Melbourne still trying to exorcise their Demons

The Melbourne Demons were full of optimism at the start of last season with new coach Paul Roos at the helm, and they showed some good signs over the course of the year.

But can they improve again in 2015? Let’s take a look at their list.

Defence
The Demons lost arguably their best defender (when they actually played him there) in the free agency period to the reigning premiers, which will affect them in the short term. Youngster Tom McDonald now needs to step up and play every week, which will be a challenge. One that I think he can do though.

Lynden Dunn played very well last year and took a big step as a player, he was third in the AFL at total rebound 50s and provided great run, which is important in Roos’ defensive game plan. Colin Garland seemed to be out of favour last year but is one of their best defenders. The Demons also acquired key defender Sam Frost from the Greater Western Sydney Giants last year, who showed some promise.

The Demons’ small defenders are what I like about their defence. The much controversial Heritier Lumumba is still a good player and could get back to his best in new surroundings, while Jack Grimes should continue to develop and has loads of talent. Jeremy Howe will push back in defence a lot like he did last season and played extremely well and had a break out year.

Midfield
The Demons midfield is very young, as is their whole side, but it is one area of the ground where they do boast some experience, which I think will assist them this season.

Nathan Jones is a star of the competition, averaging 27 disposals a game and being seventh in effective disposals per game and seventh in total clearances for the season. Young star Dom Tyson is another integral part to the midfield after having a breakout season in 2014 as he played all 22 games and averaged 23 disposals. Bernie Vince also had a good season after crossing from the Adelaide Crows.

The problem is that the quality dramatically falls away after those three. Jack Viney, who knows how to accumulate the ball but doesn’t know how to use it, is their fourth best midfielder. The 32-year-old Daniel Cross, who was brought to the Demons as a mentor to the younger guys, has served his time and probably will struggle to get to 12 games this year. Then there are guys like Jimmy Toumpas, Christian Salem, Dean Kent, Viv Michie, Rohan Bail and Matt Jones, who will all need to improve to make that midfield stronger.

Rucks
The Demons’ ruck stocks are very weak (like most teams). Mark Jamar looks to be their number one ruckman with Chris Dawes and Jesse Hogan pushing through to help out. The back-up ruck is Jake Spencer, who is not AFL standard. And Jack Fitzpatrick is more of a forward ruckman so he isn’t really an option to play there.

Forwards
The Demons have had all their hopes pinned on Jesse Hogan for a couple of years now without seeing him play at AFL level. It seems he will be their best forward in their team, which says a lot for their others.

Chris Dawes tries but isn’t effective enough. He kicked 20 goals from 18 games last year, which is poor considering he was the main target. The man all Demons supporters love to hate, Jack Watts, looks like he will spend most of his time as a third forward this year.

The Demons’ small forwards were actually pretty good last year for forward pressure and creating goals. Jay Kennedy-Harris had a good first year and showed signs he can be a quality small forward for the club. If their latest addition Jeff Garlett can get back to his best the Demons will be stoked. In his best season he kicked 48 goals, while last year he kicked 12 from nine games after falling out of favour.

Prediction
15th