The Demons stand at the gates of footy hell. These are the five mistakes that got them
Melbourne have created their own demons – and now they are set to enter football’s version of hell.
A drought-breaking premiership has been followed by consecutive straight-set exits from finals, and now no finals action at all.
The slide points to a bleak future at the Demons.
The player list is ageing and lacking depth. For all the denials, the club’s culture is questionable, as is the professionalism of a team that only three seasons ago appeared on the verge of a dynasty.
Coach Simon Goodwin’s game style has become predictable and boring.
“Contest and defence” are his repetitive catchcries, but he has been unable to fix the glaring issues on ball movement and scoring that have been so obvious in the past three seasons.
Melbourne need to confront the reality that they are about to fall off the cliff and become irrelevant in the premiership race.
Just a little more than 16,000 fans turned up to see the Demons lose to the Giants by four points in round 20. The AFL will surely downgrade the club when it releases the fixture for next year. Gone will be the primetime slots, meaning the crowds will only get smaller.
Goodwin is not the only one to blame for the failure to maximise a once-powerful list. A series of questionable list-management decisions have left the club in a hole.
1. Clayton Oliver’s contract
Melbourne in 2022 – a year before Clayton Oliver fell out of contract – extended the troubled midfielder’s deal until the end of 2030.
