MATCH REPORT - Round 14

[Demonland 74,392]

LID ... WHAT LID?  by George on the Outer

No longer can Demon fans keep a lid on it after a dramatic dying seconds of the game win against West Coast in W.A.  After four consecutive wins, the lid is has well and truly blown off as a result of one of the gutsiest performances seen by this club in decades.

No Watts, no Jones, no Hogan a ruckman back after 10 weeks away, on-field injuries to Jeff Garlett, Mitch Hannan, Christian Salem and Jack Viney with Jayden Hunt barely able to run, a hostile biased crowd and a six day break. It all mattered nothing as the Demons pulled a victory out of the fires of adversity.  

Let’s not sugar coat the win.

But for some seriously heroic efforts in the final few minutes of the game, Melbourne did not play convincingly.  The previous week against the Bulldogs was convincing, but even with the rightful excuse of multiple injured players, the output was well below standard for a lot of players.  If Tom McDonald had not screwed through an impossible kick while being tackled, we would be regretting another honourable loss.

Still those heroic efforts in the dying minutes were unparalleled. Cam Pedersen with a telling pack mark to bring them back into contention from 16 points down with only seven minutes to go.  Clayton Oliver with 30 seconds to extract a ball under impossible numbers so freeing Hibberd who kicked to the top of the square.  Jayden Hunt to contest and keep the ball alive, before Tom McDonald put the ball through.  

Then, as evidence of the change of culture at Melbourne, and the leadership being shown, there were no celebrations until the final siren sounded. McDonald pushed away congratulating players, telling them to get back and defend those final 20 odd seconds of play.  A sharp contrast to games in the past that have been lost through ill-discipline.

Throughout the game the team was always within striking distance, and the margin never got beyond three goals.  Each team was relentless and each forward success was met by an equal response within minutes. There were over ten lead changes indicating the evenness of the match.  However, from the Melbourne perspective the team was really kept in the game by the efforts of Jack Viney with 26 contested possessions including a jaw dropping ten in the first quarter.  Then after suffering a shoulder injury he returned to the field to lead the team when most needed.  

There should be no doubt that his promotion to co-captain has been the correct choice, and puts the club in good stead for the future.

Clayton Oliver with 28 touches in the middle was also telling.  It’s not that he gets the touches, it is that he shouldn’t be entitled to get them, under normal circumstances.  And he has the vision to then deliver to free players.  Cam Pedersen and Tommy Mac were the other four quarter contributors, both who stood up in that final stanza, but theyalso holding the fort in the absence of a forward target or filling in for ruck duties.  Tom’s 5 goal haul was impressive, especially when backmen are not known to transition to forward roles all that spectacularly.

The win has cemented the Demons in the top eight, possibly two games clear. This three game stretch was critical to the future of the club's 2017 season, because of the successive six day breaks with travel.  To have won two of those games already has probably exceeded realistic expectations but another challenge awaits with Sydney at the MCG off another six day break. It is no secret that their season depends upon continuing to win after such a disastrous start, but they showed again this week that they are vulnerable to the type of pressure game that Melbourne brings.

It’s just a case of whether the Demons will have the players and the legs able to do it again, as injuries and fatigue start to take their toll.  But this is a team now filled with belief that anything is possible.  It is a team that simply doesn’t give in, no matter what the odds.  Simon Goodwin and Paul Roos before him,  have been cooking something very special.  As their recipe is now bubbling over to the delight of the fans, it seems there can be no lid strong enough to hold back the expectations of years of hope.  

Melbourne 3.1.19 6.6.42 10.8.68 15.9.99

West Coast 2.5.17 5.7.37 11.10.76 14.12.96

Goals 

Melbourne T McDonald 5 Neal-Bullen 2 Bugg Hannan Harmes, Melksham Pedersen Petracca Stretch Viney
       
West Coast Petrie 4 McGovern 3 Hill Hutchings 2 Gaff  Karpany Sheed

Best 

Melbourne Viney T McDonald Tyson Lewis Gawn Pedersen Oliver

West Coast Petrie McGovern Mitchell Jetta Sheed Duggan Vardy

Changes

Melbourne Nil

West Coast Nil

Injuries

Melbourne Garlett (hamstring) Salem (hamstring) Viney (shoulder) 

West Coast Hurn (chest)

Reports

Melbourne Nil

West Coast Will Schofield for striking Clayton Oliver at half time

Umpires Mitchell, Rosebury, Stephens

Official crowd 36,622 at Domain Stadium

[leave it to deever 17,614]

Great Post.

As a side note Freo giving cats a good run and if continued we may sneak into 4th this round.

[leave it to deever 17,614]

25 minutes ago, Demonland said:

Umpires Mitchell, Rosebury, Stephens

 

Umpires: Myopia, Racketeer, Swindler.

[Demonland 74,392]

37 minutes ago, leave it to deever said:

Great Post.

As a side note Freo giving cats a good run and if continued we may sneak into 4th this round.

Geelong have taken the lead after being 27 points down. We'll have to spend another week in 5th. 

[Farmer 903]

28 minutes ago, Demonland said:

Geelong have taken the lead after being 27 points down. We'll have to spend another week in 5th. 

I think we may be 4th anyway,Geelong percentage will drop slightly

[Farmer 903]

1 minute ago, Farmer said:

I think we may be 4th anyway,Geelong percentage will drop slightly

And I think that the match report is inaccurate. WC were much better than Footscray. I think the Dees played v well for the greater part of the match.

I don't usually think much about umpires but from half way through the third quarter we did get a poor run.  Until that happened I thought we were dominating play. 

 

 

[ArtificialWisdom 4,045]

9 minutes ago, Farmer said:

And I think that the match report is inaccurate. WC were much better than Footscray. I think the Dees played v well for the greater part of the match.

I don't usually think much about umpires but from half way through the third quarter we did get a poor run.  Until that happened I thought we were dominating play. 

We were pretty average for most of the night, West Coast had plenty of chances to put us away. We were slaughtered in the air and really missed Watts, Hogan and Garlett's (playing but his hammy held him back to the point he was barely there) class up forward. But we made do with what we had and just stayed in it all night. Some games are gonna be like that but if we hang in there then we are always gonna be a chance to win. Outstanding effort makes it one of the best wins of the year but they will have to play much better to beat the Swans

[Goffer 256]

2 hours ago, leave it to deever said:

Umpires: Myopia, Racketeer, Swindler.

I was there last night, believe it or not the Eagles members thought they were being hard done by the umps. Felt compelled to pull my phone out at one stage and tell the whinging [censored] behind me that they were winning the free kick count by 9.

[leave it to deever 17,614]

1 hour ago, Goffer said:

I was there last night, believe it or not the Eagles members thought they were being hard done by the umps. Felt compelled to pull my phone out at one stage and tell the whinging [censored] behind me that they were winning the free kick count by 9.

No pleasing some people.

I dont mind umps making mistakes but when they get swayed by the crowd ( lets be honest it happens in Perth and Adelaide all the time) and influence a good game, its bloody annoying.

These guys get paid well and should be more professional. That so called trip in the last quarter was just whistle heavy for something that wasnt there. This is why eagles win so much at home. Look at the  free kick counts they get at home. Its very high.

Eat sh7t crows fans.

[Blistering 545]

Funny thing but at one stage (could have been half time), I looked up the stats on the AFL app and it was 11-11. This means that to finish at 27-16, the Eagles received 16-5 frees after half time.

There's no law that requires the free kick stats to be equal but I wonder why there is an inequity every time we play them in Perth 

[CanberraDemon 214]

Pulled out my app at 3/4 time and was surprised to see the umpires were not listed in the Eagles 'running hot' section. Let's be honest, they were the sole reason the Eagles got back into the game during that 3rd quarter!

The missed trip of Frost was disgraceful!

[Deefender 253]

Winning ugly sure beats losing.

[The Chazz 4,077]

2 hours ago, Blistering said:

Funny thing but at one stage (could have been half time), I looked up the stats on the AFL app and it was 11-11. This means that to finish at 27-16, the Eagles received 16-5 frees after half time.

There's no law that requires the free kick stats to be equal but I wonder why there is an inequity every time we play them in Perth 

To be fair though, Oliver gave away about 5 free kicks in the 3rd quarter that were all there.  He lost control a bit, but I do think it may have been a way of him getting back in to the game after the hard tag in the first half, as well as the "incident" at half time.

There was a run of about 20 minutes where the Eagles were running all over us, we were undisciplined, and the 50/50 ones weren't going our way.  Roughly from half way through the 3rd, to about 10 minutes in to the 4th.

[Lucifers Hero 40,715]

19 hours ago, Demonland said:

LID ... WHAT LID?  by George on the Outer

 

...

 

Simon Goodwin and Paul Roos before him, have been cooking something very special.  As their recipe is now bubbling over to the delight of the fans, it seems there can be no lid strong enough to hold back the expectations of years of hope.  

Great post!  I had the Lid ajar but now it is off.

On a related note - its great to see Roos supporting the Dees vs Sydney: 

"...Friday night will be like Roos watching his sons, Dylan and Tyler, playing against each other...When you go to any footy club you make emotional attachments,” Roos said. ... Now I’m very attached to Melbourne. The lack of success is part of it and I’m sympathetic to their plight. It’s exciting for Melbourne, they’ve been kicked for so long. I’m happy for Jack Watts and Nathan Jones and Max Gawn. I’m going for the Demons.”  http://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/paul-roos-says-more-afl-clubs-should-look-at-coaching-succession-plans/news-story/9cf348d7c2b963491e604ff5b0868b70

As you say Roos and Goodwin have cooked up something special.  If (when) we win the premiership Roos will have played a key role in two clubs breaking their longest premiership drought of more than half a decade! 

I like knowing he has a soft spot for us.

[binman 44,806]

18 hours ago, ArtificialWisdom said:

We were pretty average for most of the night, West Coast had plenty of chances to put us away. We were slaughtered in the air and really missed Watts, Hogan and Garlett's (playing but his hammy held him back to the point he was barely there) class up forward. But we made do with what we had and just stayed in it all night. Some games are gonna be like that but if we hang in there then we are always gonna be a chance to win. Outstanding effort makes it one of the best wins of the year but they will have to play much better to beat the Swans

Agree. We looked tired in the first quarter and as you say really missed Jones and Watts. They really should have put a gap on us but instead we came in level. That is where they lost the game i reckon. And again in the last a similar situation. They should have got out to a four goals lead but didn't make us pay. 

Great effort to stay in the hunt from our boys. We only really had one period where were on top. Also gutsy from Goody to leave TMac up forward. He must have been sorely tempted given their bigs were really hurting our backs. OMacs youth and relative lack of strength really was apparent. But he backed Frost and Omac in. A match winning decsion given TMacs performance. 

[Wilbur 447]

4 hours ago, CanberraDemon said:

Pulled out my app at 3/4 time and was surprised to see the umpires were not listed in the Eagles 'running hot' section. Let's be honest, they were the sole reason the Eagles got back into the game during that 3rd quarter!

The missed trip of Frost was disgraceful!

Yes this sent me into a  full  rage made