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“Professional slaughtermen”: King calls out Melbourne’s midfield butchers
SEN • June 16th, 2025 10:49 am
David King has put Melbourne’s midfield in the spotlight after their 93-68 loss to Port Adelaide at the Adelaide Oval.
The defeat consigned the Demons to a 5-9 record and King thinks now is the time coach Simon Goodwin should begin mixing things up to finish 2025.
While the Dees won the clearance count by five on Sunday and had more inside 50s than the Power, their efficiency going forward was poor and King called out experienced midfield trio Clayton Oliver (27% kicking efficiency), Christian Petracca (22% kicking efficiency) and Jack Viney (43% kicking efficiency) for butchering the ball forward of centre.
“You get the same guys in the midfield who come shoulders out, chest out, facing the goals out of clearance and totally butcher the ball,” King said on SEN Breakfast.
“For the same players to do that time and time again, you have to step past those guys being your prime midfield centre-bounce quartet.
“I'm not just talking about Oliver who cops all the feedback, Petracca is just as bad and Viney is worse.
“You're hardly shocked when you see that happen. So, I don't understand why he (Goodwin) is not looking at (Harvey) Langford in there, why (Xavier) Lindsay isn’t getting an opportunity or (Caleb) Windsor, because they’ve at least got some skill.
“You may win it less, but get more out of it. Play those guys (like Oliver and Petracca) forward of centre a bit and mix up the magnets.
“It’s the same death every time.”
King also revealed that Melbourne’s leadership core didn’t find a single marking target with any of their 14 inside 50s.
With that stat in mind, he urged coach Goodwin to look laterally and make changes whether that’s to the list entirely or roles on game day.
“Sometimes you've just got to make a change to create some movement in your footy club,” King said.
“If those guys aren't there, you won't play them, clearly. If they're there, they fall in love with them every two weeks and back in the middle they go.
“Those magnets. It's almost like they're drawn back into the middle of the board.
“This is their leadership core, between (Max) Gawn, Petracca, Oliver, (Bayley) Fritsch, (Ed) Langdon and (Kade) Chandler, they had 14 inside 50 kicks for 0 marks.
“One goal from those 14 entries. They have become professional slaughtermen.
“(Kysaiah) Pickett's been a revelation going in there because he's such a stark contrast to what’s in there at the moment. He might get less ball, but what he does with it's so creative.”
The Dees next take the week off with the Round 15 bye before facing the Suns on the Gold Coast in Round 16.
