Melbourne is set for a massive trade season with at least four players expected to be traded away from the Demons, but how did they end up here?
Christian Petracca signed his seven-year contract in 2021, the year he won the Norm Smith Medal in a drought-breaking premiership for the Demons after a 57-year wait between flags.
Clayton Oliver signed his seven-year deal the next year in 2022, where the Demons started 10-0 that season and looked prime for another premiership tilt after their success the year before
However, the decline had just started with off-field issues plaguing the club as they went out in straight sets in 2022 and 2023 before missing finals the last two years, with premiership coach Simon Goodwin sacked in early August.
MORE: How Jamarra Ugle-Hagan could be traded to Gold Coast
Former Melbourne player and Australian Football Hall of Fame inductee Gary Lyon said it looked like newly appointed Demons coach Steven King wanted to reset the club after a tumultuous few years.
“The way I see it is it’s a massive reset that has been thought about for some time and been instigated by the new coach,” Lyon said on SEN Breakfast.
"To me, this looks like Steven King saying, ‘Ok, we’re going to play this way and I expect you to behave this way. We’re going to play this way and you need to behave this way if you’re going to be part of this football club’.
“This is the way I’m reading it.”
Lyon explained that King wants to make the team his own by trading players who don't fit the game plan or behavioural change at the club.
“That’s the way I read it. Now that means you’ve got to pay some money on the way out, I don’t reckon that’s Steven King’s issue. You can talk about the contracts; he’s not worried about that contract; he’s worrying about what happens whenever they get back to training," Lyon said.
“I don’t mind it. In fact, I quite support the ability of a new coach to come in and go bang! Let me put my stamp on this joint straight up.”
How the Demons have come to trading two of their best players in Petracca and Oliver wouldn't have been believable just three years ago, but football clubs work in funny ways, and a reset may be just what the Dees need.