“I’ve never been more disappointed”: Melbourne great rips into former club, Goodwin, Fritsch & more
Melbourne great David Schwarz has launched into his former club following their 38-point loss to Collingwood on King’s Birthday, declaring the Demons’ “season is done”.
Simon Goodwin’s men weren’t in the contest after half-time, losing every quarter on the way to a 6.15 (51) to 14.5 (89) defeat.
But the fallout has revolved around the manner of the loss. Melbourne had only three less inside 50s and on expected scores, would have gone down by just two points.
A star-studded midfield and rock solid defence are obsolete without a forward line to match, and the Demons rank 12th for goals per inside 50 in 2024.
Schwarz, the 1999 best and fairest at Melbourne who played 12 seasons for the club, didn’t hold back in his assessment.
“I can honestly say, I’ve never been more disappointed,” he told SEN WA Breakfast.
“What a load of crap. Three years this bull crap has been happening in trying to find a forward line… the coaches have to take responsibility.
“This isn’t a patch. This is a systematic breakdown of the most important part of your game, which is your forward line. They haven’t been able to address it and it doesn’t matter how many good performances you put in like against St Kilda (in Round 11), it’s just not good enough.
“For a club that has got… a good midfield, a good backline and they haven’t been able to address their forward line, (it's not acceptable).
“No matter what spin Simon Goodwin puts on it, it lays with him. It lay with him and his selection committee that they have not been able to recruit, develop and identify a forward line that is going to be comparable… to a side that is playing for a top eight, top four position.
“It’s just not good enough.”
Schwarz added: “We go inside 50 as much as anyone… the way we go in, it’s like we’re drunk… they’ll probably fall into the eight, but their season is done, they can’t recover from this.”
Since the 2021 premiership, Melbourne has finished in the top four in consecutive years, a position they were in again between Rounds 3 and 12 this year.
In 2022, Goodwin’s troops went out in straight sets against Sydney and Brisbane, enjoying more inside 50 in both games.
The same fate occurred in 2023. In Melbourne’s Qualifying Final loss to the Magpies, the Demons famously had more scoring shots and some 32 more inside 50s.
Schwarz fumed that Goodwin has failed to address the Demons’ root problem.
“You get grace when you get a premiership, we’ve seen Luke Beveridge go through it (at the Western Bulldogs)… I don’t know about Simon Goodwin, I really don’t,” he continued.
“Unless you’re sitting there in the rooms with them you don’t know what they’re like. When you’re sitting there and it’s Groundhog Day three years in a row… missing out by a point or a kick multiple years and the forward line is missing and they haven’t addressed it, of course they have to look at the coach.”
The now 51-year-old also got stuck into Bayley Fritsch, Melbourne’s leading goal scorer every season since 2019, who kicked 1.4 on Sunday.
“He’s not an A-Grader. A-Graders have effort when they don’t have the footy, he doesn’t have effort… he has more talent than most players dream of having, but if he doesn’t have a defensive bone in his body and he doesn’t work hard enough… his second efforts are nonexistent,” Schwarz said of Fritsch.
“He’s not an A-grade and he’s not even close. If he thinks he is, he’s dreaming. He could be a bona fide All-Australian but he’s not, he needs work rate, he needs a rocket.”
The Demons are given a reprieve with the bye in Round 14 and face only one top four team in their run home, Port Adelaide in Round 22.