Jump to content

HAMSTRUNG by JVM

Featured Replies

Posted

The way things are panning out, it would appear that Melbourne's season started and ended when Max Gawn's hamstring gave way at Etihad Stadium against Geelong in Round 3. That loss was compounded a little over a fortnight later when his understudy Jake Spencer suffered his shoulder injury during the game against the Tigers leaving the club with only two young ruck talls on its list, both of them a long way away from being ready to take on the AFL's giants. 

In place of a big ruckman, the 193cm Cam Pedersen has battled manfully against taller opposition and the Demons have conscripted key players away from their normal positions to give him the chop out when he needs a rest but the result has really been a case of robbing Peter to pay Paul. 

Nothing was more obvious than last week in the heat of battle when the game was there to be lost and won and Hawthorn's 200cm Ben McEvoy amassed 53 hit outs to Pedersen's 16 and took some telling marks virtually uncontested up forward and kicked two goals. That would never have happened had Max Gawn been playing.

So this week, with the Melbourne selectors as hamstrung as their big ruckman who won't be back for another six to eight weeks, the team will travel across to Adelaide to face a home side that had the perfect start to its season until it ran into an ill wind in the first quarter against North Melbourne at Blundstone Arena in Hobart. 

The pride of the Crows was well and truly dented but they are not badly wounded as are the Demons. They have the likes of Sloane, Betts, Walker and a bevy of others, not to mention their tall timber in Jacobs and Jenkins intact.

On top of that, their style of play is positive, attacking and direct and if Adelaide can force Melbourne into a pattern whereby it overuses the football as badly as it did for most of last week's game, then the Demons' season could unravel even further than it has to date. 

THE GAME

Adelaide v Melbourne at Adelaide Oval Saturday 13 May, 2017 at 7.40 pm

HEAD TO HEAD

Overall Adelaide 23 wins Melbourne 12 wins 

At Adelaide Oval Adelaide 1 win Melbourne 1 win

Past five meetings Adelaide 4 wins Melbourne 1 win 

The Coaches Don Pyke 0 wins Simon Goodwin 0 wins 

MEDIA

TV -  Fox Sports 3 Live at 7.30pm

RADIO -  SEN

THE BETTING

Adelaide to win - $1.12 Melbourne to win - $6.50

THE LAST TIME THEY MET

Adelaide 18.12.120 defeated Melbourne 15.8.98 Round 15, 2016 at the MCG

At half time Melbourne led by 11 points after a sensational second quarter inspired by Max Gawn's dominance in the ruck and a typical hard nosed effort from skipper Nathan Jones. The Crows came out fighting in the third quarter with a four goal burst in the opening six minutes and controlled the game from then on to finally run out 22 point winners.

THE TEAMS

ADELAIDE

B: Jake Kelly, Daniel Talia, Luke Brown 
HB: Rory Laird, Kyle Hartigan, David Mackay 
C: Rory Sloane, Richard Douglas, Brodie Smith 
HF: Tom Lynch, Josh Jenkins, Wayne Milera 
F: Andy Otten, Taylor Walker, Eddie Betts 
FOLL: Sam Jacobs, Rory Atkins, Matt Crouch 
I/C: Charlie Cameron, Brad Crouch, Curtly Hampton, Troy Menzel 
EMG: Jordan Gallucci, Hugh Greenwood, Reilly O'Brien 

IN: Wayne Milera Troy Menzel 

OUT: Riley Knight (corked gluts) Jake Lever (hamstring), 

MELBOURNE

B: Michael Hibberd, Tom McDonald, Neville Jetta 
HB: Jayden Hunt, Sam Frost, Bernie Vince 
C: Nathan Jones, Jack Viney, Christian Salem 
HF: Christian Petracca, Jack Watts, Clayton Oliver 
F: Jeff Garlett, Sam Weideman, Mitch Hannan 
FOLL: Cameron Pedersen, Jordan Lewis, Dom Tyson 
I/C: Tomas Bugg, Dean Kent, Oscar McDonald, Josh Wagner 
EMG: Alex Neal-Bullen, Billy Stretch, Sam Weideman

IN: Dean Kent Sam Weideman 

OUT: Jesse Hogan (ill) Jay Kennedy-Harris (omitted)

The Demons decided to take two emergencies over to Adelaide which was a good idea, especially after word filtered out on Friday at mid-afternoon that Jesse Hogan was not on the team flight and had been ruled out of the game due to illness. 

More bad luck and the worst of it all is that it's happening when the team is up against a Crows side that is expected to be on the rampage after losing to North Melbourne in such emphatic fashion just last week. Adelaide has been virtually unstoppable all season to date and unless the Demons can conjure up a 10 goal breeze for the home team to kick into first up, they will be in big trouble in the City of Churches.

At least they are in the right place for them to hope and to pray but I fear that it will do them very little good this week.

Adelaide by 45 points

 

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Featured Content

  • GAMEDAY: Rd 17 vs Adelaide

    It's Game Day and the Demons are back on the road for their 3rd interstate game in 4 weeks as they face a fit and firing Crows at Adelaide Oval. With finals now out of our grasps what are you hoping from the Dees today?

      • Like
    • 1 reply
  • WHAT’S NEXT? by The Oracle

    What’s next for a beleagured Melbourne Football Club down in form and confidence, facing  intense criticism and disapproval over some underwhelming recent performances and in the midst of a four game losing streak? Why, it’s Adelaide which boasts the best percentage in the AFL and has won six of its last seven games. The Crows are hot and not only that, the game is at the Adelaide Oval; yet another away fixture and the third in a row at a venue outside of Victoria. One of the problems the Demons have these days is that they rarely have the luxury of true home ground advantage, something they have enjoyed just once since mid April. 

      • Like
    • 2 replies
  • REPORT: Gold Coast

    From the start, Melbourne’s performance against the Gold Coast Suns at Peoples First Stadium was nothing short of a massive botch up and it came down in the first instance to poor preparation. Rather than adequately preparing the team for battle against an opponent potentially on the skids after suffering three consecutive losses, the Demons looking anything but sharp and ready to play in the opening minutes of the game. By way of contrast, the Suns demonstrated a clear sense of purpose and will to win. From the very first bounce of the ball they were back to where they left off earlier in the season in Round Three when the teams met at the MCG. They ran rings around the Demons and finished the game off with a dominant six goal final term. This time, they produced another dominant quarter to start the game, restricting Melbourne to a solitary point to lead by six goals at the first break, by which time, the game was all but over.

    • 0 replies
  • CASEY: Gold Coast

    Coming off four consecutive victories and with a team filled with 17 AFL listed players, the Casey Demons took to their early morning encounter with the lowly Gold Coast Suns at People First Stadium with the swagger of a team that thought a win was inevitable. They were smashing it for the first twenty minutes of the game after Tom Fullarton booted the first two goals but they then descended into an abyss of frustrating poor form and lackadaisical effort that saw the swagger and the early arrogance disappear by quarter time when their lead was overtaken by a more intense and committed opponent. The Suns continued to apply the pressure in the second quarter and got out to a three goal lead in mid term before the Demons fought back. A late goal to the home side before the half time bell saw them ten points up at the break and another surge in the third quarter saw them comfortably up with a 23 point lead at the final break.

    • 0 replies
  • PREGAME: Rd 17 vs Adelaide

    With their season all over bar the shouting the Demons head back on the road for the third week in a row as they return to Adelaide to take on the Crows. Who comes in and who goes out?

      • Clap
      • Haha
    • 213 replies
  • POSTGAME: Rd 16 vs Gold Coast

    The Demons did not come to play from the opening bounce and let the Gold Coast kick the first 5 goals of the match. They then outscored the Suns for the next 3 quarters but it was too little too late and their season is now effectively over.

      • Haha
    • 231 replies