OPPORTUNITY KNOCKED

[Demonland 70,216]

by the Oracle

I hate it when the pundits say that your team was "gallant in defeat" or that it "put up a valiant effort". It generally means that it might have had the opportunities to win, it was beaten by a better side and that it really wasn't good enough in the end and perhaps even should be pitied for its failure. That is certainly what can be said about Melbourne after its 22-point loss to the West Coast Eagles yesterday.

However, in my view, this time the defeat meant something more than that. This time we saw the blossoming, admittedly in its very early stages, of what is possibly the Demons' first real chance in several decades to achieve something great. It's easy to get carried away with your performance when everything's going right and you beat a Fremantle by 59 points on your home turf or a Hawthorn by 75 points when their tempers are flaring, their discipline is weak and you're on a roll. But when you face what is arguably the best team in the land on its patch with the best footballer in the competition absolutely on fire and when some of your own best are down and you can still match it with them for three and a half quarters…

You know that they're not all that far away from getting it right.

Melbourne came to Subiaco with a handy combination of young and old. Some of the old let their teammates down. Some of the young like Brock McLean, Chris Johnson and Clint Bartram really showed something. There was the strong tackling, the commitment and the passion of youth. There was also another game of revelation from Nathan Carroll and there was the sheer desperation of James McDonald.

It all started well for the Demons who jumped out of the blocks to lead by 3.3.21 to nil halfway through the first quarter. Russell Robertson was on fire up forward, Lynden Dunn chimed in with an opportunistic goal and it could so easily have been a bigger lead but for an inexplicably missed chest mark to Robbo in front of goal and a missed shot from Brent Moloney. Then things went awry for ten bizarre minutes when the Eagles mounted their own counterattack. A series of fluffed kick ins from Travis Johnstone and Adem Yze before the Eagles finally got a free in front for a goal and then another and, all of a sudden, it was back to almost level pegging at quarter time. The Demons had learned lesson number one about giving the opposition a break when they nearly had them nailed – and much of the damage was self-inflicted.

The Eagles' midfield took over for most of the second term aided by a couple of errant boundary thrown ins that suited Big Cox and resulted in goals but the Demons came back late and then again missed an opportunity when Cameron Bruce streamed into goal with seconds to go in the first half. He must have been well and truly stuffed because his kick from thirty-five metres was stopped by Glass as the siren rang. How different might things have been had the team gone into the main break with their noses in front instead of five points down?

The Eagles drew first blood, the Demons came back, the game ebbed and flowed. Their midfield was creaming ours but we dug deep and came from thirteen points down to be within a point at the final change.

The game was up for grabs and so it stayed with each team kicking a goal and it was almost 10 minuted into the last when the Eagles finally assumed control and held onto it until the end. Melbourne ran out of steam.

Some of its leaders were well beaten. Neitz' game was disappointing especially in view of the fact that this was a club games record-equalling day. Jeff White was beaten by Cox. Aaron Davey was quiet, Byron Pickett's impact was diminished, Adem Yze was well covered and Robbo couldn’t do it all by himself.

For all that, Melbourne did well to remain in the hunt for so long in hostile territory without its big guns firing. Kudos for that must go to Brock McLean and James McDonald and a special performance for the continually improving Clint Bartram. Brad Green and Travis Johnstone enjoyed the wide open expanses of Subiaco while in defence Nathan Carroll and Chris Johnson were great.

But in the end it was a case of missed opportunities and a learning curve. I hope the players don't feel good about being gallant or valiant and that rather, that they learn from the day so that when they come back to this ground later in the year, they will be ready to take control of their own destiny and that they won't miss any further opportunities.

Melbourne 3.4.22 5.6.36 10.8.68 11.9.75

West Coast 2.8.20 5.11.41 9.15.69 13.19.97

Goals Robertson 4 Bartram 2 Bruce Dunn Green Johnstone Pickett

Best McLean Johnson Johnstone Robertson Carroll McDonald

Injuries Nil

Reports Nil

Umpires Meredith Woodcock Goldspink

Crowd - 41,032 at Subiaco Oval