AFL: Melbourne Demons coach Simon Goodwin has given a 'happy and healthy' Clayton Oliver the green light for a season opener against the Swans.
Clearly the defending champs deserve pole position heading into 2024, with every chance they actually get better with the addition of Lachie Schultz, plus the continued growth of their handful of young guns. Let’s also remember they won three finals by a combined 12 points, which is both impressive and telling of just how close the 2023 season was.
Amid all the chaos around the Demons, let’s recap what they’ve actually lost since coming so close to beating eventual premiers Collingwood in a qualifying final - their probably 4th-best midfielder, another mid even further down the depth chart, their backup ruckman and a reliable-but-not-spectacular defender.
We wrote in the Carlton section about how end-of-season and finals results can be misleading, because the ladder was way closer than everyone remembers. Compare Carlton, a preliminary finalist, to Geelong, who finished 12th - heading into Round 23 last year, the Cats actually had a better percentage while having won just two fewer games.