THE LONELINESS OF A LONG DISTANCE KICKER

by J.V. McKay

Like many of my fellow Melbourne supporters, I left the Telstra Dome on Sunday night feeling absolutely gutted. Obviously, the sick feeling in my stomach was caused mainly by the result of the game although the food I ate in the previous two and a half hours didn't help (nor did its cost).

However, there was something else as well.

It took until this morning when I read in the Herald Sun that Demon coach Neale Daniher wants his team to change its game plan.

Pardon me?

You lose the first game of the season to last year's wooden spooner and all of a sudden you need to change your game plan?

I mean, you spend the whole summer training your team to be fit and ready for game one, you lose that and, all of your work is down the drain and you start over with a different style of play?

Why is it now that "we have to be a bit smarter" and "a bit less predictable in how we go forward"?

Surely every man and his dog would have known how Carlton was going to play the game on Sunday night?

After all, they beat Melbourne in the second pre-season game last year on their way to the 2005 Wizard Cup victory in exactly the same fashion. They played our forwards tight, flooded exceedingly, and went forward quickly, often to the old familiar and open Pagan's paddock. You didn't need to be a rocket scientist to work out how Carlton was going to try to win the game.

You just had to be a student of history.

Similarly, if you knew your history, you knew exactly how Melbourne was going to lose. Whenever, the Demons are the hunted rather than the hunter, they seem to fall into what is almost a "she'll be right" pattern. The thinking is that the opposition isn't much chop, we'll just play by rote, bomb the ball forward on a wing and a prayer and maybe someone like Robbo will drag a few marks down, kick some goals and we'll get home in the end.

It doesn't happen that way in modern football.

Truth is we weren't prepared, we weren't fast enough, fit enough or smart enough to gain an edge and in the end we lost dismally. What's worse is Carlton really wasn't all that good either.

Hopefully, the selection panel will bring in a few players of the calibre of Jared Rivers, Brock McLean etc, make a few structural changes, and ensure that Brad Miller is played at centre half forward where he can present himself to those bringing the ball from downfield.

Our problem is that you can't change your game plan overnight.

Take the case of Brent Moloney who has copped the brunt of criticism about his failure to hit targets especially when going long. Presumably, it's Beamer's performance on Sunday that have caused much of the Daniher angst about the team's style. The thing is that Moloney has been doing his thing for more than a year at the club and it's worked, particularly on the bigger grounds. He's good, he's hard and a real worker but we all know that he has become predictable in style. That is not his fault alone. Unless the club invests some time in improving him as an all round footballer, he's going to find himself at the footballing crossroads. Unfortunately, as can be seen by the team's performances over the past two or three years, much of the team is at the crossroads.

My selection for this week's game at the Dome therefore is unfortunately, Bulldogs by a fair margin. They are faster and fitter than Melbourne, are full of confidence and, what's more, they use the ball much better than the Demons.

Thank you very much.

WESTERN BULLDOGS v MELBOURNE

Saturday, 2:10pm AEST, Telstra Dome

WESTERN BULLDOGS

B: McMahon, Harris, Morris

HB: Gilbee, Grant, Hargrave

C: Eagleton, West, Griffen

HF: R Murphy, Hahn, Giansiracusa

F: Robbins, Morgan, Johnson

FOLL: Minson, Cross, Cooney

I/C: Boyd, Power, Skipper, Smith

EMG: Birss, Montgomery, Street

IN: -

OUT: -

NEW: -

MELBOURNE

B: Wheatley, Carroll, Whelan

HB: Bruce, Ferguson, Ward

C: Green, McDonald, Moloney

HF: Robertson, Miller, Davey

F: Pickett, Neitz, Yze

FOLL: White, Sylvia, Johnstone

I/C: McLean, C.Johnson, Bartram, Jamar

EMG: Brown, Motlop, Bate

IN: C Johnson, McLean, Wheatley

OUT: P Johnson, Brown, Motlop

NEW: -

Field umpires: Stevic, Jeffrey, Goldspink

[No Jared Rivers doesn't help our cause!]