What are your favourite sounds in the world?
by Darren Spence
Mine are:
- the sound of a newborn’s first cry
- the sound of popping bubble wrap
- the sound of cracking open that first beer after a hot long day
- the sound of Collingwood supporters booing after a game against the Dees.
Let’s be honest…not much beats that sound and there it was – music to my ears on Monday as the Mighty Dees ran out 4 point victors against the Pies. Reading some of the comments from Collingwood supporters really made me laugh. Yes there were some decisions that could have gone either way (for both sides really) but to make a giant Jeremy Howe leap that it actually cost them the game?….Give me a break!
It was thought that the first quarter was going to be the one that would determine the result of the game. The Dees coming off a 16 day break and the Pies on a roll with 3 wins in a row, but after a hard fought even quarter it looked like the second was going to be the most pivotal as the Pies slammed on 6 unanswered goals to lead by almost 5 at one stage leading up to the main break. We have become accustomed to teams getting a run on this year and indeed it did look ominous. We were getting thrashed in clearances and our key players this year were down on their usual output.
But just as we have become accustomed to other team getting run ons, ditto that we will do the same and again here it was as we rebounded with 6 goals to 2 in the third and were able to hang on in the end for a stirring win, on the big stage, leaving us well and truly entrenched in the 8.
Petracca was sensational and a well deserved BOG. We have been crying out for midfielders that can kick goals and boy have we found one! His 3 goals was the difference on the day.
Oliver again was great – especially after half time – finishing with a team high 26 disposals and critically 8 clearances, the key area that the Pies were so dominant in. I heard the commentators saying that Oliver has had more handballs than anyone in the history of the game EVER till this round. That is an amazing stat…and to think he has only played AFL for about 5 minutes!
Jones also continued his great form and laid 12 tackles to go with 25 touches. Not to be outdone his co captain also had plenty of the ball with 26 possessions. What about Hibberd’s spoil right at the end which resulted in the Watts sealer?….If he isn’t close to recruit of the year I don’t know who is. Speaking of Watts, you couldn’t have written a better script for him to kick the winner and his 3 goals were so important.
Salem was solid down back and I actually thought Oscar McDonald did some great things down there – yes he had some clangers – but I believe he more than made up for it on the day. Hannan is as tough as nails and has become a vital cog in our forward line. His clash with Dunn and his quick recovery will definitely be shown in the post match review.
All in all what a great win on our biggest day of the H&A season. After a 16 day break we now see ourselves with a 6 day breakand up against the reigning premiers at Docklands.
For me Sunday can’t come quick enough!
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The Jones boy again!
by Darren Spence
Last week saw the Mighty Dees take on the Suns at “home” up in Alice Springs.
Look I know all the reasons are sound for playing home games away from the ‘G’ but I for one can’t wait for the day when we are in such the position that this becomes a thing of the past.
This was also the start of Ramadan and the obligatory closure of all pubs for the day. Thankfully the game was on TV or I would have had to resort to finding a decent WiFi connection in some seedy coffee lounge or fast food outlet to watch it – though early in the 3rd quarter I was desperately searching for a beer as we went 30 points down and looked gone for all money.
The second quarter was bitterly disappointing, after playing well into the breeze in the first, we let ourselves down with poor decision making and even worse disposals. What made this even frustrating it was some of our elder statesmen who were to blame in this area.
Then it came…….in what has been a trend all year the boys clicked into gear piling on unanswered goal after goal to end up running out comfortable winners by 35 points and finally cracking a win in the Alice!
It was the Jones boy again leading from the front as skipper who can take most of the credit for this. Like the Adelaide game where he kicked an intercept goal to start our run on, he was at it again on the weekend getting us first back to 24 points and finishing the quarter with 12 important touches. Lewis was a general at half back building an impenetrable wall that broke the spirit of the Suns and our midfield (oh I salivate when I think of our midfield) started getting possessions at will. We had 71 inside 50s for the game – that’s a lot – and get used to it – it’s going to happen a lot in years to come.
I have already mentioned Jones and Lewis, Melksham played his best game for the club, I may as well just copy and paste Oliver and Hibberd, they are in our best ever week, and last but certainly not least Garlett may push Jones for the 3 Brownlow votes with 5 goals in a memorable Indigenous round win.
We’ve had the bye this week with our next game on QB Monday. And what a game it will be! Up against the Pies with hopefully some of our key players back, at 5 and 5 and out of the 8 on percentage, this is a must win game for the boys on our biggest game of the year.
I just can’t wait.
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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!
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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
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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
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