SEEING RED ... AND YELLOW

[Demonland 70,328]

by Whispering Jack

I felt a lot of empathy for the good folk of Essendon on Sunday. They must have been seeing red as they spent the afternoon watching as their team dominated the first quarter and a bit of the game against Melbourne, hold their own in the second term and the early part of the second half and then they folded like a bad poker hand - very quickly and without a whimper. The Bombers should have had a good lead at the main break. They did not thanks to some poor fionishing in front of goal and some dubious umpiring decisions - instead they trailed by a point. After that, it was all Melbourne and in the end, the Demons probably should have won by a lot more than the final six-goal margin.

Why the empathy?

Because the game reminded me so much of the way the good sides would often treat Melbourne when it was a bad side. The Dees of twenty years and more ago would, on the odd occasion (i.e. once every 3 or 4 weeks) play their hearts out, promise so much and then die a slow and embarrassing death. The fact was they were simply not good enough to play out four quarters under pressure. That is where the Bombers are now. At the end of a long day for them, their losing streak was stretched to eleven and they were stone motherless last on the AFL ladder, their season virtually over. The pendulum has swung against them and they, along with another former power in Carlton, are in for some hard times in the coming years. Well, at least a top draft pick or two (or even possibly three).

On the other side of the ledger, we have Melbourne looking ominously like a modern day version of the Essendon teams that Kevin Sheedy developed in the early eighties - strong, skillful, resilient and able to rise to the occasion when required, as they were in the second half. That was the story of an otherwise humdrum affair that never rose to any great heights and would be best forgotten by all participants. The fact that the Demons were on such a downer and still won by six goals is probably indicative of their superiority over the bottom side and coach Neale Daniher was correct when he said after the game that his team would get beaten if it started in the same manner when it tackles Port Adelaide on Saturday week.

The game also highlighted the way in which Melbourne's style has changed in the past couple of seasons. The Demons are now a better team on the big grounds where the majority of finals are played and particularly at the MCG where they are undefeated this season. They have struggled recently at the Telstra Dome and have not played well there since the win over Richmond a little more than 12 months ago. The smaller ground, the substandard surface with its uneven bounce and the general lack of atmosphere simply don't suit the Demons as much as the MCG does these days.

Still, there were some fine performances, none of them better than that of James McDonald who is the best kept secret of the Demon midfield. He may not be on the same level as Scott West of the Bulldogs but he's closer than most of the pundits would allow. Yes, he's that good!

Close behind him were Travis Johnstone who had a quiet first half and then stormed the barricades in the second, Brad Green and Cameron Bruce who were solid, dependable and often brilliant through the game. Russell Robertson was the hero of the attack in the first half while skipper David Neitz had the honours in the second. Aaron Davey was always on the brink of being dangerous, even when his mentor Byron Pickett left the field with a corked hip. Nathan Carroll continued his superlative form in defence aided by Jared Rivers and Ben Holland who controlled the opposition forward line after that slow start.

Lynden Dunn impressed at centre half forward but still has a lot to learn and a very big upside, Clint Bartram did his job nicely and showed that he can take a nice grab while Matthew Bate, playing his first AFL game away from the MCG and Colin Sylvia were both subdued.

The Demons now have a week's break to freshen up for the business end of the home and away series. They have an opportunity over the next three weeks against three middle tier sides that will be desperate for wins to keep their finals aspirations alive. None of those games are easy but the run home appears to be a lot easier than that which they faced at the corresponding stage of 2005 when the team went into that well documented collapse after winning nine of the first twelve games. Melbourne is also far better equipped than its counterpart of last year, as is attested by the number of quality players outside the current 22 who will be available for selection when the season resumes on the first day of next month.

Melbourne 2.3.15 5.7.37 12.10.82 16.15.111

Essendon 2.8.20 4.12.36 7.13.55 10.15.75

Goals R Robertson 4 D Neitz 3 C Bruce L Dunn 2 C Bartram A Davey T Johnstone P Read C Sylvia

Best J McDonald T Johnstone C Bruce B Green R Robertson N Carroll B Holland J White

Injuries B Pickett (corked hip) C Sylvia (ankle)

Reports Nil

Umpires C Kamolins C Hendrie M Ellis

Crowd: 35,019 at Telstra Dome

FOOTNOTE: The AFL's handling of the yellow armband controversy is a complete and utter disgrace. The imbeciles running the organisation were wrong to refuse Essendon permission to wear yellow armbands to highlight the Cancer Council's campaign for greater awareness about the disease that affects thousands of Victorians and their families every year. The game was billed as the Clash for Cancer and the idea behind the wearing of these armbands was for charitable - not commercial purposes. The AFL has commercialised the game to the hilt but this intrusion into a worthwhile charitable effort form one of its clubs crossed the red line (the AFL also wrong when they refused Melbourne permission to wear pink armbands in aid of breast cancer awareness earlier this year).

The AFL probably had no alternative in the end to impose a fine when Essendon players correctly decided to defy the ban as a mark of respect to their cancer stricken teammate Adam Ramanauskas but the situation should never have arisen and the decision to pass on the fine to the Cancer Council is a pathetic gesture from a bunch of heartless, mean spirited and dumb bureaucrats who have shown they don't deserve our confidence to run our great game.

I urge all supporters to contact the Cancer Council [http://www.cancervic.org.au/] to make a donation to the cause.

For my part I'm buying a yellow wristband and hope to wear it for the rest of the season as a show of support for this worthwhile charity as well as a sign of contempt on my behalf for those in control of our great sport for their miserable conduct in this matter.