Melbourne’s issues have been laid bare in 2023 despite holding a 7-4 record after 11 rounds.
While that record on the surface appears reasonable as they sit inside the top four, taking a closer look at their results tells a different story.
So far, the Demons have only beaten one team above 11th and that was the Western Bulldogs in Round 1 who struggled to get going to start the season.
With a 1-4 record against top eight teams this year, SEN’s Tom Morris believes these kinds of performances are becoming a pattern for the Demons across the last 18 months.
Taking a look at their last 35 games since Round 1, 2022, Morris revealed the Demons haven’t beaten a top-four team, while only five of their 23 wins in that period have come against top-eight sides.
Morris discussed where the Demons were at with former Essendon forward Scott Lucas on SEN Crunch Time and the pair queried whether Melbourne needed to win another premiership with this group to truly reach their potential.
Morris: “Across the last 35 games Melbourne have played - that’s last year and this year - they’ve consistently failed against top four teams.
“In that period, they've won 23 games, which isn't bad, but just five of these wins have been against top eight teams and none of those wins have been against top four teams.
“In 2022, they lost two games to Sydney, two games to Collingwood, they lost to Geelong.
“Yes, they beat Brisbane twice, but then lost to them in a final.
“This year they've lost to Brisbane and Port Adelaide who are top eight teams.
“The lack of consistency or the lack of wins against top eight teams and no wins against top four teams over the last 18 months is actually now a pattern that has existed for the best part of a year and a half.”
Lucas: “There is only one possible conclusion you can draw from that.
“They're not quite good enough.”
Morris: “Exactly right.”
Lucas: “That’s at this point in time to compete with the very best teams.
Morris: “So they're not quite Carlton or a mid-ranked team, they’re better than that.
“But they're also not Collingwood or Brisbane or a top-ranked team.
“Then the question has to be asked, if they don't win a flag this year and if they struggle next year, does this group, to really frank their potential, need to win a second premiership in this era?
“You set a high standard, they won a premiership, they did an amazing job to win that flag.
“They played a great month of footy.
“But you think with (Christian) Petracca, (Clayton) Oliver, (Steven) May, (Jake) Lever and (Max) Gawn, this group should probably at least play in another Grand Final and probably win another flag.”
Lucas: “It’ll be one short, I would think on the talent that they've got, but they need to evolve.
“That is the question they need to ask and how they do that.
“Do they need to play Petracca out of the square a little bit more to give them power up forward? They need to do something different.
“As they say, you can’t keep doing the same thing over and over again and expect a different result.”
The Demons next face the Blues in a huge Friday night clash at the MCG before facing the ladder-leading Magpies on King’s Birthday in Round 13.