IN NOVEMBER of 2023, the Demons returned to the club to begin their preparations for their 2024 AFL campaign.

The first day in at AAMI Park saw the players and coaches sit down to watch all four lost finals from the past two seasons.

It was a brutal start but one that both Max Gawn and Simon Goodwin said was incredibly valuable for the team heading into the new year.

“The first day we walked in, we looked at all four [finals] that we’ve lost over the last two years,” Gawn said.

“A lot of pressure goes on Bayley Fritsch and Kozzy Pickett if we score 60 points, but it is an 18-man thing, and there is something going on, up the field, that’s not getting us to score.”

Goodwin echoed this sentiment at the club’s 2024 Season Launch, delving into the complexity of the team’s repeated finals exits and how they would look to embrace these clear challenges.  

“I think any time you can use adversity to grow, you’re looking at it the right way,” Goodwin said.

“The first thing we did when we walked back into the club, as coaches to start with and then the players, we looked at our finals.

We’ve lost four finals in a row and we’re not going to shy away from that, we’re going to grab that as an opportunity.

“What were some of the things in the games that we need to do better? What were some things from a behavioural perspective and dynamic perspective that we need to learn from?

“Our players reviewed it strongly, our coaches reviewed it strongly and that was part of us growing and getting better.

“We’re going to use that adversity.”

06:56

Media Conference | Max Gawn

Max Gawn spoke to media at AFL’s captains’ day

Many supporters and naysayers scrutinised Melbourne for its ‘straight sets’ exits, putting it down to the team’s scoring inefficiency, despite the Dees’ sitting in the competition’s top six for points-scored at the end of the 2023 home-and-away campaign.

Amongst this scrutiny, however, the club’s defence continued to be one of the best in the league, ranking second in the competition for points-scored-against.

Melbourne’s skipper said the team was certainly working on improvement of efficiency inside 50 but emphasised that their focus on strengths (contest and defence) was just as important.

“There are three phases of the game and two of them we have been very good at,” Gawn said.

“The one key thing in football is, you’ve got to focus on your strengths.

We’ve looked at those four finals and where our offence broke down, but our contest and defence broke down as well.

“Obviously, offence is the talking point externally, but defence and contest have been given a fair run this year [during pre-season] as well.”

This importance of all phases of the game became further evident off the back of the Dees’ match-simulation loss to Richmond, in which Melbourne’s defensive efforts were tested.

Goodwin explained that this was a perfect example of how integral it is for his team to remain focused on growing all methods of their game.  

“Clearly, we defend really well, and we win contest really well,” Goodwin said.

“That’s been the hallmark of this team and that’s got to stay because that gives you a chance for success.

“Our challenge has been, can we increase our scoring while keeping our foundation really solid?

“So, we’ve lent into that through the summer, and we’ve changed a bit of how we’ve played, but we saw [in the match-sim] that 117 points against, isn’t going to get it done in games.

So, we need to make sure our foundations stay strong, we’ve got to get our inside 50s, our connection and our ability to move the ball, better.

“We’ll lean into all those things that people are challenging us on, but we also need to make sure that we don’t lose sight of the fact we’ve set ourselves up in a really strong position through contest and defence and that’s got to stay.”