FRIDAY ON MY MIND

by JVM

It isn't very often that Melbourne gets a Friday night gig these days so when the team meets Essendon at Etihad Stadium tomorrow night it will have an opportunity to show the football world that its dismal performance against the Old Enemy on Queens Birthday was an aberration.

The match against the Bombers marks just the second time since the two coaches Dean Bailey and Matthew Knights took the helm at their respective clubs at the end of 2007. In both cases they were succeeding coaches who had completed long stints in charge of their teams (if you ignore Mark Reilly's brief caretaker role with the Demons).

When the two rookie coaches turned up for work at their new clubs they inherited aging lists in a state of decline but Knights has by far the more impressive record in terms of win/loss ratio in the 33 home and away games played to date having recorded 13 wins to Bailey's meagre total of four.

Against this, it should be said that Melbourne's "clean out" has been a little more extensive. The Demons not only have the younger list but also are less reliant on their few remaining veterans while Essendon still depends to some extent on the likes of Lloyd, Lucas and Fletcher. The latter was included at team selection this evening as the Bombers sought to fortify their team which lost a high scoring shoot out at home against Adelaide. Joining him are Andrew Welsh Jason Winderlich so the team probably boasts its strongest line up for the season.

We all know very well that the Demons are very much in team building mode and every week we are seeing changes in both personnel and positions as the coach seeks to develop the ideal mix to help move the team forward for the future. This week is no exception.

We were excited before the Queens Birthday game to see Jack Watts selected to make his AFL debut on the big stage against the Magpies. He got a few touches, did one or two nice things, ran around a bit and otherwise got through the game unscathed. Nothing spectacular but there were glimpses of promise for the future and, despite the hype, that was all that was really expected in his debut game. Mission accomplished.

And if you think that the debut of last year's #1 national draft selection was the be all and end all of changes at the club then wait till tomorrow when last year's #1 pre season draft selection runs onto the field for the first time in red and blue colours (depending on the choice of alternate strip there could be some white there too).

Liam Jungarray Jurrah, a Warlpiri Warrior from the country's red centre will enter the scene along with Clint Bartram, Jamie Bennell, Neville Jetta, Stefan Martin and Brad Miller who have been promoted after injury and illness struck the Demons in the past week.

Despite the number of changes, all eyes will be on the man with the skin name of "Jungarray" who has been quietly wowing the fans in recent VFL games for the Casey Scorpions. Like Watts, he will probably only provide some brief glimpses of the future of his club but even that will be sufficient to keep Friday on my mind and on the minds of many Demon fans and others who love our nation's great game.

Bring it on!

THE GAME Essendon v Melbourne at Etihad Stadium - Friday, 19 July 2009 at 7.30pm.

HEAD TO HEAD

Overall Essendon 125 wins Melbourne 77 wins 2 drawn

Etihad Stadium Essendon 2 wins Melbourne 1 wins

Since 2000: Essendon 9 wins Melbourne 4 wins

The Coaches Knights 1 wins Bailey 0 wins

MEDIA

TV Channel 7 8.30pm (1 hour delay)

RADIO 3AW Triple M ABC774 SEN

THE BETTING Essendon $1.28 to win Melbourne $3.50 to win

THE LAST TIME THEY MET Essendon 19.10.124 defeated Melbourne 17.6.108 at MCG Round 18 2008

A crowd of 46,334 came to witness Matthew Lloyd's return to form with a magnificent 8 goal display that include a spectacular high mark and goal at a crucial stage of the game. The Demons stayed in touch for much of the journey and Cale Morton and Colin Sylvia were among the best with kicking 3 goals for the losers. Morton's game in a losing side was so good that he polled two Brownlow votes for his efforts.

THE TEAMS

ESSENDON

Backs Mark McVeigh Tayte Pears Dustin Fletcher

Half backs Courtenay Dempsey Adam McPhee Heath Hocking

Centreline Andrew Lovett Ricky Dyson Brent Prismall

Half forwards Hayden Skipworth Cale Hooker Jason Winderlich

Forwards Matthew Lloyd Scott Lucas Alwyn Davey

Followers Patrick Ryder Jobe Watson Brent Stanton

Interchange Sam Lonergan Angus Monfries Kyle Reimers Andrew Welsh

Emergencies Jay Neagle Tyson Slattery David Zaharakis

In Dustin Fletcher Andrew Welsh Jason Winderlich

Out Bachar Houli (virus) Jay Neagle David Zaharakis

MELBOURNE

Backs Matthew Whelan Stefan Martin Clint Bartram

Half backs Aaron Davey Jared Rivers James Frawley

Centreline Neville Jetta Brock McLean Jamie Bennell

Half forwards Russell Robertson Brad Miller Matthew Bate

Forwards Brad Green Colin Sylvia Liam Jungarray Jurrah

Followers Paul Johnson Jack Grimes Cameron Bruce

Interchange Kyle Cheney Brent Moloney Cale Morton Jack Watts

Emergencies Lynden Dunn Addam Maric Ricky Petterd

In Clint Bartram Jamie Bennell Neville Jetta Liam Jungarray Jurrah Stefan Martin Brad Miller

Out Daniel Bell Mark Jamar (quad) Nathan Jones (virus) Addam Maric James McDonald (knee) Matthew Warnock (virus)

A WIN AT LAST!

Tomorrow night's game will, in many ways, be a cut throat affair for Essendon which is one of several clubs in the queue for places in the top eight. A fortnight ago at Etihad, the Bombers ran into a resurgent Adelaide team which was heavily focused on winning and that displayed a stunning accuracy in front of goal that helped get them over the line in a high scoring affair after trailing early. The result left Essendon out of the eight after consecutive losses and another defeat tomorrow could spell the beginning of the end for them as other teams establish themselves in higher places. They'll be nervous about losing this one!

There's less urgency for a Melbourne in the early stages of development mode but nobody wants to finish last in this competition and losing on a weekly basis is no fun. The noises coming out of the Demon camp this week have been that the side is sick of honourable defeats and it isn't impressed with the notion of "tanking". Coach Dean Bailey is quite rightly more concerned with developing a winning culture as a prelude to a sustained period of success.

The question is whether the young Demons can lift after their last start debacle and be more than just competitive against the Bombers who are going for broke in their quest to stay in touch with the top eight?

Melbourne's rucks have been bolstered in recent weeks by the return of Mark Jamar after a long lay off. However, the team's dominance in ruck hit outs against Collingwood failed to have any impact because the Magpies were able to negate this "advantage" by winning the ball cleanly out of the stoppages. With Jamar out this week, the load will be back on Paul Johnson and its doubtful whether the dominance in hit outs will be repeated tomorrow even though Ryder is the Bombers' lone ruckman. The midfield duels will therefore be crucial and it will not only be a case of extracting the ball but also of coming out of these packs effectively and not turning the ball over as regularly as occurred on Queens Birthday.

The Bombers under Knights have built their game on quick attacking movement along the ground. You won't die wondering when they play this game and it's suited to Etihad. But it's also a risky strategy and teams can hurt you going the other way if you get things wrong as Geelong proved a few weeks ago.

So the Bombers are vulnerable and if the Dees are on their game, as they should be after Collingwood, an upset may well be on the cards. Just add a touch of Warlpiri magic and Friday night could really be something!

Melbourne by 8 points.