When the Demons blew their 46-point lead at Marvel Stadium in Round 20 last year, the fallout was enormous. Like an event straight out of a Shakespearean tragedy, Melbourne’s final-quarter collapse left fans reeling and the club grappling with the aftermath. 

Within ten days came the premature end of the tenure of the only premiership coach in the living memory of much of the Demon faithful. The conspiracy theories surrounding his removal rivalled the whispered intrigue that followed the demise of the Roman dictator Julius Caesar in the great bard’s telling.

The club replaced Simon Goodwin not with another Caesar, but with a King - one who quickly set about reshaping his army, removing one by one a number of highly decorated foot soldiers no longer deemed suitable for the new battle plan.

And now, as if by design, his forces are ready for the rematch on the very day my kinsman, the soothsayer, warned us to beware: the fifteenth day of the third month on the Gregorian calendar.

Beware the Ides of March.

The opening round of the football season is always a challenging one to predict. In this game, we only have the exposed form of one of the combatants who clearly demonstrated that preseason form is inconsequential. We saw the Saints underperform on Sunday night against Collingwood given the elevated expectations generated by the off-season spending spree that secured four highly priced and highly touted recruits and the retention at increased cost of budding superstar Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera followed by some easy wins in the meaningless preseason competition. 

Melbourne, on the other hand, are seemingly at a disadvantage because they were never put under pressure during their 1½ match simulation/ Community Cup series. On the weekend, while the Saints were slugging it out in front of 82,528 at a packed-out MCG, the Demons had to settle for some more match simulation in front of an almost empty stadium out at Casey Fields. 

From my perspective, another concern is the assumption that Melbourne is somehow exempt from pressure this season because a rookie coach has taken over following two disappointing years. That line of thinking doesn’t hold up. When you strip it back to the fundamentals, the Demons’ list profile - both in terms of age demographic and overall talent - should place genuine expectations and pressure on the club heading into a new season. It shouldn’t be used as a ready-made excuse for underperformance.

Steven King’s debut as an AFL senior coach has received a boost, with injured trio Jai Culley (arm), Bayley Fritsch (hand) and Brody Mihocek (concussion) all given the green light to face St Kilda. Their availability could set up a potential debut for Mihocek, while Jack Steele and Changkuoth Jiath are also in line to pull on the red and blue for the first time.

Young gun forward Latrelle Pickett, taken with pick No.12 in last year’s draft, is firmly in the mix, along with promising young ruckman Max Heath, as excitement builds around the Demons ahead of the clash.

Steele and Heath, both former Saints, will have extra incentive to shine against their old club although the latter’s prospects might have been damaged by the injury to Rowan Marshall given the apparent preference of the Demons’ eight time All-Australian Max Gawn to go it mostly alone in the ruck. 

"You're going to see a different looking Melbourne" - Steven King.

The big plus for Melbourne is the fact that the style of play that is being promoted appears to have finally have been embraced by a playing group working in unison so we can expect faster ball movement leading to superior forward connection and better conversion since the team started slipping off the rails three seasons ago. It hasn’t been tested under full match pressure and while I take on board the soothsayer’s warning to beware the Ides of March, I have confidence in the Demons to overcome Naz and the Saints and to finally put an end to the club’s Shakespearean nightmare.

Melbourne to win by 18 points.

THE GAME 

Melbourne vs St Kilda at The MCG on Sunday 15 March 2026 at 3.15pm

HEAD TO HEAD

Overall Melbourne 126 wins St Kilda 96 wins 1 drawn 

At The MCG Melbourne 61 wins St Kilda 37 wins

Past five meetings Melbourne 3 wins St Kilda 2 wins 

The Coaches King 0 wins Lyon 0 wins 

THE LAST TIME THEY MET

St Kilda 15.6.96 defeated Melbourne 13.12.90 at Marvel Stadium in Round 20 2025

They were sublime for three quarters and looked home and hosed at the final break. What followed in the next 32 minutes and 41 seconds was downright embarrassing for a team that included so many premiership players and heralded the end of an era at the Melbourne Football Club.

THE TEAMS

MELBOURNE (to be loaded when available)

ST KILDA (to be loaded when available)

Injury List: Round 1

Jai Culley — arm / available 

Bayley Fritsch — hand / available 

Jack Henderson — sacrum / available 

Brody Mihocek — concussion / available 

Andy Moniz-Wakefield — knee / available 

Shane McAdam — Achilles / 2-4 weeks

Matthew Jefferson — foot / 4-6 weeks 

Aidan Johnson — knee / 4-6 weeks 

Luker Kentfield  — knee / 4-6 weeks 

Kalani White — glandular fever / 4-6 weeks 

Jake Bowey — foot / 8-10 weeks 

Tom Campbell — neck / TBC

Jack Viney — Achilles / TBC

Are you certain that they soothsayer was directing his advice towards the Dees?

I mean, we're not playing on the ides, so we good?

(No one point out to werridee that ides is an anagram of side, for Juno's sake :))