Have you ever been to Knott’s Berry Farm?
by Darren Spence
I did once. In 1994. It’s a roller coaster theme park in California yet I feel that I am transported back there on a constant basis supporting the Melbourne Football Club.
Last week the exhilarating highs of a win for the ages against the Crows away from home……this week a disappointing loss saw the boys go down by 14 points to Norf.
It had all the danger signs that have plagued us all year.
Favourites to win?…tick
Aiming for 2 wins in a row?….tick
Don’t play 4 quarters?….tick
Right in the game deep into the final quarter?….tick
Aiming to break a long standing hoodoo?…..tick
Therefore the cynical Dees fan will say a loss should not have been unexpected, but for me, I was bitterly disappointed as I know the side is better than what they produced on the weekend and my spirits remain high that these types of performances will soon be a thing of the past as they continue to evolve into the team we all know they can be (I so hope so!)
Once again it was a poor quarter that cost us the game and in this match it was the first. Allowing 13 scoring shots and double the inside 50s to be down by 26 at the break is always going to put you behind the eight ball. A fight back in the second quarter got the game back on an even keel by half time, yet 1 solitary goal in the 3rd and even with the first 3 goals in the last it proved too much and another winnable game escaped our clutches.
Our spate of injuries showed on the weekend. Though again we were able to win the clearances after being dominated in the hit outs, I found that at both book ends we were undone. Their key forwards and key defenders had their own way and ultimately that proved decisive.
My man love for Hibberd is now turning into a full blown romance as he clearly was our best player amassing a game high 34 possessions, Tyson was busy and Mitch Hannan almost single handedly brought us back into the game with 2 goals in the 2nd quarter for 3 for the game. Sadly I won’t be watching this match again any time soon.
This weekend we are up in the Alice in what must be seen now as a must win game against the Suns. Our record hasn’t been great there (I was being diplomatic….well we actually haven’t won there!) but we will bounce back and keep in touch with the 8 with a win to erase all disappointment from last week and get me back on that roller coaster of emotions that is part and parcel of following the Mighty Dees!
No Gawn…No Hogan…No Worries!
by Darren Spence
On the topic of Hogan I think I speak for everyone in that we wish him a speedy full recovery and hope to see him back terrorising defences really soon.
With reports that the players knew of Hogan’s situation on Friday it would have given the boys extra motivation on Saturday to come away with a win. And win they did running out 41 point victors at one of the most daunting assignments in footy today in what will undoubtedly go down as one of the Mighty Dees greatest wins of modern times. Read more
Do you remember Adelaide 2001?
by Jacqui Parry
I was at Crow Park when Melbourne snatched victory from the jaws of defeat against the Crows in 2001. In the dying seconds of the last quarter, and just as the Crows supporters were about to pour their celebratory Chardonnay, Andrew Leoncelli burst out the forward pocket and BANG!!! slammed home a goal. Melbourne won by 3 points. Read more
The goal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xujU9yx6HEo
Match report: http://demonwiki.org/Round+2+2001
Daisy Pearce column: Personal sledging on the AFL field is bullying
The Age published this excellent article by Daisy Pearce on the events of last week. A must read.
“The ugly stoush from last weekend’s St Kilda versus Carlton match involving the sledging of Blues skipper Marc Murphy spilled off field and created a huge amount of discussion. At surface level the issue in question is sledging….” Read more
It wasn’t meant to happen. It shouldn’t have happened. But it did happen.
by Darren Spence
I was confident leading into the game but there is always that niggling fear inside of me….can it happen again? It happened twice last year against Essedon and Caarlton. I could look up further occasions to illustrate my point but this would be strongly against the advice of my therapist who has spent countless years embedding the memories of games like the one on Sunday back in the recess of my brain for fear of a re-occurrence of uncontrolled tears and anger.
Without a doubt teams know about our inability to deal with favouritism and look to exploit this. And exploit it Hawthorn did getting out to a 35 point lead before the Dees finally kicked into gear (pun intended) and kicked 7 of the next 9 goals to get into a winning position. But alas it was too little too late and Melbourne went down to the Hawks by an agonising 3 points in yet what will be marked down as another win that got away.
This is not just some one eyed supporter’s comment when I seriously say that we could/should be undefeated after 7 rounds. We have been in front (or in this game level) at some stage in the final quarter of every game this year. Yes we can look back to the Pre-Roos era when we were belted every week and say look how much we have improved…..but the fact remains that opposition clubs will never fear the Mighty Dees when they know that they are only 1 bad quarter away from being back in the game….sadly something that has happened in 6 of the 7 games this year and the sole reason we are not undefeated.
On the weekend we won the clearances and had more inside 50s and this is a real credit to our midfield. Remember when Champion Data rated our midfield the worst and the Pies the best before the start of the season? How is that working out for them? I am not sure if this is a reflection of how they rate stats or even the importance of them?…..The only stat I really care about is the scoreboard at the end of the game!
However sticking to this stat theme we did have some impressive numbers. Viney played his best game for the year leading all-comers with 32 touches. Jones lifted as the side lifted after half time and finished with 27. Others with high numbers included Lewis (30), Vince with 31 and both Tyson and Oliver with 28 disposals. These players impressed me the most on the weekend with the addition of Frost who arguably played his best game for the club…..though overall it was a bitterly disappointing loss for the club.
We only have to wait 1 week for the opportunity for the boys to redeem themselves and what an opportunity! For the second game in a row we are up against a side that previously lost a game they were expected to win in Tassie as we head off to take on the ladder leaders in Adelaide. It is Bernie Vince’s 200th game and the boys will be making sure that they are switched on from the get go. Anything less than a full 4 quarter performance will see us lose again I fear, however if they play the full 120 minutes the way we know they can play then we will come off the ground victorious. It really is that simple!
Go Dees
Travelling to the game in Adelaide?
If you are going to the game in Adelaide and still looking for accommodation then you might be interested in the attached Demon Army Family and Friends Offer.
Demon Army Family and Friends Offer
Melbourne v Adelaide on the Big Screen this Saturday 13 May at 7.10 pm
And if you are in Sydney join the NSW Demons at the Cammy to watch the footy and cheer on the Dees!
An early smoky for the Brownlow?
by Darren Spence
Sunday saw the Mighty Dees take on “Essedon” in the early game at Etihad Stadium with another bumper crowd of over 44,000 seeing our boys run away with the points and break a 10 year hoodoo against their mob at this stadium, snap out of a 3 game losing streak and amazingly see us having won more games this season here than at the MCG.
I think watching the first half that both teams had a hard night on the turps as the game was riddled with errors and definitely won’t make any highlight reels…..But you know what?…..I don’t care…I will take that every week as long as we win in the end!
And win we did by kicking 13 goals to 6 after half time ending up easy winners by 38 points. It was an all round performance by our players and it was pleasing to see some Dees boys who have been down on their usual metrics find some form. Again Oliver was dominant and again was the leading possession getter on the ground with 33 possessions. With his read hair and constant leather poisoning is he an early smoky for the Brownlow?….Only time will tell. Nathan Jones found form with 30 touches as did Lewis in a welcome return to our side. Tom McDonald found plenty of the ball (most times I had my heart in my mouth when he did!) as did Tyson and Hibberd. Hibberd is quickly becoming a new favourite of mine; he is really damaging when he has his hands on the ball.
But this week I wanted to focus on what was supposedly our Achilles heel leading into this game – our ruck and our forward line. Pedersen was outstanding as our fill in ruck. He never stopped competing and whilst he lost the hit outs he dominated Bellchambers around the ground finishing with 19 disposals and a goal – quite rightly earning praise from Goodwin. Up front with big Jesse missing many were wondering how we would kick a winning score. Well we finished with 17 majors and they were shared around with Petracca and Watts kicking 4 each and Hannan and Garlett both with 3. This was one of the most pleasing aspects of the game in my opinion. Having multiple avenues to goal makes us extremely dangerous and very difficult to match up against.
This week we have the Hawks again on a Sunday. Yes the Hawks are down at the moment but this is exactly the type of game the Dees have had a habit of dropping. It won’t happen this week and by Sunday night we will be 4 and 3 sitting comfortably in the 8.
Go Dees
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