May our current heirs to the spirit of Tommy Wills in the red and blue ‘find something’ to rally, gain momentum and show pride in the colours

Nigel Dawe

Well if you’re anything like me, in the space of a month and a half you’ve probably gone from gleefully scheming a week or two off at the end of September so as to see that elusive premiership number 13, to wondering what the hell has gone wrong?

Have we simply dropped our zen-inspired Roosy built bundle, did the rest of the competition work us out and just matter-of-factly make amends over the summer, was Jesse Hogan the ‘missing link’ to potency up forward after all, or did the Prelim debacle in Perth so utterly erode our team’s belief in achieving the unbelievable? If any of us could answer this Alice-like rabbit hole cluster of questions, then I guess Simon Goodwin would soon be out of a job.

The great battle-forged Winston Churchill once sneeringly roared: “Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.” And sadly, I can more than relate to this adage as a long loyal Melbourne fan (I was going to say ‘suffering’, but there have been many moments of joy over the years, however in times like these they’re easy to lose sight of if you let the down-turns determine your emotions).

I’ve more than once remarked to mates, that even if I played one solitary game for the Dees and I got absolutely pole-axed before I got a single touch and spent the next 6 months in a coma, I could say for the rest of my life, when I came to, that I played for the Melbourne Demons and it was the highlight of my life!

One of my favourite photos of the last 10 years (well there’s two actually) one is of the Jet & the second is of Big Maxy, both are sitting quietly in the rooms before a game looking immerse-fully at their guernseys – about to put them on ‘for real’, an honour your one-eyed fan could only imagine.

And it is that ‘magic’ of playing the game like men but enjoying it like little boys, that I hope each week’s first 18 might draw upon, rekindle and conjure within themselves for the sake of the entire team and the oldest footy club in the world.

As such, may our current heirs to the spirit of Tommy Wills in the red and blue ‘find something’ to rally, gain momentum and show pride in the colours as we head deeper into the business end of the season, because all is not lost, not by any remote stretch of the imagination.

Round 6 – Richmond Vs Melbourne – Tigers Sink Their Teeth Into Demons’ Defence

Liam Chambers

To borrow an old football adage, it was a game of two halves. Melbourne were dominant in the first quarter again and remained competitive up until midway through the third. Then Richmond showed why they are so difficult to beat. No matter how hard the Dees ran and tackled, they couldn’t get through the Tigers’ back line to put enough points on the scoreboard. Although they looked much improved from the side that succumbed to St Kilda in Round 5, Melbourne was unable to maintain the momentum.

Though the first goal went to Tom Lynch (definitely contender for the Coleman Medal), the Dees were winning more contested possessions. Tim Smith scored first for Melbourne before Jay Lockhart doubled their advantage. Max Gawn added another six points before Castagna got one back for Richmond. Then a Jayden Hunt goal was quickly countered by the Tiger’s Brandon Ellis. Melbourne led by six points at the end of the quarter mainly due to their superior tally of contested possessions.

In the second quarter, a goal from Richmond’s Liam Baker levelled the scores. Though Melbourne were defending well they were let down by their kicking efficiency. The Tigers were finding their way to the Dees inside 50 with increasing ease but not converting their advantage. Finally Dustin Martin got Richmond’s second goal of the quarter while being on the receiving end of an accurate Jack Riewoldt kick. The half ended with Melbourne trailing 34-26.

Into the second half and Alex Neal-Bullen scored the Dees’ first goal since Q1 to reduce the margin to four points. Melbourne were still struggling to regain the lead though. Then back to back goals from Riewoldt saw the Tigers in the ascendancy. The momentum was definitely with Richmond at the end of the quarter but the game was still very much within Melbourne’s reach.

The Tigers stepped up the pressure in the fourth quarter and kicked five goals to the Dees’ solitary effort from Bayley Fritsch. Richmond seem to be able to maintain a level of intensity that few teams can match. It’s often been said that they thrive on chaos. At times in the last quarter, there seemed to be three Tigers on the field for every Demon.

There was much to like about Melbourne in Round 6. Angus Brayshaw and Clayton Oliver again starred in midfield with 29 disposals apiece. Max Gawn dominated with 48 hitouts. Christian Salem was calm and collected while diffusing attacks and clearing the ball. The team spirit is there but for some reason the players don’t seem to be gelling the way they did at the end of last season.

The Soothsayers all predicted a top four spot for the Dees in 2019 and fans expectations were sky high. At 5 losses to 1 win for the season so far, our prospects for a finals berth are starting to diminish. To have any realistic chance of making the top eight, we need to win a minimum of twelve games. With sixteen matches left, we need at least eleven to go our way. Even then percentage is hugely important.

The precedent for optimism would be the Swans in 2017 who finished sixth after losing their first six games. There’s no reason Melbourne can’t replicate that result but we face some tough sides in the next four games. Then there’s the Pies, Freo and the Lions. Still, that’s what being a footy fan is all about and there’s still a chance. 47,147 members can’t be wrong!

RICHMOND 3.1 5.4 7.9 12.13 (85)
MELBOURNE 4.1 4.2 5.5 6.6 (42)
GOALS
Richmond: Riewoldt 2, Ellis 2, Castagna 2, Baker 2, Lynch, Ellis, Martin, McIntosh
Melbourne: Smith, Lockhart, Gawn, Hunt, Neal-Bullen, Fritsch
BEST
Richmond: Vlastuin, Houli, Prestia, Lambert, Baker, Riewoldt
Melbourne: Gawn, Melksham, Hibberd, T.McDonald, Brayshaw, Viney

Round 5 – Melbourne Vs St Kilda – Saints Cast Demons Aside (Not a Good Friday)

Liam Chambers

After last week’s triumph over the Swans, it seemed like Melbourne had finally got their season belatedly on track. Though not perfect, there was much in that game to inspire Dees’ fans.

So what went wrong in Round 5? There has been speculation of tension between some coaching staff and some players. If correct, this obviously doesn’t help anyone in the team and adds to the overall stress levels within the club.

Simon Goodwin has helped Melbourne achieve a lot over the last couple of years, slowly building up the strength and confidence after so many years struggling to be competitive. As Max Gawn pointed out in his Bluey Medal speech last year, the support and co-operation of all the staff had been pivotal to how much was achieved in 2018.

There may need to be a bit of re-jiggling and reshaping if the Dees are to recapture that level of performance. Other teams have been through times where the practical outcomes don’t match the intentions. We need to get through this spell of bad results.

We can still make finals and that should be our only focus when the Dees run onto the ground. No one is unbeatable and we can beat anyone.

There were times when the lads played well but we were behind St Kilda at the end of every quarter. I wrote after Round 3 that we often under estimate our opponents in games we should win.

The Saints have improved with every match they’ve played. They only lost by 5 points to Fremantle at home in Round 3 and last week’s effort against Hawthorn was impressive. I really believe we didn’t give them enough respect and we paid the price.

At the start of the first quarter when Preuss opened the scoring with his first touch, it looked like the Dees meant business. However, within minutes we were being out marked and struggling in defence. Preuss again book ended the first quarter with another great goal to raise the fans spirits.

Preuss’ goal may have proved inspirational as we dominated play for most of the second quarter. The midfield played well again, assisted by Gawn’s accuracy in the ruck. Unfortunately we couldn’t find a way through the Saints back line.

Then St Kilda returned serve, dominating contested possession and kicking three goals to be 15 points ahead at half time. Unfortunately the worst was yet to come with St Kilda kicking five unanswered goals in the third quarter.

Melbourne rallied in the fourth to reduce the margin to 28 points but never looked like reigning in the Saints, who iced the cake with two goals in the last minute of play.

We face Richmond in Round 6. The Tigers have had their own set backs this year but are now looking formidable and will be very hard to beat. It will be interesting to see how we react after all the slings and arrows from the media and commentators in general.

If Melbourne are true to form, we should win simply because no one now expects us to prevail.

Go the Dees!!!

MELBOURNE 3.3 4.5 4.8 7.13 (55)
ST KILDA 4.1 7.2 12.5 15.5 (95)
GOALS
Melbourne: Preuss 2, Melksham 2, Petracca, Brayshaw, Harmes
St Kilda: Membrey 4, Kent 3, Bruce 2, Billings 2, Acres, Lonie, Long, Parker
BEST
Melbourne: Brayshaw, Oliver, Gawn, Harmes, Salem
St Kilda: Billings, Kent, Membrey, Newnes, Acres, Steele, Geary

Round 4 – Sydney Vs Melbourne – Dees Derail Doubters

Liam Chambers

Finally something to smile about. As Simon Goodwin strolled onto the ground after the final siren sounded, his face was a open book of emotions. Happiness, satisfaction, pride and no small amount of relief was writ large across the features of the normally poker faced coach. The result was also Melbourne’s first win against the Swans at the SCG since 2006.

The Dees got the first six pointer against the run of play; Petracca converted from 50m out for Melbourne’s first shot on goal. Debutante Braydon Preuss quickly followed up with a nice mark and quick turn to kick the second. The Swans grabbed a couple back before Preuss impressed again with his second of the night. Three late goals for the Swans took the shine off the quarter for Melbourne.

At the start of Q2, the legendary Lance Franklin, having a low impact game, kicked wide for his second minor score. James Harmes got his first and Melbourne’s fourth which was balanced out by Sydney a few minutes later when Jordan Dawson kicked another. The momentum appeared to be going the Swans’ way when Isaac Heeney found the back of the net.

However the advantage was clawed back by Captain Nathan Jones who inspired the troops with his brilliant back to back goals. With the margin reduced to ten points, Jake Melksham then took the Dees to within one goal of their opponents. However, Buddy quickly restored the Swans’ edge, converting from his first contested mark of the night against Sam Frost. Then Jack Viney got Melbourne’s fifth of the quarter and the Dees finished the half trailing by just two points.

A perfect start to the second half with Tom McDonald kicking only his second goal of the season to even up the scoreboard at 58 apiece. Christian Petracca show why he is so dangerous when he fought his way through the Swans’ defence and managed to turn and kick a goal while being pulled to the ground by Sydney’s Kieren Jack. When Jayden Hunt got back to back goals, the Demon faithful really started to believe that we could win the game.

The Swans opened the scoring in the last quarter with a goal from Ben Ronke. When Sam Weideman’s effort was answered by Kieren Jack, Sydney still looked competitive but Nathan Jones then slotted his third to extend the Dees’ lead. Angus Brayshaw finally sealed the deal with a superb kick 40m out from goal with three minutes to go.

As Max Gawn pointed out in a post match interview, Melbourne performed in Round 4 like they were expected to play in the first three rounds. Not a subtle statement but accurate.

Next week’s clash with St Kilda at the MCG will be tough. The Saints have been competitive and beat a complacent Melbourne last season in a major upset for the Dees. We will give them a lot more respect on Saturday night. They played well against the Hawks in Round 3.

SYDNEY 5.4 8.10 9.11 11.12 (78)
MELBOURNE 3.2 8.4 12.7 15.10 (100)
GOALS
Sydney: Florent 2, Dawson 2, Jack 2, Sinclair, Z. Jones, Heeney, Franklin, Ronke
Melbourne: N. Jones 3, Preuss 2, Petracca 2, Hunt 2, Harmes, Melksham, T. McDonald, Weideman, Brayshaw, Viney
BEST
Sydney: Cunningham, Lloyd, Florent, Rampe, Jones, Heeney
Melbourne: Gawn, Oliver, N. Jones, Salem, Hore, Harmes

Match Report – Melbourne v Geelong

Liam Chambers

What can you say. It’s been a nightmare start to Melbourne’s 2019 campaign. I hate to write it but Geelong played brilliantly. We had some moments where our huge potential was on show but we just couldn’t put the points on the score board. There will be many questions raised about the Dees but there are a lot of players who’ve had pre season surgery and obviously they are struggling with a team not yet fully fit.

One of the those players is Clayton Oliver but he was in great form against the Cats with 44 disposals. Christian Salem was a stand out performer again and Angus Brayshaw’s work rate was unquestionable especially considering he was playing with a corked thigh. Max Gawn was better with 18 hitouts. Another positive were the young guns in Lockhart & Sparrow.

There were moments where we fought hard against a Geelong side that were definitely under estimated by the commentariat. The old warriors were there in Dangerfield, Hawkins and Selwood leading the charge.

We tried to make a game of it in the second quarter but we couldn’t convert our advantage. An interesting statistic shows Melbourne had 25 more inside 50s than Geelong but the Cats found a way to score the goals. The third quarter sealed the deal for Geelong and our three goals in the final quarter was way too little way too late.

Where to from here? It looks like May’s injury will keep him out for a few games when we desperately need him in defence. However, the Dees need to rediscover that brilliance they displayed in the last four games of 2018. Fans could be forgiven for asking if the Demons really want it enough, if they’re hungry enough and if they’re passionate enough to turn their season around.

They have to ignore the commentary both positive and negative. The expectation has been sky high and now we’ve crashing back to earth with the harsh reality of the week to week footy.

On paper we should be unbeatable but whether it’s a tendency to under estimate the opposition or lack of self belief, we keep getting beaten. In the JLT pre season games we had issues that we’d hoped would be ironed out by now but it looks like we need to go back to the drawing board and look again at our strategy; how can we adjust our game when the opposition keeps outmaneuvering us.

I’m an optimist and if we play to our potential we should have the first win under our belt when we play the Bombers on Friday night.

GEELONG 6.1 7.4 13.4 20.6 (126)
MELBOURNE 2.2 3.4 3.9 6.10 (46)
GOALS
Geelong: Rohan 3, Selwood 2, Dahlhaus 2, Hawkins 2, Dangerfield 2, Miers, Kelly, O’Connor, Duncan, Ratugolea, Parfitt, Menegola, Clark, Constable
Melbourne: Melksham 2, Weideman, Lockhart, Viney, Brayshaw
BEST
Geelong: Dangerfield, Kelly, Duncan, Dahlhaus, Selwood, Stewart, Constable
Melbourne: Oliver, Brayshaw, Viney, Harmes