Season 2020 - Melbourne

Football Discussion Non Essendon Stuff
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Melbourne

Coach – Simon Goodwin

2019 –

Points For – 17th
Points Against – 17th

Top 5 Best and Fairest

  1. Max Gawn
  2. Clayton Oliver
  3. Jack Viney
  4. James Harmes
  5. Christian Petracca

2019 Rising Star Noms

Nil

Ins – Luke Jackson, Trent Rivers, Kysaiah Pickett, Adam Tomlinson, Ed Langdon

Outs – Sam Frost, Jeff Garlett, Jay Kennedy Harris, Jordan Lewis, Corey Maynard, Tim Smith, Billy Stretch, Guy Walker

My Prediction

Last year I rated this list a top four list. They finished off the year before and were flying, it was right about then their culture kicked in and reminded the football world just how miserable things are for Melbourne fans. They were found out for outside pace and spread. They looked good in the heat of the contest but their footskills were poor and they had no forwards that looked like the wanted the ball.

The backline reads well and with May stripping a few kgs and Lever getting a good run at it, may turn out ok. It feels like the overpaid for Lever who looked good at Adelaide but it was a Crows team who had their structure and system well and truly worked out. Oscar McDonald needs support but with him, Lever and May as their three talls, there is enough talent there. Hibberd, Jetta and Salem are solid smalls who give good run when things are working.

The midfield was bizarre last year, they took Brayshaw and stuck him on a wing, hoping his footskills would support their spread and run, he went to crap and played like he didn’t want to be there. Viney and Oliver had good years but neither are blessed for run. They have brought in Langdon this year who loves to run but has pretty average footskills. Tomlinson has been brought it and I don’t see him making any difference at all. They still look to lack depth and run.

Melbourne went all in on Sam Weideman based on a solid finals series in 2018. He looked like a good solid player. Hopefully for them, he can recapture some of that because he looked pretty average last year. They would have liked to be able to swing Tom McDonald based on need but the need is still for him to stay up forward and give them some sort of target. Petracca looked improved last year but inconsistent and tends to go missing when they need him. Hunt game their forward line some speed and unpredictability but his footskills are still pretty poor.

The ruck is sorted as long as Gawn still turns up and doesn’t get injured. They have Preuss as a backup which leaves them in a strong position. The coach is an interesting one. He scored a free pass for most of last year despite taking a team most thought was destined for success and leaving them at the foot of the ladder. I don’t think he would get that sort of space this year and if things start to go wrong early, the pressure will come on quick. There were coaches fired last year with better results from worse lists. Whether or not he can coach, I am not sure.

I think they are too good a team to finish so low and expect a bounce this year. I don’t think they are a contender as there still looks to be holes in the list. I think they are a chance to make the eight this year but more in the bottom half of it. I think the likely finish for the Demons this year is in the 7 – 9 range.

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Very hard to predict them I reckon

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Coaching was THE issue for them last year.

Good stuff trotted out the 2012/13 Hird gameplan and I’m not sure it worked once. They continually over emphasised numbers at the contest and “getting it forward” over retaining possession and intelligent entries. The writing was on the wall in round 2 when they led the i50s vs Geelong 72 - 48 yet lost by eighty points.

I think we’ll know early on whether they’ve made a significant change to their play style.

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S
L
O
W

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On the proviso that we take the 2021 Flag, I’m okay if the Demons win it this Year.

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From limited viewing of Melbourne I got the impression that Brayshaw and Oliver had a mutual benefit arrangement** playing in the midfield in 2018. It didnt happen last year but counterintuitively Melbournes performance suffered. Oliver gets loads of the ball, but its what he does with it thats the problem. He might even have played less selfishly in 2019. I might be mistaken. I will run my idea past a Melbourne supporter if I ever meet one.

** otherwise known as stats pumping

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This year will prove whether 2019 was an aberration and they are a good team that had the season from hell, or it will prove 2018 was the aberration and that they really are pretty ordinary. Must admit I got seduced by their 2018 and thought they’d win it, but they either got way too ahead of themselves, listened to their own press and thought it would just be a natural progression to win a flag, or having a heavily interrupted pre-season with lots of guys coming off restricted programs set them well behind. I thought the latter, but that they’d find their best form in the back-end of the season. That never happened.

They have a widest finishing range out of any team, from 4th to 14th. I think they’ll be middle of the pack, either just make or just miss the 8.

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18th

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They’re not a good team. 2018 was a glitch. I don’t rate their midifeld as a cohort and reckon their forwardline is one of the worst in the league.

Reckon they will be around 14-9. Won’t make the 8.

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will be interesting to see how much of it was this, or how much of it was as others say just luck in 18.

it always surprises me when sporting clubs spend 3 months on fitness and conditioning, and get so narrow focussed on the first part of the season and needing to play your best players no matter what, that they pick and play players who have had no where near the 3 months of building said fitness base.

tis why it’s gonna be interesting how we start this year, with so many having restricted pre seasons.
will they rush underdone players before they are ready, yet again ?
or will caracella and lesser extent rutten back their new systems in that anyone from the list can perform it.

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Funny, they’ve actually got a documentary called ‘To Hell and Back’ coming out soon.

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That’s a bit premature. Depending on how they go they may have to rename it “To Hell”.

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Are they still in the competition?

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Best 22

B: Jetta McDonald Lever
Hb: Hibberd May Salem
C: Langdon Oliver Melksham
Hf: Petracca Weideman K Pickett
F: Hunt McDonald Fritsch
R: Gawn Viney © Brayshaw
Int: Tomlinson, Harmes, Jones Koldashnij
Emg L Jackson, T Rivers H Bennell (if Acquired)

Will be interesting to see how Kozzie Picket goes.

I like Mellsham on a wing as it opens up a spot for Kozzie in the forwardline.
…obviously would be great if you could add a fit Harley Bennell to the wing but too early for that.

On paper they look ok.

Forwadline talls still a bit questionable. And backline talls are a lot less durable than Hurley and Hooker.

Jackson will get some games if he can perform as a forward at VFL level.
Trent Rivers a chance too.

Believe Tomlinson will continue to be used as a spare parts man so have started him on the pine.

My guess 17th bounce up approx 8 spots finish around 9th and be a tease that could make finals.

Goodwin must face some heat if they miss finals this year, but should get a pass if they finish 9th.

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Competitive year if 14 wins doesn’t get you in the 8!

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Also not stuffing around if they can get 23 results from 22 games.

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That forward line is bog average

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Just like ours unless Fanta and Joe are fit and in form.

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Nah, ours without them two is still better. Stringer and walla are better forwards than any of their front 6, by a margain.

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losing Hogan lost a lot.

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