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Full Noise by SN
The pre-season request that led to Kozzy's astronomical outing
Jaiden Sciberras • March 30th, 2026 3:29 pm
Melbourne's head coach Steven King has revealed the pre-season request from superstar Kysaiah Pickett that lead to his astronomical performance in Round 3.
For the second straight contest, the AFL's newest head coach saw his side fall well behind within the early stages, down 44-1 against Carlton at the start of the second term with hardly any hope of competing for a result.
However, whether a bottle job from the Blues or pure determination from the Dees, Melbourne dragged themselves back into the game, taking the lead late in the final term before killing off the contest, winning by 23 points.
King explained that the club's poor start was vastly different from that of Round 2, in which they conceded seven goals to one in the first term en route to a 48-point loss to Fremantle.
“It’s the second week in a row we haven’t started great,” King told SEN’s Fireball.
“I felt like the Fremantle game was an intensity issue and yesterday was more fundamental.
“Missed kicks, dropped marks, fumbles, handball clangers… it was almost like we were trying to re-correct our intensity around the footy, and we were trying too hard.
“(There was a) level of frustration but just trying to get the players to believe in the process to turn it around and stay positive. Look forward, not back.”
Stepping into the role over the off-season, King's mantra revolves around expression, playing with freedom - but earning the right to do so.
And while it hasn't all come together for the Dees just yet, Sunday afternoon's second half performance was quite the indication of what the future may hold for the Demons under King.
“We want footy to be fun, we want to be fun to watch. We want our players to express themselves, play on instinct,” he said.
“That’s the easiest and the most fun part of the game - to score, but you’ve got to earn the right to do that with your contest and the way you defend the ground. When it comes together, it’s good to watch.
“The exciting thing for us is that we haven’t put it together for four weeks yet. That’s the challenge for us. It’d be nicer to start that way and maintain it rather than trying to find it and having to dig yourself out of a hole with it.
“I’m really proud of the way that the boys were able to (come back). Even at half time, the game started to turn in that second quarter, we just didn’t hit the scoreboard the way we would have liked.
“Real mature response from our playing group.”
Ahead of the 2026 season, superstar Pickett made a specific request to shift his on-field role to more of an inside brand, and Sunday's performance was a reflection of just that.
Behind Jack Steele and Max Gawn, Pickett attended the third most centre bounces for the Demons, winning six clearances including three directly from the middle.
Mounting a game-high 33 disposals, Kozzy was unstoppable all over the ground, winning five intercepts along with one goal, three goal assists and 10 score involvements.
“Nathan Jones has done a lot of work with Kozzy,” King said.
“He expressed his desire to be a full-time midfielder and then was coached really hard on what expectations there are to be that.
“We know what we’re going to get with Kozzy impact-wise, but it’s all about the two-way running, the unconditional contest around the footy.
“To see what he did in that last half and that last quarter in particular was quite amazing. He’s going to be pretty hard to take out of the middle from here going forward.
“You could just tell how much the club meant to him. To respond that way, it was unbelievable.”
Two wins through three fixtures to start 2026, the Demons next host the undefeated Gold Coast Suns at the MCG on Easter Sunday.
