Round 4 – Dees v Suns – Darren’s Match Review
Melbourne v Gold Coast
On Sunday 17 April I truly believed I had hitched a ride on the TARDIS to a time in the future as I watched our beloved Demons dominate statistics across the board and break tackles with ease as each player looked like Arnie next to their hicken armed opponents. A time when our game plan clicked and our defenders had time to play poker hands such was the time that the ball actually ventured into our opposition 50 arc. This is the future I believe we will face, this is the future I dream about. Alas it is still 2011 and we were playing Gold Coast but at least we had a glimpse of how our dominant future will manifest itself.
Yes we were playing Gold Coast but they have since established their credentials with the win over Port Adelaide! And yes we won by 90 points (our largest winning margin interstate ever and Bailey’s largest win as coach) but I came away thinking we should have won by more!!…Call me Augustus Gloop but our 3rd quarter won’t make the highlights reel and I believe we missed the opportunity to win by over 100 points. Overall I am definitely not complaining.
So let’s look at some of the key players that made up our huge win.
- Bail – this kid has been given a write up in every update this year and for good reason. His performances to date have been outstanding and he is without doubt one of our most improved players this year. Again he had a run with role with one of the Suns Daniel Harris. He not only shut him out of the game but picked up 20+ possessions in the process.
- Bennell – arguably Jamie’s best game for a while with the Dees. He was fast, picked up numerous possessions and was easily in the top players for the game.
- Grimes – Grimey was grimey on the weekend. He set up many attacks from defence and his rebounding was strong.
- Manlove 1 update – Luke continues to turn more heads than a chiropractor…..and after being the unfortunate recipient of a “Tapscott Tackle” (trademarked) believe me you will be needing more than a chiropractor to heal your wounds. Luke continues to play a game that belies his age and experience and my man love continues to flourish.
- Manlove 2 update – not to be undone the Gys turned in another eye catching display with over 20 disposals. There is a latin quote that sort of goes like this…..”entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter neccessitatem” – now those of you who keep up with this modern language know that this is Ockham’s Razor and loosely translates to mean – all things being equal, the simplest solution is the best………now with the Gys his constant racking up of disposals really does mean one thing – this guy is going to be a star!
- Russian – the monolith of a man that goes by the name of Mark turned in another great game on the weekend. What was pleasing to see was that he had his kicking boot on this week – if this continues he will be more than a headache for opposition coaches this year.
- Jones – the tattoed one had his best game for the year in my opinion. His kicking was fantastic and his run was strong.
- Beamer – this man must be a smokie for the Charlie at this short stage of the year. His form is by far career best and if keeps this form up you may as well give him the Bluey mid way through the year. I love the way he plays his footy – his is strong through the stoppages (something we have lacked over past years) and his foot skills have improved ten fold.
- Morton – it was great to see Cale play a full game and he had a pearler. I can’t remember him kicking 3 goals in a game before and he seems a lock for the wing for the rest of the year.
- Sylvia – another solid performance from this tank. He now is starting to string together consistent performances that give creedence to his high draft pick.
- Trengove – had the most possesions in his career and probably his best game. I believe that sometimes he doesn’t get the credit he deserves living in the shadows of Scully…..but lets not forget that it was a toss of the coin between the two on who was going No.1 ……this guy will be a star.
Just when my insatiable appetite for watching the Dees begins to fill the AFL lobbed us with a bye….it’s just like putting Xmas presents under the tree in November and telling a kid he can’t open them for a month! So we have had to wait an extra week for our next game which is going to be a real test. The Eagles are playing well this year and our form interstate has been the subject of much discussion. Needless to say this is a game we must pencil in for a win as we embark on our climb to greatness.