Melbourne on verge of worst start to season since Mark Neeld was coach — here’s how it can avoid it

Melbourne is staring down the barrel of its worst start to a season since Mark Neeld was coach — unless it can stop the Swans. One stastisical area could hold the key to a breakthrough win.

If Melbourne wants to avoid its worst start to a season since Mark Neeld was coach, it must somehow stop the Swans' aerial arsenal.

Melbourne’s hopes of avoiding a disastrous 0-4 record and breaking a 13-year drought at the SCG will be boosted significantly if it can clamp down on Sydney’s marking game on Thursday night.

While the Demons have a litany of problems in urgent need of addressing, a key learning from the Swans’ 19-point win against Carlton was their outside ball control starting at halfback.

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The Dees were a shambles after losing to the Bombers. Picture: Getty Images

Since 2017 coach John Longmire’s men have won 15 out of 16 matches (94 per cent) when they take more than 100 grabs.

A Demons loss would consign them to 0-4 for the first time since 2012, the start of Mark Neeld’s failed coaching career.

If Melbourne loses to Sydney, it will be the club’s worst start since Mark Neeld was coach.

Carlton coach Brendon Bolton lamented his side’s ability to stop the rut against Sydney as it conceded 106 marks.

“For periods of the game we didn’t get enough uncontested marks,” Bolton said.

“So when they’ve got a run on we needed to control the ball a little bit more. Our ability to adjust in-game was a conversation.”

Swans guns Isaac Heeney, Jake Lloyd, Zak Jones, Callum Sinclair and Callum Mills controlled the aerial game with Blues smalls Michael Gibbons and Cam Polson failing to apply enough forward pressure.

The Dees must stop the Swans' aerial dominance if they are to avoid a fourth straight loss to start the season.

Melbourne has won just one out of its past 14 games against Sydney with 10 of those defeats exceeding 30 points.

The Demons have been exploited for a lack of leg speed and defensive structure in the first three rounds and they must look to fix those issues while also curtailing Sydney’s marking game.

Ironically, Zak Jones has been injected into Sydney’s midfield while older brother and co-captain Nathan Jones has been squeezed out of Melbourne’s.

Jones enjoyed a career-best 31 disposals against the Blues after playing 97 per cent in the middle.

Heeney kicked five bags of three or more goals in his first 30 games and then travelled 52 games without doing so.

But Saturday’s four-goal haul against the Blues broke that run with Heeney’s bodywork and goal nous getting his team over the line.

Swans must replace Jarrad McVeigh (quad) and Will Hayward (broken jaw) as they confront a five-day break.

Longmire watched Essendon overrun Melbourne on Friday night but was wary of the sluggish Dees.

“I saw them kicked seven goals straight in the second quarter,” Longmire said.

“They looked all right then. They were able to hit the scoreboard and be damaging.”