WAKING UP by The Oracle

As the focus of the AFL moves exclusively to South Australia for Gather Round, the question is raised as to what are we going to get from the  Melbourne Football Club this weekend?

Will it be a repeat of the slop fest of the last three weeks that have seen the team score a measly 174 points and concede 310 or will a return to the City of Churches and the scene where they performed at their best in 2024 act as a wakeup call and bring them out of their early season reverie? 

Or will the sleepy Dees treat their fans to a reenactment of their lazy effort from the first Gather Round of two years ago when they allowed the Bombers to trample all over them on a soggy and wet Adelaide Oval?

The two examples from above tell us how fickle form can be in football. Last year, a committed group of players turned up in Adelaide with a businesslike mindset. They had a plan, went in confidently and hard for the football and kicked winning scores against both home teams in a difficult environment for visitors. And they repeated that sort of effort later in the season when they played Essendon at the MCG.

Unfortunately, performances like these went against the grain of what Melbourne has been producing from virtually midway through 2024 and extending right through to the present day.

This is a game between two clubs who have faltered over the past couple of years because their disposal efficiency is appalling. Neither of them can hit the side of a barn door but history tells us that every once in a while such teams have their lucky days or come up against an opponent in even worse shape and hence, one of them will come up trumps in this match.  Most likely, by default.

I certainly cannot say with confidence that it’s going to be Melbourne this week. Historically, I would have picked the Demons on the strength of a perceived midfield dominance starting with captain Max Gawn and the midfield genius of Clayton Oliver, Christian Petracca and Jack Viney. But they’re not in dominant form in the way they were three or four years ago.

And like the midfield, Melbourne’s defence which once was strong but now seems lost without having the benefit of the May/Lever combination together once this season and has been leaking like a sieve.

Essendon’s Nick Bryan and Sam Draper are combining well in the ruck and Zach Merrett is racking up disposals in the middle. If they can get on top and the Demons are unable to respond to the critical forward issues that they’ve been exposed to in recent times then it won’t be enough for them simply to win the ball out of the middle and from stoppages.

Most Demon fans have been hoping that the infusion of something new in the engine room being the likes of Trent Rivers, Kozzie Pickett, newcomer Harvey Langford and wingers like Ed Langdon and Caleb Windsor can add something new to the midfield that will allow the team to wake up from its slumber. Or perhaps by chance, a new face like Tom Fullarton who has been kicking goals at Casey, could add a point of difference to the forward line and bring it out of hibernation.

Sadly, my hopes have been building on a weekly basis but the reality never seems to match my expectations.

On this basis, I’m selecting Essendon to take home Melbourne’s scalp for a second time in the short history of Gather Round.

Bombers by 10 points.

THE GAME

Melbourne v Essendon at Adelaide Oval Saturday 12 April 2025 at 7.35pm

HEAD TO HEAD 

Overall Melbourne 87 wins Essendon 131 wins 2 draws
At Adelaide Oval Melbourne 0 wins Essendon 1 win 
The last five meetings Melbourne 4 wins Essendon 1 win
The Coaches Goodwin 1 win Scott 1 win

THE LAST TIME THEY MET 

Melbourne 13.6.84 defeated Essendon 10.7.67 at the MCG Round 18, 2024

It was a mighty effort in the rain at night on the MCG when Melbourne overcame the absence of big Max and beat the Bombers without a ruck presence, thanks mainly to the persistence and hard work of Ed Langdon, Trent Rivers and a battle-scarred Clarrie Oliver in a game where the Demons came to play and to fight hard for the win and fully deserved the four points when the final siren rang. They probably should have won by more than just 17 points.

THE TEAMS

MELBOURNE 

B J. Bowey, S. May, H. Petty

HB T. Rivers, T. McDonald, C. Salem

C K. Chandler, J. Viney, E. Langdon

HF J. Henderson, B. Fritsch, K. Pickett

F J. Melksham, J. Van Rooyen, C. Spargo

FOLL M. Gawn, C. Petracca, H. Langford

I/C X. Lindsay, C. Oliver, T. Sparrow, C. Windsor SUB H. Sharp

EMG J. Billings, T. Fullarton, D. Turner

ESSENDON

B A. McGrath, B. McKay, J. Ridley

HB M. Redman, Z. Reid, J. Prior

C X. Duursma, A. Perkins, A. Roberts

HF J. Gresham, N. Caddy, N. Martin

F H. Jones, S. Draper, I. Kako

FOLL N. Bryan, Z. Merrett, S. Durham

I/C B. Hobbs, J. Menzie, W. Setterfield, D. Shiel SUB S. El-Hawli

EMG A. Day-Wicks, L. Hayes, E. Tsatas

IN A. Perkins, W. SetterfielD

OUT J. Caldwell, T. Edwards

Injury List: Round 5

Luker Kentfield — illness / available 

Koltyn Tholstrup — back / available 

Matt Jefferson — hand / test

Xavier Lindsay — knee / test

Judd McVee — hamstring / 1 week

Tom Campbell — hamstring / 2 - 3 weeks

Marty Hore — calf / 5 - 7 weeks 

Jake Lever — ankle / 8 weeks 

Shane McAdam — Achilles / next season

Andy Moniz-Wakefield — knee / next season