Garry Lyon and Tim Watson remain frustrated with Melbourne’s inability to kick the footy following their loss to Richmond on Sunday afternoon.
As has become a pattern for the Demons, they won the inside 50 account against the Tigers, but were unable to capitalise on it.
Watson is frustrated by Clayton Oliver’s decision making by foot in particular.
“The part of their game that they can’t produce at the moment, and this is not a quick fix either, is they lack skill,” he told SEN Breakfast.
“They lack players who are great decision makers. I know (Clayton Oliver) is great at being able to win the ball, but a lot of his possessions he actually puts players under more pressure then what he was under when he gained possession of the ball.
“One of his kicks in the last quarter was horrendous. He had a kick in the last quarter which was a terrible kick. Turned the ball over.”
Former Melbourne captain Lyon believes the fan base is fed up with players who can’t hit targets.
“The only point I wanted to pick you up on is you said Melbourne supporters should be frustrated. Melbourne supporters are gutted, Tim,” Lyon said.
“I’ve not seen a response from Melbourne supporters like I saw yesterday because of all of the things you just spoke about.
“They’ve been happening for 18 months. They’ve had endeavour for 18 months, but they can’t convert that opportunity and they finished second last, they can’t kick, they haven’t been able to kick for a long, long time.
“Their midfield are bangers. Jack Viney, Clayton Oliver, Ed Langdon’s a horrible kick so you’ve got to question the recruitment there, Jayden Hunt is a horrible, horrible kick so don’t ever whinge if you get dropped because you’re a horrible kick and you can’t be AFL standard if you can’t kick.
“They’ve got no power forward, Tom McDonald has gone backwards, Sam Weideman’s been slower than they want in development.”
Lyon feels the Demons are trying to play at too fast a pace for a team that struggles with their ball-use.
“This is my other essential, they play at a tempo that is unsustainable for their skill level. They are in the red zone the whole time,” he said.
“They play on, play on, Hollywood handball, Hollywood handball, Hollywood handball – you can’t play like that when you’ve got horrible skills by foot because you put yourself under pressure when you’ve got no composure going forward.
“Clayton (Oliver), who I went hard on early, and his numbers are phenomenal, he’s stagnated in his football. If he wants to get to the category that many of us (think he can get to), then he needs to get greater value for his possessions.”