PINK RAIN by Whispering Jack

There is no certainty about life under a pandemic. You wake up one morning without a care in the world; the sun’s shining and it’s a beautiful day. An hour later, everything’s up in the air, the entire state is on high alert and the apartment complex next door’s in lockdown. The simple decision you had to make about buying a ticket to the footy at the weekend suddenly might get put on the back burner. There are other things in life to prioritise and on top of that, they’re predicting rain for the rest of the week.

The Melbourne Football Club’s annual Pink Lady Match designed to shine a light on breast cancer is scheduled to occur as part of this week’s game against Hawthorn has again been affected by Covid19. It’s disappointing that the event will be limited to a virtual Pink Lady and that the AFL’s rostering might have deprived the game of free-to-air status but supporters can get behind the club’s special partnership with Breast Cancer Network Australia (BCNA) and do their bit to help those affected by this devastating disease that continues to impact people in these times of the pandemic at www.pinkladymatch.com.au

Stand with me in the virtual Pink Lady on the ‘G I’ve bought my place to help BCNA fill the Pink Lady. Join me and show support for all Australians affected by breast cancer. #PinkLadyMatch #StandWithMeAtTheG #BCNAPinkLady www.pinkladymatch.com.au

And so the game will (hopefully) go on, and most likely under dark and cloudy skies and with the possible rain that’s been predicted. One point of difference this year however, is that the Melbourne Football Club goes into the game on top of the ladder and with a measure of optimism that we can all hope will run off in a positive manner to those who suffer from breast cancer and all of their families and friends.

Scroll down for the match preview and predicted result.

THE GAME

Melbourne v Hawthorn at the MCG Saturday 18 July 2021 at 7.25pm

HEAD TO HEAD

Overall Melbourne 79 wins Hawthorn 87 wins At the MCG Melbourne 39 wins Hawthorn 46 wins

Last 5 meetings Melbourne 4 wins Hawthorn 1 win

The Coaches Goodwin 4 wins Clarkson 2 wins

MEDIA

TV - live and on demand on Kayo and live on Foxtel. Check your local guides.

Radio - check your local guides.

THE LAST TIME THEY MET

Melbourne 15.14.104 defeated Hawthorn 8.6.54 in Round 5, 2021 at The MCG

The Hawks were up for the contest for a little over three quarters and even threatened a major upset before the Demons finally put them to the sword piling on eight goals in the final term for what remains their season high winning margin.

MELBOURNE 

B:  J. Hunt 29 S. May 1 J. Lever 8

HB: M. Hibberd 14 H. Petty 35 C. Salem 3

C: J. Jordon 23 C. Petracca 5 E. Langdon 15

HF: K. Pickett 36 T. McDonald 25 A. Brayshaw 10 

F: A. Neal-Bullen 30 B. Brown 50 B. Fritsch 31

Foll: M. Gawn 11 C. Oliver 13 J. Viney 7 

I/C: L. Jackson 6 T. Rivers 24 C. Spargo 9 A. vandenBerg 22

Sub: T. Sparrow 32 Emerg: J. Melksham 18 J. Smith 44 S. Weideman 26

In: A. vandenBerg 

Out: J. Harmes (infected ear)

HAWTHORN

B: D. Grainger-Barras 38 K. Hartigan 28 D. Howe 17

HB: S. Burgoyne 9 S. Frost 8 L. Bramble 16

C: D. Moore 36 J. Worpel 5 T. Phillips 21

HF: E. Jeka 39 L. Breust 22 J. O'Meara 10

F: J. Koschitzke 34 T. O'Brien 23 M. Lewis 2

Foll: B. McEvoy 7 T. Mitchell 3 L. Shiels 26

I/C: T. Brockman 42 J. Cousins 24 D. Greaves 30 N. Reeves 37 

Emerg: O. Hanrahan 13 M.  Hartley 27 J. Newcombe 44

In: J. Cousins T.O'Brien M.Lewis N.Reeves

Out: J.Ceglar (hip) C. Jiath (knee) C. Nash (covid exposure) J.Scrimshaw (concussion)

Injury List: Round 18

Nathan Jones (calf) — 1 to 2 Weeks

Mitch Brown (heel) — 2 to 3 Weeks

Bailey Laurie (shoulder) — 3 to 4 Weeks

Marty Hore (knee) — 6 to 7 Weeks

Aaron Nietschke (knee) — Season

Adam Tomlinson (knee) — Season

HARD RAIN by Whispering Jack

On its face, this game should produce a very cut and dried result in favour of Melbourne. The Hawks were horrible last week on their Tasmanian home patch against the Dockers while the Demons were superb in dismantling the Power in Adelaide. However, these are days when one should not jump to conclusions when it comes to predicting outcomes in the AFL. The correct sign of the times might well be seen from the perspective of the other results from last weekend with several upsets in a round that proved to be a tipster’s nightmare.

And it’s not as if consistency has been a hallmark of the clubs competing in this game. Melbourne has shown itself to be quite capable of beating all comers in the top eight — they’ve beaten the six teams immediately below them on the ladder and have yet to play the Eagles. They also smashed the reigning premier Richmond long before the Tiger’s descended into the four match losing slump that has them currently sitting in 12th place. Where the Demons have struggled to win has been against the other half, the down and almost outs like the Crows and Magpies and of course, the Hawks who not long ago smashed one of the AFL’s in-form teams, the Swans.

Hawthorn seems to be a club without a purpose now that a decision has been made with regard to the succession between the successful coaching reign of Al Clarkson and the new broom of Sam Mitchell. The initial reaction of the players in the way in which they went about things against the Dockers was more than somewhat negative and it’s hard to see much of a change in attitude over the remainder of the season for the wounded Hawks. 

Leaving aside, the ups and downs in form, how can I go against the team with the strongest defence in the competition, a very competent and versatile midfield and a forward line that’s slowly getting its act together again? A team with great leadership and one that’s due to click sooner or later in its accuracy when kicking for goal. The opportunity is there to continue to work on producing the kind of pressure necessary to win every game they play irrespective of the opposition.

So despite the doom and gloom of the time and irrespective of whether the predicted 80% chance of rain eventuated or whether we’re allowed to even witness the Pink Lady Match, I’m going for Melbourne to win by 46 points.