THE ZERO SUM GAME

by Whispering Jack

On Saturday I watched a team of amateur footballers who wore red and blue and who made a better fist of playing a team game than the one that wore the same colours on Sunday at the MCG. The boys from Old Brighton backed each other up constantly; they moved the ball mainly forward and with purpose and they generally kicked and handballed to running targets, which they hit cleanly. The opposition played well too!

Granted, when you're in a professional competition like the AFL the pressure is far greater than it is in the Ammos but I believe it's a real pity that only Cameron Bruce was in attendance (watching a mate) at this practice match between the Brighton Grammarians and Ajax because the rest of the Demons could have learned some lessons in application from these guys who (as far as I know) don't get paid for their efforts in a competition where the salary cap is zero.

And zero is what I would have paid about 16 or 17 of the Melbourne players for their efforts against Geelong yesterday.

Certainly, the team is undermanned at the moment. It's hard to produce the goods when your two best forwards, your hardest and most talented midfielder, your best key defender and a few other handy players are sitting in the stands watching and your toughest nut is half way down Princes Highway trying to run in to some fitness at Werribee but there were enough regulars out there to give the supporters a run for their money. And other clubs seem to get over their injury woes without becoming woeful!

Indeed, I heard a caller on talk back radio make the statement that this was Melbourne's most woeful performance ever. The poor bloke must have a memory problems because the Demons were simply reverting back to the abysmal form of mid to late 2005 when they went through that awful period of injuries and constant trips to interstate grounds. They were no better and no worse than that and they still fought back late in the year to make the finals.

The problem is that the similarity between the way the team played during that seven-week losing streak and the way it is playing now is quite uncanny. The other similarity is the number of "depth" players who were tried and failed during that period and who are still making up the depth despite having been found wanting many times in the past. The theory that the club has great depth has certainly been laid bare for once and for all over the past three weeks.

I'm fully aware that the prospective young blood at the club is considered by many to be not quite ready for the rigours of AFL football but no more and no less so than names like (god help me for this!) Cox, Dick and Toovey at Collingwood. Look what they did on Friday night! And look what Geelong did in round two when it brought in Tom Hawkins one VFL practice match after returning from a pre season injury and Travis Varcoe for their first games. All I can say is that Hawkins is lucky he's at Geelong and not at Melbourne because if he were on the Demons' list he would have had to come up from his injury with a couple of games with the Sandy reserves just for starters.

What did Melbourne do after receiving a thumping from Hawthorn and losing David Neitz, Russell Robertson and Jared Rivers through injury? It dropped Chris Johnson who wasn't playing all that well after an excellent pre season and it promoted the following four players - Ryan Ferguson, Ben Holland, Paul Johnson, and Adem Yze. Ferg must have done something to raise the coach's hackles though because he sat on the pine for the entire second half. Sheesh!

OK. So you're down on personnel and you've decided you won't bring in any young new blood so you go for the same old, same olds. You're down in confidence, a number of your leading lights are out of form and your opposition is coming off a 13-goal win the week before. Why come out and play pretty football rather than scrap and fight?

Why not? Because the personel at your disposal simply don't have the skills - a fact that was amply highlighted by the Cats' first three goals, all of which came from unforced errors and lazy play from the Demons. Jeff White's short pass to an opposition forward 15 metres out from goal was the icing on the cake. When you lack the team skills necessary to play the fast open game then you're in trouble and from that early point onward it was evident that Melbourne would be best served by playing lock down football. Instead, it went on its merry way, keeping its defence open far too wide, giving opposition players lots of latitude and plentiful opportunities to build their confidence sky high.

I don't agree that trying to shut the game down in the first half would have been tantamount to surrendering the game. Look at what the Tigers achieved in that famous (or infamous) game against the Crows last year. Indeed, I think it is just the opposite and that leaving it until well into the second half to go defensive and put players behind the ball was far too late - by that stage it really was a white flag job.

I want to give special kudos to Daniel Bell for his persistence, courage and improvement. He took on a few big Geelong names including G Ablett Junior and Paul Chapman. He didn't shut them out altogether but he played with the air of someone who will play 200 games for the club. Cameron Bruce was used mainly in a defensive role and picked up a lot of possessions although not always to the team's advantage, Nathan Jones and Brent Moloney were good and Brad Green proved an admirable filler up forward. Indeed, I think he relished the role. Jeff White did well in the ruck encounters and surprisingly, Melbourne won the battle for the clearances from midfield.

But that's about it because most of the rest either weren't up to it or possibly they weren't interested. Aaron Davey has lost conidence and appears metres slower than he has been in past years. He's one player who is running out of chances although he might get a reprieve if Byron Pickett can come back to play the protector role that had Davey at his productive best in the first half of last year.

Is it too late for the Demons given that they won't have their best side available for at least a month?

My head says no but my heart and the team's recent history says it can be done. They could do without further injuries (and the cloud over Travis Johnstone and Moloney won't help in that regard) but I think some adventurous team selection and a bit of luck (already apparent with suspensions to Headland and Carr and injury to Browne) against the Dockers at the MCG could get things kick started.

Melbourne 2.1.13 4.4.28 5.9.39 8.9.57

Geelong 5.8.38 11.8.74 14.10.94 15.19.109

Goals: B Green 4 B Moloney 2 S Godfrey T Johnstone

Best: D Bell C Bruce B Moloney N Jones T Johnstone B Green

Injuries: Nil (?).

Reports: Nil.

Umpires: M Ellis C Hendrie M Avon

Official Crowd: 38,438 at the MCG.