HEARTLAND by Whispering Jack

[Demonland 73,140]

The Melbourne roller coaster moves to the Top End this week and I have a feeling this could reignite the debate that has been raging on and off among supporters for more than a decade about the financial necessity of selling home matches to venues outside of the home state.

We are all painfully aware of the connection between financial stability and on field success, of how this combination can work to perpetuate the strength of a football club and conversely, of how failure in this area can bring long term grief such as that which the Melbourne Football Club has endured since it last featured in finals calculations.

Lucrative sponsorships are hard to find and the funds coming in from the club's current partnership with the Northern Territory government no doubt help to balance the books but, as the club moves into the phase where it becomes competitive against the other clubs, the question needs to be asked. Should it be necessary for the club to sell off home ground advantage to play in far flung venues in front of small crowds far away from its supporter base?

The Demons are in a vastly different position to the Hawks who have managed to turn Launceston's Aurora Stadium into a fortress at which they are rarely beaten. This has never been the case in relation to Melbourne's endeavours not only in Darwin Alice Springs and also before that, in Brisbane and Canberra.

This week, the team comes up against the West Coast Eagles who admittedly have owned Melbourne, even at the MCG for much of living memory. Their rapid improvement in 2015 despite the loss of a couple of key defenders through injury, means they will relish the opportunity to take on a Victorian team on neutral soil at TIO Stadium in Darwin.

Meanwhile, Demon fans who have been basking in the glory of that win at the Cattery almost a fortnight ago, as if a single good performance is a reflection of total resurrection (some are even calculating the mathematical possibility of how far into the top eight the team can finish), will miss the opportunity of cheering on their heroes in person after a big win.

That happened last when Melbourne took on Port Adelaide in Alice Springs the week after their 39-point victory over the Bulldogs. It was seen as the perfect opportunity to win consecutive games for the first time in four years and the Dees were well on their way when they led by four goals halfway through the second quarter. Given Port's lapses against Carlton at the MCG and their poor recent form in Victoria, one wonders whether the result would have been the same had that game been played in Victoria rather than in the centre of the continent?

Still, the game against West Coast on Saturday night presents the club and its players with a fascinating challenge and pushes the team into the limelight with a game against one of the premiership contenders. If it can prove that the performance against Geelong was indeed not an aberration and produces the goods again, then it might in the near future, win some of those appealing prime time Friday night fixtures which might help bring in the revenue and procure additional sponsorships that would make it unnecessary for the club to sell its soul and move games away from its supporters and it's heartland.

THE GAME

Melbourne v West Coast v Melbourne at TIO Stadium, Darwin Saturday 4 July, 2015 at 7.40pm

HEAD TO HEAD

Overall Melbourne 15 wins West Coast 31 wins

At TIO Stadium Melbourne 0 wins West Coast 0 wins

Past five meetings Melbourne 0 wins West Coast 5 wins

The Coaches Roos 0 wins Simpson 2 wins

MEDIA

TV - Fox Sports Channel 3 at 7.30pm (live)

RADIO - SEN, ABC, ABC Grandstand

THE BETTING

Melbourne to win - $4.30 West Coast to win - $1.23

THE LAST TIME THEY MET

West Coast 18.11.119 defeated Melbourne 8.5.53 Round 22, 2014 at Patersons Stadium

The Demons were never in the hunt after the Eagles booted 6 goals to 1 in the opening term. The teams went through the motions for another three quarters. Apart from some resistance from Bernie Vince and Dom Tyson, it was typical of a team for which the season's death knell had long ago sounded.

THE TEAMS

MELBOURNE

B: Neville Jetta, Tom McDonald, Colin Garland

HB: Daniel Cross, Lynden Dunn, Jimmy Toumpas

C: Rohan Bail, Jack Viney, Jack Watts

HF: Jeff Garlett, Chris Dawes, Jeremy Howe

F: Angus Brayshaw, Jesse Hogan, Jake Spencer

FOLL: Max Gawn, Bernie Vince, Nathan Jones

I/C: Matt Jones, Alex Neal-Bullen, Billy Stretch, Dom Tyson

EMG: Jack Fitzpatrick, Jay Kennedy-Harris, Aidan Riley

IN: Colin Garland, Jesse Hogan

OUT: Heritier Lumumba (foot), Aidan Riley (omitted)

WEST COAST EAGLES

B: Shannon Hurn, Will Schofield, Brad Sheppard

HB: Sam Butler, Jeremy McGovern, Sharrod Wellingham

C: Elliot Yeo, Matt Priddis, Andrew Gaff

HF: Chris Masten, Jack Darling, Jamie Cripps

F: Mark Le Cras, Josh Kennedy, Josh Hill

FOLL: Nick Naitanui, Scott Selwood, Luke Shuey

I/C: Liam Duggan, Xavier Ellis, Dom Sheed, Callum Sinclair

EMG: Mark Hutchings, Fraser McInnes, Matt Rosa

IN: Sam Butler

OUT: Matt Rosa (omitted)

WISH I HAD A RIVER 3.7.15

"Oh, I wish I had a river I could skate away on.

I wish I had a river so long, I would teach my feet to fly."

~ River by Joni Mitchell

A couple of days ago I read that singer/songwriter Joni Mitchell was recovering from a brain aneurysm she suffered in March. I was relieved to read that Mitchell can now speak, is going through therapy to help regain the ability to walk again and is expected to make a full recovery.

That night, the words and the tune from "River" came to haunt me. The song is about loss, about pain and regret. In this song it's about the loss of a friend, not from bereavement but from the breakdown of a love affair. Regret for things that that might not have been said or done between people in relationships. Regret because things can never be the same again.

It's been a rough week for the world at large. People have died in many places as a result of violence on such a massive scale that the scandals we read of here about young footballers taking social drugs have been overshadowed by the troubles across the globe. News that a prominent player is suffering from a cancer skated across our television screens and numbed us, but only momentarily. We moved on.

Then this morning, came the terrible news about the death of Phil Walsh of the Adelaide Crows. There is nothing to say that can bring him back. There may be regrets but for one family and all those he touched, nothing will be the same again. The pain will linger forever.

Suddenly, it doesn't matter that there's a game in Darwin or anywhere else for that matter.

I wish I had a river I could skate away on.

[ucanchoose 1,816]

THE GAME

Melbourne v West Coast v Melbourne at Patersons Stadium Saturday 4 July, 2015 at 7.40pm

If they show up to Patersons Stadium to play us, I think we are a really good chance of winning this one

[Whispering_Jack 30,672]

If they show up to Patersons Stadium to play us, I think we are a really good chance of winning this one

All fixed

Actually, we really were hoping that the Eagles would turn up at the ground once known as Pattersons Stadium but our ruse didn't work. They're in Darwin.