THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH by Whispering Jack

[Demonland 64,798]

In the wake of last Sunday's six goal loss against St Kilda, there has been plenty of handwringing and blame thrown around concerning the perceived slow pace of Melbourne's development as a club under Paul Roos.

Former Demon star David Schwarz laid the boots into the club when he said he was frustrated by the lack of progress, albeit despite some steady improvement since Roos took over after a disastrous two-win season under Mark Neeld and Neil Craig in 2013. The Ox labelled the club's record at Etihad Stadium "a joke" and claimed the Saints were closer to ending their premiership drought than the Demons.

"That is crap. That is mental now. That is ridiculous," he said, speaking of the team's lame performance last Sunday.

Some added blame on poor team selection decisions and some were unhappy that the club sacrificed a home game and then had to come off an energy-sapping game in the heat and humidity of Darwin. Others still, said that Roos was simply out coached as the likes of Max Gawn, Nathan Jones and few others were kept under control when the Saints seized the game's momentum halfway through the second quarter.

There might be something in all of these "excuses" but the reality is that the club has been consistently steering a course in a very much youth oriented direction, one which often lends itself to inconsistency of performance from week to week but which has the capacity to result ultimately in a team that will go places - and in far quicker time than the Saints for that matter.

I say that because Schwarz in his frustration ignored the fact that St Kilda's win came on the back of the experience of Riewoldt, Montagna, Gilbert, Dempster and a couple of others who are unlikely to be around in two years’ time. On the other hand, Melbourne has a number of its own older heads on the list either playing at Casey or out altogether with injuries. The Demons by choice, did not to select the likes of Lynden Dunn, Colin Garland and Chris Dawes for the game and others of the older guard like Heritier Lumumba, Cam Pedersen and Dean Terlich all have limited futures at the club. 

So it's very much a case of the baby Demons, a young side that fell into a hole when its structure broke down halfway through the second quarter. It happened when Jesse Hogan left the ground to get some attention to his injured hip at around the same time that Max Gawn went off for a short rest. Suddenly, the Demons, already light on for tall players with the late withdrawal of Sam Frost, had an undersized look - especially on its forward line. In the blink of an eye, they were overrun.

What's that got to do with this week's game in Perth at another hoodoo ground - Domain Stadium where they have not beaten the Eagles since 2002?

It seems unlikely that the Demons will compromise on the direction of its selection policies so that a young team will again be exposed to an opponent with greater experience. This time, it's one with four consecutive wins which is particularly dangerous on its own ground where it has won eight of its nine games at Domain Stadium this season at a winning average of 64.6 points per game. That young Melbourne defence has allowed far too much through - an average of 93.3 points against throughout the season.  

The statistics simply don't lie - the young Demons will struggle at Domain but are investing in the future.

West Coast by 46 points.

THE GAME

West Coast v Melbourne at Domain Stadium, Saturday 24 July, 2016 at 4.40pm

HEAD TO HEAD

Overall West Coast 32 wins Melbourne 15 wins

At Patersons Stadium West Coast 14 wins Melbourne 5 wins

Past five meetings West Coast 5 wins Melbourne 0 wins

The Coaches Simpson 3 wins Roos 0 wins

MEDIA

TV - Fox Footy Channel Live at 4.30pm

RADIO - Triple M SEN ABC ABC Grandstand 

THE BETTING

West Coast to win - $1.10 Melbourne to win - $7.00

THE LAST TIME THEY MET

West Coast 16.18.114 defeated Melbourne 9.6.60 Round 14, 2016 at TIO Stadium, Darwin

Melbourne was coming off a confidence boosting win against the Cats and took some of that north to Darwin where they remained competitive in the heat-sapping conditions for three quarters before the Eagles' experience and strength took over allowing them to steam away to an easy win.

THE TEAMS

WEST COAST EAGLES 

B: Brad Sheppard, Eric Mackenzie, Thomas Barrass

HB: Sharrod Wellingham, Jeremy McGovern, Shannon Hurn

C: Chris Masten, Matt Priddis, Elliot Yeo

HF: Andrew Gaff, Jack Darling, Josh Hill

F: Jamie Cripps, Josh J. Kennedy, Mark LeCras

FOLL: Scott Lycett, Jack Redden, Luke Shuey

I/C: Sam Butler, Liam Duggan, Jonathan Giles, Jackson Nelson

EMG: Patrick McGinnity, Will Schofield, Dom Sheed

IN: Liam Duggan, Jonathan Giles, Eric Mackenzie, Jackson Nelson

OUT:  Mitchell Brown (omitted), Mark Hutchings (omitted), Patrick McGinnity (omitted), Will Schofield (soreness),

MELBOURNE 

B: Josh Wagner, Tom McDonald, Neville Jetta

HB: Jayden Hunt, Oscar McDonald, Matt Jones

C: Christian Petracca, Bernie Vince, Dom Tyson

HF: Jeff Garlett, Jack Watts, James Harmes

F: Chris Dawes, Jesse Hogan, Dean Kent

FOLL: Max Gawn, Nathan Jones, Jack Viney

I/C: Angus Brayshaw, Billy Stretch, Sam Frost, Alex Neal-Bullen

EMG: Ben Newton, Tomas Bugg, Ben Kennedy

IN: Chris Dawes, Sam Frost, Alex Neal-Bullen, Billy Stretch

Out: Jack Grimes (omitted), Kennedy (omitted), Aaron vandenBerg (hip), Mitch White (omitted)