ANOTHER BAD MEMORY TO ERASE by George on The Outer

With Carlton maintaining its losing streak of 12 straight losses against Hawthorn, the pressure is now on Melbourne to remove the miserable record that it has against North Melbourne of a similar 11 straight losses.

The last time the Demons managed to overcome the Roos was way back in Round 20, 2006 when we defeated them in front of 29K at the MCG by 20.12 (132) to 12.10 (82). It was one of current skipper Nathan Jones' first games.

That was certainly an eternity ago, and the memories of a Melbourne side kicking 132 points in any game has long since faded.

The more recent memory is far, far more painful as North demolished the Demons less than twelve months ago - in Round 18, 2013.

That result was Melbourne's second largest losing margin in a year that the club and its supporters would surely want to forget completely.

Times are a little different nowadays.

THE GAME

Melbourne v North Melbourne on Sunday 22nd June 2014 at MCG at 4.40 pm

HEAD TO HEAD

Overall Melbourne 83 wins North Melbourne 75 wins 1 draw

At MCG Melbourne 54 wins North Melbourne 34 wins

Last five times Melbourne 0 wins North Melbourne 5 wins

The Coaches Roos 0 wins Scott 0 wins

MEDIA

TV Fox Footy Channel at 4:30pm (live)

RADIO - 3AW SEN ABC ABC Grandstand

THE BETTING

Melbourne to win $3.70 North Melbourne to win $1.28

LAST TIME THEY MET

North Melbourne 22.18.150 defeated Melbourne 4.4.28 at Etihad Stadium in Round 18, 2013

In modern day terms the Demons played like a lifeless pack of spuds (see also below)

THE TEAMS

MELBOURNE

B: Colin Garland, Lynden Dunn, Neville Jetta

HB: Jeremy Howe, Tom McDonald, Jack Grimes

C: Bernie Vince, Jack Viney, Daniel Cross

HF: Rohan Bail, James Frawley, Cameron Pedersen

F: Dean Kent, Chris Dawes, Jack Watts

FOLL: Mark Jamar, Nathan Jones, Dom Tyson

I/C: Matt Jones, Jordie McKenzie, Aidan Riley, Christian Salem

EMG: Sam Blease Dan Nicholson Dean Terlich

NO CHANGE

NORTH MELBOURNE

B: Luke McDonald, Scott D Thompson, Lachlan Hansen

HB: Shaun Atley, Michael Firrito, Aaron Mullett

C: Sam Gibson, Andrew Swallow, Levi Greenwood

HF: Nick Dal Santo, Robbie Tarrant, Brent Harvey

F: Aaron Black, Drew Petrie, Lindsay Thomas

FOLL: Todd Goldstein, Jack Ziebell, Ben Cunnington

I/C: Leigh Adams, Ryan Bastinac, Brad McKenzie, Robin Nahas

EMG: Liam Anthony, Ben Brown, Trent Dumont

IN: Brad McKenzie

OUT: Liam Anthony

It is interesting to contrast this with the side the Demons sent out onto the field that miserable day:

B: Dunn Pedersen Tapscott

HB: McDonald Frawley Clisby

C: Viney Trengove Grimes

HF: M Jones Watts Howe

F: Davey Dawes Fitzpatrick

FOLL : Gawn Sylvia N Jones

I/C: Blease Byrnes Toumpas

SUB: Kent

What a vastly different side that will present for the Red and Blue this week, less than 12 months later. Not only do we find Paul Roos coaching the side, and rebuilding confidence following all those shattering years, but the line-up across every line has been altered. In some cases, we have the same players but their form is a striking improvement over what they were producing last year (Dunn, Pedersen).

The painful outcome of last year looked like this:

MELBOURNE 1.0 3.2 4.4 4.4 (28)

NORTH MELBOURNE 3.5 6.9 14.12 22.18 (150)

GOALS

Melbourne: Tapscott Fitzpatrick Dawes Byrnes

North Melbourne: Bastinac 4 Black 4 Wells 2 Adams 2 Cunnington 2 Petrie 2 Mullett 2 Goldstein 2 Harvey Ziebell

BEST

Melbourne: N.Jones (some things never change) Sylvia McDonald Gawn Dunn Toumpas

North Melbourne: Goldstein Cunnington Harvey Hansen Thompson Bastinac Adams Ziebell

With a heart stopper of a result against the Bombers and a build-up of faith among the players and the supporters as a result, a very, very different outcome can be expected.

A 4.40pm start wont suit most supporters and North are notorious for low crowd numbers. However, the Demon army is rolling again. The last time they met a paltry 16K people turned up, but it was at Etihad stadium as well.

This time its at the G and finally we have a team that we can be proud of, so far greater numbers should be on the agenda.