AFL: All the news out of the Melbourne camp ahead of their week one finals clash with Sydney

Being the most accurate small forward in the competition over the past two years doesn’t come by accident. Just ask Bayley Fritsch. How he became the best in business.

Max Gawn says Harrison Petty has bounced back from the nasty Dayne Zorko sledge.

Bayley Fritsch knew in his gut he had done the wrong thing.

As he ran into an open goal and zeroed in on the big sticks, screaming teammate, Charlie Spargo, popped up in the corner of his eye in a better position.

But Fritsch pulled the trigger, and missed, as the Sherrin faded to the right.

The look on his face told the story.

The kid from Coldstream didn’t have to wait for the review on Monday, or read the headlines about ‘Bayley’s Barbecue’ to know he should have made the split-second decision to share the ball.

Fritsch is lethal in front of goal. In fact, he is the most accurate small forward in the competition over the past two years, according to Champion Data, with a deadeye tally of 109 majors 45 behinds.

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Bayley Fritsch practices his goal kicking more than anyone at the club.

Instinctively, he backs himself. It’s Simon Goodwin’s instruction.

But after missing the Spargo pass against Port Adelaide and then making similar errors against Geelong and Brisbane, it became a big story.

But Fritsch was adamant he does not have a selfish streak. Instead, the man who has been a revelation since being taken with the Jack Watts pick (No. 31 in 2017) just made some poor choices in a few games.

“I try to back myself in and I think my decision-making is definitely a strength of mine,” Fritsch told News Corp.

“Obviously, there were a few times where, yeah, I might have made the wrong decision, but footy is like life in general, everyone makes mistakes.

“I made a couple and it blew up a little bit, but we are all on the same page.

“I will look to keep backing myself in, but if someone is there I will be giving it to them so we can kick the goal and hopefully get the win.”

At the time, there were some grumblings about Melbourne’s culture and team ethos going off the rails, as Fritsch toasted some teammates inside 50m, Steven May was suspended for whacking a teammate, and the club’s former president Glen Bartlett voiced his displeasure about his exit last year.

Goodwin was caught up in that storm, too, as the Demons lost six games in a 10-round slump from Round 11-21 this year.

After a blazing start to the season, the Demons found themselves under pressure and, for a while there, Fritsch was the face of the malaise.

But the clever forward said the Demons were unafraid to have an uncomfortable conversation in the inner sanctum to make them better.

Fritsch is a powerful mark for a small forward. Picture: Michael Klein

Fritsch adamant he does not have a selfish streak. Picture: Michael Klein

“As teammates, the culture we have built at this footy club — it is a really selfless culture,” he said.

“Not only that, we will call people out because we know it comes from a place of care. That’s the culture we have built.

“So when that happened and I made the mistakes I was recognised and it was said ‘Should have given that’ and I said ‘Yep’.

“So it gets touched on during the week in the review with ‘Goody’ or ‘Staff’ (Greg Stafford) but then after that they just back me in to do what I do best.

“Not just me, but anyone in the team. There have been plenty of times when someone could have given it off, but unfortunately for me I didn’t and it happened a few times really quickly.

“I wore the full brunt of that, but it is something really cool that we have got. We will recognise something if we do it really well, but also if we need to work on something we can do that too.”

Fritsch has become the sharpest shooting small forward in the game.

As it turned out, the club turned around its season with a win in the west over Fremantle and then celebrated joyously on the back of Kysaiah Pickett’s last-gasp match winner over Carlton to stitch up another top-four spot knocking off Brisbane in a Round 23 rout.

With Jake Melksham back in the fold, the Demons have gone smaller in the forward line, as they wait for Tom McDonald to try and return from a serious foot injury.

Just like last year, Fritsch is confident in what the attacking setup can deliver in September.

“We have great connection as a forward group,” he said.

“Kossie Pickett, even on the weekend, some of the stuff he does at training and in games is something I have never seen.

“So to be playing alongside him and then Ben Brown, who would be top-five for goals over the past four or five years. It is a little bit underrated — our forward line.”

While goal kicking success rates continue to plague clubs and haunt coaches, Fritsch’s accuracy has soared on the back of a wasteful 2020 season kicking 22.24.

It led to an overhaul of his routine with forwards coach Stafford and a dramatic improvement.

He practices his goal kicking more than anyone at the club, he said, and has become the sharpest shooting small forward in the game.

He also is above average for score assists (23 for the season) and score involvements (six per game).

“In 2020 I came into my exit interview and I had something like the top-five most shots in the competition but probably went at about 40 per cent accuracy,” he said.

“’Staff’ took over as forwards coach and we really nailed a process which works for me.

“I would have the most shots on goal of anyone at the club — I really do a big quantity of goal kicking of all types — snaps, set shots, on the run.

“I may not get a lot of the ball but I really pride myself on making the most of my opportunities.”

Gawn’s ‘casual’ chat with potential new ruck partner

Melbourne captain Max Gawn says he hopes Dayne Zorko’s sledge which reduced Harrison Petty to tears will never be repeated on a footy field.

Gawn said it was the first time he had heard a sledge like it when Zorko took aim Petty’s mother with a derogatory slur in the third term on Saturday.

Petty has accepted Zorko’s apology but AFL greats have roundly criticised the Lions’ skipper and questioned whether he deserved to remain skipper next season.

Gawn said horrific comments about players’ family members were a no-go zone.

“It is pretty clear to me that some stuff is off-limits but definitely now these comments are done, I do hope it is a line-in-the-sand and those comments can stay away from the footy field,” Gawn said.

“It is the first time I have heard anything like it.

“I’m not here to bring it up (the exact sledge) but I think it has been well handled since then. It is certainly rare.”

Max Gawn says Harrison Petty has bounced back from the nasty Dayne Zorko sledge.

Gawn said Petty was able to gather himself and stepped up in the fourth term with some big spoils and was smiling at the club at training on Tuesday.

Second qualifying final: Melbourne v Sydney at the MCG, Friday, September 2, 7.50pm AEST

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While the Demons look to kickstart back-to-back premiership campaigns with a first-round finals win over Sydney Swans, in the background the club is considering replacement options for out-of-contract back-up ruckman Luke Jackson.

Jackson is expected to request a trade at season’s end to join Fremantle where he can be closer to family.

Gawn said he had spoken to Collingwood’s Brodie Grundy about a move to Melbourne, but would not go into detail about a potential superstar ruck partnership with the Magpie next season.

Gawn said his focus was on going as far as they can with Jackson in September.

“When I casually saw Brodie just walking down the street it was good, I just bumped into him,” Gawn said.

Gawn says the Demons are understanding of Luke Jackson’s position as he weighs up a shift west. Picture: Getty Images

“At the moment I am just worried about rucking with “Dogga” – Luke Jackson – and he has still got a Melbourne jumper on so I’m not going to entertain those (Grundy) conversations, because I feel like I have got the chance to go somewhere pretty special with Luke this year.”

Gawn said there was no need for Jackson to tell Melbourne his plans until the end of the season as they understood his position.

The Demons are set to request two first-round draft picks for Jackson in the event he accepts a blockbuster deal worth more than $800,000 a season to head west.

“I had a look at our recruiters’ board and there were 70 players up there for potential trade,” he said.

Max Gawn rips down a big grab at training. Picture: Michael Klein

“It looks like there could be a lot of movement and that’s something we have got to live with, and we had one of our leaders in Angus Brayshaw go through that this year and there is different circumstances.

“I have talked to Luke, but Luke plays his best footy when he just thinks about the game, and right now, selfishly I want Luke to be playing his best footy because he is going to help get us to the pointy end (of finals).”

Gawn said Melbourne was back playing a strong brand after turning its season around with its 46-point win over Fremantle in Round 20.

Key forward Tom McDonald is pushing to return from a serious foot injury which required surgery in June.

He will attempt to play VFL this weekend in a bid to be available later in finals.

“If he thinks he is ready to go which is what he is telling me (I believe him),” he said.

“He is feeling fresh, he looked good today.”

Originally published as AFL: All the news out of the Melbourne camp ahead of their week one finals clash with Sydney