Garry Lyon isn’t overreacting to Melbourne’s back to back losses, but admits one aspect of their game has worried him for a month now.
After starting the season undefeated, the Demons have gone down to Fremantle and Sydney in successive weeks.
Lyon worries about their kicking inside 50 and the poor form of their marking targets.
Ben Brown hasn’t kicked a goal in three weeks and has only taken six marks in those games, while Tom McDonald has suffered what may be a serious foot injury.
Sam Weideman hasn’t yet been able to put it together consistently at AFL level, while Mitch Brown was quiet in his rare opportunity on the weekend.
“What you’ve got to look for is whether this is a pattern of behaviour in amongst it,” Lyon told SEN Breakfast.
“There is one aspect of it that concerns me and that is the way they go forward.
“I’ve mentioned this to you over the last month and I even mentioned it to Simon (Goodwin) when he was with us last Monday.
“They’ve been so predictable going forward and inside 50 and in the third quarter they had some dominance over Sydney and just kept belting it to the same spot time after time after time.
“Ben Brown is not in good marking form. Tom McDonald is not there, Sam Weideman is not there, so they’ve got no one other than Max Gawn to push forward and mark the footy.
“They’ve got to sort that out, and they will, they’ll go to work on it.
“They won nine games in a row last year Melbourne to start the season. They went 4-4-1 in the back half. It happens.
“Fremantle and Sydney are very good sides – they led them both by five goals.”
Up the other end of the ground, both the Swans and Dockers put quick goals on the Dees and Lyon believes they have been found wanting without star defender Steven May.
“Freo’s was on the back of some centre clearance domination which exposed them one-on-one without Steven May and they got badly exposed again,” the former Melbourne captain added.
“Sam Reid got the better of Adam Tomlinson, Harrison Petty was banged up and the Swans were fantastic.
“Let’s not take anything away from them. They were harder, they were tougher and Logan McDonald and Reid got on the end of it.
“Melbourne will work on it, but the season is up and it’s open and you’ve got to get it right at the right time.”
The Dees now prepare to take on Collingwood on Queen’s Birthday Monday, a fixture they lost last year.