Gurus End The Hoodoo
Round 3 – Melbourne Vs North Melbourne and the Gurus End The Hoodoo
Liam Chambers – our correspondent in Coffs Harbour
Finally we beat the Roos after 17 attempts. Last year I cried twice into my beer wondering how we succumbed on the field when on paper we should have been the victors. However, I am realising with each passing week that The Demons of 2018 are a completely different team. Max Gawn started making amends last week but he really stepped up on Saturday when he was man of the match.
North Melbourne started furiously and threw everything at the Dees. Cunnington opened the scoring for the Roos followed by Waite & Brown all in the first ten minutes. Then Waite scored again before The Redemption Man Thomas Bugg kicked one for the Dees to calm the nerves. Dean Kent slotted one home two minutes later to make things look a bit more respectable. However, North
Melbourne kept up the pressure with Goldstein kicking their 5th goal. A few behinds then Bugg steps up to score his 2nd. The Dees go in at quarter time trailing 33-20.
Early goals by Fritsch & Vince ease the pressure. Gawn is impressive, easily gaining the upper hand in the ruck. A goal by Billy Hartung reminds the Dees not to get too carried away though. A couple of minutes later sees Jessie Hogan score, then a lovely bit of play by Garlett gives Melbourne their 4th of the quarter to lead by 7 points. Successive goals from Bugg and Petracca add to the tally before Simpkin & Brown hit back for the Roos. Half time score is 61-52 in favour of Melbourne.
Early in the third quarter, Dean Kent scores his 2nd. The Dees are again dominant but are unable to add much to the scoreboard before Ben Brown kicks 2 goals in 3 minutes to upset the momentum. Hogan though is not at his best and misses again for a behind. Garlett makes no mistake with his effort and when Kent scores again things are looking up with Melbourne taking a 19 points lead into the final quarter.
You know it will be a special afternoon when Jordan Lewis scores a goal. A few concerns though when Jetta and Gawn go off to receive treatment. Then Waite gets his 3rd for the Roos and a nervous few minutes ensue until Jeff Garlett slots home his 2nd. Bugg fully made amends when he kicked his 4th putting Melbourne in a more comfortable position going into the final 10 minutes. A goal from Jones looked like sealing the deal but a Cunnington reply 2 minutes later still had fans anxious. 2 goals in the final 3 minutes from Clayton Oliver though puts the icing on the cake. Melbourne win by 123 to 86 but ticking off this milestone is another reason to believe The Dees will be playing finals come September.
MELBOURNE 3.2 9.7 12.13 18.15 (123)
NORTH MELBOURNE 5.3 8.4 10.6 13.8 (86)
GOALS
Melbourne: Bugg 4, Kent, Garlett 3, Oliver 2, Hogan, Petracca, Vince, Fritsch, Lewis, Jones
North Melbourne: Brown 4, Waite 3, Cunnington 2, Goldstein, Hartung, Simpkin, Ziebell
BEST
Melbourne: Gawn, Hogan, Petracca, Lewis, Salem, Kent
North Melbourne: Cunnington, Brown, Higgins, McDonald, Dumont
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Big Maxy
Big Maxy dominant performance, Hogan also was magnificent, Petracca Bugg Garlett and Kent looked dangerous all day
When I was 17 I couldn’t wait to get to 18.
Darren Spence – our correspondent in Jakarta
The ability to get into a pub without dodgy ID, being able to drive and all the freedom that comes along with that. I was so jealous of my mates that were already 18. My 18th birthday couldn’t come soon enough. And so it seemed with the Dees on Saturday. The way they started the game they too appeared to be in a hurry to get to 18….18 straight losses to the Roos.
4 goals down before our boys even scored was far from ideal. If I worked for the Melbourne marketing department I would put forward a proposed tag line. Melbourne Football Club…..frustrating die hard fans since 1858. I don’t think it would go down too well with them but it is exactly how I was feeling during the game. Once again we allowed a team to tear us apart for portions of the game. I said we needed to play 4 quarters and to hold both Brown and Waite to win…well we didn’t achieve all of those but we did manage the win – finally breaking the hoodoo and running out victors by 37 points.
The win was set up in the middle by Big Maxy. A dominant performance with 50 hit outs and 18 possessions, ensuring that we got first use of the ball – clearly winning centre clearances and contested possessions. Hogan also was magnificent. He has had a terrific start to the year and Goodwin has added a string to his bow by playing him in spurts through the middle which is making us all that more dangerous and unpredictable. Petracca likewise continued his great start with 25 disposals and Bugg and Kent looked dangerous all day combining for 7 goals and Garlett also kicked 3. Our spread of goal kickers this year has been impressive and with us leading the points for at this stage of the season I am sure it is going to present further headaches for all teams we come up against.
Talking about coming up against, we have a pivotal next 4 weeks – all against sides hoping to vie for a finals spot this year. Sunday it is the Hawks. Another bogey side of late. I am predicting a close one but I certainly will be confident that we will come home with the points.
LUKEY TAPSCOTT VOTES (Rnd 3)
GAWN 5
HOGAN 4
PETRACCA 3
SALEM 2
BUGG 1
ANB RISING STAR (Rnd 3)
HOGAN 5
PETRACCA 4
SALEM 3
BUGG 2
TYSON 1
LUKEY TAPSCOTT LEADERBOARD
HOGAN 11
GAWN 9
PETRACCA 9
GARLETT 5
JONES 4
OLIVER 4
SALEM 2
BUGG 1
ANB RISING STAR
HOGAN 14
PETRACCA 12
OLIVER 7
TYSON 5
SALEM 3
FRITSCH 2
BUGG 2
HARMES 1
NEAL BULLEN 1
For the 2nd week in a row Hogan could count himself unlucky not to be BOG but he currently holds the lead for both awards. In the ANB Rising Star both himself and Trac have started to open up a gap over the rest of the group but it is still early days.
Go Dees
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Deja vu and royal blue
In more ways than one there was a touch of deja vu about the game on Saturday night. Firstly the return of the royal blue jumper; a jumper I grew up watching my beloved Dees play in. We didn’t win many games with it mind you but I can’t believe some comments from people saying they hate it and prefer the contrast jumper that was predominately white. White! Come on! Since when has white ever been a colour associated with our great clubs’ jumper design? Never! For me I am a big fan of it!
The second part of deja vu on Saturday night was the Dees going missing for a quarter once again. After a solid start that saw us five goals up at quarter time, six at half time and then stretching the lead to seven goals early in the third I was looking forward to a big win away to kick start our year. I should have known better…….Fast forward a quarter and scores are now level and my heart was in my throat. Not again!! Please not again! Thankfully the boys steadied and took the Easter chocolates home with a 26-point win against a gallant Lion outfit.
I can almost copy and paste every week about our game fades. It is almost so common now that opposition teams will always feel like they are in the game – no matter what the score – waiting for the invariable Demon mid game sleep. The positive to come out of it was the boys did rally and win but this is something that appears endemic at the moment and really needs to be fixed if we are to be one of the top sides this season.
On Saturday night big Jesse was fantastic with five majors – he does seem to play well against the Lions. Oliver and Jones continued their great starts to the year with 35 and 28 possessions respectively. Petracca also played his second great game in a row, he was dangerous throughout the night with 24 touches. How good is he going to be? Garlett was the man that single handedly stopped the rot and probably won the game for us when it needed to be.
Overall on a slippery night the coaching staff would have breathed a sigh of relief to notch our first win but with plenty to think about moving forward. They won’t be looking any further than this Saturday against the Roos. Speaking about endemic, it is well spoken about our 17 losses on the trot to this mob and if the boys can hold Brown and Waite and play 4 god damn quarters I have little doubt that by Saturday night we will 2 and 1 and be firmly entrenched in the 8.
LUKEY TAPSCOTT VOTES
5 Garlett
4 Hogan
3 Oliver
2 Jones
1 Petracca
NAB RISING STAR VOTES
5 Hogan
4 Oliver
3 Petracca
2 Tyson
1 Neal-Bullen
LUKEY TAPSCOTT LEADERBOARD (after Rnd 2)
Hogan 7
Petracca 6
Garlett 5
Gawn 4
Jones 4
Oliver 4
Hulk has taken an early lead after Round 2
ANB RISING STAR (after Rnd 2)
Hogan 9
Petracca 8
Oliver 7
Fritsch 2
Tyson 2
Harmes 1
Neal- Bullen 1
Not surprisingly Hulk is also leading the rising star but the season is a long one and it is any one’s award.
Go Dees
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The Dees Turn Lion Tamers
It’s round 2, Brisbane v Melbourne and an important game for Max Gawn on many levels not least coming up against his former teammate at Melbourne, Stefan Martin. The clash of the ruckmen would be a game within a game and after Max’s last second heartbreaking miss in the clash with the Cats, he had plenty to prove.
Christensen opened the scoring for the Lions before Nathan Jones kicked a behind. Then Jessie Hogan kicked the first goal for the Dees. Jeff Garlett took a nice mark to score Melbourne’s second. Neal Bullen added to the Dees tally before Hogan scored again with a minute of the quarter to go. Right at the end of the quarter, Bailey Fritsch showed why he is the young player to watch this year as he took another brilliant mark to score after the siren. The Demons ended the quarter 34-3 ahead.
Brisbane got their first goal after Josh Wagner was deemed to be holding the ball and Christensen scored from the free. Jessie got his hat trick after marking just outside the uprights and walking in the goal. Tremendous pressure on Jake Lever caused him to turn the ball over and Bewick who scored for the Lions. It was smooth sailing for the Dees however as Garlett long kicked to Jones who then scored his first goal of 2018. Not to be outdone, Jeff spun some Garlett magic to score his first of the game. It seemed the Dees could do no wrong. The Demons didn’t crack the champagne just yet though as Jessie missed in front of goal and Melbourne seems to be tiring a little under the humid conditions at the Gabba. They went in at half time with the scores 55-18, a 37-point lead.
The 3rd quarter started positively with Nathan Jones slotting his second goal to put Melbourne 42 points ahead. Perhaps we’d just imagined that the Dees were feeling effects of the Brisbane weather but then the dream run took a darker turn for Melbourne. First Christensen scored his second before Cedric Cox added to Brisbane’s tally and Melbourne’s woes. Then the talented Charlie Cameron kicked his first and the scores at the end of the 3rd quarter was 63-41.
The 4th Quarter began and it looked like Neville Jetta had steadied the ship with a lovely kick from the crowded area in front of goal; unfortunately it was deemed a behind and Brisbane seemed to sense that they had a chance to stage a comeback. This was compounded when Hogan missed another chance at goal. Then at the other end Cameron got his second and within a minute had his third. A great kick from Zorko got the Lions within 1 goal of drawing level with the Dees, which happened when Jordan Lewis gave away a free in front of goal. Christensen scored to make it all even.
The Demons needed to dig deep and Jeff Garlett provided the answer, scoring beautifully on the run. Jeff scored again after Zorko had missed at the other end and the outlook appeared brighter for Melbourne. No time for celebrations yet as Hipwood kicked for Brisbane to bring it back to a 1 goal margin. Then that man Garlett again. He kicked superbly to Hogan who used the gift to score his 4th. Not to be outdone Petracca lobbed a 50-metre kick to Jessie who marked and scored his 5th. In the final seconds it was appropriate that the new boy Fritsch again kicked after the siren to make the score 100-74 and secure Melbourne’s first win at the Gabba since 2010.
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Gawn In 60 Seconds
Gawn in 60 seconds, Round 1 Melbourne Vs Geelong, AFL Season start, Dees are fit and fighting, Petracca, Oliver, Hogan, Gawny
Liam Chambers – our correspondent in Coffs Harbour
Another AFL Season starts and with it all the expectations of the fans. Melbourne have shown pre season that they are a team to be reckoned with. On a sunny afternoon at the hallowed grounds of the MCG, they would face a formidable foe in Geelong. Although missing their star player in Patrick Dangerfield, the second coming of Gary would ensure this would be a very tough test indeed for the Demons.
Although the Dees were missing Jack Viney & Tom McDonald through injury our lads were fit & ready to rumble. Within the first 2 minutes Jayden Hunt lobbed the ball from outside the 50 where a superb mark by new recruit Bayley Fritsch sealed the opening goal. Unfortunately 90 seconds later new Geelong signing Esava Ratugolea did the same at the other end; Jake Lever was going to have a busy afternoon keeping the Fijian at bay.
This was a free flowing game & the goals just kept on coming. The Dee’s second came from Jesse Hogan who steadied himself in front of goal to score. Geelong’s Daniel Menzel made the most of a half opportunity to kick their second. Halfway through the quarter with the scores even, Melbourne piled on the pressure but it was the Cats who scored next. Another new signing Brandon Parfitt scored on debut. However Neal-Bullen’s shot out of nowhere was the perfect answer. Then Ablett put himself in perfect position just inside 50m to score for his new old club. A great run of play by the Dees got the ball to Jesse who slotted in from 45m before Cam Pederson marked beautifully; cradling the ball like a new born baby then stepping up and adding to the Demon’s tally. Read more
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