‘Haunted them all year’: Melbourne’s biggest flaw exposed in ‘devastating’ semi-final loss

After starting their 2022 campaign with 10 consecutive wins, the Melbourne Demons have been “haunted” by one glaring flaw.

Skipper Max Gawn leads the Demons off the MCG after losing to Brisbane. Picture by Michael Klein

Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin has described his team’s semi-final loss to the Brisbane Lions on Friday night as “devastating” and suggested his players struggled to deal with heightened expectation this year following their premiership in 2021.

The stunning 13-point result at the MCG saw the Demons exit the finals in straight sets, and Goodwin said one of the hardest parts about it was not being able to win a flag in front of their home fans after doing so in Perth last season due to the impact of the pandemic in Victoria.

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“A lot of work goes into a footy season – that’s from the players to our coaches to our support staff and not only that, but our supporters,” a dejected Goodwin said post-game.

“You know, we did something pretty special last year and we wanted to make sure we came back to the MCG and let them (supporters) feel what we felt and we weren’t able to do that.

“So, yeah, you feel pretty empty at the moment but we’ll lick our wounds and come back better as a footy club.”

After leading by 28 points late in the second quarter, the Demons experienced yet another fadeout after half-time, with Brisbane kicking 11 of 14 goals at one stage to steamroll Goodwin’s men.

It’s a trend that has come to characterise Melbourne’s second half of the season, and Goodwin said they needed to get to the bottom of it over the off-season.

“Clearly to give up nearly 70 points in the second half … we weren’t able to execute the basics of the game for long enough in the phases that we really value,” he said.

“In finals, generally, your vulnerabilities come out in games and we’ve had some throughout the second half of the year, especially, when we’ve lost games of footy, teams have been able to impact in the second half of games and mowed down leads and it happened again tonight.

“Certainly not a shock in terms of that – that’s been a pretty consistent theme for us when we’ve been beaten.

“We feel like our players are certainly fit enough and it’s a different year for us, we knew heading into this year that expectation would be high, we knew that pressure around our footy club would be high and that’s why it’s really challenging to be successful when you come off what we’ve come off and that’s why not many teams do it (go back-to-back).

“We’ve got to have a look at all our things within our program, whether it be physical, mental, our method … we’ll unpack our program and we’ll re-pack it again.

“We’ve got to grab this, how it feels today, and go away and rebuild ourselves again and come back even stronger again and that’s the mentality that we’ll be taking as a footy club because that’s what you need to do.”

Simon Goodwin, Senior Coach of the Demons. Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

Melbourne’s forward half registered 20 inside 50s in the second half for just two marks in the attacking arc, prompting Harrison Petty to move forward in the dying stages of the game.

“You reckon there aren’t going to be Melbourne supporters all around town saying there’s our forward line answer right here in Harrison Petty,” Demons legend Garry Lyon posed on Fox Footy post-match.

“The thing that’s haunted them all year is their inability to go forward with any great danger – apart from when Harrison Petty went there late.

“The front half stuff continues to haunt them.

“The midfield’s elite, the defence last year was impenetrable – they’ve given up 90+ points tonight for the fifth time in eight games. They gave up 90+ once last year.

“They come out and win 10 on the bounce, it only has to be that much, and it might not be the case, but how do you get four and five goals in front in seven games and lose as the reigning premier? They might not be as hungry as Geelong. Or as hungry as Collingwood.”

Former Magpies coach Nathan Buckley continued: “They’ve proven incapable to run games out as often.

“They’ve had leads of four or five goals this season and been overrun

“They were running out games better than any other team (last year) and they ran through the competition. Have they just dropped off?”

Skipper Max Gawn leads the Demons off the MCG after losing to Brisbane. Picture by Michael Klein

Wastefulness in front of goal also plagued Melbourne consistently this year, and it conspired against them again against Brisbane as they kicked 11.13, while another eight shots on goal failed to score.

“We leave the door ajar too often (for the opposition),” Goodwin said.

But Goodwin denied his players got ahead of themselves when they won the first 10 games of the year.

“There was no comfortability within our group, we had enough lessons throughout the year,” he said.

The Demons become the first team since Hawthorn in 2016 to go out in straight sets as the reigning premiers.

“I‘m stunned really that we’re sitting here and Melbourne have gone out in straight sets,” Saints champion Nick Riewoldt told Fox Footy.

“Halfway through the season, you could not possibly have believed that this could be the situation.

“(You think) if Melbourne get there, they’ll just fix it, but you can‘t just get to finals and flick the switch and everything’s going to be OK.

“The issues that were there and were constants all year and crept in late, the ability to score with the footy, to go forward and defend with the footy late in the season, it’s the reason they are out tonight in straight sets.

“6-8 in their last 14 games – that’s an average team.”

Demons head coach Simon Goodwin. Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

Former Port Adelaide star Kane Cornes accused the Demons of “basking a bit” after breaking their premiership drought last year.

“They lacked discipline last night (against Brisbane) and not for the first time,” he told SEN’s Crunch Time on Saturday.

“Just little things and sloppy free kicks, like Kysaiah Pickett going over the mark and giving away 50 and then Jake Lever (late in the game) – I don’t know what he was thinking.

“There has been a few signs on and off the field – if you want to be completely honest about it – that Melbourne were perhaps basking a bit in what went on last year.

“The amount of times they had a solid lead, if you look at 20-point leads they’d had in game and coughed that up, that is a sign they expected to roll on.

“Their discipline was lacking once again last night.”

Hawthorn great Luke Hodge continued: “With how much they were pumped up over the off-season and then their first 10 games, did they, the old saying, drink their own bathwater?

“When things didn’t go their way, they sort of sit back going, ‘Hang on, we did this last year and we came out on top and were superior to every other team.’

“When teams did things against them that they didn’t like, they cracked it and gave away undisciplined free kicks.

“They turned their toes up and it wasn’t the fight in Melbourne that we saw at times late in the season last year.”

– with Ronny Lerner, NCA NewsWire

Originally published as ‘Haunted them all year’: Melbourne’s biggest flaw exposed in ‘devastating’ semi-final loss