NAB CUP 3: ST. KILDA

[waynewussell 6,241]

DemonDave, excellent report. Thanks for taking the time

[Demonland 73,140]

PENDULUM by The Oracle

The nature of the NAB Cup dictates that, for a majority of clubs, it's more like a series of exhibition trial games and experimentation once the triple header season opener is out of the way.

And so was for Melbourne in 2013. The NAB Cup campaign was over on opening night. It managed to accumulate an irrelevant four points (which the football world rightly ignored because it was the sort of game usually reserved for yesterday's venue at Casey Fields) but if there was a silver lining it had to be that the Demons only put in two poor quarters for the journey and they were undermanned in both of them. The first was against a fresh Richmond in the opening quarter of week one, the other in the the second term yesterday.

Of course, that 10-12 minute patch against St. Kilda was a total disaster, reminiscent of all of the worst aspects of the past half decade. Melbourne fiddled with the ball, turned it over too easily and succumbed to pressure in the heat coughing up goal after goal. During that time the Demons were vulnerable in the midfield and gave away too many easy possessions (including an ungodly number of frees) that enabled the Saints to rebound with ease and dominate. In the batting of an eyelid the pendulum swung from a point where Melbourne doubled St. Kilda's score to exactly the reverse and the contest was over. I'm not sure what it means but during the rest of the game, the Dees were good but who knows these days, how much teams are really trying in exhibition matches of this sort?

What we do know is that, of the combatants, it was St Kilda that took what was close to its best line-up to Casey Fields with a strong and dominant midfield and its small forwards dominating when push came to shove (Milne and Milera kicking four goals during that purple patch) while Melbourne either rested or was forced to leave out players through injury who will at least be under strong consideration for selection in most post positions on the ground.

Three key position certainties were out of the action - Tom McDonald (defence) and Mitch Clark and Chris Dawes (forward). Given the contribution of the opposition small forwards to Melbourne's demise Nev Jetta and James Strauss would have been handy and Jordie McKenzie would have been able to annoy the living suitcases out of one of their dominant midfielders. And if you insert Jack Trengove, Sam Blease, Jack Viney and Rohan Bail into the midfield mix, you might just be able to blunt the sort of run on to which the team was subjected. Also rested this week was the kid from Clackline, WA Dean Kent who has impressed as a medium forward who knows how to kick a goal and who showed some promise in the earlier games.

But what about those who took part and what about the other 65-70 minutes of the game?

Melbourne started like a house on fire in the hot conditions with Mark Jamar owning the ruck and giving Nathan Jones and newcomers David Rodan first use of the ball. Two other recruits in Shannon Byrnes and Cameron Pedersen were giving the Saints plenty to think about and the Demons were out to a 22-point lead with the aid of the breeze by the halfway mark of the first term thanks to a 9 pointer from Lynden Dunn. They then lost the ascendency in the second half of the opening term and this lull in intensity probably set the scene for the Saints' revival in the second. Melbourne needs to learn from their relentless non stop push once they gained control. You rarely win if you cough up seven or eight unanswered goals to your opponent.

The Demons fought back in the third but couldn't peg back the Saints' lead sufficiently to fight their way back into contention despite making a fist of it in the last when the hot and steamy conditions had taken the sting out of the match. The pendulum was never going to swing far enough for the Demons.

Apart from Nathan Jones and Jamar (35 hit outs), Melbourne was well served by Lynden Dunn, Dan Nicholson and Colin Sylvia while Dean Terlich showed why he was plucked out of the SANFL to resurrect his career.

However, if the day is ever going to be remembered for anything other than the bunfight needed to get out of the car park at the end, it will be for that period during which the pendulum swung so dramatically against a hapless Melbourne. For them to improve this season, the Demons will need to eliminate the lapses although we shouldn't forget that the nature of the NAB Cup means that the makeup of teams will vary and they definitely came up against a team that was much closer to full strength on the day.

MELBOURNE1.2.2.23 1.3.4.31 2.5.6.54 2.7.6.66

ST. KILDA 0.1.2.8 2.6.8.62 2.8.8.74 2.10.13.91

Supergoals

Melbourne Dunn N Jones

St. Kilda Newnes N Dal Santo

Goals

Melbourne Sellar 2 Byrnes Hogan Rodan Tapscott Toumpas

St. Kilda Milera Milne 2 Dal Santo Dennis-Lane Gilbert Hayes Koschitzke Riewoldt

Best

Melbourne N Jones Rodan, Dunn Terlich Jamar Sylvia Nicholson

St. Kilda Dal Santo Newnes Montagna Milne Steven Geary Roberton

INJURIES

Melbourne Nil

St. Kilda Nil

Reports Nil

Umpires Stuart Wenn Ben Ryan Shane McInerney

Crowd 5,000 (est.) at Casey Fields

STATISTICS

Disposals - Melbourne 247 St. Kilda 250

Kicks - Melbourne 137 St. Kilda 164

Handballs - Melbourne 110 St. Kilda 86

Free Kicks - Melbourne 10 St. Kilda 23

Clearances - Melbourne 23 St. Kilda 27

Centre - Melbourne 11 St. Kilda 7

Stoppages - Melbourne 12 St. Kilda 20

Inside 50 - Melbourne 37 St. Kilda 31

Marks in 50 - Melbourne 5 St. Kilda 4

Contested Possessions Melbourne 87 St. Kilda 94

Tackles - Melbourne 21 St. Kilda 51

Hit-Outs - Melbourne 36 St. Kilda 13

Melbourne [K H M HO T SG.G.B DT]

Colin Garland 13 2 8 0 0 0.0.0 64

James Magner 9 8 4 0 4 0.0.0 63

David Rodan 5 7 5 0 3 0.1.0 62

Dean Terlich 6 9 5 0 0 0.0.0 53

Nathan Jones 9 7 3 0 1 1.0.0 52

Lynden Dunn 11 3 3 0 0 1.0.0 48

Mark Jamar 3 3 1 32 0 0.0.0 47

Joel MacDonald 9 7 3 0 0.0.0 47

Colin Sylvia 8 4 2 0 2 0.0.0 43

James Sellar 4 4 3 0 0 0.2.2 40

Jack Grimes 5 4 2 0 2 0.0.0 38

Jeremy Howe 4 4 3 0 1 0.0.1 35

Matt Jones 6 5 3 0 1 0.0.0 35

James Frawley 6 4 2 0 0 0.0.0 33

Tom Gillies 3 8 4 0 1 0.0.0 33

Jack Watts 5 4 2 0 1 0.0.0 33

Shannon Byrnes 5 2 4 0 1 0.1.0 32

Cameron Pedersen 3 7 2 4 0 0.0.1 32

Daniel Nicholson 5 8 1 0 0 0.0.0 31

Aaron Davey 6 0 2 0 0 0.0.1 26

Jimmy Toumpas 6 5 1 0 1 0.0.0 26

Luke Tapscott 3 3 0 0 1 0.1.0 25

Jesse Hogan 2 0 1 0 1 0.0.1 14

Michael Evans 2 2 1 0 0 0.0.0 10

NAB CUP APPEARANCES - 2013

[Week 1 v NM, Rich, Week 2 v PA, Week 3 v STK - square = played game]

1 Hogan, Jesse (new) ■■■■

2 Jones, Nathan ■■ - ■

4 Watts, Jack ■■ - ■

5 Toumpas, Jimmy (new) - ■ - ■

6 Dawes, Chris (new) ■ - - -

7 Viney, Jack (new) ■ ■ - -

8 Frawley, James ■■ - ■

9 Trengove, Jack - - - -

10 Byrnes, Shannon (new) ■ - - ■

11 Clark, Mitchell - - - -

12 Sylvia, Colin ■■■■

13 McKenzie, Jordie ■■- -

14 Dunn, Lynden ■■ - ■

15 Rodan, David (new) ■ - - ■

17 Blease, Sam ■ - - -

19 Strauss, James - - ■ -

20 Garland, Colin ■■ - ■

21 Pedersen, Cameron (new) ■■■■

22 Magner, James ® ■■■■

23 Tynan, Josh - - ■-

25 McDonald, Tom ■■- -

26 Nicholson, Daniel ■■■■

27 Gillies, Tom (new) ■ - ■■

28 Macdonald, Joel - ■■■

29 VACANT

30 Sellar, James - ■■■

31 Grimes, Jack ■■ - ■

32 Evans, Michael ■ - ■■

33 Barry, Dominic (new) -- ■ -

34 Kent, Dean (new) ■ - ■-

35 Tapscott, Luke - - ■■

36 Davey, Aaron - ■■■

37 Gawn, Max -- - -

38 Howe, Jeremy ■■ - ■

39 Jetta, Neville ■■■-

40 Jamar, Mark ■ - - ■

41 Davis, Troy -- ■-

42 Spencer, Jake - ■■ -

43 Taggert, Rory -- ■ -

44 Bail, Rohan -- - -

45 Jones, Matt (new) - ■■■

46 Terlich, Dean (new) - ■■■

47 Couch, Thomas ® - ■■-

48 Fitzpatrick, Jack - - ■ -

49 Stark, Nathan ® (new) -- ■ -

50 Clisby, Mitch ® (new) -- --

[Pates 9,660]

Pates - great pics but you didn't happen to get one of the team running out today, did you?

My grandson was one of the mascots.

He wore the number 31 which meant that he made history today being the first mascot to run out with the captain of an MFC team with both wearing that number for almost half a century. And we all know what the Demons did the last time that happened!

Sorry WJ I only got there as they were getting onto the ground. Perhaps someone from the club got the boys running out.

[Whispering_Jack 30,673]

Thanks Pates - hopefully the club might have a photo gallery on the official site after the weekend.

It was the thrill of his life as a Demon supporter (as you can imagine there haven't been too many thrills for 8 year fans of the club to savour).

[whatwhat say what 22,948]

You might also like to check afl photos and see if they had an official snapper there.

[Dr. Gonzo 24,303]

To quote Dermie " That boy has so much talent"

Martin killing it, no surprise.

Just before he sprayed a standard shot at goal. He has talent to find the ball, can't do too much after that though.

* Gee we would have been better for having Ollie WInes in the centre square today....

Or Viney??

[Demon Stalwart 255]

First off I know this thread is not about Watts and I appologise for going of topic, but I am sick of people sniping at Watts

When talking about Watts I always come back to the way he was used by the MFC he played only three matches in his first season, making his debut against Collingwood in the round-11 Queen's Birthday blockbuster. As we all know he was physically targeted by the Magpies on the day due to the publicity generated by the then MFC surrounding him on match day.

I have never seen such a huge expectation placed upon a young kid as what was done to Watts on that day. Afterwoods he would go on to play in only the next two matches, against Essendon and the Brisbane Lions, before being returned to the VFL.

There is no doubt Watts was used by the MFC and the pressure and expectations put on him were extreme.I always had a issue with his introduction and how the then coaches debuted Watts.

To me I have watched Watts slowly recover from this. Has he got the ability to be a First Class player? I dont know, to me the jury is still out, but I think we as supporters owe it to Watts to give him a chance and offer all our support we can to this young man, if he fails to make the grade the MFC only has itself to blame. I hope we never do that to a young player again and Like young Hogan today they are gradually weaned into AFL with no extreme expectations being placed upon them, other than to play football and help create a belief in our team.

No more sacrifices and being thrown in at the deep end to try and raise hopes of the Melbourne Faithful. The expectations placed upon Watts on the day were totally unrealistic.

We can never let that happen again.

[tonatopia 278]

Some observations

-Our bench rotations allowed stkilda players to get free, in which the saints kicked a couple of easy goals.

- gillies is half the player of rivers.

- davey took a courageous mark, and won a very tough contested possession. He will play very good footy for us this year.

- hogan will be a gun. He has the swagger.

- Joel Mac is not good enough.

- we needed jetta and mckenzie for some hard dogged scrapping.

- frawley looks a little lost

- Dunn will be an elite backman

- terlich looks like he belongs

- tapscott nailed a bloke, neeld must find a position for him. He is too good to waste or trade.

- seller has long arms and can crumb. I think he is a good back up player

- pederson had a good first half

-

[Young Dee 1,303]

Some observations

-Our bench rotations allowed stkilda players to get free, in which the saints kicked a couple of easy goals.

- gillies is half the player of rivers.

- davey took a courageous mark, and won a very tough contested possession. He will play very good footy for us this year.

- hogan will be a gun. He has the swagger.

- Joel Mac is not good enough.

- we needed jetta and mckenzie for some hard dogged scrapping.

- frawley looks a little lost

- Dunn will be an elite backman

- terlich looks like he belongs

- tapscott nailed a bloke, neeld must find a position for him. He is too good to waste or trade.

- seller has long arms and can crumb. I think he is a good back up player

- pederson had a good first half

-

It is always tough reading demonland! Some say Davey has played his last game and others say he will play very good footy this year. I can't wait till preseason is over.

[tonatopia 278]

- toumpas is a gun

- jamar is back to his best

- our midfield was completely outclassed today, jones played well but he knew it was a practice match. We desperately need trengove to become a-grade, viney and Kent to give good support and grimes to be a 30 possession centreman.

- Sylvia's possessions, are always powerful, constructive and driving. He will be an a-grade forward giving us much needed support thru the middle. He is a sprinter not endurance player, like davey. Neeld must realize this.

- watts was not used properley. I see him as our next Travis Johnstone architect type without the [censored] issues. Is all class and smarts but needs to be given more and get more of the ball. We should try and use him as a tall centreman like hird played for a few years.

- Evans had a shocker.

Overall stkilda looked slicker, sharper, tougher, better structured, Definitely are class above.

It was too hot and too windy with too many rotations to get a proper understanding of our potential. There were also too many rotations allowing easy goals. [censored] game really.

Edited March 10, 2013 by Whispering_Jack
Steady there

[DeeZee 7,445]

I reckon we are missing Blease and Clark more than any other players.

Just that midfield run from Blease and Clark......well he is just Clark, we are a 4 or 5 goal better side.

On Davey, what i have seen of him is generally very good, a big improvement on last two years.

Remember he had a very good indigenous game, and was great against Port last week.

[Paul Gardner 6]

I reckon we are missing Blease and Clark more than any other players.

Just that midfield run from Blease and Clark......well he is just Clark, we are a 4 or 5 goal better side.

On Davey, what i have seen of him is generally very good, a big improvement on last two years.

Remember he had a very good indigenous game, and was great against Port last week.

Nah, hard headed Leadership. Clarke leadership, yes.

Too many back of the bus boys who need to learn to step up & drive the thing.

[H_T 3,049]

INJURIES:

Melbourne: Nil

Two weeks in a row. Pinching myself.

[Pates 9,660]

Who was it that got crunched after taking the mark in the backline in the final quarter, and who did it? Also I wasn't happy that no one saw fit to fly the flag for their teammate, it was a cheap shot and they should've done something about it.

[stuie 7,374]

what's your problem today Stuie?

Just think you were rambling a bit WYL. Linking Martin and 186 and ramble ramble... I don't see how Martin "had" to go, in fact, with the new ruck rules and with how much Jamar struggles to make it out of the centre square these days, I thought he would have "had" to stay. Anyways, don't wanna hijack this thread back to former players, just explaining mate.

[Hardnut 327]

Ben, this bloke has a clear pro Adelaide, anti neeld agenda. He furiously denied it last year but it was plain. AoB tried to get him to argue facts and this joker just stopped posting. I don't think he is 'typical MFC" - he has a clear agenda that he won't admit to and is using ideas he doesn't understand to back it up.

I assume you are referring to me TimD. My anti Neeld views are well known - hardly a surprise.

What you have missed is that I am pro the Geelong brand of football - a number of clubs have picked up on this style with varying levels of success largely due to their list make-up. I believe this brand of football is most effective, honest to the traditions of the game and very attractive to watch - yesterday's Geelong v NM game was an example.

MFC should be aiming to use this brand of football, but like everyone else will probably need to vary it slightly - Geelong does still have the luxury of a very good (and young) list.

I believe a lot of MFC supporters would like to see us playing this style of football!

[Sir Why You Little 37,133]

Just think you were rambling a bit WYL. Linking Martin and 186 and ramble ramble... I don't see how Martin "had" to go, in fact, with the new ruck rules and with how much Jamar struggles to make it out of the centre square these days, I thought he would have "had" to stay. Anyways, don't wanna hijack this thread back to former players, just explaining mate.

both Moloney and Martin were finished at the MFC Stuie. What is it you don't get. Moloney walked through an open door.

Martin and Morton were given away.

All part of the old 186 culture.

Please understand this before one of us dies.

[stuie 7,374]

both Moloney and Martin were finished at the MFC Stuie. What is it you don't get. Moloney walked through an open door.

Martin and Morton were given away.

All part of the old 186 culture.

Please understand this before one of us dies.

ramble ramble Moloney ramble ramble 186 ramble ramble culture ramble....

[Sir Why You Little 37,133]

ramble ramble Moloney ramble ramble 186 ramble ramble culture ramble....

press the ignore button Stuie & continue to live inyour little delusional world. Edited March 10, 2013 by why you little

[stuie 7,374]

press the ignore button Stuie & continue to live inyour little delusional world.

And you can stay in your conspiracy bunker, trying to find the x-files about "186"...

[Sir Why You Little 37,133]

And you can stay in your conspiracy bunker, trying to find the x-files about "186"...

Stop following me around like a lap dog Stuie. Its very boring that all my posts are accompanied by your lame retorts.

Go away. I did not & do not respect our 2011 B&F winner as you kept telling me i should.

He was a very bad influence on our list. Believe it or not.

Now stop following my every word.

[Longsufferingnomore 1,647]

Some observations

-Our bench rotations allowed stkilda players to get free, in which the saints kicked a couple of easy goals.

- gillies is half the player of rivers.

- davey took a courageous mark, and won a very tough contested possession. He will play very good footy for us this year.

- hogan will be a gun. He has the swagger.

- Joel Mac is not good enough.

- we needed jetta and mckenzie for some hard dogged scrapping.

- frawley looks a little lost

- Dunn will be an elite backman

- terlich looks like he belongs

- tapscott nailed a bloke, neeld must find a position for him. He is too good to waste or trade.

- seller has long arms and can crumb. I think he is a good back up player

- pederson had a good first half

-

I thought Davey actually went in a lot harder than I have seen for a couple of years. There was no shirking confrontation with opposition players or going in for the ball. His kicking skills are still sublime - kick to hogan on interchange wing.

Tappy - loved him encouraging (whilst walking around interchange)his team mate to "get him" as he chased down the opposition.

Loved Rhodans encouraging words to the younger boys as they walked around the interchange. Great team man.

Who was it that got crunched after taking the mark in the backline in the final quarter, and who did it? Also I wasn't happy that no one saw fit to fly the flag for their teammate, it was a cheap shot and they should've done something about it.

I thought it was Nicholson. I also thought someone should have come in to help and I think Garland did at the end but a bit late. I could be wrong because by this stage I was in a state of confusion caused by the suffocating heat. Don't know how the players did it. Toumpas looked absolutely out of it.

Edited March 10, 2013 by longsuffering

[stuie 7,374]

Stop following me around like a lap dog Stuie. Its very boring that all my posts are accompanied by your lame retorts.

Go away. I did not & do not respect our 2011 B&F winner as you kept telling me i should.

He was a very bad influence on our list. Believe it or not.

Now stop following my every word.

What does Moloney have to do with this? I'm talking about YOUR obsession with 186.

[Demon_spurs 1,870]

It's been 24 hours since the game, why no video? Even the Power last week sent a camera and a commentator to Renmark, the club wonders why the Membership numbers are down, well it's little things like looking after the members you have so they resign next year and the year after. Damn poor show I reckon. For those who couldn't get to the game we could also have commented on whether Watts is spud or not!

[demoniac 1,336]

First off I know this thread is not about Watts and I appologise for going of topic, but I am sick of people sniping at Watts

When talking about Watts I always come back to the way he was used by the MFC he played only three matches in his first season, making his debut against Collingwood in the round-11 Queen's Birthday blockbuster. As we all know he was physically targeted by the Magpies on the day due to the publicity generated by the then MFC surrounding him on match day.

I have never seen such a huge expectation placed upon a young kid as what was done to Watts on that day. Afterwoods he would go on to play in only the next two matches, against Essendon and the Brisbane Lions, before being returned to the VFL.

There is no doubt Watts was used by the MFC and the pressure and expectations put on him were extreme.I always had a issue with his introduction and how the then coaches debuted Watts.

To me I have watched Watts slowly recover from this. Has he got the ability to be a First Class player? I dont know, to me the jury is still out, but I think we as supporters owe it to Watts to give him a chance and offer all our support we can to this young man, if he fails to make the grade the MFC only has itself to blame. I hope we never do that to a young player again and Like young Hogan today they are gradually weaned into AFL with no extreme expectations being placed upon them, other than to play football and help create a belief in our team.

No more sacrifices and being thrown in at the deep end to try and raise hopes of the Melbourne Faithful. The expectations placed upon Watts on the day were totally unrealistic.

We can never let that happen again.

Overheard Watts' Dad telling friends that Watts is playing at 91.5 kgs this year and the aim is still to get him to 95 -96kg. For mine Watts has the attributes to be a great player and the current coaching and fitness personnel are far more equiped to assist him in realising his potential than those who proceeded them. He reads the play well, can take a contested mark, is quick and is a beautiful kick.