As the Melbourne Demons continue their steady climb up the AFL ladder and speculation around a 2024 finals berth grows louder, first-year senior coach Steven King is refusing to get caught up in the hype, urging his side to stay focused on the immediate task at hand rather than looking ahead to September football.
The Demons currently sit sixth on the premiership ladder after a dominant first-half blitz against Hawthorn kept their hopes of a top-four finish well and truly alive. Entering the run home to the finals, Melbourne has just one side currently ranked above them — Fremantle — left on their schedule, with a clash against 17th-placed Richmond at the MCG this Sunday as their next challenge. But King is acutely aware of how quickly fortunes can shift in the hyper-competitive modern AFL, where small margins separate ladder leaders from battlers and results can swing wildly week to week.
When asked directly if it was too early to start discussing the so-called “F-word” — finals — King did not hesitate to shut down the premature speculation. “Yeah, it is, absolutely,” he told reporters. King, who took over the top coaching role at the club this off-season amid a major roster and leadership overhaul, said the uncertainty of the competition makes long-term forecasting pointless. “I know how marginal this competition is,” he explained. “One week you’re spoken about really highly and you slip up or come up against a really good team, and you can’t control what other clubs are doing around you.”
Rather than looking ahead to a potential finals spot, King said his full attention is fixed on how his side will bounce back from a underwhelming fourth quarter in their previous win in Tasmania. While the line has become a common talking point for coaches across the league, King said it remains the unvarnished reality for his emerging side. “I think it’s too early for us to mention that word. I am really just keen to see how we respond from that fourth quarter in Tassie this week. That’s a bit of a cliche for a coach to say, but that’s pretty much the reality.”
King added that Sunday’s opposition Richmond, fighting to avoid the wooden spoon this season, will be hungry to pull off an upset against the in-form Demons. “I think on the weekend Richmond will be looking at our game going that’s them at their best, and there’s a patch there that looks like an opportunity to get up,” he said. “We have to keep controlling what we can and therein lies a great opportunity for us as a club.”
Off the field, the Demons have received positive injury news on key attacking targets, even as key forward Brody Mihocek remains sidelined in the short term. Mihocek returned to the club for a scheduled training appearance this Wednesday, just weeks after suffering a neck injury on King’s Birthday, providing a boost to the club’s long-term outlook. For this weekend, Melbourne remains quietly optimistic that star forward Bayley Fritsch will be fit to take the field despite a painful early injury against Hawthorn.
Fritsch dislocated his finger in the opening stages of the win over the Hawks, but returned to the field to boot four goals in what King called an incredibly brave showing. “Yeah, good. He had that dislocation and had to go off, I think it broke a bit of skin,” King said. “He’s had that out so he will be a test this week, but we’re hopeful, he got through and kicked another four goals with it. It was a really brave effort from him and hopefully he can recover in time. Luckily, this Sunday gives us an extra day. (We’re) optimistic he’ll be right.” Fritsch is expected to wear a protective glove on the injured finger if he is cleared to take the field against Richmond.