Round 11 – Western Bulldogs Vs Melbourne – Dees Down Dogs – This game had everything – Nathan Jones’ 250th game and Neville Jetta had his best game of this season.
Liam Chambers – our corespondent in Coffs Harbour
This game had everything. All the players seemed determined to make Nathan Jones’ 250th game something special. The Doggies played hard and in the first quarter really took the fight to Melbourne. The Demons fought for every point and Neville Jetta had his best game of this season. If he doesn’t make the All Australian Team this year then there is no justice.
Apart from the high drama there was also the tragedy of Jake Lever’s potentially season ending injury. The Dees have great depth but will miss Lever’s outstanding contribution to Melbourne’s success so far in 2018.
Melbourne started off looking in ominous form marking well and looking like they were going to dominate the Dogs. Unfortunately WB had other ideas and Mitch Honeychurch kicked the opener followed by another two from Josh Schache and Marcus Bontempelli. The Doggies had Melbourne on the ropes and they struggled to get out of their inside 50. Things only got worse when Jake Lever limped off in the twentieth minute. Finally though the legend of Tom McDonald continued when he kicked his first of the day. However further bad news for the Dees when Jake Melksham injury was balanced with a beautiful captain’s goal from Nathan Jones. Scores at quarter time 21-13.
Melbourne started the second quarter with an Alex Neal-Bullen goal closely followed by T Mac’s second to put the Dees in front. A goal from Billy Gowers showed the Dogs still had plenty of spirit left but then Jesse decided it was time to add to his impressive scoring record this season. If he’s not careful he’ll end up top goal kicker for 2018. Tom McDonald might not be far behind as he slotted his third. Jesse Hogan kicked the last goal of the half to have Melbourne leading by sixteen points at 30-46.
Bontempelli got his second in the opening minute of the third quarter but Christine Petracca hit back with his only goal of the game. Another from Jesse was followed by one from Fritsch who has been one of the Dee’s best markers. Mitch Hannan again showed why you don’t give him an opener when he scored in the seventeenth minute. Jordan Roughead scored for the Dogs in what would be the last of the quarter. Scores 44-83.
Melbourne were comfortably ahead at the start of the last quarter but Hogan made it even more difficult for the Dogs with a goal in the third minute. Then it seemed like it would be a low scoring last twenty minutes before Tom McDonald got his fourth quickly followed by Angus Brayshaw (again playing brilliantly) before Jesse Hogan sealed it with his fifth. We won’t mention his behind after the siren except to say it clocked up another game of three figure points for the Dees.
We knew the Bulldogs game was going to be difficult and it was Melbourne’s toughest since we played Hawthorne in Round 4. Simon Goodwin can be justifiably proud of our lads though and it bodes well for the rest of the season. The Dees are still managing to fly under the radar a bit but more commentators are starting to take them seriously and a win against Collingwood next weekend will see expectations rise. The Pies are always a notoriously difficult game for the Dees and they will need to bring their very best performance to the MCG on the public holiday Monday to make sure we bury another hoodoo.
WESTERN BULLDOGS 3.3 4.6 6.8 7.9 (51)
MELBOURNE 2.1 7.4 11.7 15.10 (100)
GOALS
Western Bulldogs: Bontempelli 2, Honeychurch, Schache, Gowers, Roughead, Suckling
Melbourne: Hogan 5, T.McDonald 4, Jones, Neal-Bullen, Petracca, Fritsch, Hannan, Brayshaw
Round 10 – Melbourne Vs Adelaide -Something to Crow About – On paper this was going to be a tough game but in the end, Melbourne made it look so easy.
Liam Chambers – our corespondent in Coffs Harbour
Another great display of skill and determination. The Dees are playing superbly as a team and their confidence is growing with every game. For the first half of the quarter, it seemed like every Melbourne player wanted to get on the score sheet. Adelaide looked stunned as Petracca, Melksham, Neal-Bullen, Hannan and Hogan all kicked goals before Eddie Betts finally got the Crow’s first.
Jesse got his second before Adelaide staged a mini comeback with unanswered goals from Gallucci and Douglas. Alex Neal-Bullen got another before the siren to give Melbourne their fifteenth consecutive winning quarter. Scores 36-19.
The goals continued for Melbourne with Tim Smith’s first for the Demons in the opening minute. Darcy Fogarty kicked one for Adelaide but Jesse Hogan was in fine form and kicked his second in the ninth minute. Even though the Crows upped their game they couldn’t manage to convert their advantage into goals and it was Melbourne’s Angus Brayshaw who scored next followed by the inform Alex Neal-Bullen. Captain Nathan Jones got his only goal of the match just before the half time siren. Scores 74-26.
Adelaide’s Sam Gibson got the opener in the third quarter but the reprieve was only temporary as Tim Smith doubled his tally for the Demons with a second goal for the afternoon. Charlie Spargo kicked his only goal of the day three minutes later before Melbourne began to put a seemingly insurmountable amount of daylight between themselves and Adelaide. First Jesse got his third, then McDonald scored and Petracca got his second and third to see out the quarter. Scores 112-34.
The Crow’s attempted to launch a last quarter comeback with unanswered goals from Josh Jenkins and Richard Douglas but it was never a realistic possibility. Melksham got the Dee’s first of the last quarter before Neville Jetta had an uncharacteristic fumble in front of goal to allow Eddie Betts to pounce and score his second goal. It was pretty much all Melbourne for the last fifteen minutes with goals from McDonald, Brayshaw and Hogan.
Great teamwork from Melbourne.
We’ve been very lucky injury wise this season and Adelaide were missing some key players but the Dee’s put on a stellar display and there’s not too many teams that would fancy their chances against the Red & Blues. Next week we face the Bulldogs at Docklands. The Doggies will be desperate for a win but we’ve just got to stick to our game plan and notch up a sixth success. Go the Mighty Dees!
MELBOURNE 7.1 12.2 18.6 23.8 (146)
ADELAIDE 3.1 4.2 5.4 8.7 (55)
GOALS
Melbourne: Hogan 5, Neal-Bullen 3, Petracca 3, Brayshaw 3, Smith 2, Melksham 2, T. McDonald 2, Hannan, Jones, Spargo
Adelaide: Douglas 2, Betts 2, Gallucci, Fogarty, Gibson, Jenkins
On a related Melbourne Football matter, a big Happy Birthday to the beautiful Daisy Pearce, captain of the Demons AFLW side.
“Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?” I have to say I had to pinch myself on Sunday afternoon after watching the Dees demolish last year’s grand finalists by a whopping 91 points up in Alice Springs.
Darren Spence – our correspondent in Jakarta
The last 5 weeks have been unprecedented in the history of this proud footy club that we all love – is this the same side that were so woeful 6 weeks ago?
It’s not the same side obviously, we have had some key ins over that period, but the confidence they are playing with, the sublime ball movement, the relentless pressure has been fantastic. It is something that reminds me of the Elimination and Semi Final games in 1987. Back then we played with very similar attributes – let’s just hope that it doesn’t end in tears like that year!
The Crows never had a chance on Sunday. We had ball winners across every line and the commentators seemed to only have interest late in the game on a) can we keep our winning quarter streak alive and b) can we win by 100 points. Well we did achieve the first but heh, I will take a 91 point win every week.
Brayshaw is becoming the star we all hoped he would be and had his best game with 37 touches, Hogan bagged a lazy 5, Lever dominated against his old club, Jones set the tone early in the game, Viney and Oliver had plenty of it with 35 and 31 disposals respectively, Gawn towelled up everything the Crows through at him, Smith played his best game of his short career….look I could name every player! It’s been a great 5 weeks to support the Melbourne Football Club.
But it is only 5 weeks and there is a long way to go in the season. Ecstasy has turned into agony in an instant all too often for us supporters but it won’t be this week. Up against the Dogs on Saturday it is easy to forget they won the flag 2 years ago and they play very well under the roof at Etihad. Ecstasy will, however, continue for another week. We will win this and I am confident that we will extend our streak of winning quarters. There is absolutely no reason why we can’t!
LUKEY TAPSCOTT VOTES (Rnd 10)
BRAYSHAW 5
LEVER 4
HOGAN 3
JONES 2
OLIVER 1
LUKEY TAPSCOTT LEADERBOARD
Hogan 24
Oliver 23
Gawn 18
Jones 13
Petracca 12
Brayshaw 10
T.MacDonald 9
Melksham 9
Salem 7
Lever 6
Garlett 5
Hibberd 4
Harmes 4
Hannan 3
Bugg 1
Neal Bullen 1
O.MacDonald 1
ANB RISING STAR VOTES (Rnd 10)
BRAYSHAW 5
LEVER 4
HOGAN 3
OLIVER 2
VINEY 1
ANB RISING STAR LEADERBOARD
Oliver 29
Hogan 29
Petracca 15
Salem 14
Brayshaw 13
Tyson 10
Lever 10
Fritsch 9
Harmes 6
Neal Bullen 6
Hannan 4
O.MacDonald 3
Bugg 2
Spargo 1
Viney 1
In the Lukey Tapscott Hogan retakes the lead on the back of his 5 goal performance.
He also ties things up in the ANB Rising Star as he and Oliver start to pull away
from the pack though Brayshaw is having red hot crack to try and catch them.
Go Dees!
The happiest man in Jakarta watching the Mighty Dees thump the Blues by 109 points – results like Sunday’s don’t come along all that often for the Melbourne Football Club.
Darren Spence – our correspondent in Jakarta
Results like Sunday’s don’t come along all that often for the Melbourne Football Club. You have to go back to 2004 to see another one. ‘See’ being the operative word as yours truly had just left Australia to work in the UK and hence I never saw the game. Go back further to the next one and it is now 1993 and where was I? Yep, playing cricket in the UK. The last game I saw live where the Dees won by at least 100 points was in 1991 and I remember it clearly. Princes Park against the Roys and Darren Bennett kicked 8. So on Sunday I was the happiest man in Jakarta watching the Mighty Dees thump the Blues by 109 points!
After a relatively tight first quarter the boys never released the pressure and 22 goals to 4 in the last 3 quarters is about as convincing a win that you can get. I think it is now something like 14 quarters in a row we have won and I am hoping this signals that the game lapses that have haunted us of late is now a thing of the past. I think most AFL supporters would agree that watching the Dees play at the moment we would have to be one of the most exciting teams to watch when on song. High scoring, relentless pressure, contested ball beasts, attacking mindset, there is a lot to like about us.
I know people are saying we have had an easy run but I say that is crap. You can only beat who you play and we have done that convincingly and there are no easy games in the AFL. Look at Geelong and Hawthorn on the weekend? When you win by 109 points you have quite a few goalkickers and so it was on Sunday. 13 individual goalkickers with Melksham with 5, TMac and ANB each with 4 the main contributors. The spread of scoring options available at the moment is a headache for opposition coaches and adds to the excitement of watching our boys play. Other players to impress include Gawn who dominated Kruezer with 44 hitouts and 2 goals, Brayshaw with 24 possessions to go with 11 tackles, Jones had the ball 31 times and Lever had arguably his best game for the club hauling in 8 marks and 27 disposals in what really was a day for the ages for the Mighty Demons.
This week we head up to the Alice to take on the Crows. What better way to shut up the knockers by knocking off Adelaide. We beat them last year away from home and with a growing injury list I see us winning on Sunday to make it 5 in a row and remain firm in the top 4!
LUKEY TAPSCOTT VOTES (Round 9)
Melksham 5
T.MacDonald 4
Jones 3
Lever 2
Brayshaw 1
LUKEY TAPSCOTT LEADER BOARD
Oliver 22
Hogan 21
Gawn 18
Petracca 12
Jones 11
T.MacDonald 9
Melksham 9
Salem 7
Garlett 5
Brayshaw 5
Hibberd 4
Harmes 4
Hannan 3
Lever 2
Bugg 1
Neal Bullen 1
O.MacDonald 1
ANB RISING STAR VOTES (Round 9)
Lever 5
Brayshaw 4
Neal Bullen 3
Fritsch 2
Oliver 1
ANB RISING STAR LEADER BOARD
Oliver 27
Hogan 26
Petracca 15
Salem 14
Tyson 10
Fritsch 9
Brayshaw 8
Harmes 6
Neal Bullen 6
Lever 6
Hannan 4
O.MacDonald 3
Bugg 2
Spargo 1
No change at the top in the Lukey Tapscott with Melksham getting maximum votes in by far his best game of his career. Oliver snuck in for 1 vote in the ANB Rising Star (mainly on the back of playing the game with a broken hand) and takes a 1 vote lead over Hogan.
Go Dees!
Round 9 – Carlton Vs Melbourne – Melbourne Ditch The Blues
by Liam Chambers – our correspondent in Coffs Harbour
Not me ump – I didn’t overstep!
Welcome back Jack
Four games undefeated! I think I saw a brief smile cross over Simon Goodwin’s face but it could have been the lighting. Still, there was plenty to smile about in today’s game. A winning margin of 109 points and Melbourne playing more convincingly like a team than they have for a long time. Hope is in the ascendancy and thoughts of playing finals footy is now more tangible for the supporters.
The first quarter initially looked like a low scoring affair but once Jake Melksham got the Dee’s first after ten minutes, the Blues Jed Lamb then the Demon’s Bayley Fritsch quickly added to the tally. Again Melbourne were dominating play but not adding much to the scoresheet.
Tom McDonald seem to sum up Melbourne’s opening quarter when he put his footy brain on hold to play on after a brilliant intercepted mark in front of goal. Luckily Tom seemed to realise the error of his ways and his game for the rest of the match was nearly flawless. Carlton went ahead for the only time in the game when Harry McKay got his first goal. Tom McDonald replied a minute later and all was forgiven. Harry McKay scored his second with a little help from Max Gawn (it’s just his generous nature) right on the siren. Scores: 19-22.
Welcome back Jack Viney, who opened the scoring in the second quarter for the Demons. When Christian Petracca marked the ball in front of goal a couple of minutes later he wanted to pass it on to one of his team mates but Tom McDonald made sure Christian took the kick himself, which he duly slotted between the uprights. It was the best decision he could have made as his relief in scoring was palpable. Then Tom kicked back to back goals before the Blues tried to claw their way back in with Zac Fisher kicking their first of the quarter. You got the feeling that this was Melbourne’s day when Alex Neal-Bullen and Jake Melksham both scored with 90 seconds of each other. The Blues Patrick Cripps then scored only for Tom M to get his fourth two minutes later. Half time scores: 64-33.
The third quarter just seemed like a goal every two minutes from the Dees. First Melksham, then Fritsch, Melksham again, Alex Neal-Bullen, Max Gawn, Neal-Bullen again before the Blues finally got one with Jed Lamb scoring his second. James Harmes cancelled out that effort two minutes later then co-captain Nathan Jones added his name late in the quarter. Marc Murphy got a consolation goal just before the siren but the Dees were well ahead at 114-48.
Like last week, Melbourne started the last quarter determined to build on their percentage. Goals from Mitch Hannan & Jake Melksham (fifth) was followed up by Max Gawn’s second before Hannan scored again. A trio of goals from Neal-Bullen, Charlie Spargo and Clayton Oliver had the Demon fans in raptures as the lead stretched to over 100 points. Finally Jesse Hogan decided he might as well add his name as every other Melbourne player was scoring and he didn’t want to feel left out. With the final score at 109-50, the Dees had recorded their biggest ever win over the Blues.
Round 10 will see Melbourne travelling to the Northern Territory where we’ll take on the mighty Crows. If we keep playing like we have in the last five rounds, I wouldn’t bet against us upsetting Adelaide.
CARLTON 3.1 5.3 7.6 7.8 (50)
MELBOURNE 3.4 10.4 18.6 25.9 (159)
GOALS
Carlton: McKay 2, Lamb 2, Fisher, Murphy, Cripps
Melbourne: Melksham 5, T. McDonald 4, Neal-Bullen 4, Fritsch 2, Hannan 2, Viney, Petracca, Gawn, Harmes, Jones, Gawn, Oliver, Hogan
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