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They’re poles apart, but Melbourne’s aim will be the same as St Kilda’s in the 2010 AFL season – finding an extra 15 points.
Fifteen points more and St Kilda would have beaten Geelong in the 2009 grand final.
Melbourne coach Dean Bailey is years away from thinking grand finals, but when your side has landed the past two wooden spoons and won 12 of the past 66 games, two-and-a-half more goals a game would help bridge the gap.
“Fifteen points doesn’t sound much, but if we can improve `round that sort of figure all of a sudden we can stop teams going inside 50 and stop teams scoring as much,” Bailey says.
“In the past two years we won 23 quarters the first year (2008), and last year we won 32.
“Looking at the simple statistics, teams were kicking 118 points against us in 2008 and we were only kicking 74, and last year it was 104 against and 77 for.
“We’re moving in the right direction, but we need to be in games more.”
In 2009 the Demons did not suffer any of the mammoth defeats they did in 2008, but most games were out of reach well before the final siren.
Of 18 defeats, 12 were by six goals or more and the wheels were off by mid-season, when the big home game – the Queen’s Birthday clash against Collingwood – resulted in an embarrassing 66-point towelling.
The revelation that president and club legend Jim Stynes was fighting cancer helped inspire Melbourne to wins over West Coast and Port Adelaide, but that desperation was sorely missing for most of the campaign.
Bailey has been buoyed by career-best pre-seasons for Aaron Davey, the club’s best player, Colin Sylvia, Jared Rivers and Brent Moloney, and has sensed a desperation among the senior players.
“There’s a desire to drag the club out of where we’re at,” he says.
“They understand what they do, how they go about it as a Melbourne footballer … they’re very, very keen to make a stand and you feel confident knowing they’ve done everything they can to prepare themselves.”
All well and good, but there are still worries.
Russell Robertson was the club’s leading scorer in 2009, with just 29 goals, but is now retired, and bright hope Liam Jurrah, with 20 goals in his debut season, suffered a shoulder injury in the pre-season.
The attack lacks firepower, and Brock McLean’s departure to Carlton robs the midfield of muscle.
The defence should be better settled given the arrival of Joel Macdonald from Brisbane to play alongside Rivers and the emerging James Frawley, although Cale Morton was also hurt during the pre-season.
Three years of miserable results have at least rewarded Melbourne of a batch of high-draft picks.
Morton and Jack Grimes, early picks in the 2007 draft, have been encouraging, there are high hopes for 2008 No.1 pick Jack Watts as a key forward, and last year’s draft landed four picks in the top 18 selections.
Midfielders Tom Scully and Jack Trengove were taken first and second overall and look ready-made players with long, impressive careers before them.
The youth ticket is the obvious way to re-build and generate excitement among supporters, but Bailey says it’s rich to expect instant results from teenagers who are unproven at the highest level.
Watts played on the Queen’s Birthday Monday last year, and as soon as he was crunched by three Magpies questions were asked if his debut was used partly as a marketing tool.
Bailey is adamant Watts was ready when picked, and insists the new draftees have to earn their spots.
“You’ve got to make sure when you build them right, that their first experience of AFL footy is pretty comfortable from a fitness, training and strength point of view,” he says.
Bailey is excited by the potential of his youngsters, and hopeful their improvement will create more internal competition for spots, which should raise standards.
But he acknowledges the demands of supporters who want to see something encouraging.
“The feedback I get from some supporters, it’s like `we know we need to be a little bit patient, but gee, we’ve had a couple of tough years and we want to get on a roll’,” he says.
“But I would think they would like to see their players play with a real competitive edge, that they know they’ve worked hard in the pre-season by the look of them and the fitness levels, and they want to see their young players take the next step.”
MELBOURNE
Coach: Dean Bailey
Captain: James McDonald
Last five years: 8-5-14-16-16
Premierships: 12 (1900, 1926, 1939-41, 1948, 1955-57, 1959-60, 1964).
Star five: Aaron Davey, James McDonald, Matthew Bate, Cameron Bruce, Brad Green
One to watch: Jack Watts. The No.1 draft pick from 2008 played three games last year for limited impact, but should take a bigger stride this season with a full pre-season under his belt. The Demons are trying to keep expectations down, even though fans are desperate to see more of the young key forward.
Ins: Jack Fitzpatrick (Western U18), Max Gawn (Sandringham U18), Jordan Gysberts (Eastern U18), Joel Macdonald (Brisbane Lions), Tom Scully (Dandenong U18), Luke Tapscott (North Adelaide), Jack Trengove (Sturt).
Outs: Simon Buckley (Collingwood), Brock McLean (Carlton), John Meesen (delisted, re-drafted as rookie), Michael Newton (delisted, re-drafted as rookie), Russell Robertson (retired), Paul Wheatley (retired), Matthew Whelan (retired).
Best line-up:
B: Clint Bartram, Matthew Warnock, James Frawley
HB: Joel Macdonald, Jared Rivers, Cale Morton
C: Nathan Jones, Brad Green, Cameron Bruce
HF: Aaron Davey, Brad Miller, Matthew Bate
F: Colin Sylvia, Paul Johnson, Liam Jurrah
R: Mark Jamar, James McDonald, Brent Moloney
I: Jack Grimes, Lynden Dunn, Austin Wonaeamirri, Jack Watts
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