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
Travelling to the game in Adelaide?
If you are going to the game in Adelaide and still looking for accommodation then you might be interested in the attached Demon Army Family and Friends Offer.
Demon Army Family and Friends Offer
Melbourne v Adelaide on the Big Screen this Saturday 13 May at 7.10 pm
And if you are in Sydney join the NSW Demons at the Cammy to watch the footy and cheer on the Dees!
An early smoky for the Brownlow?
by Darren Spence
Sunday saw the Mighty Dees take on “Essedon” in the early game at Etihad Stadium with another bumper crowd of over 44,000 seeing our boys run away with the points and break a 10 year hoodoo against their mob at this stadium, snap out of a 3 game losing streak and amazingly see us having won more games this season here than at the MCG.
I think watching the first half that both teams had a hard night on the turps as the game was riddled with errors and definitely won’t make any highlight reels…..But you know what?…..I don’t care…I will take that every week as long as we win in the end!
And win we did by kicking 13 goals to 6 after half time ending up easy winners by 38 points. It was an all round performance by our players and it was pleasing to see some Dees boys who have been down on their usual metrics find some form. Again Oliver was dominant and again was the leading possession getter on the ground with 33 possessions. With his read hair and constant leather poisoning is he an early smoky for the Brownlow?….Only time will tell. Nathan Jones found form with 30 touches as did Lewis in a welcome return to our side. Tom McDonald found plenty of the ball (most times I had my heart in my mouth when he did!) as did Tyson and Hibberd. Hibberd is quickly becoming a new favourite of mine; he is really damaging when he has his hands on the ball.
But this week I wanted to focus on what was supposedly our Achilles heel leading into this game – our ruck and our forward line. Pedersen was outstanding as our fill in ruck. He never stopped competing and whilst he lost the hit outs he dominated Bellchambers around the ground finishing with 19 disposals and a goal – quite rightly earning praise from Goodwin. Up front with big Jesse missing many were wondering how we would kick a winning score. Well we finished with 17 majors and they were shared around with Petracca and Watts kicking 4 each and Hannan and Garlett both with 3. This was one of the most pleasing aspects of the game in my opinion. Having multiple avenues to goal makes us extremely dangerous and very difficult to match up against.
This week we have the Hawks again on a Sunday. Yes the Hawks are down at the moment but this is exactly the type of game the Dees have had a habit of dropping. It won’t happen this week and by Sunday night we will be 4 and 3 sitting comfortably in the 8.
Go Dees
Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda….
by Darren Spence
We shoulda won missing 11 gettable goals and having 10 extra inside 50s. We coulda won if we went into 3/4 qtr time 15 points up instead of 3. We woulda won if Big Maxy didn’t go down with an injury and Hogan and Lewis were available and the game was at the MCG! I bet I wasn’t the only Dees fan uttering those words after Melbourne lost to Geelong by 29 points on Saturday. However, excuses count for nothing and as Goodwin said after the game “We just had a really bad day”.
Well that was an understatement…..I was bitterly disappointed as we really looked the better side for the majority of the game and even more frustrated as we couldn’t capitalise on the good work. Kicking for goal is such a mental thing and it became a disease that permeated even our most experience players on the weekend.
Gawn getting injured is not ideal (another understatement!) though it does open up a great opportunity for the big Spencil to get a run and his form in the JLT and at Casey has been solid and I am sure that he will do well. As important as Gawn is to our side, our midfield is elite, and sides like the Doggies have shown you don’t a dominate ruckman to win the big dance so I wouldn’t be writing off our season as I have read that some fans have.
On Saturday Watts showed enormous ticker to take on the much taller Zac Smith and, in my opinion, couldn’t have given any more. He was literally off his feet by games end…..no one ever should ever challenge his commitment again.
For the 3rd week running we dominated statistically with some big numbers. Jones led all comers with 36 touches, Hunt continues to show his promise with 30. Oliver continued his break out year form with 28 and Nibbler looks like joining him this year with another great game with 28 possessions. Stretch and Viney both impressed and of course I couldn’t leave out Killer.
Enough about that game where the Cats shouldn’t have got the cream!
This weekend we come up against the Dockers, back home at the G, on Saturday afternoon. We still won’t have Lewis or Hulk and obviously Spencil will come in for Gawn but I am backing our boys to make amends and come out victors to further entrench ourselves in the top 8. Get around the boys as they #raisehell on Saturday!
Go Dees!
Sponsoring Daisy Pearce and James Harmes
Any time we beat Caaaarlton you will find me in a glowing mood!
by Darren Spence
I don’t know where my dislike of Carlton first came from. Maybe it started before I was born when RDB left? It definitely started when the kid I grew up across the road from was/is a staunch Blues supporter and I had to endure constant ribbing throughout the 70’s and 80’s. It grew further when Robert Walls missed a goal to draw against Footscray in round 22 1976 to cruelly deny the Dees a place in the finals. It went apoplectic when Greg Wells left to play for them.
So any time we manage to beat Caaaarlton you will find me in a glowing mood and Saturday was no exception as the Mighty Dees beat the Blues to win their first 2 games of the season since 2005.
There is an old adage that good teams win even when not playing at their best and it’s fair to say that the boys weren’t at their efficient best at the weekend. At one stage, deep into the 2nd quarter, the top 13 players in fantasy football scoring were all Melbourne players. Now I don’t know if this is a record…..but it must be close…yet for all that leather poisoning we only held a lead of 10 points at the long break.
The 3rd quarter saw the Blues take the lead before another run on similar the Saints game saw the Demons kick 7 of the last 9 goals to run out 22 point victors.
Our ability to get run-ons against both teams this season is testament to our new attacking game style and it does hold us in good stead for an exciting year!
Clayton Oliver showed last game wasn’t a fluke finishing with 34 disposals and probably has at least 5 Brownlow votes so far. Salem played his best game for the club in my opinion with 31 possessions and showed us how much we miss his silky skills. Tyson had the ball 32 times, Garlett kicked 3 goals, Watts was lively and I also liked Jetta’s game as well as Harmes.
This week we have the Cats and another great opportunity to show the footy world our great club is back as well as erase the performance in the last round last year. Disappointingly 2 of our key players in Lewis and Hogan will miss with suspension but we will welcome Vince back and another opportunity will present itself to show our depth as we look to replace our key forward. I am tipping a win (our record at Docklands this year is outstanding!). Get behind the mighty Dees as we look to go 3 zip in 2017!
Sponsoring Daisy Pearce and James Harmes
When you buy your $50 share in the sponsorship you will not only be supporting Daisy and James, the Melbourne Women’s team and the Melbourne Football Club but also be in the draw for one of these great prizes:
- Two tickets to the Keith ‘Bluey’ Truscott Memorial Trophy Awards Dinner
- Accommodation for two nights including breakfast at the Ibis Accor Hotel in Melbourne CBD
- Two invitations to attend an exclusive Barbeque with the 2017 MFC Squad
- 2017 Women’s Guernsey signed by Daisy
- 2017 Women’s Team Poster signed by Daisy
- 2017 match worn jumper signed by James Harmes
- 2017 MFC Squad poster signed by James
- Two invitations to attend an exclusive MCG and AAMI Park Tour, guided by Russell Robertson
- Preferential selection for one child to go into the MFC Guard of Honor at the MCG
Every share entitles you to one entry in the draw for the prizes.
Faith in the Mighty Demons!
by Darren Spence
All the players, coaches and supporters were singing our great song for the first time in a round one game away from the ‘G since 1980 after a great win against the Saints on Saturday. I don’t know why the 2nd verse gets ignored however it would have been apt to sing ‘oh the team played fine in the year 39’ as I am pretty sure that was the last time we have beaten St. Kilda.
It didn’t look the result we were all hoping for early in the game, however, and yes, I was a little pessimistic when we were down by 4 goals and Joel Smith was off injured. In fact, at one stage I thought the Aussie Cricket team were more likely to be invited to Virat Kohli’s house for a BBQ then the Dees to break their drought!
I should have had more faith as the Mighty Demons slammed on 10 unanswered goals to end up winning comfortably by 30 points. Melbourne showed that the transition of coaches was seamless and I really enjoyed the attacking game style implemented by Goodwin. If this is a sign of things to come, then our long-suffering supporters are in for a treat this year.
Our turnaround of fortunes in the game really started with the clearances. We smashed the Saints in this area with big Maxy giving our midfield first use of the ball with players like Oliver, Lewis and Jones feasting on Gawn’s exemplary service. Oliver looks like having a break out year as he continued on with his JLT form (I still don’t know what JLT stands for BTW!) and Lewis just may end up being the recruit of the year.
Mitch Hannan had a debut to remember finishing with 16 disposals and 2 goals. Other players that impressed me were Neal-Bullen, in arguably his best game for the club, Vince, Hogan, Petracca and the under – rated (well outside the club anyway) Neville Jetta. Many players could see themselves hard done by with their exclusion from this list which really was a solid team performance and the best possible start for the year.
This Sunday we look towards our first home game against the Blues. Carlton are another team that have had the wood on us of late and it is a great opportunity for the boys to go 2 up after 2 and erase the poor performance against this mob late last year. I really don’t like Carlton….. am pumped for this game and expecting the boys to be fired up and run away with a win.
Sponsoring Daisy Pearce and James Harmes
We are delighted to sponsor Daisy Pearce, the Melbourne captain, marquee player in the AFL Women’s competition and most decorated player in the game. For only $50 you can join us in this unique opportunity to sponsor Daisy. It’s our chance to be part of AFL Women’s history and something very special.
We are again sponsoring James Harmes this year and look forward to watching James being part of the new age Demons in 2017.
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