THE OLD, THE YOUNG AND THE IN BETWEEN

THE OLD, THE YOUNG AND THE IN BETWEEN by The Oracle

Things have been falling into place nicely of late for the Melbourne Football Club. The Demons have shrugged off their opening round thrashing at the hands of Hawthorn and the dramatic one-point loss to Collingwood to win consecutive games and they now sit in ninth place separated from NAB Cup winners and pre season premiership favourites the Western Bulldogs only by percentage.

Of course, at this stage of the season such things mean very little, but Melbourne's 55-point victory over Richmond has its significance for a club that has enjoyed such little in the way of success in the past three seasons.

The Demons importance of the win can best be measured not only in terms of the winning margin but also in the way this team is developing. The signs are good because in this game the victory was achieved per medium of a solid team effort involving the old, the young and the in between of the club's list.

Naturally, the performance needs to be looked at in the context of the opposition which is currently not in a good way following the well-documented disciplinary action taken by the Tigers last week against four players who played upon their hotel late at night after their game against Sydney. They also lost their skipper through injury during the week and, with three first-gamers in the team, were always going to struggle.

By way of contrast, Melbourne's James McDonald led from the front amassing 14 disposals in the first term alone on his way to a match total of thirty and was the glue who held the team together under early fire.

Brent Moloney was getting the ball everywhere, Nathan Jones was in everything, Brad Green was proving a handful and Mark Jamar single-handedly controlled the rucks. It was only poor kicking for goal during a second term which yielded six behinds and one out on the full that held Melbourne back to a single goal lead at the main break. The Dees made up for it in the third quarter when they blew the game apart with seven goals to nil to take a 50 point lead into a final term in which they coasted home. Once again the young brigade was impressive with Tom Scully, Jack Trengove, Jordie McKenzie. Jack Grimes and surprise packet Rohan Bail showing out. The return haul of five goals from Colin Sylvia was superb while Matthew Bate, Ricky Petterd and Lynden Dunn were all dangerous up foreyard. Petterd's Harmes-like tap for a Bate goal was one of the game's highlights and helped to quell the opposition when they were full of fight in the early stages.

Despite the comprehensive victory, the Demons shouldn't get too carried away and they face a much bigger test on the Saturday night stage this week when they take on a rampant Brisbane with their twin talls Brown and Fevola in a game that will see the club take part in it's first really significant contest since the opening round of the 2007 season. Demon fans should pull out all stops to make it to the game because it will again be on for the young and old and the in between.

Melbourne 8.1.49 8.7.55 15.11.101 20.13.133

Richmond 5.2.32 7.7.49 7.9.51 11.12.78

Goals

Melbourne Sylvia 5 Green 4 Bate 3 Bail Petterd 2 Bartram Dunn Jamar McDonald

Richmond Astbury Riewoldt 3 Morton Nason Tambling Taylor Tuck

Best

Melbourne McDonald Green Sylvia Jones Moloney Scully Jamar

Richmond Moore Tuck Deledio Collins Jackson Cotchin

Injuries

Melbourne Nil

Richmond Jackson (upper leg)

Reports

Melbourne Brent Moloney reported by umpire Scott McLaren for allegedly striking Ben Nason during the second quarter.

Umpires Kennedy McLaren Grun

Official crowd 42, 594 at MCG