Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin has kept a positive persona through all the struggles of season 2024 so far, with a similar sentiment coming out of Saturday night's two-point defeat to Port Adelaide.
While the loss all but ends Melbourne's season, the coach continues to find optimism in the style of footy they're playing, with an exuberant young core of Demons coming through to support their ageing or out-of-form stars.
"In the end, we lost out to a team that's playing some really good footy."
"I thought we had some dominance where we could've hit the scoreboard more... I think we had 20 more clangers than the opposition."
"We have an expectation to play finals footy."
Eight points out of contention with a poor percentage and just two weeks remaining, finals are a far cry for Melbourne, many pundits believing they should already opt to rest their veterans, allowing them a longer runway into the upcoming preseason.
32-year-old skipper Max Gawn looks to be carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders with every outing, while struggling star Clayton Oliver seemingly needs an extended stint away to get his body back to the peak fitness that made him one of the most prolific ball winners in the competition.
Oliver has been heavily scrutinised for his performance in the loss, gathering a wasteful 16 disposals with some glaring lapses infecting his play at times.
"It wasn't his best night," Simon Goodwin acknowledged post-match.
"(But) he's certainly someone that we know when we get him back to his absolute best he's going to have a massive impact for our footy club."
โHe cost them severely.โ
Kane Cornes says Clayton Oliver is a liability for the Dees, suggesting the club needs to put a line through their star midfielder to get him physically right.
Watch The Round So Far, thanks to @AAMI: https://t.co/AWuWGX3bi6 pic.twitter.com/pcXSjSlayY
— AFL (@AFL) August 10, 2024
Another scrutinised star for Dees in 2024 has been electric small Kysaiah Pickett, who responded to criticism during the week with a dynamic 21 disposal, four goal effort to try and drag his side over the line.
"He's an outstanding player Kozzy, I know there's commentary out there around his consistency," the Melbourne coach noted.
"There's times where that could be a little bit better but if you go back through the history of his career... he's tracking into a fantastic player and tonight it was there for everyone to see."
An away meeting with Gold Coast before a Round 24 Friday night clash with Collingwood will spell the end of Melbourne's 2024 campaign, which the Dees hope to finish off strongly after 18 months of devastating tolls.
