RIPPING THE HEART OUT by George on the Outer

[Demonland 73,265]

And BOG for St. Kilda in last night’s game at Marvel Stadium?

It was Melbourne!  This brilliant contributor managed to be the initiator of 13.7 in turnovers for the side, and resulted in a come from behind victory for the mighty Saints.

That’s it folks, Melbourne have set a new record for the most turnovers resulting in opposition scores. Despite leading half way through the final quarter (yet again) the Demons managed to right themselves and deliver the ball directly to the opposition to guarantee a victory for them. 

Watching this now for week after week, where the same players are selected, who fail to deliver, or more importantly fail to deliver it to team-mates, is simply beyond those spectating the game. 

Sure we have serious, serious numbers of players injured, particularly in important parts of the ground. But this train-wreck of a side, can do no better than play a couple of players completely out of their normal roles, as they can do no worse than what is being offered at the moment. 

Preuss was dropped from last week, supposedly because he couldn’t “clunk” enough marks.  Well ANB can’t clunk any either, and he solely was responsible for five turnovers which resulted in opposition goals (not scores, goals!).  Not to mention the 2 certain gimme goals which only required him to deliver to Lewis out the back on his own, and Fritsch a simple five metre handball, and on both occasions he couldn’t deliver. Corey Wagner only seven touches while playing on the wing. 

Give me Preuss any day over this sort of performances. 

Give me a completely unfit player like Jake Melksham coming off a two month injury instead. 

Give me a Corey Maynard wherever he might be.

In all honesty they couldn’t possibly do worse.

The slogan for the club is “my Heart beats True”.  Well after this insipid performance and after weeks of watching the same sort of thing, the Heart of the club has stopped beating! 

How many supporters will turn up to watch the inevitable thrashing which will happen in coming weeks against Richmond and Collingwood? 

How many televised games will the Demons be allocated next year, on the back of these type of performances? How many fans will sign on as members next year?  The on-field performance is having a profound effect on the club, its supporters and its future. 

The Demons got off to a bright start with Petracca showing what he is capable of. He finished with 3 goals for the game, but should have had more until his unselfish passing to others can be curbed.  When you are inside 50m…go for goal!  We have no-one else who can, so do it yourself.

Then the Demons reverted to style and simply let the Saints back in the game to level the scores, before a couple of goals near the end of the first period put them back in front.  A solitary goal in the second quarter was again typical of what the Demon fans have come to expect, and then despite 4 goals in the 3rd, the scores were within 4 points. 

The opening of the final term saw Melbourne out to a 13 point lead, until the usual culprits handed the ball back to the opposition. 

It made it very easy for Bruce and Membrey with 7 goals between them to win the match.  Little blame can be laid at the feet of the defenders when their efforts are simply blown apart further up the field, and the ball keeps coming back.  

Up forward Harrison Petty again showed he could become something. He is still only 19, but held his own against Carlisle and Brown. 

More importantly he is able to deliver the ball to team-mates under pressure and keeps working.  Fritsch produced a couple, but like previous games, just fades away. Perhaps not surprising given what he is expected to do in the absence of any big bodies for the Demons up forward.

Smith and Lewis?  While both have footy smarts, they don’t have the capabilities to influence the game. Neither have any pace to be able to lead so they depend upon when the ball hits the ground. Again, just filling the gaps and nothing more.  

The mids really need to lift their game. The Saints are a rebound side, and too often our mids just let them run wide to the flanks before bringing the ball back inside to their leading forwards.  Not enough pressure on the ball carrier.  Small wonder Bruce and Membrey had a field day with uncontested marks in front of goal.

And when we are kicking the ball in from defence, it is almost an unseen happening that the recipient is a mid-fielder, running into the gaps. We are stuck with “down the line” and hope that Max can grab a mark. 

This was the most dispiriting game of the year for the Demon fans. We all longed for a competitive side when we were being thrashed week after week a couple of years ago. The Heart of the club was beating briefly as we accumulated the right sort of players into the club, but that very Heart is being ripped out by players emblematic of those bad old days. 

Now is the time to bring in something else. We will be beaten by Richmond convincingly, but does it make any difference if it is by 8 goals or 10? Then bring in players who are willing to have a go, even if they are not ready. 

It’s over to you - the selectors!

Melbourne 5.3.33 6.4.40 10.6.66 13.7.85   

St Kilda 3.2.20 5.7.37 10.10.70 15.14.104   

Goals    

St Kilda Bruce 4 Membrey 3 Long Ross 2 Billings Hind Langlands Lonie   

Melbourne Petracca 3 Fritsch Harmes 2 Lewis Neal-Bullen Oliver Petty Smith C Wagner   

Best   

Melbourne Gawn Oliver Harmes Petracca Lever Frost    

St Kilda Ross Bruce Gresham Sinclair Membrey Wilkie   

Injuries    

Melbourne Nil  

St Kilda Acres (shoulder)   

Reports   

Melbourne Nil    

St Kilda Nil   

Umpires Stevic, Hay, Howorth   

Official crowd 22,854 at Marvel Stadium