TREAGER TRAGEDY by George on the Outer

Another venture into the Red Centre for the Demons, and another defeat.  Just when the opportunity was there to put some space between themselves and their nearest opponent on the ladder it was once again tragically squandered.

The equation was simple ... beat Port Adelaide and you set yourselves up for a promising second half of the season ... lose the game and it all looks rather tragic.

Apart from the financial bonus of playing in the Northern Territory, it has been a disappointing destination for the Demons for some years now. We simply are unable to put in a creditable performance at either the Alice Springs or Darwin venues.

Melbourne was never in the game, despite a slender lead at quarter time, as it was never able to contain the likes of Boak, Wingard, R Gray, Hartlett and Westhoff.  Then their new arrival Charlie Dixon turned on a blinder and produced 5 goals to continuously beat down the chances that the Demons struggled to achieve. 

Worst of all was the simply porous defensive structures that we have employed since the St. Kilda game. There were at least 7 goals from this match that came from a free Port player either running into an open goal or marking uncontested 20 or 30 metres out. And each and every time it was a player running in behind the defenders without a Melbourne player in sight.  

The structure isn’t working, and we cannot keep hoping to win shootouts against the better sides.  

Our mids refuse to get back to assist, and the wingers don’t help out either. Thank goodness for Jayden Hunt and Josh Wagner who continue to show promise and a hardness that is required to play at AFL level. Oscar Mac has now had his chance and is simply out of his depth at the moment.  

There were plenty of other non-shows again this week. Ben Kennedy could only produce 7 disposals for the match and Jeff Garlett didn’t produce anything other than a single goal, until the coach threw him into the middle to force him do something. Even then he only touched the ball nine times for the whole game.  

And it was in the middle where once again we were soundly beaten. Nathan Jones produced yet another sterling performance, but Jack Viney has dropped off from his best and Dom Tyson was also not as effective as he was before last week's illness.

Jesse Hogan and Jack Watts did the best they could, given the lack of opportunity and some simply poor delivery into the forward line. Whhen hitting a target was critical, we simply couldn’t do it.  

And that was the nature of the game. It was a tragedy at Traeger Park.

Tragically, Port was the better side and tragically, after traveling to the Red Centre, Melbourne comes up against Hawthorn next week. Well may we hope that the outcome is not as tragic against them as it has been in recent years. 

Melbourne 2.7.19 4.9.33 9.12.66 10.16.76

Port Adelaide 2.4.16 8.6.54 12.11.83 18.13.121

Goals

Melbourne Hogan 3 Gawn Watts 2 Garlett Kent Neal-Bullen 

Port Adelaide Dixon 5 Impey Wingard Young 2 Boak Byrne-Jones R Gray Hartlett Howard Krakouer Neade

Best

Melbourne Gawn Jones Watts Hogan Wagner T McDonald 

Port Adelaide Wingard R Gray Ebert Dixon Westhoff Boak

Changes

Melbourne Nil

Port Adelaide Broadbent (gastro) replaced by S Gray

Injuries  

Melbourne Garland (cheekbone)

Port Adelaide Hombsch (hamstring) P Stewart (concussion)

Reports 

Melbourne Nil

Port Adelaide Nil

Umpires Hay Findlay Mollison

Official crowd 5,146 at Traeger Park