Mick Malthouse breaks down the top-of-the-table Melbourne Demons

Melbourne’s form reversal has been a big surprise this season, but does it have the forward line to go all the way? Mick Malthouse dissects the Dees after a shock loss to GWS.

Mick Malthouse

4 min read

July 4, 2021 - 2:32PM

News Corp Australia Sports Newsroom

Max Gawn has been brilliant for the Dees, but are they premiership favourites? Picture: AFL Photos/Getty Images

AFL

Don't miss out on the headlines from AFL. Followed categories will be added to My News.

Just when we thought we were getting a clearer picture of the top eight — enter Covid and trigger-happy state premiers, to throw the AFL into yet another crisis.

Coaches and football managers are facing sleepless nights and players are feeling the uncertainty, as six-day breaks and home-ground advantages become superfluous. Again.

As predicted, this will sort out a few clubs who are already fearful of hub life.

We’ve always known that winning early-season games is money in the bank.

Watch The 2021 Toyota AFL Premiership Season Live & On-Demand on Kayo. New to Kayo? Try 14-Days Free Now >

Was a loss to the Giants just a bump in the road for the Demons? Picture: Getty Images

With all games now to be played in Victoria for the foreseeable future, Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs will be particularly advantaged, not that they need much more because their form had been outstanding — until the Demons’ shock nine-point loss to GWS on Saturday.

Geelong, in patchy form, will also reap the benefits.

It is a surprise to many that Melbourne is in the eight, especially astounding that it is on top at Round 16.

And breaking down its team it certainly doesn’t fit the profile of the most dominant team in the competition.

But there are good and bad points to this.

Since beating Fremantle in Round 1, which wasn’t a big surprise, the Demons have progressively knocked over members of the elite eight convincingly on the field, not necessarily on the scoreboard.

Max Gawn and Jack Viney are the Demons’ great leaders. Picture: Getty Images

Their winning margins are healthy but their score line is moderate.

This is not a major fault; it is simply the way they play.

Melbourne has become a very clinical side defensively. Its midfield has possibly been the most consistent engine room in the league, led by the magnificent Max Gawn, a now productive Clayton Oliver, powerhouse Christian Petracca, and a relatively good team of others, like Jack Viney, who hold up well.

The forward line, while productive and evenly spread, probably doesn’t measure up to the recent premiership forward lines of Richmond — Tom Lynch and Jack Riewoldt, and West Coast — Josh Kennedy and Jack Darling.

But by spreading the workload it doesn’t allow the opposition to single out one or two players to double-up on.

Is there room for Ben Brown in the Dees’ best team? Picture: Michael Klein

So where does this leave Ben Brown?

Brown is a very basic player. He leads strong and hard at the ball, marks it, goes back for a long and systematic approach, and kicks the goal.

Unfortunately, the Demons don’t play forward of him to complement his game. And it’s not a matter of the team adjusting to him. It’s a matter of Brown adjusting to how the team plays.

Rightfully, Sam Weideman was given priority but he hasn’t taken the opportunity.

So, with Tom McDonald, Luke Jackson and Bayley Fritsch operating as a Riewoldt-sized player, is there room for a fourth tall?

Melbourne has scored more than 100 points in a game just three times this season, but finals football is not necessarily about the highest score. It’s about how you defend, and the score comes from that.

When the Demons have a big win they dominate on the ground and are efficient enough on the scoreboard.

This is a very good precursor for finals. We’ve seen teams who are high scorers in the home-and-away series struggle to score as freely in finals due the natural lift in intensity and defensive work, breaks between finals, and improved opposition knowledge.

We haven’t seen massive scores in a grand final in years.

It all makes the Demons’ method seem very sound. Therefore, to tinker with this forward line is fraught with danger — even if they did manage just seven goals in the loss to the Giants.

Sam Weideman is yet to seize his opportunity. Picture: Phil Hillyard

While there’s only six games left, there is still a window of experimentation if you are willing and able. But the last thing you want is to confuse your team structures by willing for something to happen because you want to give a bloke a chance.

I am all for giving players a rest when it’s required because they’re carrying small niggles or are mentally fatigued, but the player that comes in must enter knowing that he’s replacing a certain role, not the player, and that he has to complete that role.

In 2011 at Collingwood, we rested Dane Swan and Darren Jolly mid-season to freshen them up for finals, which allowed a player like Sharrod Wellingham to be used more through the middle.

Swan went on to win the Brownlow Medal and Collingwood played off in the grand final.

It is always an advantage to go into a finals series with 26-27 players that you are comfortable picking because they won’t change the dynamics of your team.

James Harmes and Clayton Oliver get physical with Matt Flynn during the clash between the Dees and Giants. Picture: AFL Photos/Getty Images

But if Victorian hub life continues for too long, the home-ground advantage may just become a disadvantage.

Where the Brisbane Lions and Gold Coast enjoyed the perks through Covid last year, the Gabba didn’t end up being a scary place for Richmond or Geelong. Likewise, multiple games at the MCG and GMHBA Stadium open up the possibility of these grounds becoming more familiar to the interstate clubs.

Familiarity is how your players equate themselves with the different idiosyncrasies of different grounds.

But this is out of everyone’s control right now. So playing consistent week-to-week footy is the best preparation for any team, particularly Melbourne, who is eyeing off its first premiership since 1964.