
Senior players May, Jake Lever, Jack Viney, Christian Petracca and Christian Salem were among the most vocal, but so too were younger players including Sam Weideman and Alex Neal-Bullen.
“There were times where two guys would go up for the same mark, competing for marks,” Gawn said recently. “Or one guy would get 40 (disposals) and the other guy would get 20 touches and be bitter about the 40.
“There’s times where that was happening in the past few years.
“That’s where our maturity has come this year. We weren’t really able to solve a lot of the issues until we opened up and started talking. We just spoke about where we want to get as a team.”
Max factor
Gawn’s leadership was unfairly questioned at stages of last year, but he has played a massive role as captain this year.
On Thursday he was named All-Australian captain — the first time a Melbourne player has achieved that honour since Ron Barassi in 1961.
“I really love leading, I really love being captain of this club,“ Gawn said. “I had some great mentors in Jim Stynes early on and then Jack Trengove and Jack Grimes and then Nathan Jones, these sort of people who moulded me into the person I wanted to be, and now I can hopefully do that with the young guys coming through the door.”
Selflessness becoming a central theme.
No one’s role was to be more important than another’s role – a point rammed home by Goodwin and Gawn.
Goodwin faced his own challenges – personally and professionally – last season, but has relished the changes at the club this year.
He has, as insiders attest, never coached better.
Gawn too has played a key role in working closely with young big man Luke Jackson, who won the AFL Rising Star award this week.
Jackson’s assistance at times in the ruck has allowed his skipper to get through the season with plenty in the tank.
Some insiders felt Gawn was “broken” late last year given how tirelessly he had worked. This year he will go into the finals fresh.
That was evident when snuck into attack in the dying moments last week, allowing him to take the mark and kick the matchwinning goal.
As Gawn went back to take his kick, May gave him the reassurance that sums up the care this 2021 Melbourne team has for each other.
Gawn said on RSN this week: “It’s quite a nerve wracking kick, let alone a kick to take the minor premiership after being 44 points down.
“Steven May said (to him): “I’ll love you no matter what (happens), which put me at ease.”
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