Hawthorn great Luke Hodge says Melbourne must address their forward half issues if they are any chance of going deep in 2023.
The Demons currently sit fourth on the ladder, a game clear of St Kilda, Essendon and Western Bulldogs, but their grip on a top-four spot is weakening.
Having only kicked over 80 points once since Round 9, Hodge says coach Simon Goodwin needs to change the way their forward line shapes up.
Jacob Van Rooyen, albeit on a very small sample size, has shown he’s capable of kicking a bag of goals on his day, but the absence of a second key forward is where the issues lie, according to Hodge.
He says you can have all the stars you want in the midfield, but if there’s no second tall helping out the inexperienced Van Rooyen, then the Demons won't go deep come finals time.
“What we’re seeing is them falling down going forward,” Hodge told SEN’s Whateley.
“Max Gawn is not a natural forward, he’s a multiple All-Australian ruckman so he’s selflessly playing out of position, and that’s what leaders do, leaders will play in positions that aren’t natural to them for the benefit of the team.
“The biggest issue for them is not having another centre half-forward. You get Clayton Oliver back into that midfield, and whether you’ve got Gawn or Brodie Grundy as the dominant ruckman in and around a quality midfield, the connection going forward into a key centre half-forward that helps Van Rooyen isn’t there.
“They keep chopping and changing, Ben Brown is down there, and then he hasn’t had a go, but I think they need to go back to Brown and give him another shot.
“The system going forward is going to fall down in finals as we saw in a quality game against Geelong last Thursday night, they just couldn’t do it towards the end of the game.”
Brown has managed just three senior games this season, battling both injury and form, whilst Tom McDonald has played just the six.
The Demons will look to lock down their top-four spot against GWS on Sunday afternoon.