DOCKER WHO?

by The Oracle

Melbourne's season continued to build in momentum on Saturday when it scored an emphatic 59-point victory over the much vaunted Fremantle Dockers who, before the game were being looked upon in AFL circles as the "real deal" after scoring wins in consecutive weeks over St. Kilda and West Coast.

There were a number of lessons that we learned from the Dockers' ordeal at the hands of the Demons, the first of which was that it's easier for them to win matches at Subiaco and at AFL House than it is at the MCG against a rampant Demon combination whose confidence and team unity is growing weekly. Secondly, that Freo is probably the only AFL whose away strip is more pleasing to the eye than its home gear and yet both versions are utterly execrable. Watching them run around in their almost all white guernseys was reminiscent of watching a team of umpires going about a training drill. It was pretty nauseating stuff.

But who cares about the Dockers anyway? These Johnny come latelies who have been on the AFL scene for literally a minute haven' endeared themselves to anybody recently with their whining and objecting to time honoured rules and their supporters over in Perth were disgraceful last week when they booed Chris Judd on his being awarded the Ross Glendenning Medal. Well, they got their comeuppance this week and I hope they enjoyed watching from afar as their team was demolished totally.

And now to the winners.

The 59 points represented Melbourne's biggest winning margin since it defeated Carlton by 105 points in Round 6, 2004. It was the club's first victory by more than 10 points since last year's Queens Birthday match against Collingwood and it was a win that returned the side to the top eight and positive territory in terms of win/loss ratio and percentage for the first time this year – something that seemed such a long way off when that goal umpire adjudged Aaron Davey’s long shot for goal at Carrara as having been touched on the line.

But it was more than the statistical facts of the victory that impressed all and sundry in the football world and made them sit up and take notice. It was the way they went about winning that was significant.

The Dockers were out of the blocks quickly with two early goals but the Demons fought back and the game became an arm wrestle for the balance of the first quarter. After that, Melbourne gained control and simply overpowered Fremantle to finally break its run of narrow victories with its first percentage booster for the season. Although statistically the team did not win the majority of clearances, it did control the important midfield battles beginning with a dominance in the ruck duels which was expected in view of the absence of Freo big men in Sandilands and Longmuir. The unexpected part was that it would be Mark Jamar who would dictate the ruck and not Jeff White whose workload was significantly reduced as a result of Jamar's good play. The Russian was also dangerous up forward with some strong marks and is finally progressing at a fast rate confident in the knowledge that he has established a place in the side.

The beneficiaries of the Demon ruck dominance were many and varied. Brock McLean is becoming a powerhouse midfielder with a great work ethic and he was supported by an array of talented midfielders from the attacking Cameron Bruce and Travis Johnstone to the brilliant taggers in James McDonald, Brad Green and Clint Bartram and the magical Aaron Davey, Byron Pickett and Adem Yze. We also saw some cameo performances from the likes of Matthew Bate and, late in the game, from Simon Godfrey. Together they form a well balanced unit that plays with toughness, talent and a sense of purpose and on Saturday, they moved the ball forward with a real sense of purpose giving their key forwards plenty of opportunities to score.

That forward line was so difficult to hold because it now has such variety. Ten different goalkickers including a contributions of two from David Neitz on return from injury and working the ground from centre half forward leaving newcomer Lynden Dunn and a resurgent Russell Robertson and a bevy of crumbers coming from downfield to do the damage. It all had the Freo defence pretty much confused - they simply had no answer as, at various times, different players would bob up to score goals.

The evidence of Melbourne's new game plan was there to see from the way the team covered the danger men who were responsible for Fremantle's victory in the shootout of Round 6 last year when the Dockers won a high scoring game by 14 points. Jeff Farmer booted seven goals in Matty Whelan's absence that day while Luke McPharlin and Matthew Pavlich were also damaging up forward. This time around Melbourne was able to significantly shut down their supply through James McDonald putting a stop to Freo danger man Josh Carr and newcomer Clint Bartram holding Peter Bell to just six kicks. Defenders Jared Rivers, Brad Miller and the improving Nathan Carroll held a tight rein on the bigger forwards for most of the day and they were helped by the visitors' need to put Pavlich into the engine room to help out their midfield. As a result, Pavlich got a fair bit of the ball but it was in places and at times that didn't hurt the Demons enough. Daniel Bell ran the ball strongly out of defence in a promising performance.

It was supposed to be Jeff Farmer's day with his 400th AFL goal which he duly scored with his first kick of the day but it was really his indigenous brothers in red and blue who provided the highlights. Whelan had the clear honours over the Wizard keeping him to just one further goal but only thanks to a well staged niggle and dive in front of goal that managed to sucker the umpies for a free kick. Aaron Davey demonstrated to the football world that he was ready to take the magician's mantle away from Farmer and Byron Pickett was simply destructive whenever he was near the ball. He made his teammates stand tall and his opponents cringe. He can be most damaging around some of today's new breed of athlete footballers who simply don't have the awareness to know when he's nearby. His perfectly legal hip and shoulder on the Dockers' Crowley was a perfect example of this. When opponents were aware of his presence, they seemed often seemed to look to self-preservation more than anything else. Pickett's influence is strengthening his team’s resolve as every week goes by – it's contagious!

It appeared after the game that the Demons had made it through without injury for the first time this year. This augurs well for the club with a series of battles looming against some of the leading clubs in the competition. Next Friday night's clash against the Hawks is yet another eight-point game and a win will place the club in a position where it can start to press its top four claims.

Bring it on!

Melbourne 3.3.21 9.8.62 12.11.83 17.15.117

Fremantle 2.3.15 3.7.25 7.8.50 8.10.58

Goals Davey Green Johnstone McLean Neitz Robertson Yze 2 Dunn Jamar Pickett

Best Yze Davey Johnstone McLean Pickett Green McDonald Robertson

Injuries Nil

Reports Nil

Umpires McLaren Quigley Woodcock

Crowd 23,368 at the MCG