The Charles Dickens novel, A Tale of Two Cities, opens with, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, …” 

This phrase highlights many of the significant challenges that humanity encounters in life, ranging from experiencing remarkable highs to living in times of despair. This is a concept that should resonate with all supporters of the Melbourne Football Club this morning as they reflect on its comprehensive 83-point victory over the struggling West Coast Eagles at Marvel Stadium. The outcome proved beyond doubt that they are the worst of clubs and that we are the best of the worst.

One way of looking at this is that it’s not all darkness and despair for the Dees given their recent performances under the roof of Marvel Stadium, where they have won seven of their last eight quarters by a combined total of over twenty goals. 

The disappointing aspect of this was that final term against St Kilda, when they infamously flushed victory down the toilet with half an hour of abysmal play to produce one of the worst collapses a team can experience in any sporting contest. In the cold, hard light of day, that’s water under the bridge of the river that flows near the Marvel Stadium. 

The game provided fans with a fascinating glimpse into the club's current standing. On one hand, it relies heavily on seasoned veterans, led by Captain Max Gawn and his deputy Jack Viney, two dedicated servants of the club who must have endured immense emotional pain following the debacle six days prior. 

It was Max and Jack who led the way from the safe but somewhat shaky start through a record breaking third quarter that ensured there would be no repeat of last week’s disaster. 

Max has all but assured himself of a record-equaling 8th All Australian guernsey with yet another standout performance. This time it came via his 29 hit out, 21 possession, eight mark, nine intercepts, game (and a goal!) game. He might yet have to share the honour with former Demon Brodie Grundy while the club’s tormenter from last week has a mammoth offer on the table for a player many would consider not in the top five in the ruck category. 

Jack celebrated passing his old man’s games milestone with yet another display of true grit, determination and resilience (20 of his 25 possessions were contested!), playing with a broken bone in his wrist.

The old guard of experienced lieutenants all stood with them - notably Clayton Oliver, Bayley Fritsch (four goals), the Christians, Petracca and Salem and a couple of real old dogs in Tom McDonald and Jake Melksham. 

The best is that the club still retains a wealth of experience. The worst is that this is scary because they won’t be around forever.

The other hand contains a smattering of still young veterans of a previous campaign that’s rapidly moving into the distant past mixed in with some promising and hopefully, up-and-coming youth. Think Kozzy Pickett, Trent Rivers, Jake Bowey, Jacob van Rooyen, Daniel Turner, Caleb Windsor, Harvey Langford, Blake Howes, Judd McVee and new boy Jai Culley living his dream against his old club. And there’s more there coming through the ranks.

Mention has to be made of Kozzy who has lifted a notch since renewing his vows with the club and extending his contract (and I’m still trying to work out how and why he was sitting on the bench for so long last week while Wanganeen-Milera snatched that complimentary Grill’d Hamburger for a Demons win from my mouth but, as I said, that’s water under the bridge).

You might say that there’s a modicum of rose-coloured glasses in my analysis but the comparison was raised last week with Collingwood’s embarrassing season in the Melbourne premiership year of 2021 when the Pies were among the worst of the worst. Twelve months later they finished in the top four and another twelve months later, they were the best of the best. 

MELBOURNE 3.5.23 6.7.43 16.9.105 21.13.139 

WEST COAST EAGLES 1.2.8 3.3.21 6.6.42 8.8.56

GOALS

MELBOURNE Fritsch 4 Langford Petty 3 Culley van Rooyen 2, Culley 2 Chandler Gawn Langdon Melksham Petracca Rivers Viney

WEST COAST EAGLES Cripps 2 Brockman Chesser Maric Reid Ryan Shanahan

BEST

MELBOURNE Gawn Viney Pickett Petracca, Oliver Fritsch 

WEST COAST EAGLES Maric McCarthy Kelly Ginbey Cole

INJURIES

MELBOURNE Nil

WEST COAST EAGLES Nil

REPORTS 

MELBOURNE Nil

WEST COAST EAGLES Nil

SUBSTITUTIONS 

MELBOURNE Harry Sharp replaced Jake Melksham in the fourth quarter

WEST COAST EAGLES Hamish Davis replaced Tyrell Dewar in the fourth quarter

UMPIRES Nicholas Brown Paul Rebeschini Matthew Young Harrison Birch 

CROWD 16,394 at Marvel Stadium 

The club may wish to take heed of Dickens elsewhere...

"The most important thing in life is to stop saying 'i wish' and start saying 'I will'

Bringing together literary openings allusions, (in)famous horribleness, and a possible glimpse into the post-season...

"It was a dark and stormy night..."

The disappointment of the season would dissipate if we could beat Collingwood in the last round of the season and knock them out of the top four, force them into a sudden death elimination final against the Bulldogs and for them to lose that by a point.

A favourite line from Cheers after Frasier did the “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” quote came from Norm, along the lines of “Well, which one was it?”