When Melbourne coach Steven King presented at a media briefing about the ambitions for his group in 2026, the coach’s optimism for the group’s immediate prospects was higher than most of the journalists in the room.
King emphasised a pre-season based on high-speed running and vowed that the team would play a quick, modern style of football.
He wanted the team to be selfless, ruthless and connected as they started their first year without either Christian Petracca, Clayton Oliver, and as it turned out, Steven May, on the list for the first time since 2015.
The injured Jack Viney was unlikely to play much of a part in the season either.
The Demon dynasty anticipated in the afterglow of the 2021 premiership looked more like a failed state.
A rebuild on the run seemed the most likely path as no one doubted the young talent at King’s disposal.
The Demons’ recruiting team had not rested on the strategy Tim Lamb and Jason Taylor have employed to great effect for the past decade, with two first-round picks added to the list at the 2023, 2024 and 2025 national draft (they will have two first round picks again in 2026).
But those players – Caleb Windsor and Koltyn Tholstrup (picks seven and 13, 2023), Harvey Langford and Xavier Lindsay (picks six and 11 in 2024), and Xavier Taylor and Latrelle Pickett (picks 11 and 12 in 2025) – had just 95 games experience between them when the siren sounded to kickstart round one.
And Max Gawn, Jake Lever and Ed Langdon shaped as the most likely contributors among the dozen players on the list aged above 30, with Brody Mihocek and Jack Steele recruited to keep them company over cups of tea.
While King had impressed Melbourne’s coach selection panel, he remained a first-time coach, and no one was certain about how he would handle the hot seat. Now we know.
His coaching had an effect akin to running hot water over a tight jar lid, opening up a side of the Demons we had not seen.
Under King, the blue-collar battlers have become the daring Demons, with their exhilarating upset win over ladder leaders Fremantle in round 22 making them genuine premiership contenders.
Post-match, King’s words to his players have summed up his approach perfectly.
“I could throw up numbers, but they don’t really matter,” King said.
Internally, the same word keeps coming up. Three people we spoke to for this article who wished to remain anonymous to speak freely, were asked what is behind their unexpected rise, they all replied, “fun”.
Fun is not a word anyone has attached to Melbourne for a long time, but King – who is said to have a very dry sense of humour – brought a philosophy to celebrate players’ strengths and encourage them to bring them to life through hard work.
He can deliver hard truths when required, and knows the game exceptionally well, having done a true apprenticeship playing football at Geelong and St Kilda under Gary Ayres, Mark Thompson and Ross Lyon (he won a flag with the Cats) before coaching at the Western Bulldogs (where he was involved in the 2016 flag and 2021 grand final), the Gold Coast and then the Cats.
He gives his players freedom, instilling belief by referring to their strengths, and has been a popular, respected figure at each of the clubs he served.
King also studied hard, throwing himself into a football manager’s course at the Cats while simultaneously coaching the midfield and sacrificing family time to pursue his ambition.
He is off to a good start. One competition source who has watched him evolve said he has taken anxiety out of his players’ minds. Funnily enough, he has done the same to Melbourne supporters who gave him a standing ovation after the win over the Dockers.
The Demons – who built a strong foundation to their game under Simon Goodwin – have now won six of their seven matches since being seventh on the ladder at their bye.
Their scores from turnover per game sits second only to Geelong in the past five matches, and they generate scores from their defensive half at a higher percentage than any other team in that time. Only Sydney has generated more scores from centre bounces in the past five games.
Their football is exciting, a front-running style, akin to Vo Rogue or Pride of Jenni, which dares other teams to go with them. They are in the top four for scoring, but concede scores, too, sitting 14th for points against.
All that has put them fifth on the ladder heading into the final round, having cocooned the football department from potentially destabilising events, such as the departure of the CEO and legal action against the club over what was allegedly said in a meeting called to discuss May’s absence from the group.
During the week they re-signed emerging midfielder Tom Sparrow, who had a mighty offer from Port Adelaide, having retained Kade Chandler, who has built a career through hard work to be recognised in 2026.
A win over the Western Bulldogs – without leading goalkicker Jacob van Rooyen who is suspended – on Saturday is needed to consolidate a spot inside the top six, and could, if others stumble, hand them a top four spot.
King has led the team into finals in his first season, with wins over Hawthorn, the Brisbane Lions and Fremantle on his resume. Alongside Fremantle’s Justin Longmuir and Carlton’s Josh Fraser he is destroying the myth that ruckmen can’t coach.
Ever the optimist, King is not too worried about where they finish.
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