Christian Petracca’s spectacular 2020 earned him All-Australian honours and Melbourne’s best-and-fairest. Photo: AFL MEDIA

MELBOURNE
2020 record: 9 wins, 8 losses (9th)

THE INS
Ben Brown (North Melbourne), Jake Bowey (Sandringham Dragons), Bailey Laurie (Oakleigh Chargers), Fraser Rosman (Sandringham Dragons)

THE OUTS
Oscar McDonald (delisted), Harley Bennell (retired), Mitch Hannan (Western Bulldogs), Braydon Preuss (GWS), Kade Kolodjashnij (retired), Kyle Dunkley (delisted), Corey Wagner (delisted), Josh Wagner (delisted), Aaron Nietschke (delisted)

THE STRENGTHS
There were quite a few times last year when the Demons looked like finals material, especially in big wins over Collingwood (56 points), North Melbourne (57), Adelaide (51) and Hawthorn (43), as well as thrilling victories over St Kilda and GWS which, at least for a period, kept their finals hopes alive. And yes, the Kangaroos, Crows and Hawks were bottom-four teams, but in those games the Demons recaptured some of that ruthlessness that made them so successful in 2018. Christian Petracca finally realised the enormous potential most of the footy world knew he had with a spectacular breakout season. The 25-year-old earned All-Australian honours, his first best-and-fairest and an equal-third placing in the Brownlow Medal after averaging 24 disposals, 13 contested possessions, four clearances, four inside 50s and three tackles a game to go with an equal-third club best 15 goals. He also finished fourth in the competition for contested possessions, ninth for goal assists and in the top 20 for disposals. Clayton Oliver and Jack Viney also joined him in the top 20 for inside 50s. If you said that Petracca (20), Oliver (14) and Max Gawn (13) would combine for 47 Brownlow votes, you’d think that finals would be a fait accompli for Melbourne, but it wasn’t to be. The midfield is certainly the Dees’ biggest strength – in Petracca (third), Angus Brayshaw (third) and Gawn (fourth), they’ve got three guys who have finished in the top four of the Brownlow in the last three years. Add to that the fact former skipper Viney returned to top form again in 2020 and Ed Langdon proved to be a handy pick-up, and that unit will certainly be a force to be reckoned with again this year after the team finished fourth for contested possessions on differentials last year. Oliver was No.1 for clearances in the AFL in 2020, third for contested possessions, sixth for tackles and 11th for disposals. Sure, he has his knockers when it comes to his disposal efficiency at times, and rightfully so, but you’d rather him in your team than not and he has formed a formidable tandem act with Petracca. But if there was one area that needed bolstering, it was the forward line, and Melbourne officials must still be pinching themselves at their ability to snare one of the best key forwards in the game in Ben Brown. Like a lot of other players, Brown seemed to struggle in hub life last season before injury prematurely ended his disappointing 2020 campaign. But incredibly, North decided that was enough evidence required to ship him off elsewhere, despite him booting 63, 61 and 64 goals in each of his three previous seasons. It’s a huge coup for the Demons, who already had the eighth best attack in the AFL, and Brown’s presence should only help guys like Bayley Fritsch, who could’ve kicked many more than 22 goals last year considering he also booted 24 behinds, Sam Weideman and newcomer Luke Jackson. The Dees look quite solid down back too, and Steven May is the main reason for their defence being ranked eighth last season. The former Suns defender was outstanding – not only did he do a marvellous job on his direct opponent, but time and time again he repelled opposition attacking forays and got his team out of trouble. He finished 2020 sixth in the league for rebounds and was incredibly unlucky to miss out on All-Australian selection.

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THE WEAKNESSES
In typical Demons fashion, though, they were once again their own worst enemy. For every good performance, there was almost always an inexplicably bad one, and when it comes to the latter category it’s hard to go past their nightmarish double-header in Cairns late in the season. Melbourne headed into that north Queensland expedition against lowly Sydney and Fremantle at 7-6 and with its destiny firmly in its own hands. Win both of those games, and finals were all but guaranteed. Win one of those games, at least, and finals were still a huge possibility. But oh, no. The Swans and Dockers, who were 16th and 14th on the ladder respectively when they met the Demons, were triumphant on both occasions, sending the Dees’ finals hopes into a tailspin. It ultimately proved to be a setback too big from which to recover. Not for the first time in the Demons’ recent history, their mental fragility was on show for all to see – only this time they had the added kick in the guts of a finals spot at their mercy. Melbourne seemed to shake that perception of softness for good in 2018, but it’s quickly returned in the last couple of seasons and perhaps they are still mentally scarred from that embarrassing preliminary final against West Coast three seasons ago. The other thing at which critics might point to illustrate that Melbourne’s 2020 wasn’t as promising as it seemed was the fact only two of their nine wins came against top-eight teams. When you consider how good the Dees’ midfield looks on paper, the fact that on differentials they were 13th for disposals and 12th for marks last year makes it easier to understand why they had such an up-and-down year. If their on-ball guns can control the ball a lot more often, that will go a long way to having them re-enter the top eight. Despite those stats, Melbourne still managed to finish seventh overall for inside 50s and eighth for goals per inside 50, while on differentials, the Dees ranked fourth for marks inside 50. So, if the structure up forward appears to be fairly sound, if their midfield and high half-forwards can work hard to increase the volume of forward entries, they’ll be back on track. Also, the departure of Preuss has left their ruck stocks a bit vulnerable. It’s basically Gawn or nothing at the moment, with six-gamer Jackson the only genuine back-up.

ONE TO WATCH
Trent Rivers made a big splash in his first year, in a bubble no less, and the former No.32 draft pick is already looking like one of the big sliders of his class. Who could forget his two crucial goals in their crunch clash with GWS late in the season? He already averages 14 touches a game off half-back and there appears to be plenty more where that came from this year and beyond.

UNDER THE PUMP
The rapid decline of Neville Jetta has been sudden as it has been bemusing. For many years he was regarded as one of the finest small defenders in the competition, but now he finds himself in a battle to keep his spot in the best 22. After his 2019 was ruined by knee surgeries, last year he found himself on the wrong end of selection a few times. Having only played 13 games in the past two seasons, he’s clearly no longer held in the high regard he once was by match committee.

BEST 22
B: Christian Salem, Steven May, Tom McDonald
HB: Michael Hibberd, Jake Lever, Trent Rivers
C: Angus Brayshaw, Jack Viney, Ed Langdon
HF: Bayley Fritsch, Luke Jackson, Jake Melksham
F: Christian Petracca, Ben Brown, Sam Weideman
R: Max Gawn, Clayton Oliver, James Harmes
Inter: Kysaiah Pickett, Alex Neal-Bullen, Adam Tomlinson, Aaron vandenBerg
Emerg: Nathan Jones, Joel Smith, Neville Jetta, Jayden Hunt

This writer believes Tom McDonald should go back to his natural habitat in defence now that Ben Brown is at the club and his brother Oscar has been delisted. It’s a toss-up between McDonald and Joel Smith for that third key defender spot, but if it becomes apparent early on that it’s not working out with McDonald, then Smith should replace him. Jones slips out of the best 22, in what will surely be the battle-hardened warrior’s final year, as does Jetta. The likes of Tom Sparrow, Charlie Spargo and Jay Lockhart will be thereabouts for selection in 2021.