ADVERSITY BLUES

ADVERSITY BLUES by Whispering Jack

"Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit." - Napoleon Hill.

The quote is from one of the leading lights of the American philosophy-of-success school that was an inspiration for generations of Americans who built their fortunes on the back of that nation's economic development in the early part of the last century.

Today, the message might sound a trifle tacky to some but it seems to fit perfectly to the situation in which the Melbourne Football Club finds itself as the season rolls into the AFL's eighth round of matches.

Less than a week ago, the club was reeling off the back of a poor performance in Perth against the West Coast Eagles but at least the playing list was looking reasonable healthy with only four on an injured list of which Tom Scully was the only major worry and even he was expected back on the field in three or four weeks.

The list of available players was still at its deepest in years and this enabled alterations to be made to the makeup of the team so as to effect some structural change by way of response to the previous week's disaster although, the moving about of personnel was just one of a number of measures applied to turn things around for the club after its review of the Eagles game.

Following a great deal of soul searching and much hard work on the track, the end result was about as dramatic as you can get - a 96 point win against the Crows representing a turnaround of 25 goals in the space of 10 days.

However, the thing that made the game so impressive to me was the relentless way the team went about things after a week of criticism and abuse. They simply did not let up until the end of the game as they did last year by taking the foot off the pedal late in the games against Essendon and Sydney.

Then came further adversity as fate conspired to aim some low body blows at the club.

It had actually begun early in the Adelaide game when Jack Grimes came off the ground with a season- ending foot injury.

Meanwhile, some ten kilometres away to the north at Preston, two of the club's reserve big men succumbed in the second quarter of their VFL game. Jake Spencer's season is over (ACL) and Jack Fitzpatrick will miss at least eight weeks after ankle surgery. We also learned during the week that another tall in Stef Martin copped a knee to the ribs in the same game and was in doubt to play this week. Spencer and Fitzpatrick are over 200cm tall and Martin is a centimetre or two short of that mark but the significance of their injuries was further highlighted when we discovered that All Australian ruckman Mark Jamar came out of the Crows game with a sore knee that was subsequently diagnosed as a strained posterior cruciate ligament strain curtailing his season by four weeks.

Then came the man-made blow in the form of the match review panel's sanction over Jack Trengove's "perfect tackle" on Patrick Dangerfield which was endorsed by the tribunal on Tuesday night and has resulted in a three week suspension for the young Demon utility. That decision was upheld again on Thursday evening and, as a result, the game as we know it will never be the same.

The solution for the team is to focus on the job ahead which is to overcome the adversity caused by the tribunal decision and the injuries that afflicted the club during and after the win against the Crows.

The game against the Kangaroos becomes a real test of this club's mettle and an extension of the challenge it faced before it took on Adelaide. This time, the task is to not only overcome adversity but to bury two hoodoos - the one against the Kangaroos that has lasted over eight contests since Melbourne last tasted victory over it in Round 20, 2006 and the one at Etihad Stadium that goes back almost as far as that. Ironically, the last victory at that ground against the Bulldogs in 2007 was totally unexpected and proved costly to the club in terms of the extra draft picks that would have come its way but for the result of that game.

The door that closes on the players going out of the team brings new opportunities for others. Careers can be made by those who rise to the challenge and the benefit to the club of fighting the adversity of this week will be inestimable if Saturday's campaign proves successful.

THE GAME

North Melbourne v Melbourne on Saturday 14 May 2011 at Etihad Stadium at 2.10 pm

HEAD TO HEAD

Overall North Melbourne 67 wins Melbourne 83 wins 1 draw

At Etihad Stadium North Melbourne 4 wins Melbourne 0 wins

Since 2000 North Melbourne 11 wins Melbourne 7 wins

The Coaches Scott 2 wins Bailey 0 wins

MEDIA

Channel 10 - on delay from 3.00pm

RADIO - 3AW TripleM

THE BETTING

North Melbourne to win $2.00 Melbourne to win $1.82

LAST TIME THEY MET

North Melbourne 17.11.113 defeated Melbourne 15.13.103 at the MCG in Round 22 2011

This was James McDonald's farewell game and it was a see saw battle for most of the afternoon/evening (it was a twilight game). Liam Jurrah starred with five goals and Lynden Dunn kicked an absolute ripper of a goal but the Demons gave away a two pint lead at the final break to lose narrowly by ten points.

THE TEAMS

NORTH MELBOURNE

Backs Jamie MacMillan Nathan Grima Scott Thompson

Half backs Daniel Pratt Michael Firrito Brady Rawlings

Centreline Ben Speight Shaun Atley Brent Harvey

Half forwards Scott McMahon Aaron Edwards LThomas

Forwards Sam Wright Drew Petrie Jack Ziebell

Followers Todd Goldstein Andrew Swallow Daniel Wells

Interchange Leigh Adams Ben Cunnington Lachlan Hansen Kieren Harper

Emergencies Cruise Garlett Cam Pedersen Cam Richardson

In Aaron Edwards Lachlan Hansen

Out Liam Anthony Cam Pedersen

MELBOURNE

Backs James Frawley Matthew Warnock Clint Bartram

Half backs Nathan Jones Colin Garland Luke Tapscott

Centreline Ricky Petterd Lynden Dunn Brad Green

Half forwards Colin Sylvia Liam Jurrah Addam Maric

Forwards Jordan Gysberts Jack Watts Michael Newton

Followers Stefan Martin Brent Moloney Aaron Davey

Interchange Rohan Bail Jamie Bennell Neville Jetta Austin Wonaeamirri

Emergencies Matthew Bate Max Gawn Joel Macdonald

In Jamie Bennell Neville Jetta Stefan Martin Michael Newton

Out Matthew Bate Jack Grimes (foot) Mark Jamar (knee) Jack Trengove (stabbed in the back by the MRP and AFL Tribunals)

TODAY WE ARE ALL JACK TRENGOVE

The forecast for tomorrow is for a few showers and a maximum temperature of 15 degrees. The sun will come up in the morning and everything will be as it was yesterday. Same thing the day after tomorrow and the next.

There's no time to concern ourselves with the injustices meted out by the gods to Jack Trengove (although one could argue that the real injustice has been done to the game itself) or to injured pair Mark Jamar and Jack Grimes; there's absolutely no reason to feel down or sorry for themselves.

The team is coming off a staggering 96 point win over the Crows in a game where several players starred, there's an important game ahead for the club and, as long as the team is determined to concentrate fully its task and continues in the same vein as last week, then it will achieve some justice for its missing teammates by winning against the struggling Kangaroos.

But wait ...

FRIDAY THE THIRTEENTH

It's a lucky thing this game isn't being played on Friday the Thirteenth because heaven knows what might have happened.

But there are no excuses: not for the loss of players through injury and suspension because the Roos have been hit hard in this area than the Demons this year.

And North Melbourne is not as bad as that 1-5 record might suggest. Games against Collingwood and Geelong (at Skilled) and two in Western Australia have ensured that wins were going to be difficult to accumulate early in the season. The Kangaroos were stiff to lose to Richmond where poor kicking for goal and an umpiring clanger surely robbed them of the points.

They've been sitting back quietly during the week, training hard and having one goal in mind - Saturday's game v Melbourne. The situation is a coach's dream for Brad Scott who ever so gently stoked the flames by suggesting that the Tribunal got it right over Jack Trengove. He wants Melbourne to continue to live the week in the very unreal dream world of tribunals, legal argument, anger and frustration that made us all Jack Trengove.

Thankfully, Dean Bailey has the extra day to prepare his team, to ensure its leaders are aware of the added responsibility that the situation has put on their shoulders and that the group is fully focussed on ensuring that a greater benefit is the result of a remarkable and tough week for the Melbourne Football Club.

Demons by 38 points.