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While the Hawks have a great chance of a three-peat, today we look at Melbourne who would be satisfied by stringing three wins together.
Last season
With Paul Roos on board the Demons hyped up their chances of being one of the competition’s big improvers.
Their forward line looked potent on paper but an injury to the much talked about, but yet to debut, Jesse Hogan, along with Mitch Clark taking time away from the game, depleted their stocks and they fell victim to hot wooden spoon favourites St Kilda in Round 1.
The Demons did finish above the Saints in 17th but didn’t shake their tag as cellar-dwellers. The positives to come out of the season were Cameron Pedersen, Lynden Dunn and Neville Jetta re-igniting their careers while Dom Tyson looks to be an absolute star.
Next season
The departure of James Frawley was inevitable and although Clark moving to Geelong was damaging, the Melbourne faithful and the entire AFL community will be glad to see him back enjoying his football.
Heritier Lumumba and Jarrod Garlett provide experience and ability at either end of the ground. Hogan returns from injury and the pressure on the shoulders of a guy yet to debut is immense.
On paper their midfield looks competitive with Jack Viney, Jack Trengove, Tom Tyson, Bernie Vince, Nathan Jones and Daniel Cross running through. The big issue seems to be skill execution, goal kicking options and confidence. I have the Demons set for 15th to 18th in 2015 but expecting them to be more competitive pushing teams above them.
Who to look out for
Jack Trengove came over from South Australia with natural leader written all over him. He was thrown into the captaincy far too young and seemed to struggle leading an inconsistent group and an ever-changing head coach.
Now, with the weight of captaincy off his shoulders, injury is his main issue. With Viney, Tyson, Vince, Jones and Jack Grimes all more likely to gain opposition attention, if he gets his body right he has every opportunity to play himself into form. His strength of character is an attribute that people speak positively about so I expect him to work through his form slump and come back as a key midfielder.
Needs a big year
Aidan Reilly was given a second chance by Melbourne after breaking his leg than being delisted by Adelaide. He was solid but unspectacular in his comeback last season, as expected, but will need to hit the ground running in 2015 to remain in consideration for a spot in Melbourne’s midfield.
Melbourne appears to have midfield options aplenty following the draft so Reilly will need to show form during the pre-season to come into Round 1 calculation.
Best 22
FB: Jetta, Dunn, McDonald
HB: Lumumba, Garland, Howe
C: Grimes, Viney, Tyson
HF: Trengove, Dawes, Vince
FF: Watts, Hogan, Garlett
R: Jamar, Jones, Cross
I: Toumpas, Jones, Terlich, Pedersen
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