NEW COACH Simon Goodwin has a balancing act to perform in 2017 as he takes over a Melbourne list that has the talent to play finals but a collective age that suggests it isn't ready.
Ten seasons have passed since the Demons last played finals, and their struggles have allowed them to build a list that now has 12 players recruited with top 20 picks.
But talent alone is not enough to take a team into finals, and Melbourne fielded the least experienced 22 in the League across last season, according to Champion Data's AFL Prospectus.
Goodwin wants his players to believe anything is possible and says there is no reason why the Demons can't play finals in 2017.
They must, however, balance their ambitions by remaining aware of their list's shortcomings as they plot a return to September.
"The expectation internally is we aspire to play finals, and there's no reason why we can't do that," Goodwin told AFL.com.au.
"But we have to keep reality of where we sit.
"There are some things around our list demographic where we need to keep pushing forward.
"Nobody guarantees you finals and nobody owes you anything in this game … we have to work hard for everything we get."
According to Champion Data, Melbourne fielded the youngest 22 in 11 rounds last season, and by the end of the season their average age across the year was 23.74 (ranked No.18).
They have added experience this year in Jordan Lewis (30, Hawthorn) and Michael Hibberd (27, Essendon) and enter 2017 with the 13th oldest list, with an average age of just over 24.
As the young group grows into a winning outfit together, Goodwin – and Paul Roos before him – have been able to shape a culture of accountability based around player leadership and empowerment.
The club's culture is something Goodwin spent a long time discussing on his trip to Stanford University in the off-season.
The coach met with professor and author Jerry Porrass, who wrote the best-selling book Built to Last, which investigates the "successful habits of visionary companies".
Another off-season change was the appointment of Leading Teams facilitator Jim Plunkett to the role of general manager, people, performance and culture.
The strong focus on culture is rubbing off on a "very close knit player group" that is "devoted to what they're trying to achieve".
"That enables them to drive their values pretty hard with one another," Goodwin said.
"We're starting to see that within the player group, that they are pretty committed to what they want to do.
"Hopefully that'll end up transferring on-field as the journey continues."
We already have evidence of the aggressive and fearless style Melbourne will exhibit in 2017 after a six-point win over the Western Bulldogs in Saturday's JLT Community Series clash.
The Demons were the AFL's No.2 handball team and the No.1 mark and play on team in 2016, and fans can expect more of the same this season.
"We'll certainly be aggressive and proactive, and we'll have an offensive tilt towards us," Goodwin said.
"It's certainly something we pride ourselves on, but we want to be known for our work around the ball more than that.
"We've specifically worked on building our team from the contest, focusing on being really strong around the footy.
"With that we know we'll attack better, we'll defend better, and as we go we'll start to add layers."
