NIGHTMARE by The Oracle

[Demonland 72,217]

Two teams that have promised a great deal early on in this season but badly disappointed their fans in their last starts clash this week at Metricon Stadium in a game that is a true example of the tipster's nightmare.

The Demons were riding high after their Anzac Eve triumph at the MCG over the Tigers but six days later crashed against the Saints at Etihad. There was no comparison between performances as the Jekyll and Hyde-like Demons played like pedestrians against a more mobile opposition with nobody prepared to take on the aging Nick Riewoldt while St Kilda's inclusions Tim Membrey and Blake Acres played the games of their lives to help their team overcome a deficit of 17 points to what was at one stage more than a 10 goal turnaround.

The Suns opened the season promisingly enough with three good wins but then one needs to consider the quality of their opposition in those games - Essendon, Fremantle and Carlton. After that, they failed to Brisbane and fell away completely when confronted by stronger teams in North Melbourne and Geelong against who they were insipid last week at Simonds Stadium.

And so the two of them come together this week at Metricon where they have strangely enough, rarely been pitted against one another. I suspect that home ground advantage will bring the Suns out of their current stupor and they will operate more effectively than the outfit that stood like witches hats as the Cats played and danced brilliantly around them. But where Melbourne is concerned, I simply have no idea what team will turn up.

One can't even hang one's hat on the fact that the Suns' 20 goal loss puts them in a position whereby they can hardly be expected to recover in the space of one week to win their next game. We saw how that worked last year when Essendon, coming of a 100 point plus loss against St Kilda upset none other than Melbourne on the MCG.

There are light years of difference between the Melbourne that capitulated against Essendon in that game and again in Round 2 this year and allowed St Kilda to drive Demon fans to exasperation last week. Yes, it's true that they are a young team and the one it fielded against the Saints was close to if not the most inexperienced in the competition but that applied equally in the three weeks prior and it didn't seem to matter then.

Whilst it's true that inexperienced sides are the least consistent there were other factors to consider as a result of last week's demise. There was little consideration given to the effect of the six day break and the team certainly lacked the freshness of its opponents. The handling of the introduction of Christian Petracca into the side as the lone inclusion leaving too much focus on the youngster has also been criticized in similar terms to the way the ill fated debut of Jack Watts was handled in 2010. Then there was the coaching and the failure to cover the dominance of the Saints in the second term which led to a torrent of goals against in the third and the team's ultimate capitulation. On that subject, I trust that more care will be given to doing  something about Suns' veteran Gary Ablett's capacity to dominate a game of football than was done last week with Riewoldt.

Melbourne's prospects of winning this week will depend greatly on what it's brains trust does to produce a performance more akin to the ones we see after the Essendon debacle. Otherwise, the fans will face more nightmares.

THE GAME

Gold Coast Suns v Melbourne at Metricon Stadium Saturday 7 May, 2016 at 5.10 pm

HEAD TO HEAD

Overall - Gold Coast Suns 3 wins Melbourne 4 wins

At Metricon - Stadium Melbourne 0 wins Gold Coast Suns 1 win

Past five matches - Gold Coast Suns 3 wins Melbourne 2  wins

The Coaches - Eade 0 wins Roos 1 wins

MEDIA

TV - Fox Sports 3 - 5.00pm (live)

RADIO – SEN ABC ABC Grandstand

THE BETTING

Gold Coast Suns to win - $1.92 Melbourne to win - $1.92

THE LAST TIME THEY MET

Melbourne 17.13.115 defeated Gold Coast Suns 13.11.95 at the MCG, Round 1, 2015

Jack Viney took on Gary Ablett and did enough to limit his effectiveness to allow for the Demons to come home with the goods and with their first opening round match in ages.

THE TEAMS

GOLD COAST

B: Adam Saad Henry Schade Sean Lemmens
HB: Jarrod Harbrow Sam Day Nick Malceski
C: Kade Kolodjashnij Gary Ablett Matt Rosa
HF: Jarrod Garlett Tom Lynch Jack Martin
F: Alex Sexton Peter Wright Clay Cameron
FOLL: Daniel Currie Jesse Lonergan Dion Prestia
I/C Jarrad Grant Aaron Hall Touk Miller Darcy Macpherson
EMG: Brandon Matera Matt Shaw Mackenzie Willis

IN: Jarrod Garlett Darcy Macpherson Adam Saad

OUT: Ryan Davis (omitted) Trent McKenzie (ankle) Mackenzie Willis (omitted)

NEW: Jarrod Garlett

MELBOURNE

B: Neville Jetta, Tom McDonald, Tomas Bugg
HB: Josh Wagner, Colin Garland, Jayden Hunt
C: Bernie Vince, Dom Tyson, James Harmes
HF: Jack Watts, Cameron Pedersen, Jeff Garlett
F: Dean Kent, Jesse Hogan, Christian Petracca
FOLL: Max Gawn, Nathan Jones, Jack Viney
I/C: Clayton Oliver, Billy Stretch, Viv Michie, Ben Kennedy
EMG: Oscar McDonald, Alex Neal-Bullen, Jack Grimes

IN: Colin Garland, Viv Michie, Clayton Oliver, Billy Stretch

Out: Lynden Dunn, Sam Frost, Heritier Lumumba (concussion), Christian Salem (concussion)