NOT GAWN IN 60 SECONDS by George on the Outer

[Demonland 73,140]

You might recall a regular segment that once featured on the MFC website entitled, “Gawn in 60 Seconds”, in which Maxy would ask the hard questions of his teammates. However, there was no harder question asked than the one asked collectively of the whole team in the last 60 seconds of Saturday’s game against the Gold Coast Suns. 

It was either follow me and my example or the Demons’ season, already hanging flimsily by huuua thread, would be truly “Gorn”. 

It was at that stage when those who really wanted the win put their hands up.   

Max Gawn was magnificent in the middle to win the critical clearances, then helped out by Jack Viney, Clayton Oliver and in particular Jayden Hunt, they managed come from the clouds and a goal down with a mere 18 seconds remaining.   All Demon fans must simply watch and watch again this video of the final two minutes, to see  Marty Hore put the scores back to level.

Then in almost a repeat of the previous miracle, Gawn to Viney to Hunt, then to Harmes and finally to Tom McDonald, who despite dropping an almost certain mark recovered to put his foot to the ball and while he kicked it into the post, the point scored won the game, as the siren sounded straight away. 

Exciting though the result was, and it managed to keep those slim season hopes alive, the game itself prior to those final minutes was as bad a show of AFL football as could be witnessed.  Some may claim the ground was “dewy”, but it sure wasn’t wet.     

That alone could not explain the appalling kicking, simple fumbles and opportunities squandered by over-using handball.     

In the first quarter in particular, Melbourne had the chance to completely blow the game away, but no-one seemed to want to take on the responsibility of kicking the goal. 

The chances were easy ones and instead of being four to five goals in front at the first bell, the difference was a mere 7 points.     

This unwillingness to kick the ball at the sticks was to badly re-appear in those final minutes when just kicking a point from long range would have put the game beyond reach. But either the players have been instructed not to go for the long bomb or they have lost all confidence in themselves.     

If Christian Salem isn’t leading the “Bluey” Truscott count at this point in the season, then the judges would need to be swabbed.     

Yet again he saved the side and stopped opposition goals and then mounted counter attacks with his accurate kicking and vision. He should have enough already in the bag to actually win it without playing another game; he is so much better and more skilled than anyone else on the ground.   

Melbourne’s injuries are costing them doubly. In this match Michael Hibberd broke a collar bone, Jordan Lewis damaged his ankle and Jake Melksham injured his foot. Hibberd was a great loss, and he has run into some good form in the past two weeks, but Lewis will not be missed in any way shape or form. The game has gone past him and if there was even a credible defender available at Casey then they would be selected ahead of him.   

Sadly, it is not just defenders needed, and even more so now with the loss of Hibberd, but Jeff Garlett continues to run around without getting a sniff of the ball with only 9 touches this week, fairly much the same as last week. His style of play is not suited to the 2019 game and, in fact, wasn’t in 2018 as well.     

Getting behind the defence just doesn’t happen anymore, and the small forward has to provide much needed pressure and tackling.  Swallow, Lockhart and Spargo are looking more likely, especially for the long term.   

Clayton Oliver is returning to his best had 38 touches, but like many in the mid-field still has to tighten up on his defensive side.  For the Suns, Swallow had 35 of his own, so it was practically a draw in and around the packs with clearances only just favouring the Demons by one.    

It is up forward that the Demons are really struggling. Melbourne had 66 inside 50s to 42 and won the contested possession count by 15 and clearances by 14. This normally translates into a very comfortable win but week after week, we simply don’t have a target, nor are the smalls doing their jobs.

Fifty per cent more opportunities should have resulted in 50% more shots, but with players not willing to take them and lack of cohesion among the forwards, all that could be managed was a one point win.   

Our cup is truly dry now.  At least two more players are injured, with not much to show at Casey that thrills. 

In the coming weeks, with games against the AFL’s big birds, the Eagles, Giants, Crows and the Magpies, the immediate future looks particularly bleak in the absence of a major reversal.     

The future is not as bleak as the Suns. One would hope that the people who tallied the attendance figure for the match (9,765) will not be counting the election ballots next week, or else Clive Palmer has a real chance of being our next PM!   

There didn’t seem to be any more than 5k people at that match! They are obviously counting the members area as being full (similar to the Medallion club at Marvel), but it was deserted.     

The supporters were almost, if not, outnumbered by the Demon fans and if it wasn’t for tickets handed out to school-kids, it would be doubtful that most adults would have attended.    It is very, very strange to attend a football match and be offered a free copy of the local paper (The Gold Coast Bulletin) upon entering. Who thought up that idea?     

Probably the same person who thought fairy floss would be a seller ... or toy trains running around the interior of the stadium.  It’s just another Queensland theme park, but not it doesn’t feel like a football ground or that the game is AFL.     

The AFL is wasting their money on this enterprise as it will go the same way as all the other codes (Union, League and Basketball) with their failed ventures on the Gold Coast.     

Melbourne 3.2.20 3.5.23 5.9.39 8.13.61 

Gold Coast Suns 2.1.13 3.3.21 5.6.36 9.6.60 

Goals 

Melbourne T McDonald 3 Harmes Hore Hunt Melksham Petracca 

Gold Coast Suns Ainsworth Holman 2 Corbett Lemmens MacPherson Powell Wright 

Best  

Melbourne Oliver Jones Melksham Salem Harmes Frost  Melksham

Gold Coast Suns Swallow Macpherson Holman Ainsworth Hanley Witts 

Injuries  

Melbourne Hibberd (collarbone) Lewis (ankle) Melksham (foot) 

Gold Coast Suns Lemmens (ankle) 

Reports 

Melbourne Nil 

Gold Coast Suns Nil 

Umpires Haussen, O'Gorman, Chamberlain 

Official crowd 9,765 at Metricon Stadium