Former Western Bulldogs coach Terry Wallace has named his three key worries about Melbourne going into the 2019 season.
Wallace, who believes the Demons could win the flag this year, sees three key areas they’ll need to get right.
“The issues that I’ve got with Melbourne. There’s only three major issues,” Wallace told SEN Afternoons.
“One is the injury to Jake Lever.
“Can he get back to his best footy in this next 12 months?
“Number two is their inconsistencies. You think about last year, we didn’t even know they were going to make finals until about two or three weeks out.
“Every time you thought they took a step, they’d take a little step backwards. They will get better as they mature, they’re still a young-ish side.
“My major issue with them is the inexperienced key position players.
“You look at Sam Weideman. Jesse Hogan goes. They believe that Weideman can become a serious, serious player for them.
“They are younger and less experienced with Weideman down there rather than Hogan.
“Then you look down the other end, you’ve got Oscar McDonald or Sam Frost who are 23 and 25. They’re both slight and inexperienced. They still haven’t played a lot of footy.
“You’ve got one at each end potentially that are a little inexperienced going in against some stars of other sides.”
Wallace is confident Melbourne will be a tough team to beat in 2019, but their peak is still a year away.
“In my belief, whatever Melbourne does this year, they will be better next year and the year after,” he said.
“Absolutely they could (win the flag this year), but if you look at Richmond, they played in those three finals campaigns, missed a year and then came back to win the premiership.
“They had four goes at finals before they won. The Bulldogs were the opposite of that so there’s always stories one way or the other, but certainly the experienced they gained from the finals last year will hold them in good stead.
“Whether they’re completely ready to win it, I think they’re still 12 months away from winning one.
“The upside for them, Steven May should really help them out and I think Kade Kolodjashnij can become a really solid runner.”
Melbourne kick off their 2019 campaign against Port Adelaide at the MCG in Round 1.
