Rays of hope – Round 21 Match Review

August 19, 2011 by sally
Filed under: NSW Demons

Rays of hope – Round 21 Match Review
By Darren Spence
Last Sunday saw the Mighty Demons take on much improved Eagles as a ‘home’ game. I use the word ‘home’ as loosely as possible as our ‘home’ game was at a venue that this year the Eagles had actually played more games than the ‘home’ team! Has this ever happened before? I am not sure but playing a ‘home’ game at a venue where we last won when Ivor Warne-Smith dominated at CHB and are less familiar than our opponents did not augur well for Melbourne and was reflected in the end result.

But the game would not be a Melbourne game if it didn’t throw up some rays of hope for long suffering Demons fans only to see them snuffed out quicker than a cigarette lit in a kindergarten. Let’s look at some of the early signs that many of us will cling to as a ray of hope for the future.
1. Well the first one is more of an omen than anything. Jack Trengove’s older sister Jessica started the Sunday off very well by winning the City2Surf – the largest timed fun run in the world.
2. Some key stats early in the game. In the first quarter we had five more inside 50s yet were two goals behind. We also were dominating in clearances. Now an outsider looking at these key stats would put all their hard earned on the Demons being in front – but hey this is Melbourne we are talking about.
3. Just when you thought the Demons problem was converting inside our own 50 (a logical assumption) the MFC go and score four goals from only 5 inside 50s until midway through the 3rd quarter! Schizophrenic I know – but hey this is Melbourne we are talking about.
Now let’s look at some of the individual player highlights from Sunday.
Clint Bartram– YES I know he missed 3 sodas but his impact on completely nullifying the dangerous Daniel Kerr deserves a mention.
Sam Blease– I am going early on this one. Sam is definitely manlove material for 2012. Even our interim coach said he is going to be a star! On Sunday he used the ball well, attacked the ball hard and looked a seasoned player. He is going to be a gun and join the upper echelons of my ‘manlove’ very shortly.
Lynden Dunn–again can hold his head high with a more than admirable game. He also provides a target and is a dangerous proposition in our forward line.
Chip Frawley–did a fantastic job on Kennedy on the weekend (arguably their most dangerous forward). He also had a career high possession count and is showing that his AA selection was not just an apparition.
Hounding Howe– WOW! I have been saying this for a few weeks now, but this man’s cult following is growing exponentially by the week! Another huge hanger and three goals has cemented his appeal to the Demons faithful and must be a shoe in for the best first year player award (apologies to my manlove Luke – don’t worry I still love you)
The Russian– probably his best game for the year and dominated hit outs and more importantly hit outs to advantage. This was all the more positive after missing last week through injury. Rush remains one of (if not the) most important players on our list.
Nathan Jones– I was impressed with Jonesy’s game on Sunday. He worked extremely hard and his attack on the ball was inspiring.
Manlove 1– Was very solid in defence and I cannot remember any of his opponents kicking a goal on him so another good game from Luke. Was subbed off but to be honest after his concussion last game I wouldn’t have been surprised if he missed the game on Sunday. But Tappy is a machine and needs more than a sore head to be pried away from playing.
Manlove 2– sadly we have seen the last of my 2nd manlove for the season through injury. Let’s hope the Gys is fit for the pre-season to ensure he comes out firing in 2012.
Jack Trengove – an awesome game from the one I see as NMC (Next Melbourne Captain). His work rate is outstanding and he just shows every week how he was born to play this game.
Jack Watts– Again ‘Killer’ just improves each and every week. On the weekend he provided the linkage coming from defence to attack. His confidence to compete at this level is now well entrenched.

So we look ahead to the twilight game on Sunday against the Tigers. Our form against them of late has been excellent and without a doubt the boys will want to continue this and provide Viney with his first win as coach. The Tigers had a good win last weekend so expect them to be brimming with confidence but I cannot see this stopping the mighty Demons coming away with the 4 points.

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