BOOST

[Demonland 73,140]

BOOST by The Oracle

Melbourne has been going through a rough trot since the balmy days of its magical three wins on end in April. The Demons' only win since then came in steamy Darwin when they fell in by a solitary point. There had been no victories in front of a home crowd for two and a half months when they took on the flagging Bombers at the MCG. 

Two sides bereft of confidence facing off against each other made for a fascinating contest but which would emerge with the boost of a much needed win?   

When Jared Rivers made a meal of a routine short pass to Jack Trengove after taking a safe mark early in the opening term, it was a case of deja vu all over again with Melbourne trailling by a goal in the first minute of the game. 

Then they threw away the script. Colin Sylvia, coming back after several weeks with a freak toe injury, took a courageous mark and a 50 metre penalty to even the score and, not long after, a botch up from a Bomber defender gifted Brad Green his first goal. Melbourne was on its way to winning its first opening term in several weeks. 

With Mark Jamar dominating the rucks, the Demons took a handy 16 point lead into the first break, a margin they managed to double thanks to some confidence boosting play led by veterans Green and Cameron Bruce aided by a lack of discipline from the Bombers that enabled Melbourne to benefit from a swag of 50m penalties. 

During the second term, the fans were treated to some more happy glimpses of the future with first year player Jack Trengove converting a set shot and then setting up Liam Jurrah for his first goal of the season after missing the first four months after suffering a shoulder injury in a practice match. For a club that has been short on star quality for so long, the signposts are pointing towards the heavens but let's not get too carried away just yet!

After half time, the Bombers must have located the lost script from the first quarter when they kicked three goals in the first six minutes. They were almost back in the game when a lucky free kick and a goal to Jack Watts gave the Demons another boost. With Green starring in front of goal, they took back the initiative to have a handy buffer of 27 points at the final break. 

The Bombers had compounded their woes with some poor kicking for goal but much of that could be attributed to the pressure applied by Melbourne's defence.

The Demons dominated the first half of the final term, scoring four goals and pushing their lead beyond 50 points before putting the cue in the rack. Given that they travel across the continent for next week's game against the Dockers, it was probably a fair idea to loosen the pressure rather than to move in for the kill. As a result Essendon scored six of the last seven goals in an elongated junk time.

Jamar in the ruck, Sylvia (29 disposals and two goals) and Green (five goals) were the stars and Lynden Dunn a quiet achiever but there were some great signs from youngsters Trengove, Tom Scully and Jordie McKenzie in the midfield. McKenzie's tackling was reminiscent of early in the season when his pressure was so important. James Frawley and Colin Garland were majestic in defence and Jurrah and Watts are heralding an exciting future for the Demon forward line.

A week's a long time in football. A week ago, we were wondering from where Melbourne's next win would come. If the Demons can break their away from home interstate hoodoo next week, they'll be a game and a half  away from the top eight. In this season where we have seen unlikely and unexpected winning runs from Hawthorn, Adelaide and Richmond, who knows what could happen from there once a team receives a much needed winning boost?

Melbourne 6.2.38 10.6.66 14.7.91 19.8.122

Essendon 3.4.22 4.10.34 8.16.64 14.19.103

Goals

Melbourne Green 5 Bruce Jamar Jurrah Sylvia Trengove 2 Bate Bennell Dunn Watts

Essendon Neagle 3, Lovett-Murray Stanton 2, Davey Dyson Jetta Monfries Reimers Watson Zaharakis

Best

Melbourne Green Sylvia Jamar Bruce Trengove Dunn

Essendon Zaharakis Lovett-Murray Winderlich Watson

Injuries

Melbourne Nil

Essendon Nil

Changes

Melbourne Nil

Essendon Scott Gumbleton, replaced in the selected side by Sam Lonergan

Reports

Melbourne Nil

Essendon Nil

Umpires Kennedy Armstrong Bowen

Crowd 49,203 at the MCG

[jnrmac 20,188]

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McKenzie's tackling was reminiscent of early in the season when his pressure was so important.

Our tackling was as as bad as I have seen it. We could hardly stick a tackle.

We got there but they were allowed to wriggle out on countless occasions. Very frustrating and kept them in the game.

[Gorgoroth 13,023]

The first half our tackling was very good, the second half was terrible.

[Ned 156]

Our tackling was as bad as I have seen it. We could hardly stick a tackle.

We got there but they were allowed to wriggle out on countless occasions. Very frustrating and kept them in the game.

jnrmac, we really need the real jnrmac back. He sets the standard.

[Dannyz 2,851]

I often see Trengove making missed tackles. Don't get me wrong I love the boy, but I'd love to see more of his tackles stick. Needs to build core and hip strength.

[jayceebee31 761]

I often see Trengove making missed tackles. Don't get me wrong I love the boy, but I'd love to see more of his tackles stick. Needs to build core and hip strength.

Agree that tackling was a weakness.I also agree they need to build core and hipstrength.Now they have the facilities to really put the bodies into the power they need.

[Grandson of a gun 276]

Yeh their one on one tackling in the second half dropped off however i thought their gang tackling mentality was back and that was the big thing in the first half- Essendon were always under the pump.

[DeeSpencer 26,082]

Tackling today especially early was much better than usual. Sure they could have stuck a few more but the missed tackles were probably a sign of the increased desire and application to tackle. Jordie McKenzie didn't rack the stats up today but was back to his best in tackling. Fit him with a Scully sized motor next preseason and he'll go to another level.

[Deevout 492]

The players were hard at the ball today, hasn't happened since the Queens birthday game.

[Felix 92]

I often see Trengove making missed tackles. Don't get me wrong I love the boy, but I'd love to see more of his tackles stick. Needs to build core and hip strength.

everyone misses tackles, especially first year players... FYI Trengove has 55 tackles ranked 5th on the MFC list, with 30+ players beneath him.

[Gorgoroth 13,023]

Sturm I'm watching the replay and I reckon he has tackled pretty well.

P.s. Killer shirt on your kid (Pardon the pun )

[Dappa Dan 2,188]

everyone misses tackles, especially first year players... FYI Trengove has 55 tackles ranked 5th on the MFC list, with 30+ players beneath him.

Yup. And for every tackle he misses, he lays a big one I reckon. Also, when we recruited he and Scully people said over and over how great Scully's hands were. Trengove has surprised the hell out of me with how he delivers the ball by hand when under duress. Given how good he is at this, maybe he's guilty of having a more "receiver" mentality. In other words, when in a pack, or just on the outside of one, maybe he's pre-occupied with what he'll do when he gets the ball (who he passes off to), instead of what he'll do when the opposition gets the ball (which player he'll tackle, and how).

[Mad_Melbourne 877]

we had patches of good hard strong tackling and pieces of week tackling.

i remember a few seasons ago we did some judo over the pre season and our tackling had never been better, maybe we could get on that again?

having said that more often than not we tackle well