The Demons have been labelled “broken” after they were beaten by Essendon in a result that left them 0-5 for the first time since 2012.
Melbourne put up a mild challenge to the Bombers in the second half at Adelaide Oval on Saturday night, but inefficiency going inside 50 was again an issue for Simon Goodwin’s outfit — as was their inability to go with Essendon in transition.
The Demons kicked just two goals for the entire first half and by full-time had been outpossessed by 94, allowing the Bombers their biggest disposal total (448) in seven years. They also lost the uncontested possession count by 78.
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Melbourne entered averaging just 62 points per game and managed 8.9 (57) for the match.
Dual North Melbourne premiership winner David King lamented the Demons’ system, explaining Essendon’s ability to take full advantage in the 39-point win.
“I thought that they (the Bombers) were tactically superior today,” King told Fox Footy’s Super Saturday Live.
“I have a look at the way they played, and they basically wanted to run them (the Demons). ‘Let’s run them into the ground, we know we’ve got them on the outside game.’
“When you look at some of the numbers; 448 disposals, that’s the most that Essendon have had in seven years in any game, 204 handballs (is) the most they’ve had since 2018, so there was a clear tactic to run them into the ground.
“And this is the problem for Melbourne on the flipside, this is what you’re coming up against now — a known flaw.
“The competition knows you’ve got a hole in this aspect in your game, and the Bombers were able to put this into place and actually perfectly execute the plan.”
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Three-time premiership forward Jack Riewoldt criticised the Dees’ lack of bravery to go inboard with the footy.
“Melbourne just don’t look like they’ve got any system, unfortunately,” he said. “They look like they don’t want to go anywhere near the corridor offensively.
“They did it for a tiny little patch in that third quarter and charged back — and we thought that maybe they were within a chance of getting back into the game and potentially getting in front — but at the moment, it’s same old, same old from the Melbourne Football Club. It’s not getting the job done.”
Vision was played of dejected Demons players in the rooms post-game.
“They’re hard to watch, aren’t they?” King posed.
“This is what happens. I reference our old mate, Mark McClure, (who said) bad teams meet, good teams train. There’s a lot of this at Melbourne.
“A lot of conversations, a lot of words, and then it just breaks down. It finishes like this. ‘Oh yeah, what do we believe in? What do we really take forward out of these conversations? Do they become actions?’
“A lot of them are trying as hard as they can, a lot of them are. I’m not here to have a go at their effort or their intent, but they’re broken. They’re broken in the way they play.”
Riewoldt added: “You can see it from those pictures that they’re broken. They’re broken in the way they play, but they look like they’re broken in spirit as well.”
King reiterated: “Broken in the way they play, and with the absolute buy-in — it’s not at 100 per cent, because the Bombers put it to them tonight.”
Interestingly, Herald Sun chief football writer Jay Clark revealed new details regarding the “ill-feelings” felt by Christian Petracca’s family towards Melbourne following the star’s severe injuries last year.
“They (the club and Petracca’s family) have spoken in the past months,” he said.
“Now, whether that should’ve happened earlier I think is up for debate — certainly you go back to late last year after the internal injuries, there was some ill-feeling there, so they’ve certainly had talks and everyone’s saying that they’re on the same page together, but performances like this will test the relationship.”
King was perplexed at the fact it’d taken this long for the club and Petracca’s family to come together to discuss issues at hand, asking: “What’s happened for the past eight, nine months?”
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Clark answered: “I suspect there hasn’t been a lot of conversation, and everyone’s been on holidays. There was some ill-feeling. I think the point is it’s probably only happened more recently, and they’re happy with how it all sits at the moment.”
Riewoldt called the situation “ridiculous”.
“You wonder why there’s no trust on the field; that’s derelict of your duty to not have a conversation … that’s ridiculous,” he said.
“A player of yours went to hospital and the club hasn’t reached out to his family to explain what went on … I find it fascinating that that’s the case, if that’s the case.”
Clark said: “It’s happened more recently from a personal level … there has been a bit of a chasm.”
Riewoldt was perplexed, adding: “What you’ve just said in terms of that was the first time they’ve reached out to Christian Petracca’s family after what happened last year, there’s no trust there.
“They would be waiting by their phone for the phone call to go ‘well, this is what happened to your son.’
“I find that … I’m a bit speechless, actually, that that’s the case.”
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