In the space of a month Melbourne has gone from chocolates to boiled lollies in terms of its standing as a candidate for the AFL premiership. 

The club faces its moment of truth against a badly bruised up Collingwood at the MCG. A win will give it some respite but even then, it won’t be regarded particularly well being against an opponent carrying the burden of an injured playing list. A loss would be a disaster.

The Demons have gone from a six/two win/loss ratio and a strong percentage just south of 125 which placed them firmly in the top four after besting the previously unbeaten Cats to where they are now. At seven/five, a percentage barely over 100 and tenth on the ladder, a catastrophic fall from grace on the back of a scoreless opening term against Carlton, a woeful capitulation by 35 points to West Coast and last week’s 92-point drubbing by Fremantle. The only W in this period was against St Kilda.

Their opponent this week is not in such good shape either but not for reasons of poor form or a lack of enthusiasm but rather, because they have been decimated by a massive injury list. At Marvel Stadium on Friday night, they came out firing and full of enthusiasm to kick four of the first five goals to lead by 22 points before the Western Bulldogs reeled them in and ultimately dominated the final term scoring five goals to nothing.

If the Magpies had nothing to give in the last quarter of that match, then consider the Demons who gave nothing for all but the opening seven minutes of their game against the Dockers in Alice Springs!

As former Collingwood coach, Nathan Buckley, said after the game: top four teams “just don’t have a performance like” the Demons’ 92-point loss. “Plenty of sides have got players out at the moment and to only get 37 inside 50s against any opposition is a concern.”

Buckley believes there are lingering issues beneath the surface at Melbourne and there are some real questions to be asked. The fans have been asking those questions all week, but nobody has come up with any answers so the task of looking into the crystal ball has been made more difficult because of the lack of clarity coming from the Demon camp.

In the normal course of things, I would look at Collingwood and read missing names like De Goey, Mihocek, Cox, Pendlebury and Elliott and declare Melbourne past the post for a win by five goals. 

However, on current form (and if truth be known, there is no current form that you can trust in the context of this team), you would be justified in arguing that the firm of N & J Daicos could beat them on their own, such is the skill and brilliance of that duo. They never let their team down which, after some of the Demons’ dismal recent performances, you can’t say about any of them other than perhaps Max Gawn and possibly Christian Petracca and the skipper is carrying an enormous burden on his big shoulders at present.

The Magpies at least showed plenty of aggression and determination in their last up display which means that they should be able to open up a big enough lead on the Demons to hold off any fast finish that their slow starting opponents are capable of mounting.

Collingwood by 5 points.

THE GAME

Collingwood v Melbourne at the MCG, Monday 10 June 2024 at 3.20pm

HEAD TO HEAD 

Overall Collingwood 154 wins Melbourne 85 wins 5 drawn
At the MCG Collingwood 86 wins Melbourne 64 wins 3 drawn
Last five meetings Collingwood 4 wins Melbourne 1 win
The Coaches McCrae 3 wins Goodwin 1 win 

LAST TIME THEY MET

Collingwood 9.6.60 defeated Melbourne 7.11.53 at the MCG in the 2023 Qualifying Final

The Demons were jolted early in the 2023 Qualifying Final by the head high hit that ended Angus Brayshaw’s career and helped give the accurate Magpies a big enough start to fall in by 7 points despite a goalless final quarter. Many Melbourne fans argue that hit cost their team a flag and many others are still bemused about the fact that the perpetrator was free to play on in his team’s finals campaign including the winning grand final.

THE TEAMS 

COLLINGWOOD

B B. Maynard, D. Moore, C. Dean
HB I. Quaynor, B. Frampton, J. Noble
C S. Sidebottom, F. Macrae, J. Daicos
HF B. Hill, L. Schultz, W. Hoskin-Elliott
F B. McCreery, P. Lipinski, J. Howe
FOLL D. Cameron, J. Crisp, N. Daicos
I/C H. Harrison, N. Kreuger, O. Markov, L. Sullivan SUB J. Bytel 
EMG E. Allan, T. Jiath, A. Johnson

IN W. Hoskin-Elliott, N. Kreuger

OUT A. Johnson (omitted), W. Parker (omitted)

MELBOURNE

B  J. Bowey, S. May, T. Rivers
HB C. Salem, T. McDonald, J. McVee
C E. Langdon, C. Oliver, C. Windsor
HF K. Pickett, B. Fritsch, H. Petty
FF K. Chandler, J. van Rooyen, A. Neal-Bullen
FOLL M. Gawn, J. Viney, C. Petracca
I/C B. Howes, B. Laurie, T. Sparrow, D. Turner SUB J. Billings 
EMG B. Brown, K. Brown, T. Woewodin

IN J. Billings, B. Howes, B. Laurie, IN J. van Rooyen

OUT L. Hunter (calf), S. McAdam (omitted), A. Tomlinson (omitted) T. Woewodin (omitted)

Injury List: Round 13

Jacob van Rooyen — adductor / Test 
Marty Hore  — calf / 1 - 2 weeks
Josh Schache — foot / 1 - 2 weeks 
Jake Lever — knee / 2 - 3 weeks 
Jake Melksham  — knee / 2 - 4 weeks 
Lachie Hunter — calf / 4 - 6 weeks 
Charlie Spargo — Achilles / TBC

TBH, I am expecting an old fashioned MFC victory - ie not losing by more than 40 points

(dropped my bundle)

We're about to find out if last week was just an aberration for an incredibly consistent team over the last few years ...or the start of something creaking and collapsing. I have no idea which way the dees are going nor how this match will go. My suspicion is this will be a closish match but also one we lose. I have distinct end of a golden era vibes about the 24 dees. But in saying that the Dees have made me incredibly proud the last few years...a bit more luck and we win 2 flags . Im not putting the boot in here at all...its just my sense. Hope Im wrong 

  On 06/06/2024 at 03:38, Demonland said:

In the space of a month Melbourne has gone from chocolates to boiled lollies in terms of its standing as a candidate for the AFL premiership. 

The club faces its moment of truth against a badly bruised up Collingwood at the MCG. A win will give it some respite but even then, it won’t be regarded particularly well being against an opponent carrying the burden of an injured playing list. A loss would be a disaster.

The Demons have gone from a six/two win/loss ratio and a strong percentage just south of 125 which placed them firmly in the top four after besting the previously unbeaten Cats to where they are now. At seven/five, a percentage barely over 100 and tenth on the ladder, a catastrophic fall from grace on the back of a scoreless opening term against Carlton, a woeful capitulation by 35 points to West Coast and last week’s 92-point drubbing by Fremantle. The only W in this period was against St Kilda.

Their opponent this week is not in such good shape either but not for reasons of poor form or a lack of enthusiasm but rather, because they have been decimated by a massive injury list. At Marvel Stadium on Friday night, they came out firing and full of enthusiasm to kick four of the first five goals to lead by 22 points before the Western Bulldogs reeled them in and ultimately dominated the final term scoring five goals to nothing.

If the Magpies had nothing to give in the last quarter of that match, then consider the Demons who gave nothing for all but the opening seven minutes of their game against the Dockers in Alice Springs!

As former Collingwood coach, Nathan Buckley, said after the game: top four teams “just don’t have a performance like” the Demons’ 92-point loss. “Plenty of sides have got players out at the moment and to only get 37 inside 50s against any opposition is a concern.”

Buckley believes there are lingering issues beneath the surface at Melbourne and there are some real questions to be asked. The fans have been asking those questions all week, but nobody has come up with any answers so the task of looking into the crystal ball has been made more difficult because of the lack of clarity coming from the Demon camp.

In the normal course of things, I would look at Collingwood and read missing names like De Goey, Mihocek, Cox, Pendlebury and Elliott and declare Melbourne past the post for a win by five goals. 

However, on current form (and if truth be known, there is no current form that you can trust in the context of this team), you would be justified in arguing that the firm of N & J Daicos could beat them on their own, such is the skill and brilliance of that duo. They never let their team down which, after some of the Demons’ dismal recent performances, you can’t say about any of them other than perhaps Max Gawn and possibly Christian Petracca and the skipper is carrying an enormous burden on his big shoulders at present.

The Magpies at least showed plenty of aggression and determination in their last up display which means that they should be able to open up a big enough lead on the Demons to hold off any fast finish that their slow starting opponents are capable of mounting.

Collingwood by 5 points.

THE GAME

Collingwood v Melbourne at the MCG, Monday 10 June 2024 at 3.20pm

HEAD TO HEAD 

Overall Collingwood 154 wins Melbourne 85 wins 5 drawn
At the MCG Collingwood 86 wins Melbourne 64 wins 3 drawn
Last five meetings Collingwood 4 wins Melbourne 1 win
The Coaches McCrae 3 wins Goodwin 1 win 

LAST TIME THEY MET

Collingwood 9.6.60 defeated Melbourne 7.11.53 at the MCG in the 2023 Qualifying Final

The Demons were jolted early in the 2023 Qualifying Final by the head high hit that ended Angus Brayshaw’s career and helped give the accurate Magpies a big enough start to fall in by 7 points despite a goalless final quarter. Many Melbourne fans argue that hit cost their team a flag and many others are still bemused about the fact that the perpetrator was free to play on in his team’s finals campaign including the winning grand final.

THE TEAMS (to be loaded when available)

COLLINGWOOD

MELBOURNE

Injury List: Round 13

Jacob van Rooyen — adductor / Test 
Marty Hore  — calf / 1 - 2 weeks
Josh Schache — foot / 1 - 2 weeks 
Jake Lever — knee / 2 - 3 weeks 
Jake Melksham  — knee / 2 - 4 weeks 
Lachie Hunter — calf / 4 - 6 weeks 
Charlie Spargo — Achilles / TBC

Onyer, Vines. Mongrel Man, you made us all proud - several times over the years, but this was the icing on the cake. I insist that Goodwin shows this to the boys pre-game, the entire incident. If our whole team stood up for each other like this, the flags are ours! No speeches, just silent vision of the moment.