New-look Demons to play ‘three or four’ debutants in round one​on March 13, 2025 at 2:49 am

Melbourne will look different this year and the changes on the field will be magnified as the Demons look to play three or four debutants for their first game of the season this Sunday.

Coach Simon Goodwin said the Demons are set to immediately inject top youngsters from last year’s draft, having tinkered with a game plan to alter ball movement and attack after missing the finals last year.

“I think we’ve probably got four or five guys that are new to our footy club that are pressing for selection. But I think we’ll end up having three or four guys come Friday, that’ll find their way into the team for the first time, which I think is exciting for the Melbourne supporters,” Goodwin said on Thursday.

“We’ve got Aidan Johnson, [Matt] Jefferson, you know, then [Harvey] Langford and [Xavier] Lindsay are all in the mix for selection. So it’s great for everybody at the football club.”

Langford is a powerful midfielder and will help spread the load that falls to Christian Petracca, Jack Viney and Clayton Oliver. Lindsay is a light-footed, hard-running ball carrier who has already immediately looked at home against AFL players in the pre-season.

Powerful key forward Johnson, 25, is physically ready to step into the AFL having been a goalkicker at Werribee in the VFL. Appealingly for Melbourne, although he is short for a ruckman at 193 centimetres, he is a physical player who can play second ruck and so enable the club to keep Jacob van Rooyen forward. Jefferson at 195cm also has that scope.

“We’re trying to transition everybody at our footy club, and our list management have been really committed to the draft in recent years and trying to bring young talent into our footy club, and we’re also trying to find a different way of playing,” Goodwin said.

“So we think the players who are put into our footy club can certainly aid the way that we’re trying to play and to establish a way that will take us to some more success.