A GROUND TOO FAR

by Grazman (our man in the national capital)

A little over 16 years ago I took my new bride who hails from Northern climes for some cultural edification at the then Waverly Park (AKA- Arctic Park) to watch the Dees play the Saints. She made me faithfully promise her from that point on never to drag her to another sporting fixture as long as she drew breath.

That contest like the one yesterday was eerily reminiscent both in terms of weather and the contest and is best expressed in one word … grey.

I doubt that in 16 days time let alone 16 years that anyone will remember any of the events of the day. Certainly not for the paltry seven and a half thousand who attended, the numbers perhaps deflated by the relative ladder positions of both clubs (probably an extra three to four thousand stayed at home rather than risk hypothermia to see a result neither club seemed enthusiastic about). The temperature by the end of the game had dropped from a sultry ten degrees at 1pm to a not so nearly balmy eight degrees by 3.30.

A casual glance at the footy record told me all I really needed to know, even though this was nominally a home game for us– Melbourne under Dean Bailey had never won a game interstate and with so many changes to the team it didn't look set to change.

The Swans opened in clinical fashion with two goals on the board in quick time before the Demons started to find their rhythm. The Dees moved the ball fluidly from defence, but broke down time and again moving the ball beyond half forward.

The first goal came via a bullocking run by Brent Moloney charging through a pack and soccering off the ground.

By and large though the game never reached any memorable heights in the first half and the Swans turned at the long break four goals to the better and only Liam Jurrah's magic and the umpire's interesting interpretations of 'holding the ball' rousing the crowd to any sort of vocal interest in proceedings.

Third quarters for the Demons this year have been a traumatic experience, and so it was again this time, for both tankers and non-tankers alike. Time and again the Demons created scoring opportunities to seize the initiative from the Swans only to squander their chances with diabolical shooting accuracy. They turned thirteen points down into the last, but could well have established a lead at that stage.

After the first five minutes of the last quarter ex-Demon Darren Jolly had kicked his third goal and stamped himself as man of the match. The Dees would need to kick more goals than they'd kicked all game if they were to win.

Again the opportunities presented themselves and again the Demons failed to hammer home the nails in the Swans coffin. For those salivating at the prospect of seeing Tom Scully run around in the red and blue next year, it was a piece of irony that Jude Bolton (himself a notoriously poor kick at goal) that managed to move the coveted Priority Pick one game closer to fruition.

To bastardise an old football adage, the club is now one loss closer to its next win and in a match that was always about the result rather than the margin, the most memorable event of the match was when the final siren sounded There was no elation from anyone; just sheer relief this was over and intent to get to a warmer place.

Manuka Oval may well go the way of Waverley in the AFL fixture. Unloved and unwanted by the clubs, with a notoriously apathetic local sporting community, a financially hamstrung local government and an AFL commission with Western Sydney in its sights; the future of AFL in Canberra is looking bleak.

Melbourne it seems is now more likely to align itself with a future venture in Darwin rather than recommitting to Canberra, a ground it has failed to win a home game at in its brief, transitory assignment.

Perhaps, it's a ground too far.

Melbourne 1.2.8 2.6.18 4.11.35 6.14.50

Sydney 3.4.22 6.6.42 7.6.48 10.8.68

Goals

Melbourne Davey Jurrah Miller Moloney Newton Whelan

Sydney Jolly 3 McVeigh 2 Bolton Mattner Moore O'Keefe White

Best

Melbourne Bruce Warnock Davey Moloney Rivers Morton

Sydney Jolly McVeigh Bird O'Keefe Hannebery Grundy

Injuries

Melbourne Cheney (calf) Jurrah (ankle).

Sydney Mattner (ankle)

Changes

Melbourne Nil

Sydney Buchanan (knee) replaced in the selected side by C Bird

Reports Nil

Umpires Stevic Mollison M Nicholls

Official Crowd 7,311 at Manuka Oval