Demons record first win since sacking CEO Paul Guerra
Updated ,first published
Melbourne coach Steven King is confident star midfielder Kysaiah Pickett can play for Hawthorn next Saturday after heading in West Coast forward Jake Waterman in the opening minutes of the Demons’ 32-point win at Marvel Stadium.
Waterman went down and won the free kick, and footage showed Pickett slowing down as he reached the contest. Waterman showed no side effects. He was wrong when he shot on goal, but he played well at the end of the quarter and scored three goals.
King said he thought Pickett “made a legitimate play with the ball.” He made sure to talk to the speedster when he got to the bench and let him know that he didn’t think he had anything to worry about while playing ball.
“I was just reassuring ‘Koz’ to make him feel confident enough that he saw what we saw. [on] repeats,” King said.
Pickett had a quiet game with the Eagles’ Brady Hough, limiting him to just 14 touches on the game-winner. King said it’s hard to know if the incident had any impact on Pickett. He said the midfielder’s initial concern was justified as he is a leader who knows how important he is to Melbourne’s destiny.
“He gets nervous at times because of the way he plays the game, the talent he has and how tough he is at football. I think his first reaction is probably ‘is he okay?’ happened. and we try to see the repetition as we are,” King said. “When we saw the replay, I got the message to ‘Koz’ that you played the ball quickly and you’ll be fine.”
King was not at all concerned with Pickett’s performance, saying that the team “doesn’t need Kozy to do something super for us all the time” and that this is a good sign that they can win without him being such a big influence.
This was the highlight of the match; The Demons recorded their first win since the controversial decision to sack CEO Paul Guerra just seven months into the job. The win put them on the edge of the top six and there were big games against Hawthorn and the Western Bulldogs ahead.
The win was not unexpected as the hapless (or hopeless) Eagles – depending on your perspective – had not beaten the Devils at Docklands since 2011, but it was a healthy reminder that they remain a class above the rebuilding community of which the Eagles are the poster club.
It was the only close decider for the Demons, who had scored nine unanswered goals after Harley Reid scored the first goal of the game to put the result beyond doubt. The Eagles narrowed the gap to 32 points by applying pressure and rallying with late goals.
The Eagles were trying to play faster than they could and the Devils were enjoying their mistakes. Eagles coach Andrew McQualter said he will continue to encourage his young players to step up and the tide will turn.
He explained that in the off-season, he spent time watching how premiership coach Chris Fagan reacted after games in the early days when the Lions had a young group of players as coach and wins were few and far between. He said Fagan managed to instill a positive mindset in his young players, helping them develop by telling them to keep going after their innings, because that way they would become better players.
West Coast’s cause was not helped by Harry Edwards’ early dismissal with his third concussion of the season after an accidental elbow bump from teammate Elliot Yeo. When Edwards failed his SCAT test, he fell to the ground with blood streaming from his head and his immediate future in doubt. Edwards was wearing a helmet in response to previous concussions.
“It’s really sad and unfortunate for Harry not to be able to play for us today, but it’s more important to Harry than that,” McQualter said. “For what it’s worth, his morale is very high… he’ll now be doing another stint on the sidelines.”
Without making light of his health scare, King should thank his lucky stars that he saw stars during McQualter’s Eagles coaching job, which he won at the end of 2024.
King, who collapsed at the Cats, where he was an assistant coach, after returning from an interview with the West Coast during finals week, has won more in nine games with the Demons than McQualter had in 32 games as coach of the Eagles.
Meanwhile, referee Jordyn Pearson has become the second female on-field umpire in the history of the game, following in the footsteps of Eleni Tee.
