Welcome to the world of coaching Mark!
Welcome to the world of coaching Mark!
Darren’s Match Report – Melbourne v West Coast
Welcome to the world of coaching Mark! If you were ever under any illusion whatsoever that this coaching caper was going to be a doddle then this has truly been thrown out of the water with what can only be described as a tumultuous fortnight for the Melbourne Football Club both on and off the field. With the death of a Melbourne legend, spurious rumours about racism, a poor first game against the Lions and the loss of a major sponsor, facing the most difficult road trip in football was about as welcome as Jason Akermanis and Kyle Sandilands being joint key note speakers at a diplomacy conference.
Losing key players Beamer and Martin was hardly going to help our cause and it really was no surprise to anyone to see the Dees fly back from the West at 0-2. There have been many words both spoken and read about trying to draw correlations between the off field dramas and their subsequent impact on the on field performances to date but I don’t think it is as complicated as all that. The facts are that the Neeld brains trust is implementing a completely new game plan and this will take time. Yes there will still be some more pain this year but the upside is extremely bullish. Yes we may have heard all this before but a robust game plan, additional funds poured into the football department, the most arduous pre-season on record, a still extremely young list, some shrewd recruiting in the off season and some exciting additions to the list coming next year all lay a foundation that even the most pessimistic of Demon fanatics cannot help but look forward to.
Last week
But now back to the game on the weekend. Despite the loss I went away with a warm glow that wasn’t attributable to imbibing on amber fluid to drown my sorrows. Let’s look at some of the real positives.
We can’t start without going past Magnificent Magner who backed up his fantastic debut with another great performance on Saturday. His sheer ability to win the ball coupled with the additional hardness he adds in the engine room has seen him as a raging early favourite for the shrewdest draft pick of the year. He is one that I will be definitely following with interest as the year progresses. In his second game for the club Mitch Clark has put his early detractors back in their places with a career best 5 goals. From all reports he is also an outstanding person off the field and will be a huge asset for the club for many years to come. A 5 goal return from only 32 inside 50s is a great feat in anyone’s book.
Past readers of this report will know all too well my man love for Jeremy Howe and I am very excited to see Neeld playing him in the mid field this year. This can only add extra strings to the bow of an already talented footballer and he is destined to provide countless excitement for the Demon faithful in 2012. I have also been impressed with the form of both Nathan Jones and Jack Watts this year. Jones is a leader of the club both on and off the field and he is now establishing himself as an A Grade midfielder. Watts also has silenced his critics with 2 quality games and the upside of him continues to be larger than Billy Brownless’ midriff. Special mentions this week to Jack Grimes (how good is it to see him back and playing well!), Tom McDonald, who as a late replacement was easily in Melbourne’s best, Chippa Frawley and Jared Rivers who both marshalled the defence admirably under a barrage of attack from the Eagles.
This week
Looking ahead to this week and it is a biggy! Games against the Tigers are always huge and with both teams desperate to get on the board in 2012 this one is no exception. With some strong performances at Casey by Tapscott and Couch plus the possible return of Beamer and Martin the competition for spots in the final 22 will be hot and you can bet your last dollar that those lucky to be selected will all be going flat out to get our season back on track.
Go Dees!
Darren Spence
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