Melbourne looks set to be in the market for "high-quality" players in the 24-30 age bracket, with coach Simon Goodwin backing his side to return to contention in the near future.
Following an "aggressive" approach to recruiting via the AFL Draft over the past few years, the Demons are now ready to turn their attention to targeting experienced players, whether through trade, free agency, or other mechanisms.
Melbourne has a handful of stars in the second half of their careers, as well as a batch of young players still in the developmental stage of their time in the top flight.
The Demons have recruited five players via the first round of the draft over the past three intakes, placing them in a strong position for the future.
Now is the time the club look to poach players "through whatever mechanism we can", according to Goodwin, who is ready to flick the switch and take Melbourne's list back toward September.
"We just need to add high-quality players to our list. As many as we can get in through trade, through the draft. Through whatever mechanism we can," he said on Friday.
"Right now, we need to continue to add (to our list), especially through the age bracket of 24-30. There's no question we've been pretty strategic in going to the draft the last three or four years in a pretty aggressive manner.
"We haven't really done a lot of trading in recent times. But we want to add to our list and continue to evolve, get better and change. A part of that is making sure we've got a team that can go out there and be competitive all the time.
"We think all of our mature-aged players have got three, four, five years in front of them. We've also gone to the draft in the last three or four years. So we think, right now, we've got a group that can transition quite quickly.
"We're in a hurry to do that, but we've got to be really strategic and smart, and continue to grow and develop. It's not just what you do in the off-season, it's what you do internally to get the spike that you need."
The Demons sit 13th on the ladder with five games left in their season, with their finals chances shot after a slow start to the year.
Melbourne don't possess their first-round pick for this year's draft, having traded it to Essendon last year to secure access to Pick 11 selection Xavier Lindsay.
Lindsay, had he been eligible for this year's draft, may have been a prospect rated No.1 in this year's pool of prospects, with the Demons happy to trade out of the 2025 count in favour of adding Lindsay to their growing list of young talent.
Goodwin expressed his excitement in the names coming through the Demons' system, with fellow 2024 first-round pick Harvey Langford another enjoying a strong rookie campaign in the red and blue.
"It's really important that we get games and development into our younger players," he said.
"They're playing roles that are really important for us in the team, and they're growing all the time. They're getting better, and that's what we're trying to do.
"We're trying to get our mature players to play to a certain level, and the younger players to develop at a rate that makes us an incredibly competitive side.
"We've seen since Round 5 that we've become highly competitive. We're not losing by a lot, and we're not winning by a lot. But we're in every game we play.
"That's the most pleasing thing right now, but we need to transition that quicker to really start to get positive results."
The Demons currently hold Picks 24, 53 and 60 for this year's AFL Draft.
