Pressure is mounting at the Melbourne Football Club after yet another uninspiring loss in 2024.
The Dees were comprehensively beaten by an injury-depleted Collingwood outfit in the annual King’s Birthday clash at the MCG to raise even more questions around their finals credibility this season.
Club champion Garry Lyon put his club under the microscope on Monday night on Fox Footy’s On The Couch.
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After last week’s horror show against the Dockers in Alice Springs, the entire footy world was expecting a response from Simon Goodwin’s troops.
We didn’t get one.
Goodwin pleads to keep faith | 09:07
“I used the term ‘care’ last week and I think some people misinterpreted it, I think Christian [Petracca] did about whether players cared for the club, it’s not about the club, care about your teammate when you’ve got ball in hand, care about completing the play, that’s what disappointed me,” Lyon told the On the Couch panel.
“Why do we keep talking about this? Year after year after year,” Lions champion Jonathan Brown asked.
“We keep talking about it because it keeps happening,” Lyon responded.
Brown believes the Dees are potentially wasting an extremely talented list as they wallow in 10th spot on the AFL ladder heading into their round 14 bye.
“If you look at it on paper, Gawn, Viney, Petracca, Oliver, you would’ve thought a few years ago that could be Voss, Akermanis, Black, Lappin, they’ve not reached those heights and they’re wasting Max Gawn,” Brown said.
Lyon replied: “Don’t worry about the names, talk about what the names are doing.”
“Clayton Oliver’s care today, execution by hand and foot, was totally unacceptable.
“That’s a name who’s been able to do it previously,” Brown said.
Petracca taken out in BRUTAL rib hit | 01:49
Collingwood champion Nathan Buckley also joined the chorus of critics of the severely underperforming side.
“For me, it’s execution and effort,” he said.
“The inside 50 connection has been forever an issue for Melbourne and kicking long to contest under pressure has been something you can force Melbourne into.
“The other element that you really did expect to see is fire and brimstone, eyes rolling, after your opposition.”
The Dees had a pressured rating of just 164, a season low.
“We know what you get from Collingwood, you don’t have time or space which forces execution issues, but on this side of it, the Demons had to provide,” he said.
One shining light for the Demons was the negating role hard-running midfielder Alex Neal-Bullen performed on Collingwood superstar Nick Daicos.
Neal-Bullen held Daicos to just 15 disposals and a goal in an unusually quiet performance from the Pies father-son, amassing 15 touches and four clearances of his own.
“His effort and application was first class, but we didn’t see enough of it across the board from the Melbourne players,” Buckley said.
Lyon compared Collingwood’s ability to knuckle down, saying they do the “non-negotiables” far better than his former side do at the current time.
“What you’re saying is why can’t they produce at a level Collingwood produces? This is why you have to admire this football club, if you’re a Collingwood supporter right now, you’re so happy to go and watch them player because irrespective of who is in the black and white jumper, there is non-negotiables and that is you crack in, you put pressure on the opposition at every single opportunity you get. They are insatiable in their appetite,” Lyon said.
Every slide of the EPIC 2024 Big Freeze | 01:30
The Demons booted 6.15 as their inefficiency in front of goal continued to plague Simon Goodwin’s side.
“Look where they took their shots from, that’s going slow and conservative and being forced wide, that’s not having the courage to attack the goal square.
“The Pies were more corridor focused, they were more inclined to run and attack the front of the goal square.
Lyon said outside of Neal-Bullen, only captain Max Gawn and maybe livewire small forward Kysaiah Pickett could hold their heads high.
“They were the only ones who looked as though they were winning their spot.”
The Demons have a bye in round 14 before a clash against North Melbourne the following week at the MCG.