Can Petty become the real deal as a forward? Melbourne's burning questions for 2023

With the 2022 AFL season complete, Kane Cornes and Garry Lyon have gone through all 18 clubs and come up with burning questions for each.

For Melbourne, Lyon wonders whether the glimpse of Harrison Petty as a forward is enough to commit to the positional change for the 2023 season.

The key defender was swung forward during their Semi Final loss to Brisbane, kicking a goal and taking a few big marks.

“This is the question I want answered. Can Harrison Petty be Aaron Naughton?” Lyon asked.

“We got this little glimpse and for four minutes every Melbourne supporter went ‘that’s the bloke we’ve been looking for four years’.

“I think he’ll get a chance, but I don’t think they’re wedded to it. They love how good he’s been in the back half.

“(The forward line) is the area where they’re most vulnerable and he could be the answer and you’ve got Joel Smith and Adam Tomlinson who could cover him.” Cornes: “We’ve seen it once and it’s worth a pre-season,” Cornes said.

Cornes believes the Demons need to develop other scoring avenues over the summer.

“The obvious question is the Max Gawn and Brodie Grundy one, but how they kick their goals, can they score a different way if it’s not from the centre bounce or intercepting across half back,” he said.

“The brains-trust at Melbourne will need to come together and attempt to work out if they can find other avenues to goal.”