Why Steven King and the Demons might need to temper expectations after setting finals as a 2026 goal

The Dockers got him over the line by showing him how he was playing at the Demons.

Under Simon Goodwin and then caretaker Troy Chaplin he was pigeonholed as a last-line defender playing on footy’s dangerous smalls.

As the Dockers showed him, his disposals and intercept possessions had dropped off and he was barely a presence in the rebound game given his lack of handball receives.

They told him they could develop him like they had 2025 All Australian Jordan Clark as an attacking running back.

So McVee joins last year’s hugely important role player Alex Neal Bullen in departing, as Steven May tries to find a new club and Christian Petracca tours Adelaide.

It is a real blow for the Demons given 22-year-old WA product McVee is exactly the kind of player he would hope to build his next premiership side around.

You can’t blame the Demons for playing him in exactly that role given his successes this year when he returned from a hamstring strain.

He kept Nick Watson, Paul Curtis and Charlie Cameron goalless and Jack Higgins and Bobby Hill to one goal, even if Izak Rankine kicked five on him and Higgins got him (four goals) in their second encounter.

Melbourne has made clear it sees itself contending next year, Steven King has said his aspiration is to play finals and the club’s list management team has been telling prospective recruits it sees itself as a contender.

By the time the dust settles it will have hoped to land Sam Flanders (also interested in St Kilda and Essendon), Saints ruckman Max Heath and uncapped GWS interceptor Wade Derksen.

But if Petracca does eventually get traded to Adelaide, the club will have to be very precise and transparent about its hopes for 2026.

As one industry figure said on Monday, finals can be a dirty word if that is the expectation King cannot live up to.

The fan base would be on board with playing more kids and going to the draft if that is the path that is set.

Behind the scenes King, football boss Alan Richardson, CEO Paul Guerra and list boss Tim Lamb would have had very honest conversations about exactly where the list is at.

But if Petracca leaves there will be some real challenges for a club that has underperformed given its list but still only finished 14th in the past two seasons.

Petracca’s best is still sublime even in a year where he couldn’t hit the side of a barn by foot, while Neal-Bullen’s leadership and unrewarded running was sorely missed this year.

If McVee isn’t playing on the elite smalls someone else will have to, while May marshalled a back six which was the hardest to score against once conceding an inside 50 in both 2023 and 2024.

At season’s end the Demons still had 28 players who were 25 or under on their list next year.

The future is surely theirs – Harvey Langford, Xavier Lindsay, Jake Bowey, Koltyn Tholstrup, Caleb Windsor, Trent Rivers, Daniel Turner, Jai Culley, Kozzie Pickett and Tom Sparrow.

So many of them still need time and games to thrive and if King is the man to prioritise that to set up what Guerra spoke about as the next decade of success, then we are on board.

Top ten pick Windsor has dash and talent but kicked the ball terribly this year so needs the biggest summer of his career working on that deficiency.

Tholstrup has spark, charisma and talent and is a baby in footy terms but in his second season the No. 13 draft pick played nine games for 31 total possessions and three goals.

He was subbed on or off the ground four times in those nine games.

Jacob Van Rooyen kicked 28 goals in his second season then 30 last year but was bereft of confidence this season and was dropped before rebounding to kick 12 goals in his final nine games.

They are the future and yet as King said in his first press conference the club must balance their needs with star turns from the senior crop.

King said he would keep both Petracca and Oliver (who will remain) in his first press conference but don’t criticise him for allowing Petracca to leave IF the club gets the right deal.

“I want to try and keep those experienced players here for as long as possible because premiership players don’t grow on trees,” King said only weeks ago.

“They are both superstars of the competition for what they’ve done. To get the opportunity to work with those guys and get them back to playing their best footy would be something I’d pride myself on as a coach.”

Mick Malthouse warned King against trading Petracca several weeks back, arguing a first-year coach must get the kind of wins on the board that safeguards his position.

Richardson was honest enough after Simon Goodwin’s sacking to say he wasn’t sure the current list would contend for a flag.

Goodwin said at a recent lunch the club’s inability to find a true purpose was a challenge that hampered their performances after the 2021 flag.

Hanging around mid-table is not a true purpose so exploring a Petracca trade makes sense.

At 29 he is still young enough to be in the next flag window.

So securing an exceptional draft windfall for him can be justified if the plan ahead is to take a half step back before opening up that next opportunity for success.

Melbourne fans just want to be kept in the loop – and surely the plain-speaking King and new CEO Guerra can balance selling hope with some plain speak to those fans in coming weeks.