Melbourne’s plummet down the ladder so far in 2019 has been historic, but last night’s 53-point loss to Sydney was the breaking point for Dermott Brereton.
Brereton feels Friday night was a chance for them to get their 2020 season started up against a team similarly placed to them on a ladder.
The five-time Hawthorn premiership champion pulled no punches in his analysis.
“When Melbourne were bad at the start of the year, I said they’ll get on a roll because there was still the basis there,” Brereton told SEN’s Crunch Time.
“They are deplorable. I feel sorry for the supporters because they are a meaningless team at the moment.
“They are just deplorable. I thought last night was their test against somebody in the same neighbourhood as them on the ladder.
“I thought last night was a launchpad for season 2020. They’ve got a few injuries, but by god, so do the Sydney Swans. Somebody who is on even par with them.
“That was a meaningless performance and they have little to no identity as a football team. I cannot think less of them this morning after last night.”
Brereton pinpointed an exact moment that highlighted the issues at the Demons.
“There was a situation last night where Melbourne had banked up against their own inside 50 ball. So their backmen have pressed up," he said.
“The ball got rebounded. The closest Melbourne midfielder to the chase, the ball got to the wing, the closest Melbourne player to chase chased for five metres and peeled off. This is in the first half, there’s still a half to go.
“He peeled off the chase and then tapered down the sprint to the interchange bench. He actually disguised that he wasn’t going to chase by taking himself off in a rotation.
“When I saw that, I replayed it several times to make sure I didn’t see something incorrectly.”
Melbourne caps off their season next weekend against the Kangaroos down in Blundstone Arena.
