THE PENULTIMATE – TWO VIEWS

ON THE SPOT by Melon 22 (from Subiaco)

We knew from the outset that it would be a rough day at the office for Melbourne against Fremantle at Subiaco on Saturday. For starters, the team was already ravaged by injury having lost six players from the side that played in David Neitz’ 300th game against Collingwood at the MCG eight days earlier. Matthew Bate (corked thigh), Daniel Bell (back), Aaron Davey (knee hamstring), Ben Holland (shoulder), James McDonald (shoulder) and Paul Wheatley (calf) were all missing and were replaced by Cameron Bruce, Simon Buckley, Chris Johnson, Paul Johnson, Brad Miller and Daniel Ward. It’s a tough ask to expect a cohesive four quarter team effort when there is so much dislocation within the ranks of the team.

Melbourne opened well and put in a very good first quarter effort with some strong, persistent football that was effective and brought excellent results on the scoreboard to get the home side and its supporters flustered and frustrated. The main reason for the encouraging start was the constant pressure, especially when the ball was in the forward line. Byron Pickett was the main antagonist at this stage. Jeff White was dominating the ruck against young Warnock of the Dockers and this allowed the Dees to get first hands on the ball and maintain some forward momentum in the game. A couple of lucky umpiring decisions went their way and this gave it a nice buffer which they should have capitalised upon.

However, all of the hard work was ruined by some concentration lapses in the final minute of the term when Fremantle kicked a couple of late goals to draw level at the break. The change in momentum proved to be significant and fatal for the Melbourne cause.

From the beginning of the second quarter, the Demons were on the defensive and everything turned south for them following a couple of early goals to Fremantle. The injuries may be one thing but the lack of accountability of the midfield and the backline players was quite staggering at times. The result was that the team was completely demolished by thirty minutes of insipid football.

There were players who seemed to be standing there watching the ball and the game go by them as if they where in some kind of twilight zone. Good pieces of play were ruined by laziness and sloppiness, poor disposal and bad decision-making and only a handful of players seemed to be angry or upset about their errors and their poor performance; most looked resigned to the fact of losing.

After the main break, it took a bit of aggression from the big skip in David Neitz for Melbourne to start to awaken from its slumber. There were a couple of fights, a bit of aggro and goals resulted. For a while the Demons appeared hungry again: the midfield tightened up and went in harder at the ball. Unfortunately, they did not make the most of the period when they held the ascendancy and some wayward kicking for goal hurt when the Dockers counterattacked and kicked a few quick unanswered goals.

That was the cue for the Demons to revert to their old ways and it was soon a case of game over. To top off a miserable day for them, Neita went down with a knee injury halfway through the last quarter, leaving the team devoid of any leadership.

Brad Green and Brock McLean worked their backsides off but had few helpers who would go beyond a few individual efforts. Jeff White dominated the rucks but the Fremantle midfield took advantage of many of the hit outs. Russell Robertson showed some class with a few goals but he too, looks to be suffering from the ravages of a tough season.

Hopefully, the club's next visit to Western Australia will see a new coach and a new invigorated team that is prepared to commit itself for 100% of the game and not just a part.

FROM A DISTANCE by Whispering Jack (from the discomfort of his own lounge room watching on Fox Sports 1)

I feel a lot of empathy for racing officials as they scramble to save their industry in the face of the equine flu epidemic. At least they have had the good sense to cancel all race meetings in horse racing's equivalent of the mercy rule. I think the AFL should follow suit in order to save the integrity of its own competition as well.

The mercy rule is used in some sports to end a contest prematurely as in when one of the teams has no chance of winning or even producing any meaningful result. After watching the rump of Melbourne's list go through the motions on the other side of the continent I can only say that it should have been applied to the Demons' season a couple of weeks ago at the very least.

I take no comfort from the fact that Melbourne has an excuse of sorts for its shameful on-field exhibitions in that its injury toll grows with every passing game. The lack of application by the team and the shambolic performance after establishing a two goal lead late in the first quarter was a disgrace.

The ensuing weeks and months will provide us with answers to many vexing questions. Questions such as who will win the flag, who will coach the Demons next, which players will be delisted, traded and recruited. On a wider scale, there is the question of who will lead the country and, at a more mundane level, whether we will get a public holiday in November if there's no Melbourne Cup?

But for now, I wonder what could have been done to spare us from what happened yesterday at Subiaco and whether there's anything that can spare us from what will happen next Sunday at the MCG when Melbourne takes on another basket case in Carlton. Paradoxically, neither of those clubs sits at the bottom of the AFL ladder because Richmond has been going through an even worse season although the Tigers are starting to show some signs of an awakening.

And strangely enough, there are fears in some quarters that this Melbourne team could actually open as the favourite next week because it is playing against a side that is not expected to even try to seek victory. There are supporters of both sides who care more about losing than winning because the long term gain from defeat is greater than the last home and away game of the season. On the other hand, there are some who will even refuse to go the game because of the farcical situation that has developed around it.

Those very thoughts are real and they constitute an utter blight on our game.

Melbourne 5.4.34 6.7.43 9.13.67 12.13.85

Fremantle 5.4.34 14.6.90 18.7.115 22.12.144

Goals

Melbourne Robertson 3 Green Neitz 2 Bode Ferguson Miller Newton Pickett

Fremantle McPharlin 5 Farmer Pavlich 3 Foster Peake 2 Bell J Carr Gilmore McManus Mundy Solomon Tarrant

Best

Melbourne Green McLean Jones Pickett Sylvia White

Fremantle Bell Mundy McPharlin Pavlich Solomon Gilmore Farmer

Team changes

Melbourne Nil

Fremantle Headland replaced in selected side by Schammer Black replaced in selected side by Foster

Injuries

Fremantle Nil

Melbourne Neitz (right knee) Sylvia (abdominal strain)

Reports Nil

Umpires Donlon Farmer Nicholls

Crowd 34,549 at Subiaco Oval