PARDON THE INTERRUPTION by JVM

[Demonland 71,868]

The interruption to the season by means of the second bye for the year has somewhat quashed the momentum gained by Melbourne in its thrilling performance against Port Adelaide at the Adelaide Oval when it came within a minute or two of snatching a famous victory for the club.

Not only does the momentum seem to have dissipated but with so many events taking place on the world stage both on and off the sporting scene that the Demons' strong efforts in that match have been almost forgotten.

Deadly wars and plane crashes, the removal of the carbon tax, Wimbledon, the British Open, Tour de France and the riveting flow of gold, gold and more gold from the Commonwealth Games have all seen to that. So much so that I can recall so little of Melbourne's last game that I has to check the record books twice to confirm that it actually took place.

And to make matters worse, the Demons' opponent in this week's game - the Brisbane Lions - took all the limelight at the weekend with their brutal hatchet job against the Gold Coast Suns in Brisbane. For a side supposedly lamenting near the bottom of the table, Justin Leppitsch's mob took the honours of the round with Stefan Martin continuing his rich vein of form in the ruck and Tom Rockliff and Pierce Hanley breaking the record books by racking up in excess of forty disposals each in their midfield demolition of the hapless and Ablettless young Suns whose finals aspirations were virtually snuffed out in one fell swoop.

Meanwhile, Demon fans were at least left to celebrate one piece of big news - the extension of Paul Roos' contact by another year to the end of 2016. It's not often that fans of a team will celebrate the addition of an extra year to their coach's tenure when his team has a 25% win/loss ratio but perhaps all that was forgotten due to the long break in the football.

In any event, it has been well worthwhile when one considers that on top of its four wins to date, the team has been in front during the final quarter of five other games which suggests that Roos has lifted his team

significantly in a short space of time.

Now, if only they can learn to win on a regular basis ...

THE GAME

Melbourne v Brisbane at Etihad Stadium Sunday 3 August 2014 at 1.10pm

HEAD TO HEAD

Overall: Melbourne 21wins Brisbane 19 wins

At Etihad Stadium: Melbourne 0 wins Brisbane 1 win

Last Five Years: Melbourne 1 wins Brisbane 4 wins

The Coaches: Roos 0 wins Leppitsch 0 wins

MEDIA

TV Fox Footy Channel at 1:00pm AEST

Radio - Triple M 3AW

THE BETTING

Melbourne $1.65 to win Brisbane $2.25 to win

LAST TIME THEY MET

Brisbane 13.16.94 defeated Melbourne 11.9.75 at the TIO Stadium, Darwin in Round 10, 2013

On a damp and slippery night the Demons held their own for a long time but lacked the class to take up the fight for the full four quarters.

TEAMS

MELBOURNE

B: Neville Jetta, Tom McDonald, Colin Garland

HB: Lynden Dunn, James Frawley, Jeremy Howe

C: Dean Terlich, Bernie Vince, Jordie McKenzie

HF: Rohan Bail, Cameron Pedersen, Jack Viney

F: Luke Tapscott, Chris Dawes, Jack Watts

FOLL: Mark Jamar, Nathan Jones, Dom Tyson

I/C: Sam Blease, Jay Kennedy-Harris, Dean Kent, Aidan Riley

EMG: Daniel Cross, Max Gawn, Matt Jones

IN: Dean Terlich

OUT: Jack Grimes (hamstring)

BRISBANE LIONS

B: Darcy Gardiner, Matt Maguire, Justin Clarke

HB: Joel Patfull, Daniel McStay, Ryan Harwood

C: Ashley McGrath, James Aish, Sam Mayes

HF: Lewis Taylor, Michael Close, Josh Green

F: Dayne Zorko, Daniel Merrett, Jed Adcock

FOLL: Stefan Martin, Tom Rockliff, Pearce Hanley

I/C: Claye Beams, Rohan Bewick Jack Crisp, Ryan Lester

EMG: Jordan Lisle, Zac O'Brien, Nick Robertson

NO CHANGE

What can Melbourne do to turn around its current run of five successive losses?

What can Melbourne do to turn around its run of four consecutive defeats at the hands of the Brisbane Lions?

What can Melbourne do to turn around its seven year run of defeats at Etihad Stadium?

So far this year the Demons have put paid to one of its hoodoos being its long run of defeats in Adelaide but that was achieved at the Adelaide Oval and not AAMI Stadium where most of the damage had been done over the years. The team even got close to making it a double at its last start where it stretched Port Adelaide a fortnight ago.

It did so with a team not dissimilar to that which succumbed meekly to top four aspirants Fremantle and Geelong in games where it could do no better than score a measly five goals.

This week the team takes on the Brisbane Lions which returned to form in the Q game last week when they slaughtered the ailing Gold Coast Suns whose form has collapsed since Garry Ablett's shoulder injury. The Lions will be brimming with confidence after such a strong showing but Melbourne's performance away from home in Adelaide was no less impressive.

Despite the loss of co-captain Jack Grimes, Melbourne's defence looks strong and the midfield continues to show improvement as the stocks of Nathan Jones and Dom Tyson continue to rise.

The result might well depend on whether it's run with players are able to hold the surging Lion midfield headed by Rockliff, Hanley and Zorko.

I believe that they will do so and on the back of that a few Melbourne hoodoos will bite the dust.

Melbourne to win by 4 points.