Round 9 Match Review by Darren Spence
Another game at Etihad and another loss. I don’t know about you but I reckon we should petition to say that we play every game at the MCG. After all we are the traditional and spiritual owners of the ground and as every game we play at the ‘G” highlights, we are the ‘MASTERS OF THE MCG’. Somehow I don’t think we will get my wish but we will need to find a way it to win away and we need to find it soon. I read somewhere that during Dean Bailey’s tenure we have a win success rate against other Victorian clubs of 8% and nearly all of the wins have been against Richmond. I am sure the brains trust are working on ways of overcoming this telling statistic. Alas this last weekend did nothing to arrest this.
Last week we did put in a spirited contest for three quarters when our burgeoning injury list began to take its toll. I lost count of how many times our shots for goal in the 2nd quarter were cut off on the line. We managed to dominate clearances throughout the game and at 3 qtr time we were leading all the key indices of tackles, contested footy, inside 50s and clearances. Now let’s look at some of the highlights from the Dees perspective.
Green – the skipper has put in two fine games in a row now and is starting to get back to the form we know and love. He has his kicking boot on again and completely dominated his well credentialed opponent in Nick Del Santo.
Manlove 1 update – some American crackpot claimed the world was ending over the weekend. Well for me my world ended in the back pocket half way through the 2nd quarter. Seeing Luke grasp his hamstring after kicking the ball must go down as one of the great football tragedies of the season. We will surely miss his aggression and drive out of defence and I for one will be counting the days till he is back in the red and blue. Let’s hope that his days recovering are few – we sure as hell do not need any more injuries!
Manlove 2 – on a more positive note the Gys played a ripper game and was arguably our best player. He has great disposal, is constantly winning his own hard ball and his physicality is improving every week.
Eyeballing Evans – in the absence of a Manlove 1 update for the foreseeable future I thought it might be prudent to spotlight another up and coming youngster. What better player than Michael Evans who debuted on the weekend. Evans played like he was a 100 game veteran and 27 possessions and 5 tackles is an impressive game in anyone’s standards let alone a debut. I look forward to writing more glowing reports on him throughout the year.
Indigenous update – in tribute to the indigenous round I thought it might be apt to look at the good games of our indigenous brothers. Jetta played a pretty good game on the weekend. Close behind was LJ who finished with 3 goals in another dangerous game.
Martin – Stef continues to rise to any challenge given to him. He surely must now be our most improved player this year. The fact we dominated centre clearances is a testament to his game on the weekend.
Jones – in his 100th game for the club Jonesy put in another stellar performance. His seven inside 50s shows just how damaging he was on the day.
McKenzie – just how good was it to see Jordie back? We have missed his grunt work at the clearances and his tackling is top shelf. He will be good for the run and we certainly need him up and firing in our team.
Rivers – Jared played another solid game down back and had the better of his opponents throughout the day.
Beamer – This man is on fire this year! Again he led the clearances for us on the day and his work around the stoppages is A grade. He is showing that without Jamar he is still one of the best clearance players in the league.
Warnock – Matty played arguably his best game for the club. He collected a career high number of possessions and won the vast majority of contests against his opponents on the day.
Watts – Like Big Kev used to say….’I am excited! Played in a variety of roles on the weekend Killer handled all of them with aplomb. His decision making continues to bring more than a smile to my face and he is getting better and better every week.
This week we look towards our first Friday night game for the year against the Blues. I for one am looking forward to seeing how we rise to the challenge. The game will also be memorable for being Brock McLean’s first game against his old club. I love reminding my Carlton friends that the Blues gave up pick 11 for Brock……and who did we draft?……none other than Manlove 2!!….What a deal that was! Also the game will be memorable for another Demon with the debut of Daniel Nicholson. A debut on the big stage of a Friday night game is a boyhood dream. We wish him all the best for a great game and promising future in the Red and Blue.
Melbourne v Carlton – Live on the Big Screen at 7.40pm this Friday 27 May.
Melbourne v Carlton
Live on the Big Screen at 7.40pm this Friday 27 May.
Join the NSW Demons to watch the game at the Camelia Grove Hotel, 146 Henderson Rd, Alexandria. Ph: 02 9516 5611. . www.nswdemons.com and www.thecammy.com.au for more information
Melbourne v St Kilda – Live on the Big Screen
Melbourne v St Kilda
Live on the Big Screen at 2.10pm this Saturday 21 May.
Join the NSW Demons to watch the game at the Camelia Grove Hotel, 146 Henderson Rd, Alexandria. Ph: 02 9516 5611. www.nswdemons.com and www.thecammy.com.au for more information.
Jamie Bennell and Jack Grimes Sponsorship
Only 16 shares still available to join the sponsorship this year. Join now to support the Dees in 2011 and for as little as $50 you could win a fabulous prize. Thanks to all of you who have already bought shares (64 sold to date!). Prizes will be drawn at half time of the Melbourne v Carlton game on Friday 27 May at the Camelia Grove Hotel. Click on the Sponsored Players page for details.
ROUND 8 MATCH REVIEW By Darren Spence
Life wasn’t meant to be easy
Malcolm Fraser once said that ‘Life wasn’t meant to be easy’; well following Melbourne can be purely traumatic. The sad thing is that notwithstanding my devotion I had a sick feeling on Saturday (and no it wasn’t caused by imbibing too much on Friday night). My sick feeling was driven by an inner torment that last week’s heroics would come to nothing and we would lose to North Melbourne. All the signs were there; our poor record at Eithad and against the Roos, a bigger injury list than the Russians after WW1 and the fact that our consistency of late runs parallel with an English winter. All the signs were there and unfortunately my hardly Nostradamus worthy prediction came to fruition.
To add more heartache to the agony was that we absolutely blitzed the Roos in the first quarter to be over 5 goals up at one stage… I don’t know about you but it pains me more to be up by 30 and then lose by 40! But I guess that’s part ‘n parcel of barracking for a young up and coming team – inconsistency is just part of the deal.
Given our promising start to the game we do have some highlights to look at post match:
Frawley – Chippa played his best game for the year without a doubt and with our burgeoning injury list it isn’t before time. I just love the way he backs himself in and rarely gets defeated.
Jetta – I was very happy with his game. I think he laid the most tackles for our team. His aggression has definitely improved this year and I would love to see him string more games together in the red and blue
Jones – Led our possession count and is in a rich vein of form at the moment. He seems to have reinvented himself this year and arguably is in career best form at present.
Maric – Matching last week’s effort for most possessions in a game, Addam finished the game with a career high three goals. As I said last week I am rapt to see him finally reap the rewards of an outstanding pre-season. I for one am hoping that he is able to hold his form throughout the year and beyond.
Martin – Stef did an admirable job in the absence of the big Russian. Especially early in the game his contesting and hard work was an eye opener. One of the pleasing things about the season to date has been the obvious progress of some players who have been in the system for a few years – Maric and Martin are just two of those players.
Newton – well!!…what a start to the game!!!….the Juice had 44 Dreamteam points at the 10 min mark of the first quarter! I don’t know if that’s a record but it has to be close! He was hard at it; tackled and presented himself the like I have hardly ever seen. He even survived a circa 70s Crackers Keenan slap to the face. The big question mark now is – if he can do it for a quarter – can he do it for a whole game? I would love to see that!
Manlove 1 update – Luke had a solid game again and is gaining valuable experience. He is heavier in the tackle than Dame Edna Everage and continues to set the standard with his aggression.
Manlove 2 update – Jordan continues to rack up possessions at will. He gets his own ball and his delivery is exquisite. He is going to be an integral part of the team that pushes for the flag in the years ahead.
Watts – Killer had another eye catching game. I literally spilt my drink when he beat two North players on our CHF line and won the hard ball out. Again he took some contested marks and you can literally see his confidence growing game by game.
Now we look ahead to this week. Back at Etihad and back against a team that has the wood over us recently. An increased injury list, more suspensions and against a side that literally has their collective backs against the wall. So I hear you say does this mean I am foretelling another defeat??? Not on your life!!! This is the Demons we are talking about and while our form is harder to pick than a broken nose, I am confident that we do have sufficient cattle on the park to beat the Saints and I for one am expecting it.
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