AFL Rankings: Round 3 2025

After three matches, Melbourne are winless, and in the bottom four. In the rankings, they are in now also in the bottom four. They have been well beaten in their past two matches by North Melbourne and Gold Coast. To be fair, they were very competitive in their first match against GWS, and almost won. Even if they had though, their last two losses would still have them as a bottom four team.

The decline into ‘bottom four-dom’ started happening late last season. They lost three of their last six games by more than 45 points, although they were missing one of their best players in Christian Petracca, and another of their best Clayton Oliver was clearly underdone. And the steady decline has been going on longer than that.

Melbourne’s premiership team in 2021 and finals sides after that were built on a strong midfield and a miserly defence. Currently they have neither. They conceded 120 points to both North Melbourne and Gold Coast. They had 25 less inside 50s than the Suns.

And they are getting smashed in the clearances. They were -12 against the Roos, and -16 against the Suns. This is with a midfield that still includes Max Gawn, Clayton Oliver, Christian Petracca, and Jack Viney, even if the midfield group has been expanded a bit more.

Melbourne’s star midfield quartet has had a 20 per cent combined drop-off in their average AFL Player Rating so far this season compared with 2024 (see table below). Gawn, Petracca, and Viney are averaging two less clearances per game. Oliver is averaging three more, but is averaging six clangers and only three inside 50s. What was once the best midfield in the land has been mediocre, no longer able to more than make up for the team’s other deficiencies.

The prospect of them turning it around is looking bleaker. Gawn will turn 34 this year. Jack Viney will turn 31. Petracca and Oliver should be in their prime, but both have had various dramas over the past couple of years. It was the best Demons team in almost six decades, but its time may be coming to an end.