We’re coming! Years of development paid off for Melbourne with a top-four finish. Now the Demons need to go on with the job. Photo: GETTY IMAGES

MELBOURNE 2018 record: 16 wins, 9 losses (4th)

THE INS
Steven May (Gold Coast), Kade Kolodjashnij (Gold Coast), Braydon Preuss (North Melbourne), Tom Sparrow (South Adelaide), James Jordon (Oakleigh Chargers), Aaron Nietschke (Central District), Marty Hore (Collingwood VFL), Toby Bedford (Dandenong Stingrays), Kade Chandler (Norwood), Corey Wagner (Casey Demons), Austin Bradtke (Melbourne Tigers – SEABL), Guy Walker (Melbourne Renegades – BBL)

THE OUTS
Jesse Hogan (Fremantle), Dom Tyson (North Melbourne), Dean Kent (St Kilda), Harley Balic (retired), Bernie Vince (retired), Cameron Pedersen (delisted), Tomas Bugg (delisted – Carlton), Mitch King (delisted), Pat McKenna (delisted), Lachlan Filipovic (delisted), Dion Johnstone (delisted)

THE STRENGTHS
The Demons are now so strong all over the ground there’s really no reason they can’t launch a legitimate attempt at a premiership. Their backline is brimming with talent with the recruitment of Steven May and the return of Jake Lever (knee), their midfield is one of the best in the competition, and they had the No.1 ranked attack in the AFL in 2018, thanks largely to their exciting and quick ball movement which helped five of their players kick at least 20 goals. However, one of those players was the departed Jesse Hogan, which means Sam Weideman and/or Christian Petracca will probably have to pick up that slack. Their incredible tackling pressure and ferocity, which brought Geelong and Hawthorn undone in the finals, was breathtaking. If they can replicate that more often than not next season, they will be a force to be reckoned with. Last season, on differentials, Melbourne was ranked first for contested marks, with Max Gawn and Tom McDonald dominating the air, No.1 for marks inside 50, No.1 for contested possessions, second for disposals and fifth for clearances. Those ball-winning numbers come as little surprise when you consider the Dees’ engine room consists of the likes of Jack Viney, Clayton Oliver, Angus Brayshaw, James Harmes and Nathan Jones, who are all contested bulls, as well as Gawn. They also registered the most inside 50s of any team, which made life for their forwards a lot easier, while conceding the second-fewest inside 50s.

THE WEAKNESSES
There aren’t too many, because, as previously stated, every line is stacked with talent now. But perhaps they lack a bit of outside pace in the middle which would explain why they picked up Tom Sparrow and James Jordon with their first two draft picks. And while Melbourne’s best 22 is of the highest quality, its playing list gets a little bit thin beyond the 24th player, so they may be just a fraction light on for depth. The biggest thing Melbourne has to improve on is the kind of stage fright it suffered against West Coast in the preliminary final. The Demons looked like they came of age in eliminating the Cats and Hawks from September, but the horror meeting with the Eagles probably reminded them that they still have a bit of work to do before considering themselves heavyweights of the competition.

ONE TO WATCH
May has been treading water for most of his career up at the Suns. An extremely talented key defender, it’s fair to say he hasn’t reached his full potential yet. Granted, he has spent his entire AFL life at one of the worst set-ups for player development ever seen. So he deserves to be cut some slack. But he has just joined one of the most exciting teams in the competition, one right in premiership contention. He could quite possibly turn out to be the missing piece in the Demons’ quest for the ultimate glory, and now that he finally finds himself in a top team surrounded by quality players, he could flourish and become the player he has promised to be.

UNDER THE PUMP
There’s no two ways about it; Jordan Lewis is clinging to his spot in the best 22 by the skin of his teeth. And after his dreadful performance in Melbourne’s humiliating preliminary final loss to West Coast, it wouldn’t surprise to see the 32-year-old on the outer for most of next season. It really did look like the game had passed him by dramatically in the space of just two hours. Co-captain Jones isn’t too far behind. He had a very good home-and-away season but come the finals, he basically got pushed out of the engine room and on to a wing for large portions, rendering him ineffective for the most part. Now that Hogan has been traded out, the Dees are putting quite a few of their eggs in the Sam Weideman basket, and after his impressive finish to the year, the youngster will be under pressure to hold down a spot in attack as an effective forward in tandem with Tom McDonald.

BEST 22
B: Neville Jetta, Steven May, Oscar McDonald
HB: Michael Hibberd, Jake Lever, Christian Salem
C: Clayton Oliver, Nathan Jones, James Harmes
HF: Alex Neal-Bullen, Sam Weideman, Christian Petracca
F: Jake Melksham, Tom McDonald, Mitch Hannan
R: Max Gawn, Jack Viney, Angus Brayshaw
Inter: Charlie Spargo, Aaron vandenBerg, Bayley Fritsch, Jordan Lewis
Emerg: Sam Frost, Joel Smith, Kade Kolodjashnij, Jeff Garlett

May slots straight in and while Lever is in the best 22, he will probably miss the first half of the year due to a knee injury, so the opportunity is there for either Sam Frost or Joel Smith to stake a claim in his absence. Lewis starts on the bench and is in the best 22 for now, but that may not last very long.