“If we don’t have any serious injuries this year, we’ll win it.”

No, this didn’t come from the lips of Damien Hardwick, Chris Scott, Chris Fagan or even Ken Hinkley – these were the prophetic words of Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin back in March.

Before the season began, Goodwin met with veteran journalist Mike Sheehan at a pub in Sorrento and made it clear to Sheehan that he had full faith in his side despite many predicting a third straight season without September action.

At the time, Goodwin was also under mounting pressure following the Demons’ fall from a 2018 Preliminary Final appearance to missing the finals in successive seasons – including a 17^th place finish in 2019.

Sheehan even joked with him about “getting the ass” and spending time on the golf course this year but Goodwin was fully confident his team would finally turn their fortunes around and his pre-season picture of confidence was well and truly justified.

Six months later, Melbourne are on the precipice of breaking a league-record 57-year Premiership drought as they enter their first Grand Final in 21 years against the Western Bulldogs.

You would be hard pressed to find someone who saw this coming outside of Melbourne’s own four walls.

Not even the most optimistic of Dees supporter would’ve thought it was possible heading into the season and to be honest, you wouldn’t blame them having been accustomed to constant and ever-lasting disappointment for seasons on end.

The mood has suddenly changed and there’s every reason to believe that finally the dark clouds have lifted.

So how did things turn around so quickly? 

RELATED: The 2021 AFL Grand Final Is The Match-Up We Deserve

Off-season soul-searching

It all started with a series of difficult internal conversations during the off-season which forced the players to take a look at themselves in the mirror and address what was causing a side – which boasted a plethora of talent on each line – to fall behind the peloton.

At times, Goodwin was lost for words as to why his team couldn’t quite pull it together with some – internally and externally - dubbing their brand as “selfish”.

Star players became focused on winning games off their own boot and less focused on playing their role and trusting players around them to do the same as well.

An off-season of soul-searching ensued and the club, as detailed by Michael Gleeson in The Age back in May, “were sick of being the butt of jokes for falling short and being flaky”.

The club’s leaders pushed forward the notion of playing selfless, team-first footy and learning to trust one another to do their role each and every time they stepped on the field.

The football department also took a note out of the books of cross-town rivals Richmond and Collingwood by deciding to back in their embattled coach and surround him with new, fresher faces – including Mark Williams and Adem Yze.

Goodwin also showcased a willingness to adapt working with his new battalion of coaches to switch tactics to a more defence-first mantra which centres around high-pressure footy.

With the players buying in to and driving the new strategy, the synergy in all areas of the park has improved which would only make Melbourne a much stronger and more dangerous outfit.

The notion of selflessness was reflective straight away – in defence and attack.

RELATED: What Each Of The Other 16 Clubs Can Learn From The 2021 Grand Finalists

Defensive monsters

Melbourne’s change in style reaped immediate dividends boasting the league’s best defence, conceding less points than any other side in the competition and only 80 or more points twice (most being 95).

You don’t just see these defensive changes with just a back six performing alone, it happens when the team feels an innate responsibility to defend – no matter your position on the field.

When the ball is in motion, the Demons are making it a hot footy by swarming opposition players at the coal-face to try and force turnovers.

At times, it looks as if there are more and red and blue jerseys on the field than the opposition choking teams with their enormous two-way work-rate.

The numbers don’t lie as Melbourne have gone from the league’s worst tackling side last season (44.1 per game) to the league’s best (62.5 per game) while also ranking first for intercepts (77.3 per game) – a by-product of forcing teams into poor entries inside 50.

We mentioned hot footy, well, good luck trying to rebound when the ball is live inside the Demons’ forward 50. 

Melbourne’s ability to lock it in their forward-half has become a hallmark of their game – leading the competition tackles inside 50 (12.7 per game).

Both Alex Neal-Bullen and Kysaiah Pickett led the forward-50 barrage - ranking first and third respectively for tackles in their forward 50 throughout the entire league.

RELATED: Stats and Trends- What Makes A Norm Smith Medalist?

Midfield-attack connection

Even when Melbourne was struggling enormously over the past two seasons, their midfield quality has never been questioned.

When you have the likes of Max Gawn, Jack Viney, Clayton Oliver and Christian Petracca at your disposal – it’s easy to see why their ranking in all midfield statistics has always been in the top echelon.

However, it was the midfield’s lack of connection with the forward-half which had let them down significantly given how they would beatdown sides in the middle but couldn’t convert it into scores.

As described by club legend Garry Lyon on SEN last July, Melbourne’s blistering attacking tempo was unsustainable due to their lack of foot skills and composure going forward.

The Demons addressed their field-kicking issues helped in part by the arrival of Williams as an assistant coach who demanded a lift in their kicking standards.

Again, this season Melbourne dominated all contested ball and hit-out parameters but on this occasion their superiority in the middle of the ground would not go to waste.

Gone were the days of blazing away and not hitting a target as Melbourne looked to use more of their forward options to greater aplomb.

Their forward entries were cleaned up significantly, ranking second for inside 50s a game (56 per game) and third for marks inside 50 (12.5 per game) – a by-product of the overused analogy of “lowering the eyes”.

Not relying on a single key-forward outpost allowed for Melbourne to have a more fluid attacking set-up – with over five players kicking over 20 goals this season.

Bailey Fritsch and Pickett benefited the most from the new attacking style by given greater responsibility in the forward-half and taking their game to another level kicking 53 and 40 goals respectively.

Emblematic of the newly-adopted selflessness was also Gawn’s ruck-sacrifice which gave emerging youngster Luke Jacksonmore opportunities in the middle which in-turn led to a breakout season and ultimately winning the Rising Star.

The ability to then use Gawn forward of the ball led to his best season in-front of goal – tallying a career best in scoring shots (31) and marks (126).

RELATED: Can Luke Beveridge Become The Undisputed King Of The Western Suburbs?

Saturday: final destination

Melbourne had to learn to trust and learning to trust is sometimes one of the hardest aspects of life.

When things got tough, the board needed to trust that Goodwin could end their Premiership drought and the players needed to learn to trust one another.

It’s no shock that when they finally got on the same page as a playing group and as a club – the results have seen a significant uptick.

The talent was always there, they just needed to buy in and trust the process.

Almost a year later and the Demons are 120 minutes away from breaking their 57-year curse.

In all their attempts at breaking the long-awaited drought, there has never been a Melbourne side more well-equipped and ready to take home the Holy Grail.

Who knows, maybe they’re in a position to secure more than one ‘grand old flag’ in the years that follow.

Did you enjoy this article? Join our free mailing list to get the best content delivered straight to your inbox, or join the conversation by leaving a comment below or on the Stats Insider Twitter or Facebook page.