A GREAT PLACE TO BE

by J.V.McKay

No offence to the cricketers, tennis players, golfers, Archie and the soccer crowd, the athletes, the swimmers and the rest but I'm glad that most of them have packed up their kits and moved on. There’s only one place to be when the summer comes to an end (as it will in a few day’s time) and that’s at the football. And I mean the real thing - Aussie style.

It started last night with an exciting interstate derby in Adelaide and a one sided affair on the Gold Coast between a committed Kangaroos side and a half-baked Magpie team that just didn’t look as if it was interested.

And there's more coming up on the weekend culminating for me with the Nab Cup clash between the would be merger partners of a decade ago, Melbourne and Hawthorn, on Sunday night at the Telstra Dome.

Just thinking about the Nab Cup gets me excited. Even the name of the sponsor gets me going. After all, where else in the world would you name a bank "The Nab"? Surely, with a name like that, the punters must have a fair idea as to what the bankers have in mind for their money?

And speaking of punters, that’s where I'll start my review of the game. Despite the fact that the Demons were the top Victorian team in the AFL last year and their opponents finished down in the lower middle rung of the ladder, it's the Hawks who are opening up as reasonably firm favourites at $1.60 while the Demons are at $2.20. My old man once told me never to ignore the smart money and so I have to ask myself why are the Hawks so firm with the punters?

The answer is that Hawthorn has made it clear from its team selection that it's going flat out to win the money. The Hawks are only three players away from their best possible squad with only the injured Trent Croad, Danny Jacobs and Joel Smith missing, On the other hand Melbourne will be without Clint Bartram, Aaron Davey, Travis Johnstone, Brock McLean, Brent Moloney, Colin Sylvia, Paul Wheatley and Jeff White among the players you would expect to be regulars missing from the squad. Some of these players are injured or carrying little niggles while others are being rested.

The situation reflects the differences in philosophy of the coaches. Former Demon Alistair Clarkson is desperate to develop a winning culture at Hawthorn and wants to instil this into the team at every opportunity. Neale Daniher doesn't mind winning either but he has said from the very early days of the pre-season that his primary objective for this competition was to use it as a preparation for round one of the premiership season.

A look at the respective squads for the game however, tells me that the Melbourne team will still be highly competitive for Sunday's game and I don't expect it to be anything like the humiliating display of the sort that Collingwood put on last night in Carrara when the Magpies were deplorable in just about every facet of the game. The Demons still have a good balance of experience, youth and emerging talent and, with the competition red hot for places in the team for the premiership season opener, there are several players desperate to impress the coach and selectors.

Prominent among this group will be Clint Bizzell who needs to re-stake a claim for a place in the team after a year out with injury and Brad Miller whose career took a backward step last year after an indiscretion at Subiaco ended in a two week suspension that was followed by injury problems and a lengthy stint in the VFL. In Miller's case, it ultimately cost him a place in the leadership group and despite a brilliant game at CHF in a losing semi final team, Miller has a lot to prove in the coming month.

Others with something to prove will be the ruckmen Mark Jamar and Paul Johnson in a "mini battle" to decide who will be Jeff White's understudy, Ryan Ferguson who has been mentioned as possible trade bait over the past two seasons and Daniel Ward whose gambling problems have been well documented in the media. The pressure is on these players and they will all have something to prove at the Dome tomorrow night.

Also of interest will be the form of a few up and comers in Daniel Bell, Lynden Dunn and Chris Johnson who have the opportunity to put their hands up high for regular places in the team.

Although Neale Daniher said last week that he was "using the NAB Cup as an opportunity to prepare for round one and have a look at some … young blokes," there won't be too many of the club's 2007 recruits on show with James Frawley the only new recruit named in the 28-man squad. Simon Buckley who spent 2006 developing at Sandringham has impressed during the preseason and may also get his opportunity and Daniel Hughes, a rookie, who played in last year’s opener against the Bulldogs in Darwin is also in the squad.

On the other hand, Hawthorn's team is full of young, promising players who will be keen to impress and I don't discount their capacity for great improvement over last year or the potential danger to Melbourne of young guns Hodge, Franklin, Lewis, Roughhead and Birchall.

All in all however, I think that, despite missing a significant part of its starting midfield, the Demons have the all-important edge in experience and in depth and I'm therefore going to go against the bookmakers' odds and tipping a 12-point victory for Melbourne after a close and cracking contest which should ensure that the stadium's new "no pass-out" policy won't be tested on the night.

A close result and a Melbourne victory in this brand of football will alone make the Telstra Dome a great place to be on Sunday night when we can celebrate the end of a long, hot summer with a dose of the best game on the face of this earth.

The squads -

MELBOURNE

1 Simon Buckley 2 Nathan Jones 3 Clint Bizzell 6 Matthew Bate 7 Brad Miller 8 James Frawley 9 David Neitz 10 Daniel Ward 11 Paul Johnson 13 Adem Yze 14 Lynden Dunn 17 Chris Johnson 18 Brad Green 21 Daniel Bell 23 James McDonald 24 Russell Robertson 25 Nathan Brown 27 Jared Rivers 30 Simon Godfrey 32 Cameron Bruce 33 Byron Pickett 35 Ryan Ferguson 37 Matthew Warnock 38 Daniel Hughes 39 Shane Neaves 40 Mark Jamar 41 Nathan Carroll 45 Matthew Whelan

HAWTHORN

2 Jarryd Roughead 3 Jordan Lewis 4 Rick Ladson 5 Sam Mitchell 6 Mark Williams 9 Shane Crawford 10 Chance Bateman 12 Brad Sewell 13 Simon Taylor 14 Grant Birchall 15 Luke Hodge 16 Beau Dowler 17 Beau Muston 18 Brent Guerra 20 Tim Boyle 21 Richard Vandenberg 22 Ben McGlynn 23 Lance Franklin 25 Tim Clarke 26 Zac Dawson 27 Stephen Gilham 28 Matthew Little 30 Campbell Brown 33 Josh Thurgood 34 Brent Renouf 38 Travis Tuck 39 Robert Campbell 45 Clinton Young