IMPRINT by Whispering Jack

Mark Neeld's initiation as coach of Melbourne was eerie to say the least. In a part of the world known for its theme parks and somewhat curiously dubbed "The Sunshine State", his team braved monsoonal rain conditions and broke even in its two matches played on the AFL's second newest football ground, Metricon Stadium.

The day broke with rain belting down laterally on the Gold Coast. I spent the morning shopping for a suitably fashionable poncho and picked up the bargain of my four day rain soaked visit to this place at a seedy looking shop on the highway. It cost me two bucks.

Then it was off to the Queensland Demons lunch brilliantly organised by Demondeb and hosted by Chris Connolly. There were Demon fans from everywhere - even as far as drought-striken WA who looked at the rain teeming outside with curiosity and even the arrival of the great Ronald Dale Barassi was not enough to stop the deluge as the Emerald Lakes Golf Club (where the function was being held) threatened to become one giant lake and the 18th green became a major water hazard. 

As game time neared, I grabbed my belongings, ditched my losing raffle ticket and wondered if I would ever again see the vehicle I left in the car park. The ominous sign at the beginning of the street warning of local flooding didn't make me feel any better.

The rain actually eased off a little as I entered the ground having first located my Demon supporting companions. I also spotted Jack Viney's father entering the ground with another former player, Kelly O'Donnell. So many coincidences. We stepped inside south east Queensland's football theme park as the rain started belting down again.

I think I've set the scene well for what was to come. The reconditioned ground at Carrara is now thankfully blessed with state of the art drainage systems but it was still impossible for the teams to put on a decent display of footy.

Melbourne, already without a handful of its best (including co-skipper Jack Trengove, Liam Jurrah, the exciting young Sam Blease, Jordie McKenzie and Cale Morton) left out some of its better and more experienced players for the second and started Mark Jamar and Brent Moloney in the green substitute vests for the Gold Coast Suns' game. The indications were clear that the result of the game was not particularly relevant.

The Demons were nevertheless quick off the blocks with the game's first two goals. The first was from a strong mark by Mitch Clark who provided a long awaited key position target in the forward line, the second a long goal from a busy Nathan Jones after a free kick. Some poor defensive errors let the Suns back in to level the scores at half time. 

The new Mark Neeld style was evident with more emphasis on defence, strong play at the stoppages and long kicks into attack. In some instances, this brought the team undone but the players kept their discipline. 

The Suns won the second half through opportunist goals and greater accuracy but Melbourne did unearth some talent apart from the obvious one in Clark. James Magner's ferocity at the football was outstanding at stoppages, Tom Couch not far behind him and Josh Tynan was also impressive fitting directly into Neeld's mould of a hard working no nonsense ballgetter. Jack Fitzpatrick toiled hard in conditions which were very trying for the young ruckman.

Matthew Bate got a lot of the football and worked hard to win the footy while Aaron Davey played probably his best football in two years to allay fears that his career was in steep decline. Late in the game he had an opportunity to snap the winning goal from a difficult angle but it just missed. Lynden Dunn missed what, for him, should have been a simple set shot but it too was wayward.

Melbourne 0.2.2 3.5.23

Gold Coast Suns 0.2.2 0.4.26

Goals:

Melbourne Bartram Clark Jones

Gold Coast Suns Hall 2 Fraser Rischitelli

Best: 

Melbourne Clark Jones Magner Bartram Bate Davey

Gold Coast Suns Ablett Rischitelli Hall Bock Prestia Weller

Injuries

Melbourne Nil

Gold Coast Suns Nil

Reports

Melbourne Nil

Gold Coast Suns Nil

Umpires Stevic McKenzie Gleeson 

The heavens opened up during the break just as I was in the (uncovered) queue for refreshments. This gave me a fairly good insight into what the players had to endure in the second game against the Lions when Neeld brought in his A team including Jack Grimes, Colin Sylvia, Brad Green, Jared Rivers and Rohan Bail. 

One would have expected a much better effort given that it was a much stronger side on paper but Melbourne never fails to disappoint and a scoreless quarter (half?) beckoned, punctuated by a James Frawley blooper that was uncharacteristic for him. Later his attempt to soccer the ball was almost the team's undoing but, in between, he was a solid defender. Bate and Magner continued to plug away and Dan Nicholson started coming into the game while Rohan Bail added to the mix with some coolness under pressure. James Sellar was also cool when he converted a free in front of goals but the coolest of them all was skipper Jack Grimes who twice beat his Brisbane opponent all ends up in the dying moments of the game.

In the end, it was a mixed day for the Demons who should have won the first game and deserved to lose the second. There were some good signs suggesting that bruise free football is now a thing of the past but the club still lacks a game breaker of Black Caviar quality like Gary Ablett Junior. In the absence of such a player, the rest of the team will need to work harder to develop their game in much the same way that Collingwood did some two or three years ago under Mick Malthouse. You can see Mark Neeld's faint imprint in that style in what he is bringing to the Melbourne. The way the players are having a decent crack at winning the hard ball suggests he is starting to get his message across.

Melbourne 0.0.0 2.1.13

Brisbane Lions 1.1.7 1.4.10

Goals:

Melbourne Sellar Sylvia

Brisbane Lions Banfield 

Best: 

Melbourne Bate Frawley Grimes Jones Moloney Howe 

Brisbane Lions Beams Lester McGrath Black Yeo Golby

Injuries

Melbourne Nil

Brisband Lions Nil

Reports

Melbourne Nil

Brisbane Lions Nil

Umpires Stevic McKenzie Gleeson

Official Crowd: 5150 at Metricon Stadium

Thanks to gsmith for the ticket into the ground. Much appreciated.

Thanks WJ.

I was in NZ all last weekend and had no idea what had happened until I read your report.