Robbo: The forward line woes have returned to haunt the Demons

The issues that plagued the Dees in 2022 have come back once more, and if Simon Goodwin and his team can’t solve them, their flag chances may be cooked, writes Mark Robinson.

What is haunting Melbourne demons

It is back haunting the Demons.

The forward line woes lurk heavy like the murderous ‘Pennywise’ the clown at Melbourne and not for the first time.

It happened in the second half of the 2022 season. The sequel has arrived in the second half of this season.

The Demons can’t kick goals.

From being ranked No. 1 for accuracy from Rounds 1-9 this season, they are ranked No. 18 from Rounds 10-16.

Premiership forwards Dermott Brereton and Cameron Mooney declared on Fox Footy on Sunday that Melbourne can’t win the premiership.

No ifs or buts or maybes. They can’t win it.

In fact, they can win the flag but only if coach Simon Goodwin and his coaching staff can work out what’s wrong, most importantly how it can be fixed and which group of players can make it work.

Does Simon Goodwin and his coaching staff have the answers to the Dees’ woes? (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Melbourne plays density football. It’s a strong contest and combative team. They don’t play so-called easy football with spares everywhere. It’s labour intensive, man v man, which means their football is tough and grinding.

It’s what you want, but at the same time you want to somehow turn grinding football into electric football in the front third of the ground. It’s not easy. The Demons go long to the big boys and work hard at ground level.

It worked in the first half of the season and has failed since, but only because of their conversion.

Park the last quarter against Geelong in Round 15 and Melbourne’s football is as tough and competitive as any team, including Collingwood, who they beat on the King’s Birthday.

Still, inaccuracy in front of goal can derail any campaign and a clearly frustrated Goodwin doesn’t deny it’s a serious issue.

In the lead up to the loss in Alice Springs, he said: “You look at your personnel, you look at how you’re entering the ball (in attack) and what type of entries you’re getting.

“So the type of shots, the quality of the shots, the way we’re entering the ball – it needs to be better.’’

The Demons kicked 5.15 against the Giants, which followed scores of 8.15, 8.18, and 8.13, and two of those games were played in heavy wet conditions which makes labour intensive footy even more labour intensive.

Post the Alice Springs match, which the Demons dominated, Goodwin lamented: “Inefficiency cost us the game and it’s something we need to get right. We weren’t able to take our opportunities when we had them.”

It’s a broken record.

Inefficiency in front of the big sticks cost the Dees once again, this time against GWS. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

It can be fixed, however. In 2021, the year of the premiership, the Demons kicked 19.11 and 21.14 in the preliminary final and grand final.

It clicked at the right time of the season. We are in Round 17 so time is on their side.

But how do you fix it?

Play less combative football and more freewheel to create more space, creativity and ball movement, which might give better looks for the forwards?

Get the mix right? Play Petracca more forward when Oliver returns? Re-shape Neal-Bullen’s role at half-forward so he’s getting better looks at goals rather than thinking defence first.

Is it mental? Does the clown scare the hell out of them?

Goodwin’s whiteboard in his coaches room would have a list of forward options.

He has to get a starting six from Gawn, Brown, Grundy, Petracca, Chandler, Neal-Bullen, Fritsch, Pickett, Van Rooyen, Spargo, Melksham, Smith and potentially Tom McDonald.

Gawn’s in. Fritsch’s in when he returns from injury. Pickett’s in. Neal-Bullen’s in. And we’ll put Petracca in.

That leaves one spot. You can’t play both Brown and Van Rooyen, but one of them needs to play, and the bench needs mid-forwards to allow Petracca to play midfield at times. So Chandler’s probably in and it looks like Melksham is getting another run at it, and especially now that Fritsch could miss a good chunk of the remaining home and away season.

Christian Petracca presents as an option up forward, but his inaccuracy has become a significant concern. (Photo by Darrian Traynor/AFL Photos/via Getty Images )

The Grundy-Gawn combo is being questioned, but only recently. There was no discussion about the imbalance of playing them both when Melbourne was 7-2 and kicking the lights out.

Maybe they play Gawn forward when Grundy rucks, and when Gawn rucks put Grundy on the bench and not forward? It’s old-school thinking, but it would present a different, smaller mix.

The brilliant Petracca appears to be the ace in the pack. The logical move is to play him forward, but it’s debatable if they can really afford to take him away from the middle for long periods.

And he’s not exactly deadeye dick, either.

Since Round 10, he’s kicked 3.10 and had seven misses altogether.

He’s symbolic of Melbourne’s problems and he’s haunted more than anyone.

Originally published as Robbo: The forward line woes have returned to haunt the Demons