DEE-DAY OR NO DEE-DAY by George on The Outer

[Demonland 64,807]

Seventy years since the Allies started the counter-attack against the might of Germany.

Fifty years since the Demons won a Premiership

Was the Queens Birthday of 2014 going to be the beginning of something special, or just another re-run of the ordinary performances that have marked the past years encounters?

With an earlygoal on the scoreboard courtesy of Nathan Jones within the first thorty seconds, the supporters could have been thinking that the something special was going to happen. The first salvo in a reversal of fortune just like what D-Day represented all those years ago?

Sadly, the fans were to see only another two goals for their side in the remaining 99 or so minutes of the game. And the final score represented the lowest score the Demons had kicked against the Pies since 1960! One would have thought the ground was a mud heap, but it was exactly the opposite! The small consolation was that the Magpies themselves could only manage eight for the day.

Twelve months ago, we would have been happy with that result. However, the expectations have been raised, and with 68,000 at the game to give the Demons the experience of big time football, there should have been more to show for the day.

Still the Allied forces barely made it across the sand on the first day in France, but within months they were knocking at the door of Berlin. To hold a top four side to a paltry three goals to half time and eight goals in total was a sign of the change that has occurred at the club.

But there is simply not enough true talent there to get the side across the line when needed. Like the game against Port Adelaide it was there to be won, but there was no-one to stand up and show the way.

Yes we had plenty of contributors with the usual bevy of Jones, Vince, Cross, Jamar, Dawes, Dunn and Pedersen showing the way it needed to be done, but there are simply too many being dragged along for the ride.

The likes of Watts, Bail, Salem, Gawn, Terlich, Howe and Frawley simply did not impact the game. Yes some of them had 20 touches, but did they really have any effect on the outcome?

Sometimes the game is there to be won from a series of one-on-one contests, and to be successful it requires each and every player to do his part when it counts. Not just a contribution, but to make it count.

It is also doubly hard for an up and coming team to overcome the sheer ineptitude of the umpiring department as witnessed today. Five free kicks to Melbourne in the whole game, two of which were out-on-the-full. Even 13 to Collingwood over the course of a game is insufficient. Is there any wonder that packs of players develop and is turning the game into a variation of Rugby Union?

Why Vince was denied a goal after Jetta elected to play on from a mark was simply incomprehensible. There is no time on after a mark, and the player is perfectly entitled to play on. But then we would have to teach the umpires some simply rules of the game, and at the moment they are being taught incorrectly.

When the fans are bombarded with written examples of the rules of the game prior to the match, it only highlights that something is seriously wrong.

Pity is that the umpires werent the ones subject to the Power-point display pre-game, and not the fans who can read what is written down in the Rule book.

Last year we would have been happy to see a competitive side this year. That we have! We are no longer blown away on the score-board, but until we learn and are capable of putting some score-board pressure on ourselves, then the results of the past two weeks will continue.

If this was our Dee-day, then it is only the start. The darkest hours are surely behind us, but we need more small wins to be able to continue the fight ever upward. In this torrid run that we have against a series of the top sides, we are staying on the battlefield and are not being overrun. We can only bide our time, and wait for that final break-out which surely is coming

Melbourne 1.3.9 2.4.16 3.6.24 3.10.28

Collingwood 1.2.8 3.7.25 5.10.40 8.13.61

Goals

Melbourne Howe N Jones Vince

Collingwood Beams Cloke 2 Elliott Goldsack Macaffer Pendelbury

Best

Melbourne Cross N Jones Vince Pedersen Dunn Dawes

Collingwood Young Macaffer Pendlebury Lumumba Seedsman Swan

Injuries

Melbourne Nil

Collingwood Nil

Changes

Melbourne Nil

Collingwood Jesse White (finger) replaced in selected side by Brodie Grundy

Reports

Melbourne Nil

Collingwood Nil

Umpires Fisher, Kamolins, Findlay

Crowd 66,124 at the MCG