THE DARK SIDE OF THE ROAD by Whispering Jack

The lot of a Melbourne supporter in the twenty-first century is difficult and harsh. We do it tough year by year as the fickle finger of fate finds new afflictions to endure.

Take the year to date and last week's opening round game against St. Kilda in particular. The Saints have lost three or four of their most talented midfielders and the best of what remains of that division in David Armitage is well held by Bulldog recruit Daniel Cross (an underrated performance if there ever was one). Other newcomers to the club's midfield, Bernie Vince and Dom Tyson come into the side and immediately have an impact, Nathan Jones is as prolific as ever and Jack Watts plays what many have describe as his best game ever, mainly on the wing. The last four mentioned players all pick up at least 27 touches and are joined on that number by Jack Grimes. The club wins most of the statistical counts with the exception of free kicks and the all important one on the scoreboard.

So what went wrong?

Well, it doesn't help when you kick 10 consecutive behinds.

And it doesn't help that you've been forced by concussion to bring on your substitute (changing on of your tallest players for the smallest), your key defender suffers a corkie cutting short his role of quelling the opposition's leader and most dangerous player opening up the possibility of a match winning three goal haul and best on ground performance.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the ground ... Melbourne's own forward line ... well, um, let's just say there is no other ground. Just a Southern Hemisphere Bermuda Triangle containing the bulk of Melbourne's forward line and tall ruck strength, the problem is that they're not really out there in person and, like the immortal Clancy in Banjo Patterson's epic poem, we don't know where they are.

No wonder the coach wants to do consign the scoreboard to the Bermuda Triangle where it can familiarise itself with those who would normally contribute to the score. After all, who needs a scoreboard when you can't even trouble the scorer?

So, having lost to a team that rivals them for the title of the worst in the AFL, the Demons face stiffer competition on Sunday at twilight.

I've heard it said that the fans of the West Coast Eagles are already queueing up for grand final tickets for this September in the wake of their big win over the media's love child, the Western Bulldogs whose game was putrid last week but somehow, they managed to attract little criticism for their first round fiasco.

You can let them get carried away as far as I'm concerned. Melbourne is coming, ever so slowly and imperceptibly but it should've done better (read "finished ahead on the scoreboard") despite the missing tall forwards and ruckmen and a solid defender in Col Garland. Unfortunately, there are likely to be more entries into the Triangle this week including the 195cm Jack Watts who is poised to be this week's mystery injury of the week.

Mind you, the Eagles have not been entirely comfortable in their recent history at the home of football. Apart from two wins against the Dees, they have won only once at the MCG since they won the 2006 premiership.

Still, with all that's happened in the past month to Paul Roos' charges, I can't see much light at the end of the Demon tunnel - especially as they're definitely walking in the dark side of the road at the moment.

THE GAME

Melbourne v at West Coast MCG Sunday 30 March, 2014 at 3.20 pm

HEAD TO HEAD

Overall Melbourne 15 wins West Coast 29 wins

At MCG Melbourne 7 wins West Coast 8 wins

Past five years Melbourne 2 wins West Coast 5 wins

The Coaches Roos 0 wins Simpson 0 wins

MEDIA

TV -

RADIO -

THE BETTING

Melbourne to win - $7.00 West Coast to win - $1.10

THE LAST TIME THEY MET West Coast 27.15.177 defeated Melbourne 13.5.83, Round 3, 2013 at the MCG

A Melbourne team that was demoralised after two thrashings at the hands of Port Adelaide and Essendon in consecutive weeks made a good fist of things in the first half (they trailed by a mere ten points at the main break) but conceded 11.3 in the third term and went down in a screaming heap.

THE TEAMS

MELBOURNE

B: Lynden Dunn, James Frawley, Alex Georgiou

HB: Jack Grimes, Tom McDonald, Dean Terlich

C: Jack Trengove, Dom Tyson, Daniel Cross

HF: Jack Watts, Cam Pedersen, Jimmy Toumpas

F: Jeremy Howe, Jack Fitzpatrick, Rohan Bail

FOLL: Jake Spencer, Nathan Jones, Bernie Vince

I/C: Shannon Byrnes, Matt Jones, Jay Kennedy-Harris, Viv Michie

EM: Sam Blease, Michael Evans, Dean Kent

No change

WEST COAST

B: Jamie Bennell Darren Glass Mitch Brown

HB: Shannon Hurn Eric Mackenzie Xavier Ellis

C: Matt Rosa Matt Priddis Andrew Gaff

HF: Jamie Cripps Josh Kennedy Chris Masten

F: Mark LeCras Jack Darling Nic Naitanui

FOLL: Dean Cox Scott Selwood Luke Shuey

IC: Brad Sheppard, Callum Sinclair, Sharrod Wellingham, Elliot Yeo

EM: Brant Colledge, Josh Hill, Scott Lycett

In: Brad Sheppard

Out: Dom Sheed

SECOND THOUGHTS

The old adage about winners being grinners was no better demonstrated than by St. Kilda in its win against Melbourne.

The Saints and their supporters have spent the greater part of the week strutting around as if they dominated their opposition but truth be told, they should think a second time. Their team wasn't particularly all that flash; they lost the disposal count by 60 and trailed badly in the inside 50 count. The areas where they were big winners was in the free kick count and on a final scoreboard that reflected their greater efficiency in front of goal.

This suggests that it was a game the Demons had for the keeping but we know they failed to capitalise on their more abundant opportunities in front of goal and were hampered by injuries incurred during the game which left them somewhat hobbled. The early subbing off of a concussed Jack Fitzpatrick was compounded by Tom McDonald's corkie which deteriorated as the game wore on leaving his opponent with the luxury of a free run to best on ground honours.

This week, Melbourne takes an unchanged line up back to its home turf against a far more accomplished opponent - the Eagles outfit that demolished the Bulldogs last Sunday.

The combination of Cox and Naitanui with the added tall man power of Callum Sinclair looks far too strong for Jake Spencer who only has Jack Fitzpatrick (if he plays) to back him up although Cam Petersen could fill in if things get desperate (actually, let's not kid ourselves, things already are desperate). After that the Dees must contend with a team which, on paper, demonstrates a superiority in virtually every part of the ground. This applies particularly in respect of the current main weakness - the decimated forward line against a class defence headed by Glass and McKenzie who are set for a field day. That in form Eagles half back line looks particularly ominous.

Ironically, Melbourne is looking best served by its midfield which has undergone a massive boost through the off season recruiting campaign which brought Bernie Vince, Daniel Cross, Dom Tyson and Viv Michie into the ranks. The inclusion of Jack Watts into this part of the ground is, on early indications, proving a winner and then there is the continuing rise of the new skipper to the ranks of the elite.

We shouldn't underestimate the recent elevation of Nathan Jones' game now that he has some better and more experienced players surrounding him in the midfield. His quality 38 possession game shows what the club had in this player over the past two seasons and his ascension into a share of the main leadership role is the icing on top. Jones could never have been expected to win a game off his own boot but there's now a chance with the current set up. It's a pity in the short term that there's so little back up in the ruck and the key forward positions.

The indicators still point to an Eagle victory but if you go by history there is room for second thoughts. I remember an injury depleted Melbourne side travelling to Perth in the late 1990s that was given no hope of winning and turning it on against the odds to produce one of the club's most important victories of that era.

More recently, in the equivalent round four years ago, the Demons came off a smashing in the season opener from Hawthorn to come within inches and a near mark in the MCG goalsquare in the dying seconds, of beating a Magpie team that would go on to win the flag that year.

Many of us believe that Melbourne sunk itself last week because it failed to capitalise on its early ascendency over the Saints through poor kicking. It's a more difficult task but with the right attitude, the team can continue to demonstrate improvement and that's what I'm expecting.

A win might be beyond them but if you believe the predictions of a massive loss of 2013 proportions is on the cards, I suggest you think twice.

West Coast by 13 points.