DAWN

DAWN by Whispering Jack

As the near full moon dipped into the horizon on a crisp Sunday morning in midwinter, those who were up to greet the dawn could not have imagined what would unfold later in the day. 

Certain events were highly predictable. Gillard and Abbot would put up a semblance of a debate and bore the living suitcases out of their television audience while a much greater number of viewers would see Adam annointed as this year's Masterchef. Those things were virtually a given. But who, in their right minds would have envisaged a near perfect performance from a  young football side that's going through its own dawn in a tough competition?

That was Melbourne taking on the Sydneysiders at the home of football - a home that's been kind to the Swans when they've met the Demons there of late, albeit not that very often.

The Demons shrugged off their customary tendency to start slowly and banged on eight goals two behinds in the opening quarter. They kept up some of the most relentless pressure, forward and back, that we've seen from them for many a long day and even improved their first term effort by two points in the third. The party continued until well into the last quarter when they led at one stage by 91 points before putting up the shutters and letting through a few junk time goals. 

There were many heroes on the day which is what you expect when you're winning in virtually every position on the ground. The early catalyst was Brad Green with three first quarter goals on his way to a total of five for the match. He was in exquisite form, marking and kicking goals, roaming wide at times and dazzling the beleaguered Sydney defence who seemed helpless in his wake. And if Green didn't get it then Lynden Dunn or one of the brothers would swoop in for a goal.

For the most part they were fed by the brilliance of  Colin Sylvia who took on the role of the dominant dynamo, the likes of which have been rarely seen in red and blue since the days when Ron Barassi Junior made ruck roving an art among football's gladiators half a century ago. He notched up 28 touches, nine marks and seven tackles in the absence of his injured skipper James McDonald and late withdrawal Brent Moloney who has taken on the strongman role of late. He was backed up by the grunt of Nathan Jones and the rapidly improving Jordie McKenzie who had a big day with a dozen tackles and the silky skilled talents of Tom Scully.   

Acting skipper Cameron Bruce shut out Ryan O'Keefe and was fantastic with his own run out of defence, ably backed up by Joel McDonald and Jared Rivers but the big performances were those of James Frawley who is writing his name into contention for an All Australian centre half back spot and the equally exciting Colin Garland, superb with his second and third efforts.

There was so much to like about this performance but I believe a few more special mentions are in order. 

This was Dean Bailey's day in the sun. It's hard to assess the performance of a coach in charge of a development team. There is so much frustration and inconsistency that the doubts inevitably raise themselves. It was Bailey's biggest win to date and a great one over a master tactician in Paul Roos. The Demons' coach has definitely  shown more adaptability of late and the dividends of his hard work are there for all to see. His team is starting to blossom under his tutelage and the indications are that there's more to come judging by the amount of emerging talent available to him both within and outside the team that took on Sydney.

Mark Jamar killed them in the ruck, Clint Bartram started as a run with but became an important player giving run in the rebound out of defence and finally, there was Cale Morton.

Morton's opponent, dual Brownlow Medallist Adam Goodes is an absolute freak and he proved it once again while the rest of his team imploded around him. He stood tall and finished with four goals including a couple late in the game when the Melbourne trumpeter was girding his lungs in readiness to accompany the fat lady for a chorus or two. Despite Goodes' goals and his 27 touches, Morton gave him a run for his money and got more of a valuable education in how to play like a champion in one game than he otherwise would in an entire season. Morton was not disgraced picking up 23 disposals and a goal himself but the dividends of the day to both player and club will come some time in the future when the dawn has well and truly broken  and turned into a brilliant new era for the Melbourne Football Club. 

That day is coming.

(apologies to those not mentioned - you were all worthy on the day)

Melbourne  8.2.50 12.4.76 20.8.128 22.10.142

Sydney 2.1.13 4.4.28 6.6.42 10.9.69

Goals  

Melbourne Green 5 Dunn 3 Jamar Jones Jurrah Morton 2, Bruce Davey Johnson Scully Watts Wonaeamirri

Sydney Goodes 4 White 3 McVeigh Pyke  Richards

Best 

Melbourne Sylvia, Green Frawley Bruce Jamar Scully Morton

Sydney  Goodes, Hannebery, Malceski

injuries

Melbourne Nil

Sydney Nil

Reports

Melbourne Nil

Sydney Nil

Changes

Melbourne Brent Moloney replaced in the selected side by Austin Wonaeamirri

Sydney Nil

Umpires Stevic Wenn Findlay

Crowd 29,374 at the MCG