HEALTH MATTERS

by JVM

In between football seasons, one of the bigger news items doing the rounds was the story of how the North Melbourne Football Club reinvigorated itself under James Brayshaw to a point where it managed to stave off a substantial push from the AFL for it to relocate to the Gold Coast and then rebuilt its membership to record numbers. The Kangaroos are not out of the woods yet but, with solid on field performances to match their off field repositioning, they have gained the respect and admiration of many in the football world and have assumed a stable condition.

The new patient in the AFL's intensive care ward is the Melbourne Football Club whose condition is approaching critical. Off the field, the Demons have performed woefully despite also recording record membership numbers thanks to a late surge when Jimmy Stynes took over the club's chairmanship mantle. However, the books show that it is trending to a loss of somewhere in the region of $2 million and a debt of around $5 million. The situation has been described as "perilous" and the instability around the club has been characterised by the movement of key personnel through the club's revolving front door.

The on field story is not much better - some might say it's worse. There have been a few improved displays of late but even the best of days have been marred by patches of mediocrity. Last week, the team started like a house on fire against the Dockers at Subiaco but the flame was almost extinguished by half time. An 80 point turnaround between quarter and full time left us all with as pathetic an impression of a struggling football team as you can get.

The only redeeming feature of the 46-point thumping at the hands of 14th placed Freo was that the team Melbourne put on the ground had accumulated less than half the number of games and the playing list was nearly 2½ years younger per player than its rival on the day. With players of the calibre of Brad Green, Brock McLean, Jared Rivers, James McDonald, Brent Moloney and Russell Robertson missing through injury and some handy older players on the outer, the reasons for the club's critical on field condition has been obvious for all to see.

Things are unlikely to get better this week as the AFL's two major hospital cases Melbourne and North Melbourne shape up against each other for the second time this year. The Kangaroos will be hoping to consolidate a place in the top eight while the best that the Demons can expect is to climb a single rung of the ladder if they can somehow win the game. They could also do so if they lose but only if they do so by a lesser margin than their nearest rivals, the West Coast Eagles.

Melbourne might well be hoping for victory to divert attention away from the off-field controversies that have raged during the week but it also needs to prove that it's not quite on the deathbed yet. To achieve that, it needs to put up a better showing than it did the last time these teams met.

THE GAME

Melbourne v North Melbourne at MCG – Sunday 27 July 2008 at 2:10pm

HEAD TO HEAD

Overall Melbourne 83 wins North Melbourne 62 wins 1 draw

At the MCG Melbourne 54 wins North Melbourne 30 wins

Since 2000 Melbourne 7 wins North Melbourne 6 wins

The Coaches Bailey 0 wins Laidley 1 win

MEDIA

TV Channel 7 - delayed telecast 3:00pm

RADIO 3AW MMM 774ABC KRock

THE BETTING Melbourne to win $4.75 North Melbourne to win $1.16

LAST TIME THEY MET North Melbourne 18.19.127 d Melbourne 11.13.79, Round 4, 2008, at MCG

Melbourne had opened the season with two awful defeats at the hands of Hawthorn and the Western Bulldogs and then showed promise of hope with a much-improved performance at Geelong. Against North Melbourne however, they looked like rank amateurs. The Kangaroos dominated from the first bounce and only their atrocious kicking for goal prevented the game from becoming a complete massacre. Once North started finding its targets up forward it was virtually all one-way traffic with Thompson booting five and Edwards and Thomas three each. Fortunately for the Dees, only Thomas will be on hand to do damage this weekend but there are plenty of other Shinbones capable of getting the goals when the team is on song. The bad news is that Melbourne's better players on that day were Brad Green and James McDonald. The former will miss again with a hamstring injury and the latter has been missing for a few weeks with a groin problem and is by no means guaranteed a game this week.

THE TEAMS

MELBOURNE

Backs Matthew Whelan Colin Garland Matthew Warnock

Half backs Chris Johnson Daniel Bell Lynden Dunn

Centreline Cale Morton Cameron Bruce Simon Buckley

Half forwards Colin Sylvia Matthew Bate Aaron Davey

Forwards Michael Newton Brad Miller James McDonald

Followers Mark Jamar Clint Bartram Nathan Jones

Interchange Paul Johnson Addam Maric Stefan Martin Shane Valenti

Emergencies Nathan Carroll Jeff White

In James McDonald Addam Maric

Out Paul Wheatley (calf) Austin Wonaeamirri (soreness)

NORTH MELBOURNE

Backs Shannon Watt Michael Firrito Daniel Pratt

Half backs Gavin Urquhart Josh Gibson Leigh Harding

Centreline Matt Campbell Daniel Harris Brent Harvey

Half forwards Lachlan Hansen David Hale Corey Jones

Forwards Scott McMahon Drew Petrie Lindsay Thomas

Followers Todd Goldstein Adam Simpson Daniel Wells

Interchange Shannon Grant Blake Grima Sam Power Brady Rawlings

Emergencies Leigh Brown Matt Riggio Jess Sinclair

In Blake Grima

Out Ben Ross (ankle)

Field umpires McLaren Fila Hendrie

If you go purely on form then selecting the winner of this game is a no brainer. The Kangaroos have collected some impressive scalps this season including top four teams Hawthorn and the Western Bulldogs. They were unlucky to only share two premiership points with Sydney in that extra man on the ground fiasco earlier in the year. The Roos are on the march with wins in three of their last four games and their only defeat in that time came at the hands of in form St. Kilda who they led for most of the game. The Demons were given a flogging by Fremantle after quarter time last week after an excellent start and prior to that their form could best be described as "indifferent".

However, the Dees are back home at the G where their form since the Roos comprehensively beat them earlier in the season has been more than competitive. Further, their chances of winning would significantly increase if they could hold North Melbourne’s small running players led by Brent "Boomer" Harvey but also including the dynamic duo Lindsay Thomas and Matt Campbell and an old stager in Shannon Grant. The likes of Matthew Whelan, Clint Bartram and possibly even Colin Garland will need to be on their toes if they are to shut down these players who are all dangerous in front of goal. The big question is who will tag "Boomer"?

Some of Melbourne’s younger brigade are showing signs of tiring after a tough season and it’s interesting to see Jeff White, James McDonald and Nathan Carroll named in the initial squad, suggesting that Dean Bailey has recognised the arduous nature of a long season on novices at this level. At selection, the Demons have again lost one of their most consistent performers through injury - this time Paul Wheatley who will sorely be missed.

I think this game will be a lot closer than some people might think and I've selected North Melbourne to win by the narrowest of margins to make it three in a row for them for the first time this year. They will win the game because they will be more desperate given that a finals position is on the line. They also have the benefit of coming off a nine-day break against a team that has had two days less to prepare and is a young side coming back from a trip to Perth.

North Melbourne by 8 points.