RISING TO THE OCCASION

by Scoop Junior

Rarely, if ever in recent history, has it been possible for a Melbourne supporter to feel confident that his or her side would come through with the four points when leading by a solitary kick at half-time. To the contrary, it has been usual in those circumstances for pessimistic thoughts to creep in and for a win at the end of the game to be seen as the lesser rather than the more likely scenario.

It is a mark of the team's development over the past year however, that this was not the case on Saturday afternoon at the G. You just knew that the team would rise to the occasion.

In similar fashion to the Demons' last round match against the Bombers, they held a narrow lead at half time after playing some patchy footy in the opening half. The opposition had worked hard and pressured about as well as possible, while the Dees appeared capable of lifting a few levels. It took until about midway through the third term for the Demons to click into gear - at about the same time in the match that the men in the red and blue gained the ascendancy over Essendon.

Good teams have the ability to keep their noses in front even when not at their best. Better teams are able to lift a gear when the game is in the balance and blow the opposition off the park. Melbourne displayed that capability against Port Adelaide and, but for the resting of names such as McLean and Neitz late in the game, could have finished with a 10 goal plus victory.

It was another fairly even performance from Demons. Perhaps the most impressive aspect was the pressure they exerted on the Power. While the South Australians dropped off in their pressuring and harassment after half time, the Dees again displayed their strong focus on the defensive aspects of their game, maintaining a solid work rate throughout the match.

Cam Bruce not only led the way in the attacking facets of the game with 29 possessions and classy disposal, but he also laid 9 strong tackles and ran hard all afternoon. James McDonald was also high up in the tackle count (as he usually is), but despite finding a fair amount of footy, was shown up at times by the classy Shaun Burgoyne (but then who doesn’t these days?).

Brock McLean slotted back into the side with consummate ease. He looked anything but a player who had not played for a month. His two goals and some typically precise passing of the ball capped off an excellent day for this dependable midfield rock. Travis Johnstone let himself down with some woeful decision-making early in the game, but bounced back strongly in the second half with his customary pinpoint delivery. It's almost becoming a trend with Travis; slow starts that precede white-hot finishes. Brad Green turned in a solid performance without dominating, while Jeff White and Mark Jamar performed well in the ruck against the in-form Brendan Lade.

Up forward the skipper led the way with 5 goals. Like the team, he loves playing at the home of football and his record there this season is impressive. Pickett started strongly against his former side and was more than willing to make a powerful impact on the contest. He faded as the game wore on but was a good contributor on the day. Adem Yze kicked two classy goals from tight angles at important stages of the game and found plenty of the ball when pushed further up the ground. His application has improved markedly this season after a couple of down years. Robbo was also handy up forward, booting three goals.

The back line stood up again, once again keeping the opposition under 100 points. Nathan Carroll and Jared Rivers have developed a great understanding and always seem to select the right situation when to zone off and when to stay close to their man. Rivers made a few mistakes and Carroll was beaten early by Motlop, but neither dropped their head and their performances improved as the game wore on. Matthew Whelan was terrific, attacking the ball ferociously and starting many attacking moves out of the back line. The back line just appears a far more solid unit when Whelan is back there strutting his stuff.

While the senior players performed particularly well, a few of the youngsters failed to have an impact on the game. Chris Johnson was quiet, but did display his neat foot skills on a couple of occasions. Colin Sylvia worked into the game and looked better running through the middle later in the game, but he appears to be lacking power off the mark and fitness at this stage. Given that he is a powerful athlete, perhaps he is still carrying an injury which is restricting his burst power, as his first few steps have not been very quick recently. He also blows up quite a bit after sprinting and it appears he is still working his way towards match fitness after sustaining that rib injury in Round 6. He was not suffering such problems early in the year when his form was excellent. Lynden Dunn also struggled and has been a bit off the boil in the last few weeks. Perhaps the heavy workload required of an AFL centre half forward is taking its toll and he may be given a week or two to freshen up in the VFL in the coming weeks.

While the side is flying at 9-4, having won 9 out of 10 games, the last two weeks have displayed that any team can match it with us when we are down on form. Bottom side Essendon should have been ahead at half time and Port, a middle of the road side, was right in the match at the same point in time.

So there are still things that need working on and the team cannot fall into the same old trap of believing the media hype and relaxing their state of mind. Apart from the Carlton game, mental issues have not really been a problem this year, which is an enormous improvement on the mentally fragile teams of the past few years. While the team operates in a tough competition where teams can come crashing back to earth in an instant, it appears as though the players have developed a stronger mental attitude and are intent on not dropping away as they have done in the past. The task is now to not look too far ahead and focus solely on Brisbane at the Gabba, a ground (and team) that has caused us some significant pain in the last three years.

Let’s keep the momentum going!

MELBOURNE 5.1.31 7.5.47 13.10.88 18.12.120

PORT ADELAIDE 3.3.21 6.5.41 9.5.59 12.10.82

Goals D Neitz 5 R Robertson 3 A Yze 2 B Green 2 B McLean 2 A Davey 2 J White C Sylvia

Best T Johnstone C Bruce B McLean D Neitz A Yze J Rivers B Pickett

Umpires A Davis S McInerney S Wenn

Crowd 24,283 at MCG