TWO OUT OF THREE AIN'T? by George on the Outer

Well that was the JLT pre-season practice series and the final one for Melbourne was away against a side that lost in the first round of the 2016 finals to the ultimate premiers. Both clubs took the field in this game with probably their best available sides so we expected what should have been and was a close tussle.

The thing that was noticeable was that the game was treated as a true practice match with both coaches trying different options, but not giving too much away.  

Melbourne under Simon Goodwin went into the game with the two ruck option again but did it work?  We really don't know because although Jake Spencer finished with three goals, he also had a paltry seven possessions and his hit-outs were against WCE’s third and fourth choice ruckmen in Vardy and Petrie.  

Melbourne also played a match attempting to simulate a 22 man team set up as close as possible which left Jack Trengove stranded on the boundary line. Has he recovered from his tragic injury run - again,  we now simply don’t know yet but the team was left one man short in the Perth heat.

For almost three quarters, the game itself was almost goal for goal with some momentary lapses allowing the Eagles a margin of less than a couple goals until a run of goals in the final term allowed the Eagles to nudge out to a winning margin. Even then, with ten minutes to go, the Demons could have been within a kick, save for some easy misses in front of goal from Jesse Hogan and Sam Weideman.  The result could have been different, but we won’t know.

The unfortunate observation was the lack of finishing skill into the forward line. At one point, eight West Coast goals in succession had come came from Melbourne turnovers into the forward areas. The quick counter attack saw the defenders with simply no chance, and both LeCras and Kennedy took advantage as they were left either one on one or on their own in a replica of Pagans paddock.  No defender in the league could defend against that.  

We have to give Dom Tyson some leeway since it was his first hit-out for a long time, but some of his field kicking was way way below par.  Likewise, Jack Watts needed to show more than what he produced, particularly with his defensive efforts.  For someone with a selection cloud over himself, it was necessary to show the same level of intensity that Clayton Oliver, Tomas Bugg, Jayden Hunt, Nathan Jones and Max Gawn were displaying.  Does he have it in himself to get to the level to play round one - we still don’t know.

Oliver played an absolute blinder again. His vision in tight situations, and his ability to get the ball when it seems impossible, are rapidly approaching elite level. Thirty-one touches including 13 contested is well up there with the best, and yet the Coach had him off the field for long periods, probably because in his case - we do know about his capabilities yet.

Others needed to be evaluated and were given the chance. James Harmes, ANB, Weideman and Colin Garland are at the fringe area of selection, and while the latter is a work in progress in need of senior game time, the others only showed enough to confirm their fringe status.  Will we see much of them during the season - we don’t know as they aren’t knocking the door down, and we still have the likes of Jeff Garlett, Dean Kent, Nev Jetta and eventually VDB as choices before them. 

The match showed that the Demons still have a way to go. We should have known that the inconsistency of youth would show a drop-off of what we now expect from Christian Petracca and even Jack Viney. They still played well, but they just weren’t there at times.  

Finally, let's reflect that despite this series being a training run for both sides, the team has beaten last year's premier on its own home turf,  flogged a bottom for side that for some reason it usually struggles with and has taken it right up to another finalist. We don’t know if that means anything or nothing at all but for years we have been saying "we want to be competitive" and "we want to challenge for finals and better". In order to do this, we have to win comprehensively when expected and to be truly in the game against the better sides. That we have done, and if it translates into the season proper, then finals will beckon.  We still don’t know what we can take away, but two out of three ain’t bad. Isn't it?

P.S: Will the AFL please stop using W.A. based umpires in games in WA? They need to be exposed to how the rules are applied in the rest of the country and not just in Domain Stadium.
 
Melbourne 0.2.2.14 0.6.3.39 0.8.5.53 1.9.7.70

West Coast 0.3.5.23  0.7.5.47 0.12.8.80 0.14.11.95

Supergoals

Melbourne Jayden Hunt

West Coast Nil 

Goals 

Melbourne Spencer 3 Hogan 2 Brayshaw Jones Salem Viney 

West Coast Kennedy 5 Darling LeCras Vardy 2 Gaff Hill Priddis

Best 

Melbourne Oliver Oliver and Oliver Hunt Lewis Bugg Salem 

West Coast Mitchell Masten Gaff Vardy Kennedy Wellingham LeCras

Injuries

Melbourne Nil  

West Coast Nil

Reports

Melbourne Nil

West Coast Nil

Umpires Haussen Dalgleish Kamolins Adams

Official crowd 5,337 at Domain Stadium