Demonland

Enough of the personal attacks guys.

Steven King’s first piece of business as Melbourne’s new coach could be securing Max Gawn’s potential successor as the club prepares for a busy trade period, with new leaders appointed to key positions. The 2007 Geelong premiership ruckman had his official introduction as coach at the MCG on Monday, and spent the afternoon with Demons football boss Alan Richardson, list manager Tim Lamb and national recruiting manager Jason Taylor. Big list decisions are expected at Melbourne under new coach Steven King, but the moves might be less dramatic than in previous years. Premiership midfielders and club greats Christian Petracca and Clayton Oliver were undoubtedly on the agenda, along with Saint Marcus Windhager, Magpie Brody Mihocek, and Suns Sam Flanders and Malcolm Rosas jnr. Collingwood veteran Mihocek received a three-year offer from the Demons – potentially two seasons with a trigger attached – to end his career at Melbourne. He has been holding off on any decision relating to his future until the Magpies’ premiership tilt is over. Another was promising St Kilda ruckman Max Heath, who is out of contract and keen to play for Melbourne. Nothing is locked in yet, but the Demons presented to Heath and discussed a three-year deal, according to a source familiar with negotiations who wished to remain anonymous. However, King, as the incoming coach and a fellow big man, will have input in Heath’s recruitment. Max Heath wants to get to Melbourne in the trade period, with the Demons also targeting Brody Mihocek. Melbourne were the first of several rival clubs to express interest in Heath – the No.7 pick in the 2021 mid-season draft, who played his first four AFL games this season – and he hopes to play for them from next year. A trade will need to be brokered, but the reason for Heath wanting to leave is the path to eventually being the Dees’ No.1 big man, on top of Tom De Koning’s free agency arrival at Moorabbin. Contracted Saints ruckman Rowan Marshall is also weighing up the possibility of joining Geelong. The 22-year-old demonstrated at AFL and VFL level that he can make an impact up forward as well, so there is a possibility he could play alongside Gawn in the senior side while learning from the eight-time All-Australian. The Saint has a long-term friendship with Windhager, another Demons trade target, from their time playing junior football together at Beaumaris. Windhager is due to return from his New Zealand holiday in the coming days and is expected to make a call on his future no later than early next week. However, Windhager’s preference is to remain at St Kilda, despite the Demons and North Melbourne making compelling rival offers. Melbourne have re-signed Tom Campbell as ruck insurance, but have struggled to unearth other big man options, with none of Will Verrall, Tom Fullarton, Josh Schache or Kyah Farris-White still on the list. The one-season experiment trying to partner Brodie Grundy with Gawn, who turns 34 in December, also did not work, with Grundy traded to Sydney. On Monday, King’s public stance on Petracca and Oliver was that they were “both superstars of the competition” and that he would take pride in helping them return to the peak of their powers. However, Oliver’s attempt to cross to Geelong in last year’s trade period was still a talking point at the Demons’ club champion function last week, where Gawn won his third best-and-fairest award. Petracca is contracted until 2029, while Oliver is tied to the red and blue until 2030. Judd McVee, Taj Woewodin and Jack Henderson are Melbourne’s remaining out-of-contract players. Woewodin will have to wait until after the trade period to discover his fate, but Henderson will be on the Demons’ list next season. McVee, who has opposition interest, including from his home state of Western Australia, will speak to King about his role before making a call on his future.

Melbourne legend Garry Lyon has ruled out any possibility of Christian Petracca leaving the Demons for the Adelaide Crows. Recent reports revealed that both Petracca and the Melbourne Demons were open to shifting the 29-year-old, communicating peacefully following a tumultuous off-season in 2024. And as recently as Tuesday morning, it was further reported that the Adelaide Crows were preparing to make a play for the superstar midfielder, who would be open to a move interstate. With Petracca opting against a demand against the club, Lyon believes that the superstar won’t be going anywhere and is certain that the Crows’ potential trade package wouldn’t satisfy the Dees’ asking price. “My answer to that is the same as for Carlton with Charlie (Curnow), and even Zach (Merrett) with Essendon,” Lyon told SEN Breakfast. “No, he isn’t going to Adelaide, unless you turn around and say here’s Riley Thilthorpe and a draft pick, or here is two first rounders… “It’s all good and well to say it, but the next thing is to get it done. Last year I was a thousand percent no, keep Christian and I think they can turn it around. “If he still has issues after 12 months, and I don’t know if he has, let him sit down with Steven King first. Let those two have time together first and then maybe issues will be resolved. “If Adelaide wants Christian Petracca, then tell me how it’s going to get done? Because Pick 14 isn’t anywhere close to getting it done.” Referencing the nature of high-profile trades, Lyon believes that it is up to the clubs seeking top-end talent to put a commanding case forward to invite a deal, rather than the other way around. “I was only just throwing out Riley Thilthorpe - of course I know they’re not going to trade Riley Thilthorpe,” Lyon admitted. “But this is what I’m saying – you can’t just say, ‘I want Zak Butters to come and play at Melbourne’. Well, so does everyone. How are you going to get him? What have you got? “We’ve got two draft picks and this player – now it’s a serious conversation. I think any team that comes after Petracca or Curnow or anyone like that – you have got to command! “This is the interesting thing with Merrett and Hawthorn – I think it’s incumbent upon Hawthorn now, having exposed the gap between Hawthorn and Essendon, picked at the seam and now it’s unravelled, it’s incumbent for them to get the deal done. “Not to play hardball, because then if I’m Essendon, I get my back up even more and go, ‘guess what, we are going to trade Zach, you’ve been part of unravelling it and that’s okay, but he isn’t going to you.”

A good mate of Clarrys ...

Geelong legend Matthew Scarlett remains an assistant coach of interest at Melbourne. The Demons have Scarlett among a number of options to help support newly-appointed senior coach Steven King. But as premiership teammates at the Cats, Melbourne is quietly hopeful the connection between the pair can tempt Scarlett to make regular trips up the highway for a coaching role. Scarlett hasn’t been involved in AFL clubland since leaving Geelong at the end of the 2021 season. An AFL Hall of Fame defender, he played in three premierships with Geelong and is a six-time All Australian. Yesterday, Melbourne CEO Paul Guerra shed light on why the club hired King as the new senior coach. He was announced last week after 30 prospective coaches were interviewed. “A number of reasons. He’s a standout person for starters, a great family man,” Guerra said on SEN’s Fireball. “We loved his articulation of the game plan, particularly the contemporary side of it. We love how he’s using technology to inform that as well. “We just love his ability to communicate. We think he’s the right choice for our team with where we’re at right now.”

Melbourne has come for Collingwood’s Brody Mihocek “in a big way”. Channel 7’s Mitch Cleary is reporting that the Demons are intent on luring the 32-year-old who is out of contract at the end of this season. North Melbourne and Sydney have been loosely linked with Mihocek in recent times, but it appears as though the Dees - with new coach Steven King in the hot seat - are eager to recruit some experience. Mihocek has an offer on the table from the Magpies but it remains to be seen if he’ll put pen to paper. “We heard Steven King earlier talking about experience and wanting to keep experience on the list,” Cleary said on The Agenda Setters. “The Demons have come for Brody Mihocek in a big way. The Pies feel they’ve had a really strong offer to Mihocek on the table for some time. “He’s parked that until the end of the season. He turns 33 in February. I believe he’s weighing up a really strong proposal to join the Melbourne Footy Club. “They had a go at (Joe) Daniher at the start of the year, clearly that won’t be happening. “Melbourne is in the market for an experienced key forward and they’ve identified this man, Brody Mihocek.” Agenda Setters host Craig Hutchison believes Mihocek, who has kicked 267 goals in 158 games for the Pies, has put in the hard yards and now deserves a deal that suits him. “He’s never been paid, really,” he said. “He’s always been justifying his next contract. If there’s a good deal there you couldn’t begrudge him taking it.” Mihocek is in a race to prove his fitness ahead of Saturday night’s Preliminary Final clash with Brisbane at the MCG. He’s been nursing a sore toe which forced him off the training track last Friday night. The 2023 premiership player has booted 36 goals in 2025 to sit second behind Jamie Elliott (56) on the Maggies’ goal kicking list.

The talks around Christian Petracca leaving Melbourne have accelerated with the Norm Smith medallist willing to consider more clubs as a future home. The latest on Petracca and fellow Dees star Clayton Oliver. Melbourne star Christian Petracca has opened up his options and would consider a trade interstate to continue his AFL career, as talks heat up over the four-time All-Australian’s exit. Meanwhile Clayton Oliver is committed to staying at the Demons and playing an integral role under new coach Steven King. Petracca, 29, was keen on an exit last year but Melbourne could not and would not trade him to his desired home of a big Victorian club. That was especially hard given his lucrative contract which runs until the end of 2029, a deal peaking at $1.7 million a year and not falling below $1.2 million. A year later and things have changed, according to Nine’s Tom Morris, with Petracca now willing to join a contending club like Adelaide, Gold Coast or Sydney. “Christian Petracca had his eyes last year firmly fixed on big Victorian clubs - Carlton, Collingwood and the like. This year it’s different,” Morris said on Nine News. “Though Hawthorn was his preference before the Zach Merrett situation unfolded, he is open to non-Victorian clubs. I’m talking about Adelaide, Gold Coast and Sydney. “And Melbourne unlike last year is open to the right deal, even though they won’t declare that publicly. “Petracca doesn’t want to be seen as banging the table (for an exit) and the Demons at every opportunity have stopped short of guaranteeing their Norm Smith medallist will be at the club in 2026.” The Herald Sun’s Jon Ralph said Petracca wasn’t as desperate to leave as he was last year. “But he’s open to a fresh start. He’s open to a club that potentially could see him win another premiership,” Ralph said on Fox Footy’s On the Couch. “His teammates don’t believe he's checked out but they’re not sure he’s 100% invested. “It’s hard when you have that trade refused.” Clayton Oliver and Christian Petracca will be a big watch during the trade period.Source: Getty Images King said on Monday both Petracca and Oliver were part of his plans, though he did not categorically say they would be kept to their contracts. “Absolutely, they are both superstars of the competition for what they’ve done,” King said. “To get the opportunity to work with those guys and get them back to playing their best footy is something I would provide myself on as a coach.” Former Demon Jordan Lewis questioned whether Petracca not being fully committed to the Demons could seep into the locker room. “You always wonder what happens in the locker room, especially after what happened last year,” Lewis said on On the Couch. “If a player shows a desire to leave, I think you try and entertain that deal if you possibly can. “Twelve months on, that conversation is still around. It must be that he must have a desire to be somewhere else. “You just wonder what that does internally to the players. Is he the same player he was 12 months ago? Not performance wise. “But around the locker room, is he still invested? Only the players and Christian would generally know that. “I think Steven King will have to make a decision relatively quickly.” Triple premiership Lion Jonathan Brown floated Adelaide as a potential suitor given the Crows’ need for “gun midfielders.” And Ralph suggested the Demons should be open to a deal for two first-round picks to help them add to their young nucleus. “Melbourne hasn’t got a first-round pick this year ... they’ve got a nucleus of young kids, but they haven’t got an enough young A-graders, they need to get into this draft,” he said. “If Adelaide would give them their first-round pick this year and next year, I think it’s something Steven King would have to think about.” Lewis also posed whether the coaching change could help reinvigorate the 2021 Norm Smith medallist. “The one thing that would be in my mind if I’m Christian Petracca: ‘I wonder how different next year will be with a new coach? And whether that does invigorate me and whether that means we’re a finals contender?’ That could potentially flip his mindset around,” Lewis added. Meanwhile Oliver remains committed to the Dees and the new direction under King, as reported by SEN’s Sam Edmund. The three-time All-Australian is keen to be a key part of the new Melbourne coach’s side next season after pursuing a trade to Geelong this time last year. “He’s very happy at Melbourne, loves the club and wants to have a great season in 2026,” Oliver’s manager, Nick Gieschen, said in a statement to SEN. “He’s a Melbourne person.”