THE KING’S GEE by George On The Outer

June 12, 20232 yr

King Gee, a name synonymous with hard work wear, was emblematic of the hard work done by Melbourne against Collingwood at the “Gee” to win the first King’s Birthday match in more than seven decades. As a result, the Demons have never lost a modern day version of the King’s Royal Blockbuster match and long may that continue!

The final margin of a mere four points probably overstated the closeness of the match since, for the third week in a row, the Demons could not kick straight from set shots in front of goal. This week it was 4.10 from those set shots. And while the coach thought it was the least of his worries post match, the fact that such poor outcomes keep the opposition in the game and capable of challenging to the end is something that needs to be sorted in the weeks and months to come.

The final score of 8.18 really summed it up. Fortunately, a stingy defensive structure kept the opposition well out of the game, so all credit for the win should lie with those defenders.

Having said that, the forwards without their straight kicking boots, as least put on plenty of pressure to keep the ball in the attacking area with 17 tackles inside 50. That the Collingwood forwards managed only four for the game, demonstrates that their game style is all about “run and gun”, without a lot of hard work forward of the ball. To this point of the season they have papered over that deficiency, but were exposed by the brilliant defensive unit of the Demons, who repelled attack after attack.

The three talls in defence means stability down back and enables players around them to be free to do damage. While Jake Lever was held to a solitary mark, Adam Tomlinson popped up with ten for the game. Nine intercept possessions each for Christian Salem and Trent Rivers were complemented by eight each for Steven May and Jake Lever while Judd McVee chipped in with seven. The combination of Salem and Rivers combination was deadly to Collingwood’s chances, both with 24 touches, but with disposal efficiency of 83 and 78% respectively, meaning that they were not only repelling opposition advances, but also starting the next line of attack.

Given that the Magpies came into this match averaging 94 points a game, the fact they were held to a mere 62 points in this match was exemplary.

The other important factor in the game success for Melbourne was a game plan which denied Collingwood the corridor, which they need to execute their “run and gun” tactic. Time and time again they were forced wide and the inside kick or running past handball denied as the Demons stuck to their task of all ground pressure, with simple hard work.

The other area of dominance was the King Gee efforts in the middle by Jack Viney and Christian Petracca. The former, with 32 touches and an incredible 19 contested possessions, led the way to make him King of the “Gee” on the day. While Petracca with 28 touches and 15 contested certainly helped cover the absence of Clayton Oliver. On the wing Lachie Hunter kept punching the ball forward with 28 touches, seven of which were contested, just to add to his game topping 610 metres gained for the side.

Up forward, despite the inability to kick truly, at least Bayley Fritsch was able to nail three majors, which took him to 200 goals for the Club. Jacob van Rooyen only managed a single major, but his attack on contest is constant, and probably what the coaches want most of all. Joel Smith looked far more comfortable this week, and when called upon to deliver, did so. None more so than a run down from behind tackle to help change momentum in the Demons favour. Importantly his tall presence caused no end of problems for the Collingwood defence who are too accustomed to Moore being left unattended in the game. Not so today.

Finally, a shout out to the vocal crowd of Demon supporters. They had plenty to shout out loud about and while the crowd numbers didn’t meet the expected 90+ thousand, they certainly made their voices heard at critical times during the match. If the MCC and AFL member areas had been more highly populated this could well have reached a home and away record.

The Demons take away the four points, which was critical in the overall season context as it keeps the side in the top four position, and stopped Collingwood moving further ahead on the ladder.

It put the side into the right position for the second half of the season, where they will be trying to prove they are the true Kings of the “Gee” come the last week of September

MELBOURNE 1.4.10 3.8.26 6.11.47 8.18.66

COLLINGWOOD 3.1.19 5.4.34 6.5.41 9.8.62

GOALS

MELBOURNE Fritsch 3 Grundy Neal-Bullen Smith van Rooyen Viney

COLLINGWOOD Lipinski 2 Cox Crisp N Daicos Harrison Hill McCreery Mihocek

BEST

MELBOURNE Viney May Fritsch Salem Petracca Tomlinson

COLLINGWOOD Mitchell Pendlebury Crisp N Daicos Maynard

LATE CHANGES

MELBOURNE Nil

COLLINGWOOD Jack Ginnivan (managed), replaced in selected side by Reef McInnes

INJURIES