The stats behind Melbourne’s stunning defensive turnaround

WHEN Jake Lever went down with a season-ending knee injury, many thought Melbourne’s premiership chances went down with him. Fast forward three months and the Demons will take the AFL’s No.1 defence to Perth for the prelim.

Neville Jetta and Sam Frost have formed part of the AFL's No.1 defence.

JOSH Kennedy and Jack Darling be warned.

Flying west for Saturday’s preliminary final is the AFL’s No.1 defence. Three months ago the key question surrounding Melbourne was whether it could win the premiership without Jake Lever.

Over the past 10 weeks it has been answered with exclamation points. Since the Demons’ shock Round 15 loss to St Kilda they are leaking just 69 points per game.

DANIHER: MELBOURNE CAN WIN FROM FIFTH

BARASSI: NO NERVES AS DEES CHASE GLORY

SALEM: DEMONS HAVE NO FEAR OF PERTH CAULDRON

Sam Frost has become a key cog in Melbourne’s dynamic defence. Picture: Michael Klein

Under coach Simon Goodwin the Demons are 18-0 when they concede fewer than 75 points.

Richmond coach Damien Hardwick says the Tigers are a defence-orientated side but even the Tigers are a shade behind.

Goodwin decided to hand a few players the chance to audition for Lever’s post.

After Joel Smith and Harrison Petty had their cracks, Sam Frost received his opportunity in Round 16 and hasn’t looked back.

He is the man to stop Kennedy at Perth Stadium with Oscar McDonald set for Darling and Neville Jetta the ideal match-up for livewires Willie Rioli and Liam Ryan.

Ruckman Max Gawn will likely drift back to take a couple of intercept marks in another ingredient which has added to this backline mix.

Since Round 15 only one team has kicked 100 points against the Demons. That was Geelong in Round 18 and it required Zach Tuohy’s kick after the final siren to cap a masterful display of goalkicking — 16.4.

Demons defence

Stat	Rds 1-15	Rd 16 on
Pts against	11th (83.8)	1st (69.3
Opp scores per I50	16th	4th
Pts conceded from TO	11th	1st
Pts conceded from stoppage	10th	7th
Opp def 50 to I50	12th	8th
Opp HB to I50	7th	2nd
Opp kicks I50	2nd	2nd
Opp retention rate from kicks I50	7th	2nd
Opp mark rate from kicks I50	11th	2nd

Neville jetta did a number on the Hawks’ smalls and he’ll have to be at his best to quell the likes of Willie Rioli and Liam Ryan. Picture: Getty Images

Fancy that, the only time the Dees have leaked 100 points came as they conceded just 20 scoring shots.

Perhaps a pay rise in order for defensive coach Troy Chaplin. Every element of the Demon defence has lifted since Round 15.

Ask Hardwick about offence and he will point out that the bulk of scores in the AFL come from creating turnovers.

Well, Melbourne is giving up 16 fewer points off turnovers since Round 15, sliding from 51 points to just 35.

After Lever went down the Demons internally turned to the West Coast side of 2015 for inspiration.

Max Gawn has pinch hit defensively for the Dees, while Oscar McDonald has been an important stopper. Picture: Getty Images

The Eagles lost key pillars Eric Mackenzie and Mitch Brown to ACLs by the end of Round 1 and yet rebounded to reach the Grand Final.

“We were initially a bit rocked by who was going to fill those positions,” former Eagle Xavier Ellis told the Herald Sun in June.

“But it actually gave us an extra layer of protection in that no one expected it to work.

“Lever is a great footballer, but who’s to say the next option isn’t a player or a gamestyle that’s better than the one that had Lever involved anyway?

“At Melbourne, what’s to say the next guy isn’t equally as good as Lever (but) just hasn’t had the opportunity at reading the play and having a licence to try and mark everything and create rebound.”