Melbourne Deep Dive: the uncomfortable questions facing Demons after another blown finals series
The Demons were a dynasty waiting to happen after their 2021 triumph, but now, after two blown finals series, they must face the reality that they’ve underachieved.
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The Demons know the uncomfortable questions are coming.
When the club climbed the mountain in 2021, and commentator James Brayshaw said “bang, bang, bang, bang” to mark the avalanche of goals in the premiership win over Western Bulldogs, Melbourne seemed on the verge of a dynasty.
Who was going to match the might and power of the midfield? Or penetrate the great wall down back?
But two years on since that glorious flag win, Melbourne know they have blown it.
Blown it two seasons in a row.
And in the shattering aftermath of the semi-final loss to Carlton, where players on Friday night leaned on their partners’ shoulders, wiped tears from their cheeks, and walked around with blank stares into the distance in the rooms after the game, Melbourne will now consider the harsh truth.
There is the chance this football team, which is pound-for-pound arguably the most talented in the competition, thought things would come too easily with the same brilliant group after smashing the Dogs in the 2021 decider.
It happened to the Hawks in 2008 when they didn’t win a final for the next two years.
West Coast had the most star-studded engine room in 2005-07. The Dogs have been all over the shop since 2016.
Flags are incredibly hard to win. But in these next few weeks, Melbourne will ask itself whether it wants to truly capitalise on its premiership window, or underachieve?
Star defender Jake Lever didn’t pull any punches with his own assessment after suffering a fourth-straight finals loss, knowing the opportunity at hand.
“It’s either going to be the start of us, or it can really sort of haunt us,” Lever said of the September scars.
“Last year it was a bit of bad luck, but this year I can tell by the change rooms it is hurting everyone.
“It is disappointing.”
It hurts because they are a top-four team, but will again miss the preliminary final for the second year in a row.
Now they will drill down on the reasons why.
The forward line has been a mess in recent weeks. But personnel is a big issue. They have missed Harry Petty. Jake Melksham. Jacob Van Rooyen.
The Brodie Grundy trade has backfired and Ben Brown still has a sore knee. The conversion was atrocious, again, on Friday night and Bayley Fritsch and Kysaiah Pickett missed crucial opportunities in the first half.
They kicked 9.17 after spending a week doubling down on forward half efficiency. There were the posters, the Max Gawn mistake on the line, the general inaccuracy.
But the real question is whether their bellies are full already, following the 2021 flag? Has complacency been a problem?
Lever said the question was valid considering the results over the past two years. A question they will confront in the next few weeks and months.
“Probably at the time you take it (2021 flag) a little bit for granted because you see the group growing and you can see we’ve had three top-four finishes in a row (since then),” he said.
“We play the right way.
“We are going to have a look at all departments and all phases of our game. Whether that’s – do we think it’s going to get given to us?
“I think the last two years has proven to us – it’s a lot harder than you think.
“If you do it (assess) the right way it can really galvanise the group and push it forward.
“If you do it the opposite way and think everything is going to get given to you because you have won a premiership and (think) it is the same group and that group is going forward then you are kidding yourself. We will look at that.”
But the accountability will stretch beyond the playing group to include some of the decision-making around the team this year.
The Brodie Grundy move hasn’t worked. He will be traded to Sydney Swans, and for the next few weeks the club will dance around it.
The club opted for one of the smallest forward lines in recent times on Friday night in the two-point semi-final loss to Carlton.
And Josh Schache, who loomed as a strange sub choice in the cutthroat eliminator, wasn’t even used, even though Tom McDonald couldn’t get near the Sherrin two finals in a row.
The club was down to bare bones in the forward line.
And this is nothing against Judd McVee, who is a talented young defender who looks set for a bright career.
But Michael Hibberd would have straight-lined that contest with Sam Docherty on the wing like no tomorrow.
He is an all or nothing man, Hibberd, who might be as sore as a boil after a long season.
But McVee failed to take the body, Docherty continued his remarkable career comeback and pumped the ball to Blake Acres who kicked the sealer.
On the final siren the Melbourne players all dropped to the ground, their heads in their hands.
And Schache spent the whole game on the bench feeling as probably as awkward as it looked.
And whatever happened with Clayton Oliver’s hamstring injury this year was a debacle on any scale.
So, some wrong reins have most certainly been pulled in red and blue this year, and Melbourne must face up to it.
By any measure, Carlton has proven itself to be an incredibly resilient football club this year. It was on its knees mid-season, yet lifted like Lazarus.
Now it is time for Melbourne to show the same mettle.
Lever knows there will be plenty of scrutiny ahead.
“We will be looking forward to coming out next year and hopefully proving everyone wrong because I can imagine the narrative right now, four finals losses in a row,” Lever said.
“It’s going to be there, but I think it’s about accepting that and taking it in our stride.”
But perhaps the system will take some tinkering.
The Demons torched the ball in the qualifying final loss to Collingwood, racking up 32 more inside 50s than the Magpies in the loss.
Lever said the team was too safe in its ball movement, as other clubs took more risk.
“For both of those (finals) games our contest and defence were great. Look at the results – all four we were pretty well placed to convert (the win),” he said.
“Our offensive side of things we struggled with at times throughout the game.
“Taking risk. You can see other teams taking a bit more risk.
“We are a bit safe down the line. Maybe that’s because we’ve got some pretty good forwards and our ruckmen down the line.
“I think it’s about being more aggressive with the ball. Whatever that looks like over summer it’s a work in progress.”
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