by Darren Spence
Well I didn’t write a report for the last game of the regular season as I didn’t watch it. Yes I know…my first game I have missed watching live since well…. since last decade. I had to work in the Solomon Islands and it was 30 hours door to door. Jakarta, Singapore, PNG and then Honiara. I thought I had it all planned. AFL Live subscription up to date. Check. Make sure my flight arrives in time. Check.
Everything was running smoothly. I checked into the hotel with 1 hour before the start and this is when things started going downhill and downhill quickly. It became apparent that wifi in the country is well let’s just say the whole main island has 10…yes 10 wifi hot spots and they work as consistently as a Metro rail train timetable.
The hotel I was staying in thankfully had one. Starting to feel a little nervous my next hope was that it would be shown on TV in the hotel room. I searched the channels…No luck. I then had to rely on the wifi gods being good to me and ran the wifi gauntlet in one of the many bars they had. It was unwatchable. After 15 minutes of buffering and reloading I resigned my fate to checking the scores as the game progressed.
We won!!..I read we played well…One day I will get around to watching the replay. The end of this story?….The next day I was speaking to some hotel guests and they told me that the game was shown LIVE on TV in a bar just 50m away from where I was screaming at my laptop trying to watch it!…So much for my forward planning!
I was not going to make the same mistake again. So another 30 hours of travelling saw me perched in my favourite bar in Jakarta with a good 2 hours before the start of play in the first final the Dees have been in for 12 years. It was so worth it.
From the start of the game the boys were switched on. It was always going to be critical. With our lack of finals experience, a fast start by the Cats could have seen the game over before we even got started. A 5 goal to nil quarter time score is everything this sleep deprived Dees fanatic as well as all Dees fans could have dreamed for. (Speaking of dreaming…..at one stage I thought I was….by this stage it was approaching 2 days since I had anything like resembling sleep!).
The second quarter had me worried. 17 inside 50s for the quarter should have seen the game well and truly over but as has happened all year our lack of conversion came back to haunt us. 6 behinds and 4 no scores was a poor return and it kept Geelong in the game. The third and forth quarters were pretty much even and in the end it was our efforts in the first quarter that ensured our long awaited first finals appearance was a joyous one and absolutely erased any pain from our 2 losses against the Cats in the regular season.
Our pressure, both direct and referred, has been one of strong points this year and we took it up a notch on Friday night. Viney 11, Harmes 10, ANB 9 and Vanders 7 all led the way in the tackling department and it definitely set the tone for the night.
What about Weideman!?…..Far and away his best game for the red and the blue and 3 goals from 24 disposals and some towering contested marks saw him take BOG honours. Some of the media this week are even claiming that we should now entertain the thought of trading Hogan now we have Weideman and TMac up front!!!…A little premature I do think!
Harmes is now officially our most improved player this year. He towelled up Selwood and picked up 26 touches. Oliver led all comers with 30 disposals, Jetta was the boss down back, Brayshaw was fantastic as were TMac, Viney, Gawn and Vanders. In fact all the boys should be proud of their efforts as 91,000 screaming Dees fans cheered them off the ground in our most famous and important win in a very very long time.
But our most important game now becomes this week! The Hawks. They certainly have had the wood on us of late and smashed us after half time earlier in the year. But this is now our year. The Mighty Dees are on a roll and it will continue on Friday night with another monumental win!!!
Go Dees
I reckon we need to get Neville Jetta more media exposure in 2019 – he needs to be doing some interviews post game and on the commercial stations (radio and TV). Probably not how he wants to spend his time, but it is what you have to do to get talked about and that no doubt helps your chances.
By Jacqui Parry
I would like to see the club get right behind a campaign to make sure Neville is not overlooked ever again, because he has played sensationally and everyone knows it.
Please send these thoughts on to Neville, the coaching and media staff, as I really think we do him a disservice by not making sure he is recognised as the champion player that he is.
Lets stop talking about Neville as “under-rated” and lets make sure he is always talked about as “a champion” which he is – you don’t hold your spot in an AFL team all year unless you are pretty damn good.
Max will tell you I haven’t got a clue about the statistics (in fact didn’t even know they were published in such detail until Max showed me). However, lets look at Nevilles statistics and start shouting them from the rooftops. He has just signed a three year contract – and a well deserved one. Lets make sure the next three years are worthy of his efforts for our club.
I just had a look at how he compares with Alex Rance – just out of interest:
Neville Jetta
He is younger than Alex – plays a different position and style, but averages more tackles per game and has better disposal efficiency than Rance and less clangers. Compare him with someone of similar height, weight and position and you will get a better picture,
But my point is – Let’s make “under-rated” a swear word in our club and make sure all of our players – ladies and men – get the recognition they deserve by objectively focussing on their contribution to the club, the stats and the results.
(Sorry, I am getting a bit carried away – Go Dees!!)
Best wishes from Jacqui Parry, Merlin and Sugar
Proud Guernsey Sponsor of Max Gawn No. 11
May the Beard Grow Long and the Hammies stay Strong –
cos’ we are goin’ to the Big Dance this year!!!!!!!!!!!!
Talk about cloud 9!! (you must be too), what a fortnight (well month really) it’s more than a shade or so of ’87 all over again – and is it just me but that #2 on our captain’s back, it puts the hair on the back of my neck on end… I feel like one of those frogs that has lain dormant for years in the desert & then there’s a downpour of rain & whammo – I’ve broken the surface now fully brought back to life and croaking like mad.
by Nigel Dawe
I’m actually related to Kevin Sheedy (and as such many in my family actually go for either the bombers or GWS) but its been the Dees for me ever since I saw and was sold on our mercurial #2 back in the early ’80s – and I’ve been absolutely ‘on-board’ ever since, from getting in touch with Fred Fanning in the early ’90s to get his autograph to going without 4 of my 5 food groups for about 12 months while I was at uni so as to afford an original 1875 etching of an early Melbourne vs Carlton match from an antique print gallery in Sydney once.
I’ve just so loved the journey, my highlight (after seeing us make 2 grand finals and actually win a reserves ‘Big One’ in ’93 against the then Bears, which I still have tucked away somewhere on VHS) was winning the writing comp back in 2001 for our ‘Hall of Fame’ and who should be the inaugural legend – silly question when you have the likes of the coach of the century to choose from…
But so many memories and magical experiences to draw upon, I used to be great friends with Tiger Ridley (before he passed away) and I’ll never forget the day he got me into the rooms after a game against Richmond at the ‘G to see and sing along to A Grand Old Flag and personally meet my hero in Big Jimmy…
Not to mention the starry night I sat watching the boys at the SCG some years ago and turned to the bloke sitting next to me after mulling as to whether I should or shouldn’t I – but “excuse me, you look awfully like the great Dr Don Cordner” and as such it turned out to be his younger brother John who then said “I only played 6 games but wore the famous #21 straight after my brother retired” to which I replied “Well that’s definitely 6 more than me!!” and we then shared a laugh at how his ‘other’ brother Denis said to a young Barassi when he asked him before his first ever game “where do you want me to go?” – & he famously barked – “I don’t care, just stay out of my bloody way!!”
My house is already decked out with red & blue streamers and about 10 different Melbourne gurnseys that I’ve ‘acquired’ over the years (the most recent being our 160th number that even has my name on it (directly below the AFL logo about 3/4s the way down), I’ve even brought my prized and near-on mint condition 1964 Grand Final Record out of ‘storage’ and have it pride of place next to the TV for luck 🙂
Should we get beyond next week I’ll be bringing out my ‘big gun’ – a 1960 Norm Smith autographed premiership booklet… But as the saying goes – ‘one week at a time’ … and daring now to dream, ah perchance to dream, should we proceed from there I might just put on ‘stand-alone’ display my treasured Ivor Warne-Smith cigarette card.
I have a 5 year old daughter which I’ll be ‘formally’ inducting into the Demons fold come this Friday circa 7.50pm-ish. I can’t wait to share the thrill of seeing them run out and have a red hot go… It’s just such a buzz to be back in the thick of September once again! & it so doesn’t feel like 12 years since we last savoured such a thing…Unfortunately I can’t get down to Melbourne this week, I actually live in Grafton, NSW and can’t make the trip to the ‘G because of work commitments, but like countless other fans I will be there in spirit, the ‘Spirit of ’26’, riding every bump and feeling every blow.
Hope we meet one day, please pass on my appreciation to the crew for their creative efforts once again and well done!!
Go the Fuschias, er Redlegs, er Demons, – or the oldest and only football team in the world to play a sport which they actually created over a few beers in a pub all those years ago.
All the very best,
Nigel
Round 23 – Melbourne Vs Greater Western Sydney – Demons Slay Giants
By Liam Chambers
Melbourne finally broke through this week. The win against the Eagles was significant but the way they played against GWS was a statement of self-confidence. The first quarter was some of the best footy that Melbourne have played under coach Simon Goodwin.
It was a great start with Tom McDonald scoring the opening goal. After the Giants scored the next three, Melbourne seized back control with goals from Harmes, vandenBerg and a second from McDonald. Harry Himmelberg got GWS’s only goal of the second quarter as the Dees started to stamp their authority on the game. Our contested possessions were impressive, and Max Gawn was again brilliant in the ruck.
Max also got the first goal of the second half with Melbourne putting in yet another sterling third quarter performance. With a forty-three-point advantage going into the last quarter it looked like Melbourne had it in the bag. Earlier in the season, a similar lead against a top side, would have the fans on edge, counting down the seconds to the siren. There was an air of confidence this week; everything was under control and we could sit back and enjoy the ride.
It wasn’t all good news though. Dean Kent was off early in the first quarter with an AC joint injury followed by a wrist injury to Dom Tyson. There was also the sickening clash of heads between Jake Melksham and James Harmes. Luckily both players escaped serious injury.
Well, we’re officially in the final eight after securing 5th spot (only denied a top four position by a lucky Collingwood against a resurgent Fremantle in Perth). We play Geelong at the MCG on September 7th. Third time lucky? I’ve got a good feeling, but nobody will expect an easy game. Geelong are one of the hardest teams to beat and they’ll fancy their chances on Friday night. Melbourne have waited twelve years for this though and won’t give up easily. Bring it on!
MELBOURNE 4.2 7.6 12.9 15.12 (102)
GWS GIANTS 4.1 5.5 5.8 8.9 (57)
GOALS
Melbourne: T. McDonald 3, Petracca 3, Neal-Bullen 2, Harmes, vandenBerg, Brayshaw, Gawn, Jones, Weideman, Melksham
GWS Giants: Coniglio 2, Tomlinson, Lobb, Cameron, Himmelberg, Langdon, Finlayson
The winners of the NSW Demons James Harmes Sponsorship prizes in 2018 are:
- Rayna Brown
- Steve Rundle
- Leigh Arnold
- Peter Hunt
- Peter Wood
- Lou Zivkovich
- Ticket to the MFC Season Launch
- Two tickets to the Keith ‘Bluey’ Truscott Memorial Trophy Best and Fairest Awards Dinner MFC
- Two tickets to the Keith ‘Bluey’ Truscott Memorial Trophy Best and Fairest Awards Dinner MFC
- 2018 match worn jumper signed by James Harmes
- 2018 MFC Squad poster signed by James Harmes
- Preferential selection for one child to go into the MFC Guard of Honor at the MCG
Congratulations to the winners and thank you to all sponsors for joining the sponsorship of James Harmes in this his breakout year!
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