MATCH PREVIEW AND TEAM SELECTION - Round 18

[Demonland 70,270]

THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH  by Whispering Jack

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)

 

 

[The Stigga 1,081]

There is litteraly a 0% chance of winning this match.

History says we play terribly in Perth.

No one could possibly think that we would come away with 4 points here.

 

 

[Chris 2,892]

What was it Roos said about a Veil again?

[WattsGawnOn 122]

Thanks

[Little Richard 6,215]

Some sort of reverse psychology against the universe?

[Bells 155]

I reckon we will win.

[JV7 2,348]

The old reverse jinx.. Seems legit

[Ricky P 757]

Gee people lose their [censored] over one result! Two weeks ago we almost beat Adelaide who are better than WC. Sure, I'm definitely not tipping us, but if u think we are 0% u haven't watched much sport.

[The heart beats true 17,806]

 

44 minutes ago, The Stigga said:

There is litteraly a 0% chance of winning this match.

Congrats on some next level negativity.

In honour of you unconscious 'Litter'al awesomeness...

 

[1 red eye 1 blue eye 771]

I've seen some deplorable performances by us here in Perth, I'll be there again and will be happy just to be competitive. Chewed fingers crossed.

[Bitter but optimistic 22,065]

There was "no way" we could have beaten Geelong at Geelong ............................

[Demon Jack 6,741]

Chances are that I'll probably end up going to the movies on Saturday and miss the game, only to find myself gloating afterwards that I sat through every minute of our thrilling 2 point win.

[John Crow Batty 8,779]

Though very cynical after a humiliating loss I always mellow and usually feel positive we can win again come next game day.  This past game against WC gives me hope.

Round 14, 1998 at Subiaco. WC were on a six  game winning streak. We had lost our previous game not surprisingly against the saints by 85 points. And previous game to that, 95 points against Geelong. We went there with an undermanned side and  the game was going to script by halftime as we were getting pumped.  Then suddenly we came out breathing fire and overran them in what was IMO our most stunning upset ever. I was so shocked that I thought the game must have been fixed.  See all the details on demonwiki and YouTube below with thanks to Supermercado.

http://demonwiki.org/Round+14+1998

 

 

Edited July 21, 2016 by america de cali

[CBDees 3,165]

1 minute ago, Bitter but optimistic said:

There was "no way" we could have beaten Geelong at Geelong ............................

The Geelong at Skilled Stadium hoodoo was bigger than the Perth hoodoo. We have as much chance of beating West Coast as we had losing to the Essendon reserves earlier this season! Anything is possible, including the highly unlikely!

[Ricky P 757]

14 minutes ago, america de cali said:

Though very cynical after a humiliating loss I always mellow and usually feel positive we can win again come next game day.  This past game against WC gives me hope.

Round 14, 1998 at Subiaco. WC were on a six  game winning streak. We had lost our previous game not surprisingly against the saints by 85 points. And previous game to that, 95 points against Geelong. We went there with an undermanned side and  the game was going to script by halftime as we were getting pumped.  Then suddenly we came out breathing fire and overran them in what was IMO our most stunning upset ever. I was so shocked that I thought the game must have been fixed.  See all the details below.

http://demonwiki.org/Round+14+1998

 

 

Then went on the rampage for the rest of the season and ended up making the prelim.

[old55 22,793]

Eagles $1.12 - put your house on it then.

[Coq au vin 755]

No I think our chances are better than zero. Probably about one chance in one billion. Our players look like they've put the cue in the rack for this season.

[iv'a worn smith 1,979]

2 minutes ago, Ricky P said:

Then went on the rampage for the rest of the season and ended up making the prelim.

wouldn't we just love to have a fit Stinga in our side now and Jeff White was at his best in that game 

[Ricky P 757]

1 minute ago, iv'a worn smith said:

wouldn't we just love to have a fit Stinga in our side now and Jeff White was at his best in that game 

I remember stinga's running goal in the last quarter!

[loges 6,767]

4 hours ago, Diamond said:

No I think our chances are better than zero. Probably about one chance in one billion. Our players look like they've put the cue in the rack for this season.

Did they look that way against Adelaide?

[SaberFang 7,151]

Might be a Paul Roos record for omissions this week. He's usually fairly restrained with changes but clearly he was fed up after the embarrassment last week.

Dawes though? Yuck, yuck, yuck.

[ArtificialWisdom 4,044]

IN

Chris Dawes, 

Billy Stretch, 

Sam Frost, 

Alex Neal-Bullen

OUT

Mitch White (Omitted), 

Jack Grimes (Omitted),

Ben Kennedy (Omitted), 

Aaron Vandenberg (Hip)

I agree with the outs but Dawes? gah

[What 18,810]

Almost the correct changes for the first time ever.  Dawes should be on the scrap heap.

7 out of the 8 changes are good.

[Whispering_Jack 29,203]

VDB - mystery injury of the week

[Bitter but optimistic 22,065]

2 minutes ago, Whispering_Jack said:

VDB - mystery injury of the week

"[censored] poor form" I think it's called Jack!