Melbourne needs to overcome habit of producing one bad quarter, which is costing it games

IN seven games this year, Simon Goodwin’s Demons have been very good very often, but their small slices of very poor have kept their ­season on the cliff.

Jesse Hogan shows off his goalkicking skills at training. Picture: Michael Klein

WILL the real Melbourne please stand up?

Is the real Melbourne the hungry unit with youthful exuberance that many thought would end a decade-long finals drought?

Or is the club Paul Roos deemed “pretty scarred” when he took over in 2014 struggling with expectation and destined to remain a ­mid-table battler for the foreseeable future?

In seven games this year, Simon Goodwin’s Demons have been very good very often, but their small slices of very poor have kept their ­season on the cliff.

In its four defeats to Geelong, Fremantle, Richmond and Hawthorn, one bad quarter has brought Melbourne unstuck.

It was Round 4 against the Cats (-29 points), Round 3 against the Dockers (-43 points), Round 4 against the Tigers (-33 points) and that sluggish first quarter against the Hawks (-27 points).

Jayden Hunt went to Luna Park after the loss to Fremantle in Round 4. But the Demons have been on bigger roller-coasters within games than anything Melbourne’s famous theme park can offer.

A dejected Jordan Lewis after Melbourne’s loss to Hawthorn. Picture: Wayne Ludbey

If the Round 1 win over St Kilda brought out the red and blue optimists, one win from the past five has left us scratching our heads.

Yes, the Dees are a young group. In fact they were the youngest or second-youngest side to run on to the field in the first month of the season.

Names such as Jesse Hogan, Christian Petracca, Clayton Oliver, Jack Viney and Tom McDonald would make Demons loyalists fuzzy inside.

We know youth brings inconsistency. Throw in the loss of Max Gawn and you have challenges. Gawn was jokingly calling himself “The Difference”, yet the All-Australian ruckman may be right.

But the element of frustration exists because this side is doing so much right.

The Demons rank No.1 for disposal differential, averaging 57 disposals more than their opponent each week. They are the No.1 pressure side in the competition, No.2 for disposal efficiency differential.

All this from a side sitting 10th on the ladder at 3-4.

Melbourne has led, or been level, in the last quarter of every game, including its four losses.

Melbourne ruckman Max Gawn is back at training. Picture: Michael Klein

It prompted club legend Garry Lyon to suggest the Dees were mentally soft.

“Their best football is as exciting as anyone’s in the competition, but Simon Goodwin’s greatest challenge is psychological — to get them to psychologically buy in to the fact that being a good side and a contender means you deal with expectation,” Lyon told SEN radio.

“The easiest thing in the world to do, is go out and play poorly early as they did ... get 36 points behind, you know what happens then? Expectation gone, so you play with freedom.

“They got to three-quarter time (one point down against Hawthorn) and you know what came back at three-quarter time? Expectation — and they didn’t deal with it.”