HOME TRUTHS

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HOME TRUTHS by the Oracle

The word from within the Melbourne camp throughout the first half of season 2010 has been all about a young emerging team full of exciting talent with a great future. While this may well be the case, there comes a time when home truths must be told and the first is that the mantra about this group's bright future will rapidly dissolve if it continues to be as inept, insipid and lazy as it was in the opening stanza of its game on the MCG against Carlton.

Although the first quarter saw the best conditions of a wet day, the sloppy way in which the Demons approached the early part of what was such a vital game for the club was totally unacceptable. The very opening passage of play set the scene with a free kick conceded to the

Blues who exploited the loose checking defence that was missing its star defender in James Frawley, out with last minute back spasms. In the blink of an eye, Carlton had its first goal and then a second thanks to some strong tackling, heavy pressure, solid teamwork and superior teamwork. The hard early work paid off with easy goals, particularly to Ryan Houlahan who seemingly could not miss with his snap shots.

It's amazing how easy it looks when one team is working hard, making position and getting away from the opposition while the other is so switched off that it constantly fails to hit any targets but the opposition players. That's what was happening at the MCG where, before the dust (and there wasn't much of it around) was allowed to settle, Carlton had the first six inside fifties with five goals on the board before Melbourne's Brad Green managed his team's first. Before the initial onslaught was over, the quarter time score of 7.4.46 to 2.2.14 with rain and bad weather threatening was enough to snuff out any chance that the game might turn out an even contest.

Unfortunately for the Demons, the poor start is becoming an all too familiar phenomenon which means that they are becoming very good at playing catch up football but that pursuit is one that very rarely reaps rewards in terms of victories compared with defeats. Melbourne did regroup as the weather worsened and it did start applying more pressure and playing more direct football but the task of redeeming itself had become too daunting. Green kicked his second goal of the game to start proceedings in the second quarter, James McDonald took a grip on Chris Judd and the team should have outscored Carlton for the term but from a bad miss in front from a dazed Matthew Bate after receiving a 50 metre penalty for a late hit and to make matters worse, Jarrad Waite who had been the transgressor against Bate kicked a goal when the Blues rebounded after the point. And as if that wasn't enough, the normally reliable Green who missed an easy set shot. The shining light for the Demons was ball magnet Jordan Gysberts who racked up 15 first half possessions on his way to an equal game high tally of 27 and surely a rising star nomination!

Bate was having a shocker at this stage. He had spilled a simple chest mark that led to an early goal and then misjudged the flight of the ball for what should have been an easy mark in front of goal. He recovered to make a small contribution which is more than can be said of the rest of his team's ineffectual forward line. Brad Miller was hopelessly out of touch and Jack Watts was outmuscled. The loss of Liam Jurrah and later to Ricky Petterd has left the club with a dysfunctional forward line. It has no potency, lacks a dangerous crumber and the best the selectors can do is to reprise Lynden Dunn, who kicked eight goals at Casey Fields, as a forward rather than a stopper or a second string ruckman.

After conceding the first goal of the second half to stretch Carlton's lead to 45 points, Melbourne initiated a rear guard action that yielded five of the next six goals in atrocious conditions with the rain bucketing down. Mark Jamar was in total dominance in the ruck and the Demons belted the ball forward from the stoppages. Suddenly, they were going more direct and finding their targets in the dreadful conditions. The highlight was Nathan Jones' goal from outside fifty metres. The onslaught could have produced even more but for the fact that the Russian is a mere mortal and must rest from time to time. The sight of Colin Sylvia jumping up in the ruck against Carlton's

behemoths was more than a little comical. Sadly for his team, its inability to snaffle a goal or two late in the third quarter prevented what could have been an exciting fight to the death at the finish.

The Blues effectively ended the contest with the opening goal of the final term. Judd was off the leash and dominated with telling early possessions and the Demon comeback petered out.

Although one rookie player is hardly likely to make the difference, it's time for the selectors to restore Jordie McKenzie for the team to take on Collingwood. Whatever caused his demise from the team, it's clear that it is missing his tackling and the pressure it put on the opposition earlier this season. Melbourne showed that, when it applies that pressure and works the corridor as it did for most of the third quarter, it can test the best of them as it did earlier on in the season. It needs to do that from the very start next week against the Magpies if it is to revert to that early season form that excited its supporters and the football world.

Melbourne 2.2.14 3.4.22 8.6.54 9.6. 60

Carlton 7.4.46 9.6.60 11.7.73 15.11. 101

Goals

Melbourne Green 3 Bate Jetta Jones Moloney Sylvia Watts

Carlton Houlihan 4 Waite 3 Betts Thornton 2 Carrazzo Judd Robinson Simpson

Best

Melbourne Gysberts McDonald Jamar Grimes Bruce Moloney

Carlton Walker Waite Robinson Houlihan Simpson Carrazzo

Injuries

Melbourne Jones (hamstring) McDonald (hamstring tightness)

Carlton Nil

Changes

Melbourne James Frawley (back spasms) replaced by Matthew Warnock

Carlton Nil

Reports

Melbourne Nil

Carlton Jarrad Waite by field umpire Vozzo for high contact on Matthew Bate in the second quarter

Umpires Vozzo Armstrong Pannell

Crowd 49,745 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

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