REMINDERS by Mel Rundle

[Demonland 72,128]

For those of us who were at the Adelaide Oval to watch Melbourne’s first defeat for the year on that fateful evening in May of last year, the moment at which the final siren blared is still seared into our collective memory. A victory stolen away by a combination of factors including our own hubris, a frenzied crowd that seemed to control the minds of the umpires, some dreadful kicking for goal and a touch of plain bad luck.

Perhaps it might have been the team’s training regimen that provided for loading in preparation for the lead up into the finals or was it simply lack of respect for the opponent? Whatever the reason for the defeat, the team hardly needs any reminders now of the lesson they were taught about how to approach a lowly opposition.

While the Crows are no longer scraping at the bottom of the table as they were at this time last year, they remain a team that could easily be underestimated by a team like Melbourne which has its eyes firmly set on a top four finish.

Even the beautiful Adelaide Oval which has been such a friendly and happy hunting ground for the Demons in recent times can turn hostile as we learned in 2021, so it’s important that last year’s lesson about never underestimating your opponent rings loud, clear and often in the mind of every player.

Certainly, they atoned somewhat in the return match up in front of no crowd at the MCG but that was absent the club’s bogey man in Tex Walker who is back and currently in form. So is Darcy Fogarty - between the two of them, they notched up ten goals down in Tassie against the Kangaroos at the weekend. Which makes it important for the Demon defence of May, Lever, Petty, Salem, Hibberd, Bowey and Brayshaw to work diligently to place the necessary pressure from the very first bounce of the game.

Of course, the ferocious Demons midfield stood up last week even in the absence of maestro Max Gawn so the Crows’ forwards should not be expecting the quality of disposal which they got against the Shinboners. Hopefully, they will be buoyed by the announcement that Clayton Oliver has joined Christian Petracca in a long term commitment to the club. This is exactly the sort of thing that is emblematic of a strong club.

It's true that our 18 team competition brings up its challenges and every time we look at the fixture for the remainder of the home and away season, there’s a reminder there of the tough run that the Demons face in the lead up to the finals but it's exactly because of this that I regard it unlikely that this group will allow a repeat of history by failing to bring home the four points from the City of Churches.

Melbourne to win by 38 points.

THE GAME

Adelaide v Melbourne at the Adelaide Oval on Saturday 2 July, 2022 at 4.35pm

HEAD TO HEAD

Overall - Adelaide 26 wins Melbourne 17 wins

At Adelaide Oval - Adelaide 2 wins Melbourne 4 wins

Past five meetings - Melbourne 3 wins Adelaide 2 wins

The Coaches - Simon Goodwin 2 wins Matthew Nicks 1 win

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 16.8.104 defeated Adelaide 9.9.63 in Round 22, 2021 at the MCG

Melbourne extracted a heavy revenge against Adelaide for its upset victory earlier in the season. The 41 point victory was however, somewhat flattering because it came off the back of a late goalfest from Bayley Fritsch who finished with seven goals straight for the game including four in the final term.

THE TEAMS

ADELAIDE

B: T.Doedee 39 J.Butts 41 C.Jones 1
HB: Smith 33 N.Murray 28 J.Dawson 12
C: J.Hately 6 R.Laird 29 M.Hinge 20
HF: J.Rachele 8 D.Fogarty 32 J.Soligo 14
F: L.Murphy 4 T.Walker 13 J.Rowe 31
Foll: R.O'Brien 43 B.Keays 2 S.Berry 21
I/C: W.Milera 30 P.Parnell 37 H.Schoenberg 26 R.Thilthorpe 
Sub: L.Sholl 38 Emerg: T.Newchurch 42 M.Crouch 5 L.Gollant 44

In: L.Murphy L.Sholl R.Thilthorpe

Out: W.Hamill (concussion) S.McAdam (ankle) N.McHenry (knee) 

MELBOURNE

B: S.May 1 H.Petty 35 M.Hibberd 14
HB: J.Bowey 17 J.Lever 8 C.Salem 3
C: A.Brayshaw 10 C.Oliver 13 E.Langdon 15
HF: J.Harmes 4 B.Fritsch 31 A.Neal-Bullen 30
F:  K.Pickett 36 B.Brown 50 T.Bedford 12
Foll: S.Weideman 26 C.Petracca 5 J.Viney 7
I/C: J.Jordon 23 C.Spargo 9 T.Sparrow 32 M.Brown 38
Sub: A.Tomlinson 20 Emerg: J.Hunt 29 J.Melksham 18 J.Van Rooyen 21 

In: M.Brown A.Tomlinson 

Out: J.Hunt (omitted) L.Jackson (knee) 

Injury List: Round 16

Max Gawn - Ankle | 1-2 Weeks
Daniel Turner - Face | 2-3 Weeks
Blake Howes - Foot | 2-4 Weeks
Joel Smith - Ankle | 2-4 Weeks
Tom McDonald - Foot | 10-12 Weeks