IS IT WINTER YET?

[Demonland 65,932]

IS IT WINTER YET? by the Oracle

I was discussing matters with a colleague not long after the conclusion of yesterday's game in which Port Adelaide crushed Melbourne by 57 points when he uttered the throw away line about this being "another winter of discontent" for the Demons.

It was a comment that made me think.

Surely, the Great Bard would most certainly not have been brooding four centuries ago about the challenges facing Dean Bailey? The exact words which the bard put into the mouth of Gloster were:

"Now is the winter of our discontent

Made glorious summer by this sun of York"

Clearly, the poet is thinking far beyond a dismal winter and is actually placing the House of York in happier times?

Similarly, the coach of the Melbourne Football Club is preparing his charges for better times. Times that supercede what happened for instance at AAMI Stadium yesterday.

Over there in Adelaide, Melbourne went into the game with one of the most inexperienced combinations ever to represent the club. There were very few wise heads out there to act as mentors for a side that half comprised of players with less than 25 games at the highest level, whose bodies are still to harden and whose minds await the maturity that will only come with the passing of time.

You only need to look at Port Adelaide and its leading players on the day; Warren Tredrea and Peter Burgoyne have both been struggling of late. Tredders didn't kick a goal in either of the first two rounds while Burgoyne has barely had his name mentioned in despatches. Yesterday, the Port power forward snagged six goals while Burgoyne outshone his team's other midfielders with 35 disposals at a high rate of efficiency. You can't buy their experience along with that of the other Burgoyne and the Cornes brothers. They lead the way for the rest of the team and make the coach's job so much easier.

The Demons started the game sluggishly but fought back in the second half of the opening term. They remained in touch early in the second term but some poor decision making and bad turnovers took their toll giving Port Adelaide enough openings to draw away with seven unanswered goals on either side of the main break. Melbourne received good service and leadership from Cameron Bruce, Brad Green and Aaron Davey while Cale Morton, Jamie Bennell and Neville Jetta were lively among its younger group and John Meesen produced a solid first up performance in the ruck. The problem for the Demons was that they simply didn't have a strong marking power forward capable of wreaking havoc in the way that Tredrea was doing at the other end of the ground.

Dean Bailey is trying to develop his young playing list and knows his plans simply cannot reach fruition in the space of one or two seasons.

You work to a plan and the plan needs players to develop both physically and in mind over time. There's so much to learn. It's no quick fix.

And Bailey is doing it all under great difficulty as a result not only of the inexperience of his team but also of the weight of carrying an injury plagued team into yet another season.

I make no apologies for raising the injury situation. I see it not as an excuse but as an explanation why the process that is already expected to take some time, will take even longer and why patience is an important virtue when discussing the Demons' fortunes.

Melbourne has not had anything close to an injury free list since July 2006 when it thrashed the Western Bulldogs on the MCG but lost Aaron Davey, Byron Pickett and soon after Travis Johnstone to hamstring injuries. The run never stopped. Brock McLean, Brent Moloney and Jared Rivers are back on the field after missing many games over the past two seasons but are still short of their best form. Out with injury yesterday were Simon Buckley, Jack Grimes, Colin Garland, Daniel Bell, skipper James McDonald, Paul Wheatley, Austin Wonaeamirri and Mark Jamar and on top of that list there are a good few making their return after recuperation from injury including Russell Robertson and Matthew Whelan. That's a hell of a lot of talent and depth players with which Bailey is unable to work at present as he seeks to avoid a winter of discontent.

Melbourne has lost the opening three games of the season again. This is the fourth year in a row this has happened. It's also likely that more defeats will come and there will not be a quick revival as there was in 2006.

It's worth repeating that the process will be slow and sometimes painful but the build up will bring rewards and better winters in the years to come.

Melbourne 2.1.13 4.4.28 7.5.47 14.6.90

Port Adelaide 3.3.21 10.5.65 16.12.108 22.15.147

Goals

Melbourne Green 3 Bate Bruce Miller 2 Bennell Dunn Jetta Moloney Morton

Port Adelaide Tredrea 6 Motlop 3 Brogan C Cornes Gray Pearce 2 Boak P Burgoyne Carr Cassisi K Cornes Lade Thomas

Best

Melbourne Davey Bruce Morton Green Bate Jones

Port Adelaide Tredrea Brogan Pearce Krakouer P Burgoyne Carlile Salopek Cassisi C Cornes Gray

Injuries

Melbourne Moloney (corked thigh)

Port Adelaide Surjan (cut forehead) S Burgoyne (leg)

Reports

Colin Sylvia (Melb) by umpire Kennedy for allegedly striking Josh Carr (Port Adelaide).

Dom Cassisi (Port Adelaide) by umpire Kennedy for allegedly striking Lynden Dunn (Melb).

Umpires Hayden Kennedy Shane Stewart Michael Avon.

Official Crowd 21,030 at AAMI Stadium