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Misfiring Demons must find attacking edge

3 minute read

Scoring was rarely an issue for Melbourne last season but they've struggled to hit the scoreboard in a disappointing 2019 AFL campaign.

SIMON GOODWIN the coach of the Demons looks on during a Melbourne Demons AFL training session at Gosch's Paddock in Melbourne, Australia.
SIMON GOODWIN the coach of the Demons looks on during a Melbourne Demons AFL training session at Gosch's Paddock in Melbourne, Australia. Picture: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

The ballistic, high-scoring football that was such a breathtaking feature of Melbourne's barnstorming 2018 campaign is now little more than a popgun attack.

After 10 rounds last year, the Demons were third on the ladder with a 7-3 record.

At the same stage this year, Simon Goodwin's men are third from bottom with a 3-7 record.

Their inability to hit the scoreboard has been glaring.

Ten rounds into the 2018 season, Melbourne owned the most potent attack in the league having scored 1086 points at an average of 108.6 per game.

Heading into Saturday's round 11 clash with Adelaide in Darwin, the Demons have scored 693 points across 10 games, with only 17th-placed Gold Coast scoring fewer.

That's 393 less points in total, or about six-and-a-half goals a game lighter.

They've managed to surpass last year's average through 10 rounds (108.6) just once - in a round three loss to Essendon - and have only cracked the 100-point barrier on one other occasion.

In last week's loss to GWS they managed one goal in a half of football.

"It's a range of things," Goodwin replies when asked about his side's scoring woes.

"Cohesion is a big part of footy, being able to play together for a long period of time, and when we've had the players out (injured) that we have we've lacked that continuity.

"Tim Smith has played eight or nine games, Jayden Hunt has played eight games as a forward, Jay Lockhardt has played (seven) games ... they haven't played a lot of footy together so we're building that cohesion as a forward group.

"But there's a lot of things we can work on with our method going in as well that will aid that.

"(Higher scoring) is something that we know is going to come on the back of good contests and good defence if we keep chipping away.

"It's been a focus for us for a while to increase our ability to score from turnovers and (improve) our efficiency inside forward 50.

"We're not saying we haven't got a problem - we have - but we're working really hard at it."

Hunt, a mid-sized forward still learning his craft, is Melbourne's leading goal kicker with 12 and he really shouldn't be if the Demons are firing on all cylinders.

Tom McDonald, who won last year's goal kicking award with 53, has spent time in defence in a bid to build his confidence and has just eight majors to his name.

Jesse Hogan, now with Fremantle, was second last year with 47 and Jake Melksham, third with 32.

The crafty forward is second to Hunt after 10 rounds with 10 goals, but will miss about two months with a foot injury.

Sam Weideman announced himself with a big finish to last season, but found himself in the VFL after five goals in the first six games.

Christian Petracca, capable of jaw-dropping brilliance but criticised for his laconic nature, has nine goals from 10 games.

Melbourne are generating enough supply; they rank second in the league for inside 50s, but Goodwin refuses to point the finger of blame at individuals.

"We've got a group, it's not about who kicks the goals, it's how we go about kicking our goals," he says.

"They all play important roles with each other, to be able to function together and to be able to get a score on the board.

"They're working incredibly hard as a group to be able to do that and we've got to make sure the way that we enter the ball inside our forward 50 is the right way as well.

"There's a whole combination of things that you need to get right in that space to be able to hit the scoreboard."

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