Melbourne Blueprint: Paul Roos’ legacy at Melbourne will be decided in 2015, writes David King
PAUL Roos embarked on what was set to be the toughest coaching appointment in decades. His legacy at Melbourne will be decided in 2015.
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WHAT were the expectations on Paul Roos as he embarked on what was set to be the toughest coaching appointment in decades?
Melbourne was coming off a two-win season with a percentage of 54.1 per cent and, as Roos often reiterated, that meant the opposition were scoring twice as much as the Demons every time they entered the playing arena.
So the question is: Did Roos coach to minimise the percentage against Melbourne?
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If so, tick. A percentage of 68 per cent for the season, but it’s almost ironic that the last eight weeks of football Melbourne went winless and had a percentage of 54.4 per cent.
What other wins were available for Roos and the Melbourne decision-makers?
The other major focus for the Demons is the list. Not for the short term, but something with which Simon Goodwin can climb the ladder. Was the trade period fruitful enough?
PROS
MELBOURNE executed its defensive containment through creating stoppages, often making for a laborious game.
But while there were more stoppages in Melbourne games than any others, Melbourne wasn’t very effective at them, ranking 18th for clearances and averaging five less than its direct opponents.
What this “dead time” did do is allow for a far better defensive ranking, which improved from 2013’s average of 122 points against to 88 points this season.
Comparatively the Demons improved from 17th to 12th, which was surely one of the main aims for Roos, and all Melbourne fans embraced the club’s renewed competitiveness.
The Bernie Vince trade was a considerable success. He was ranked the competition’s fourth for total kicks, and a third placing in the best-and-fairest vindicated the direction taken.
The quirky trade/draft move to secure Dom Tyson also proved a masterstroke, possibly one we’d have liked to have witnessed again in this draft/trade period.
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Lynden Dunn was tracking towards All-Australian nomination for the first half of the season after appearing lost in recent years, and the move of Jeremy Howe to defence allowed both of these two to be top 20 for intercept possessions in the competition.
There’s some excitement about youngsters such as Max Gawn, Christian Salem and Jay Kennedy-Harris, but the football world awaits the unwrapping of Jesse Hogan.
CONS
MELBOURNE’S ball movement is the worst in the competition from any starting point, anywhere on the field.
The Demons are worst at obtaining an inside-50 entry from the defensive 50, the half-back zone and centre bounces.
Is it a lack of talent? Are there teething problems in Roos’ infancy with this group? This ultimately means they cannot score and average just 60 points a week.
Melbourne scored more than 85 points only twice this season, but Roos knows that 2014 was a base building year.
Melbourne was out-tackled by its opponents by an average of nine a week, which ranked last in the competition. There will be a scores on opposition turnover improvement as this improves in 2015.
Melbourne was the only club without an All-Australian representative in the initial squad of 40 This isn’t critical but is something the fans can enjoy when the team isn’t winning or scoring.
The Demons had only two wins against the bottom 10 teams in 2014, and that should be the focus going forward.
Roos’ legacy at Melbourne will be decided in 2015.
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