PRESSURE by the Oracle

Posted March 27Mar 27

The pressure is on for Melbourne to win its match up this week against the Gold Coast Suns who, by virtue a combination of the AFL’s weird fixturing and a tropical non-cyclone named Alfred are one of five of the competition’s undefeated teams. Strangely enough, despite their impressive percentage of 277.6 they are only sixth on the ladder, their only game being a Round 1 virtual walkover against the West Coast Eagles in Perth which basically, was a training run against witches’ hats.

Melbourne itself performed that same Eagles role in the final quarter of last Sunday’s game against North Melbourne at Marvel Stadium when it capitulated to the speed and run of a young up and coming team which controlled the middle and was high on confidence against a team which ran out of puff and could do almost nothing right in those final thirty minutes.

The were some extenuating circumstances that have been discussed extensively but there will be no excuses this week.

Despite evidence to the contrary from Hawthorn’s run into last year’s finals after a 0-5 start, a loss on Saturday to the Suns at home would be a disaster and unacceptable. A failure on the part of the coaching panel to address the forward line’s shortcomings against the Kangaroos would be unforgiveable and unacceptable. A show of team love that also involves fumbling, poor decision-making, and a lack of awareness about what your opponents are doing, whether in defence or in attack, would be a cop out and unacceptable. Taking the opposition for granted would also be unacceptable. Playing Jekyll and Hyde football from week to week would be an insult to us all and unacceptable.

The only thing that supporters would find acceptable is 100% effort and no excuses that should in any event, be kept “in house”.

The club should therefore be desperate to turn things around and gain some momentum before the return in the next round of quicker players like Kozzy Pickett and Caleb Windsor who were both sorely missed during last week’s final term rampage at Marvel Stadium. They face the Suns who are a strong side at the stoppages but were well and truly exposed in that department when they met at People First Stadium only seven or so months ago. This time around, the Demons have a handy pair to add to that mix – Clayton Oliver and Christian Petracca although the latter might also be needed to provide some forward power as well.

The redeeming feature for the club stemming from the fact that the Suns have only played one game in a non-pressure cooker environment is that they might be coming into the game a trifle underdone. That might also have been the determining factor in the Demons’ defeat at the hands of the Giants a fortnight ago when they lost to a last minute goal after seemingly having the game in hand for most of the last half. All eyes will be on skipper Max Gawn who has had to shoulder a great deal of unnecessary attention after the rare occurrence of lowering his colours for the first time in living memory in the final quarter last week (i.e. two less hit outs and fewer handballs than Xerri but still a decent effort in the circumstances). That isn’t likely to happen again but for heaven’s sake, let’s give him some decent support!

Melbourne has established a winning streak of 12 consecutive games against the Gold Coast Suns stretching back to April 2014 when they won by eight points at the MCG. In the interim, the teams have only played three games at that venue, the last time being in August 2018. If we were to rely on history, the Demons could already claim the victory but unfortunately, things don’t work that way.

However, I do know that in their last meeting at the Suns’ headquarters, they smashed the home team who were strongly favoured to win and therefore, I’m going for the underdogs to withstand the pressure of the past week and to win by 25 points.

THE GAME

Melbourne vs Gold Coast Suns at the MCG Saturday 29 March 2025 at 1.20pm

HEAD TO HEAD

Overall - Melbourne 15 wins Gold Coast Suns 3 wins
At the MCG - Melbourne 5 wins Gold Coast Suns 2 wins
Past five matches - Melbourne 5 wins Gold Coast Suns 0 wins
The Coaches - Goodwin 1 win Hardwick 0 wins

THE LAST TIME THEY MET

Melbourne 18.9.117 defeated Gold Coast Suns 9.9.63 at People First Stadium, Round 23 2024

A weakened Melbourne team, despondent after four defeats in a row, travelled north to a place where no team from out of the state had conquered the Suns during the season and despite the fact that they were on the nose form wise and many of their stars were out, the Demons were far too composed for a disjointed home side and won by nine goals with Jack Viney and Ed Langdon starring and the young tall key forwards finding some connection with the dominant midfielders who kept them well fed all game long.

THE TEAMS

MELBOURNE

B B. Howes, S. May, C. Salem
HB T. Rivers, H. Petty, J. Bowey
C E. Langdon, C. Oliver, X. Lindsay
HF J. Henderson, A. Johnson, H. Sharp
F B. Fritsch, J. van Rooyen, T. Sparrow
FOLL M. Gawn, C. Petracca, J. Viney
I/C J. Billings, K. Chandler, H. Langford, T. McDonald SUB J. Melksham
EMG R. Mentha Jr, O. Sestan, D. Turner

IN J. Billings, A. Johnson, H. Langford, S. May, J. Melksham

OUT M. Jefferson (hand), J. Lever (ankle), C. Spargo (concussion), D. Turner (omitted), T. Woewodin (omitted)

GOLD COAST SUNS

B M. Andrew, W. Powell, S. Collins
HB J. Noble, B. Uwland, D. Rioli
C L. Weller, M. Rowell, S. Clohesy
HF W. Graham, J. Walter, T. Miller
F B. King, S. Flanders, E. Read
FOLL J. Witts, B. Humphrey, N. Anderson
I/C C. Budarick, N. Holman, B. Long, J. Jeffrey SUB J. Rogers
EMG A. Sexton, N. Moyle, C. Graham

IN M. Andrew, S. Flanders, J. Walter

OUT B. Ainsworth (quad), C. Ballard (knee), A. Sexton (omitted)

Injury & Suspension List: Round 3

[player, injury or suspension, estimated return]

Jake Lever — ankle / test

Steven May — larynx / test

Jake Melksham — hamstring / test

Marty Hore — calf / TBC

Kysaiah Pickett — suspended / 1 week

Matt Jefferson — hand / 1 - 2 weeks

Caleb Windsor — foot / 1 - 2 weeks

Jai Culley — foot / 2 - 3 weeks

Judd McVee — hamstring / 2 - 3 weeks

Koltyn Tholstrup — back / 2 - 3 weeks