Demonland

Casey Scorpions just hold on to beat Essendon in Round 1 VFL clash

The stats of goalkickers and best players didn't come from the same article.

From the Leader newspapers - Casey Scorpions just hold on to beat Essendon in Round 1 VFL clash

In the absence of a Casey writer at present, here’s the Fairfax report of Essendon v Casey Scorpions Jack Trengove impresses in close win by Casey Scorpions Casey Scorpions 0.5.5 4.8.32 6.12.48 12.14.86 Essendon 1.2.8 4.7.31 4.10.34 11.14.80 Goals Casey Scorpions Best 3 Blease Jetta 2 Clisby McKenzie Page Smith Trengove Essendon Jetta 3 Merrett 2 Aylett Dell'Olio Fantasia Kefford Mellington Tagliabue Best Casey Scorpions Jetta McKenzie Davis Clisby Best Page Essendon Aylett McLeod Edwards Jetta Dell'Olio Van Unen Possessions: McKenzie 31 Nicholson 29 Clisby 28 Davis Panozza 19

Where do I collect my trophy?

For the first time in ages, we have a name other than Nathan Jones as our leader. Dom Tyson is a real revelation in our gloomy season thus far. 42. Dom Tyson 31. Nathan Jones 25. Lynden Dunn 17. Jack Watts 14. Jeremy Howe 12. Daniel Cross Tom McDonald 8. Bernie Vince 6. Alexis Georgiou Jimmy Toumpas 3. Matt Jones Dean Terlich Jack Trengove 2. Shannon Byrnes James Frawley 1. Cam Pedersen A poster asked last week how the votes were calculated. We take three sets of votes at random and tally them up each week.

We should be thankful for small mercies but the amazing statistic from Melbourne's visit to rain-drenched Spotless Stadium was that the team recorded its highest goal tally for the season - a measly 7 goals for the game. The significant number for the day however, was 79 - the number of hit outs recorded by the Giants' ruckmen as against Melbourne's 37, less than half of what Shane Mumford and co produced. In conditions where you need ruck domination to win the ball out of packs and stoppages, Mumford had 60 to Jake Spencer's 25. The Snake had very little assistance. Jack Fitzpatrick was no help at all with four hit outs: even Daniel Cross managed more with five. The differential goes a fair way to explaining why the Demons lost. Since the Melbourne forwards started keeling over like flies in a Mortein storm, the mantra has been that no forwards means no scoring power, translating into defeat. Well that was evident again but this time the club's lack of ruck power was more of a factor than anything else. With Mark Jamar back playing at Casey but on restricted time for the sake of conservative treatment for one who has been troubled heavily with injury of late, Max Gawn hamstrung and Mitch Clark's connections possibly looking at an exit strategy, the ruck cupboard is bare when you have to rely on a hardworking but limited big man in Spencil. The club worked hard to add to its midfield depth over the draft/trade period - it would have done well to find a big man like Mummy who it missed out on when he crossed to the Swans from Geelong a few years ago. But that's spilt milk and there's enough of around the club to cry over so why start with the tears now? At least the Demons got good drive in the middle from Dom Tyson and Bernie Vince but they were battling uphill in the conditions where the opposition rucks were giving their direct opponents an armchair ride. GWS won the clearances handsomely. Coach Paul Roos lived up to his promise to change the team around. James Frawley and Lynden Dunn went to the forward line but the conditions and Melbourne's scrappy disposal didn't help matters. After a low scoring scrumfest worthy of a second or third grade amateur contest, there was a brief ray of light in the third term when a Jack Watts goal briefly gave the Demons the lead. Then somebody turned of the lights and the natural order returned to see the team succumb for its twelfth consecutive defeat. Somewhere in the background I could swear I heard the ghost of Mark Neeld mumble something about a reality bus. Melbourne 0.2.2 1.5.11 5.5.35 7.5.47 GWS Giants 1.2.8 2.7.19 5.12.42 10.19.79 Goals MelbourneDunn Watts 2 Frawley Kent M Jones GWS Giants Cameron Kelly Patton 2 Coniglio Mumford Smith Treloar Best Melbourne Tyson Dunn Cross Vince McDonald GWS Giants Mumford Ward Treloar Bugg Shaw Kelly Changes Melbourne Nil GWS Giants Nil Injuries Melbourne Nil GWS Giants Nil Reports Melbourne Nil GWS Giants Nil Umpires Ben Ryan Simon Meredith Ray Chamberlain Attendance 7,016 at Spotless Stadium

SMALL MERCIES by JVM We should be thankful for small mercies but the amazing statistic from Melbourne's visit to rain-drenched Spotless Stadium was that the team recorded its highest goal tally for the season - a measly 7 goals for the game. The significant number for the day however, was 79 - the number of hit outs recorded by the Giants' ruckmen as against Melbourne's 37, less than half of what Shane Mumford and co produced. In conditions where you need ruck domination to win the ball out of packs and stoppages, Mumford had 60 to Jake Spencer's 25. The Snake had very little assistance. Jack Fitzpatrick was no help at all with four hit outs: even Daniel Cross managed more with five. The differential goes a fair way to explaining why the Demons lost. Since the Melbourne forwards started keeling over like flies in a Mortein storm, the mantra has been that no forwards means no scoring power, translating into defeat. Well that was evident again but this time the club's lack of ruck power was more of a factor than anything else. With Mark Jamar back playing at Casey but on restricted time for the sake of conservative treatment for one who has been troubled heavily with injury of late, Max Gawn hamstrung and Mitch Clark's connections possibly looking at an exit strategy, the ruck cupboard is bare when you have to rely on a hardworking but limited big man in Spencil. The club worked hard to add to its midfield depth over the draft/trade period - it would have done well to find a big man like Mummy who it missed out on when he crossed to the Swans from Geelong a few years ago. But that's spilt milk and there's enough of around the club to cry over so why start with the tears now? At least the Demons got good drive in the middle from Dom Tyson and Bernie Vince but they were battling uphill in the conditions where the opposition rucks were giving their direct opponents an armchair ride. GWS won the clearances handsomely. Coach Paul Roos lived up to his promise to change the team around. James Frawley and Lynden Dunn went to the forward line but the conditions and Melbourne's scrappy disposal didn't help matters. After a low scoring scrumfest worthy of a second or third grade amateur contest, there was a brief ray of light in the third term when a Jack Watts goal briefly gave the Demons the lead. Then somebody turned of the lights and the natural order returned to see the team succumb for its twelfth consecutive defeat. Somewhere in the background I could swear I heard the ghost of Mark Neeld mumble something about a reality bus. Melbourne 0.2.2 1.5.11 5.5.35 7.5.47 GWS Giants 1.2.8 2.7.19 5.12.42 10.19.79 Goals MelbourneDunn Watts 2 Frawley Kent M Jones GWS Giants Cameron Kelly Patton 2 Coniglio Mumford Smith Treloar Best Melbourne Tyson Dunn Cross Vince McDonald GWS Giants Mumford Ward Treloar Bugg Shaw Kelly Changes Melbourne Nil GWS Giants Nil Injuries Melbourne Nil GWS Giants Nil Reports Melbourne Nil GWS Giants Nil Umpires Ben Ryan Simon Meredith Ray Chamberlain Attendance 7,016 at Spotless Stadium

Your votes please ...

Is it just me or does the AFL Dreamteam app really suck this year? You can't see your opponents team and they aren't doing the whole projected score thing so you can't see how your team shapes up against your opponent. Very disappointing.

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Some would call this our most humiliating loss of the season. GWS GIANTS Backs Phil Davis Joshua Bruce Curtly Hampton Half backs Nicholas Haynes Tim Mohr Zachary Williams Centreline Dylan Shiel Adam Treloar Lachie Whitfield Half forwards Jeremy Cameron Adam Tomlinson Mark Whiley Forwards Devon Smith Dean Brogan Tomas Bugg Followers Jonathan Giles Callan Ward Tom Scully Interchange Taylor Adams Stephen Coniglio Toby Greene Adam Kennedy Emergencies Sam Darley Stephen Gilham Nathan Wilson In Stephen Coniglio Lachie Whitfield Out Sam Darley Will Hoskin-Elliott (concussion) MELBOURNE Backs Lynden Dunn Cameron Pedersen Dean Terlich Half backs Colin Garland Tom McDonald Mitch Clisby Centreline Jack Viney Jack Trengove Jack Grimes Half forwards Matt Jones Jack Watts Jeremy Howe Forwards Dean Kent Max Gawn Jack Fitzpatrick Followers Jake Spencer Colin Sylvia Nathan Jones Interchange Shannon Byrnes Aaron Davey Luke Tapscott Jimmy Toumpas Emergencies Troy Davis Jordie McKenzie Daniel Nicholson In Colin Garland Jake Spencer Dean Terlich Out Sam Blease Chris Dawes (calf) James Frawley (hamstring) Chris Dawes with a calf injury - how unusual is that?

DEVIL OF A TIME by Whispering Jack The keynote speaker at last night's annual Devil's Advocates dinner was former Demon champion David Schwarz. Most of us know of his exploits on the field in his playing days and how he overcame adversity and the depths of three knee reconstructions to win a club best and fairest and play in a grand final and many would also be aware of how, with the help of his wife, he overcame a gambling addiction that sent him broke and even had him in the grip of criminal elements. Listening to him speak mainly of the latter and of his determination to repay his debts and to resurrect his life reminded me very much of the task his former club now faces to regain its rightful position among other clubs and the message is that the situation is not hopeless. The same story was reinforced by the other speakers starting with club chairman Glen Bartlett who started in football in Western Australia, who suffered a ruptured kidney playing in the WAFL in 1985 and recovered to make it all the way to the Eagles' inaugural list. Bartlett had a similar injury to that of GWS' Phil Davis who recently contacted him to discuss ways of overcoming this serious ailment. Bartlett's AFL career was brief - he was delisted after one year of his three year contract but took on the club in the industrial relations system to successfully win compensation but not reinstatement. He bounced back to have a good enough WAFL career that he was drafted by Brisbane. Later, he found his way to Melbourne and a top legal firm. He says he is at the club for the long haul if the members will have him and describes this journey as one that requires us to keep the faith. He reflects that the club has come a long way off the field in a short time in terms of building new partnerships with sponsors, acquiring new football staff including coaches and the players recruited over the off season. We now need to show resilience, courage and patience. Despite the early setbacks, there are a lot of positives about the club and Bartlett is confident we're on the right track. One of the new coaches is George Stone whose record at one stage was six premierships in nine seasons as an assistant at successful clubs in Hawthorn and Sydney. He told of how he started as a runner to the legendary "Yabby" Jeans who once likened the role of runner to a piano player in a brothel. "Son, you're where the action is, but you're not really a part of it". Like the other speakers, Stone expressed confidence in Paul Roos' ability to turn things around, the club's current situation with its lack of forwards will change and players will learn and develop. The club is starting with a blank canvas and Stone is confident that we will see progress over time. When asked whether Roos would have drafted Buddy Franklin were he still at Sydney, he said probably not because of Roos' emphasis on team play and not individuality. It's good teams that win premierships and he that this can be fulfilled at Melbourne but not without a lot of hard work and an ounce of luck. Auctioneer Phil Kingston of Gary Peer & Associates, a loyal Demon fan and a top operator in the south eastern suburbs emphasised the message of the speakers but added that money was important as well as all of the other things that had been spoken about on the night. He proceeded to auction a number of items including a magnificent framed picture of the 1956 premiership team and his efforts helped make the night a financial success. Considering the week the club has gone through, the turnout for the evening was great. Demon fans from various areas of the legal system were on hand - judges, barristers, solicitors, court personnel and academics were all on hand. One of the guests was human rights commissioner, Tim Wilson. Board member John Trotter was there as were former club chairman Paul Gardner, former board members Karen Hayes and Michael Givoni, barrister Bob Miller who played in the 60s and of course Bev O'Connor who brightened up the evening with a sterling job as master of ceremonies. Chris Dawes, the grandson of the late Chief Justice Sir John Young was there (I think he might be back earlier than some reports this week have suggested) along with Michael "Pickles" Evans, a law student who has also overcome some major injury woes himself and is on the cusp of selection into the Melbourne team. And there we have it ... a night where the theme was one of coming back from adversity. The Ox's story of starting out as a 15 year old Hawthorn fan training with the Under 19s (he was still a member of the Hawks' cheer squad when he made his senior debut at 18), speaking of his appreciation for the Melbourne Football Club which helped him escape from the ordinary life of Sunbury to an AFL career, to the lows of a gambling addiction and the help of his wife, friends and his contacts at Melbourne which helped him rise to overcome his hardships, repay his debts and take a place in society with a family, a home and in a far better place than the one which he once occupied. The narrative is one of recovery through determination and hard effort and is the very story we hope to relive at the Melbourne Football Club in the near future. Thanks to Devil's Advocates convenor Ralph Glezer for putting the night together again and for all those who contributed and showed that their is a way out of the despair of last Sunday's loss. It's now up to the coaches and the players to get it done on the field. Two former MFC Board Members taking in the atmosphere at last night's Devil's Advocate Dinner

WJ's report is here and we hope to bring you some photgraphic evidence of the growing relationship between Redleg and the lovely Bev at some stage.

THE GAME GWS Giants v Melbourne at Spotless Stadium Sunday 6 April, 2014 at 1.10 pm HEAD TO HEAD Overall GWS Giants 1 win Melbourne 3 wins At Spotless Stadium GWS Giants 1 win Melbourne 0 wins Past five years GWS Giants 1 win Melbourne 3 wins The Coaches Cameron 0 wins Roos 0 wins MEDIA TV - Fox Footy Channel at 1.00 pm (live) RADIO - MMM 3AW SEN ABC ABC Grandstand THE BETTING GWS Giants to win - $1.30 Melbourne to win - $3.55 THE LAST TIME THEY MET GWS Giants 19.10.124 defeated Melbourne 12.15.87 This was Melbourne's ultimate day of shame among many for the club in 2013. The previously winless Giants ran the Demons ragged in a game in which only Nathan Jones looked adequate in the role of an AFL footballer. THE TEAMS GWS GIANTS B: Nick Haynes, Sam Frost, Curtly Hampton HB: Heath Shaw, Lachlan Plowman, Adam Kennedy C: Toby Greene, Adam Treloar, Tom Scully HF: Jacob Townsend, Jeremy Cameron, Dylan Addison F: Devon Smith, Jonathan Giles, Jonathan Patton Foll: Shane Mumford, Stephen Coniglio, Callan Ward I/C: Tomas Bugg, Will Hoskin-Elliott, Josh Hunt, Josh Kelly EMG: Jed Lamb, Adam Tomlinson, Zachary Williams In: Will Hoskin-Elliot Out: Lachlan Whitfield (Inj) MELBOURNE B: Alex Georgiou, James Frawley, Lynden Dunn HB: Jack Grimes, Tom McDonald, Dean Terlich C: Daniel Cross, Bernie Vince, Jack Watts HF: Matt Jones, Jack Fitzpatrick, Jack Viney F: Jeremy Howe, Cam Pedersen, Rohan Bail FOLL: Jake Spencer, Nathan Jones, Dom Tyson I/C: Shannon Byrnes, Michael Evans, Jay Kennedy-Harris, Dean Kent EMG: Dom Barry, Sam Blease, Jack Trengove IN: Michael Evans, Dean Kent, Jack Viney OUT: Viv Michie, Jimmy Toumpas, Jack Trengove INSIDE OUT It would seem that if you want to properly preview a match involving the Demons then you need to know all about the club from inside out. The complexities of a playing group that has been whacked around the park, hit by injuries and publicly whipped by a series of media feeding frenzies are breathtaking in their scope but it's not hard to fathom why this team performs as it does or to figure out that it doesn't take much to push this team past the tipping point. "I knew". That was the simple response I got from Supporter X who I met this week and who, a month ago on the weekend after Melbourne's relatively respectable loss to Geelong, told me that the club was in for far greater pain this year than last. Supporter X is one of those negative types for whom the world is always ending tomorrow. He says that he knew back then that the injuries to the club's talls were more serious than the official version, that Mitch Clark's problems ran deeper than ongoing soft tissue injuries in the wake of his recovery from the Lisfranc injury and that certain players are not as particularly committed to the cause as we would like. Whether he had inside information or was guessing, the team's insipid performance from the get go last week allowed him to command the bragging rights of the day. Still, it's not that difficult to work out because Melbourne has developed a formidable track record of total collapse under pressure (and even sometimes not under pressure) in recent times. I heard one alarming statistic during the week that in the period from 2007 to the present Melbourne has lost 21 games by 75 points or more - a figure that tells a disastrous story and a tale that covers the tenure of a number of coaches (including a few fill ins and now the incumbent). This makes last week's walloping part of a long series of telling blows to the psyche, startling with the year of the coaching demise of Neale Daniher to Dean Bailey's opening couple of games to his last, through Mark Neeld's many lows, to the day at Etihad last year when North Melbourne carried out the ritual slaughter of a team that had shown signs of improvement for a few weeks under Neil Craig. And now, round 2 of last week. You have to ask yourself what is wrong with this lot that they are so week, mentally and physically and perhaps morally judging by the lack of apparent effort and desire to chase just four minutes into the game as was demonstrated last week? This is the enormity of the challenge that faces coach Paul Roos who promised something different this week. He could easily have axed ten players for this week's game but only dropped three. He foreshadowed a number of positional changes and one suspects that he will need to deliver if he is to turn things around against a young enthusiastic GWS Giants who start Sunday's game at Spotless Stadium with the rare distinction for that club of being the firm favourite after beating the Swans at the same venue in round 1 and missing out narrowly last week to the Saints. The three players who were dropped were among quite a few who ran as slowly as treacle last week and they have been replaced with a trio of youngsters who all have a pulse - Michael Evans, Dean Kent and Jack Viney. In the case of the latter, he has the same take no prisoner attitude as co-skipper Nathan Jones and while it's unfair that you need to rely on a 19 year old to set an example of courage, toughness and sheer mongrel, this kid has it. If only that attitude could rub off on the rest of the group, this game would be a cakewalk. There's no doubt that Melbourne's midfield is well on the way to being fixed with the advent of Bernie Vince, Dom Tyson and Daniel Cross to join Nathan Jones and Viney. The problem is the forward line and the question of who Roos throws into the mix up there. One thing for sure is that it can't be left vacant as it has been in the opening two rounds that have yielded an aggregate of 81 points which is barely enough to eclipse Hawthorn's half time score against last year's runners up Fremantle. The big if is whether Roos' promised changed forward set up can generate scoring opportunities that become goals and not missed points or failures to convert as has been the norm over the past fortnight. No more fumbles, no more turnovers and some more direct football would be nice. Despite the humiliation of last week, I still have a glimmer of hope for this lot, mainly because of the belief I have in Paul Roos, his band of assistants and those working in the background at the club. I think back to George Stone's recounting of the story of the piano player in the brothel from this week's Devil's Advocates Dinner and wonder if and when the Demons will become part of the action action again. Something tells me that even if he doesn't turn the team inside out, Roos' action in the form of the changes made at selection and on the field might just do the trick for this week at least. Melbourne by 1 point.

DEVIL OF A TIME by Whispering Jack The keynote speaker at last night's annual Devil's Advocates dinner was former Demon champion David Schwarz. Most of us know of his exploits on the field in his playing days and how he overcame adversity and the depths of three knee reconstructions to win a club best and fairest and play in a grand final and many would also be aware of how, with the help of his wife, he overcame a gambling addiction that sent him broke and even had him in the grip of criminal elements. Listening to him speak mainly of the latter and of his determination to repay his debts and to resurrect his life reminded me very much of the task his former club now faces to regain its rightful position among other clubs and the message is that the situation is not hopeless. The same story was reinforced by the other speakers starting with club chairman Glen Bartlett who started in football in Western Australia, who suffered a ruptured kidney playing in the WAFL in 1985 and recovered to make it all the way to the Eagles' inaugural list. Bartlett had a similar injury to that of GWS' Phil Davis who recently contacted him to discuss ways of overcoming this serious ailment. Bartlett's AFL career was brief - he was delisted after one year of his three year contract but took on the club in the industrial relations system to successfully win compensation but not reinstatement. He bounced back to have a good enough WAFL career that he was drafted by Brisbane. Later, he found his way to Melbourne and a top legal firm. He says he is at the club for the long haul if the members will have him and describes this journey as one that requires us to keep the faith. He reflects that the club has come a long way off the field in a short time in terms of building new partnerships with sponsors, acquiring new football staff including coaches and the players recruited over the off season. We now need to show resilience, courage and patience. Despite the early setbacks, there are a lot of positives about the club and Bartlett is confident we're on the right track. One of the new coaches is George Stone whose record at one stage was six premierships in nine seasons as an assistant at successful clubs in Hawthorn and Sydney. He told of how he started as a runner to the legendary "Yabby" Jeans who once likened the role of runner to a piano player in a brothel. "Son, you're where the action is, but you're not really a part of it". Like the other speakers, Stone expressed confidence in Paul Roos' ability to turn things around, the club's current situation with its lack of forwards will change and players will learn and develop. The club is starting with a blank canvas and Stone is confident that we will see progress over time. When asked whether Roos would have drafted Buddy Franklin were he still at Sydney, he said probably not because of Roos' emphasis on team play and not individuality. It's good teams that win premierships and he that this can be fulfilled at Melbourne but not without a lot of hard work and an ounce of luck. Auctioneer Phil Kingston of Gary Peer & Associates, a loyal Demon fan and a top operator in the south eastern suburbs emphasised the message of the speakers but added that money was important as well as all of the other things that had been spoken about on the night. He proceeded to auction a number of items including a magnificent framed picture of the 1956 premiership team and his efforts helped make the night a financial success. Considering the week the club has gone through, the turnout for the evening was great. Demon fans from various areas of the legal system were on hand - judges, barristers, solicitors, court personnel and academics were all on hand. One of the guests was human rights commissioner, Tim Wilson. Board member John Trotter was there as were former club chairman Paul Gardner, former board members Karen Hayes and Michael Givoni, barrister Bob Miller who played in the 60s and of course Bev O'Connor who brightened up the evening with a sterling job as master of ceremonies. Chris Dawes, the grandson of the late Chief Justice Sir John Young was there (I think he might be back earlier than some reports this week have suggested) along with Michael "Pickles" Evans, a law student who has also overcome some major injury woes himself and is on the cusp of selection into the Melbourne team. And there we have it ... a night where the theme was one of coming back from adversity. The Ox's story of starting out as a 15 year old Hawthorn fan training with the Under 19s (he was still a member of the Hawks' cheer squad when he made his senior debut at 18), speaking of his appreciation for the Melbourne Football Club which helped him escape from the ordinary life of Sunbury to an AFL career, to the lows of a gambling addiction and the help of his wife, friends and his contacts at Melbourne which helped him rise to overcome his hardships, repay his debts and take a place in society with a family, a home and in a far better place than the one which he once occupied. The narrative is one of recovery through determination and hard effort and is the very story we hope to relive at the Melbourne Football Club in the near future. Thanks to Devil's Advocates convenor Ralph Glezer for putting the night together again and for all those who contributed and showed that their is a way out of the despair of last Sunday's loss. It's now up to the coaches and the players to get it done on the field. Two former MFC Board Members taking in the atmosphere at last night's Devil's Advocate Dinner

I was thinking of making the player tinsy tiny so that I could fit the entire team. I might even include the rookies and bootstudders so that I don't offend any of the why isn't player x on there posters.

I agree. Neither Moloney nor Rivers can help us and aren't relevant to this discussion. Let's return to the topic unless someone from the club states we have no injured players at all at which time, I'll close the thread

Progressive Scores: 31. Nathan Jones 25. Dom Tyson 20. Lynden Dunn 16. Jack Watts 8. Bernie Vince 6. Jimmy Toumpas 5. Daniel Cross 3. Matt Jones Dean Terlich Jack Trengove 2. Shannon Byrnes James Frawley Please note again that you should always specify which Jones you are selecting if you pick those players to get votes.

CLEANING HOUSE by The Oracle The result of the game was pretty much expected after the coach spent the week explaining that his team was going to school and it would help if they did away with the scoreboard. The boys lived up to the coach's expectations playing like a year 10 remedial class against a collection of university graduates preparing to collect their PhD's - it was that much of a mismatch and, despite the coach's wishes it was nowhere more evident than on the ... ahem ... scoreboard. Melbourne was destroyed in the ruck duels by what is possibly the best ruck combination in the competition but then what would you expect when you're putting up possibly your fourth and fifth best big men and your upper echelon of talls are languishing in the infirmary? And once you're getting killed by the opposition out of the ruck, the next step is that you're getting slaughtered in the midfield and at the stoppages (not a single centre clearance in the first quarter) and before you can say Jay Kennedy-Harris, you're ten goals down at half time and the game has been well and truly lost. It was not all bad though because somehow, Melbourne finished with more disposals which means that the Demons were inefficient and wasteful and, as has been the case of late, unable to convert possession into score but at least they're getting their hands on the footy. No doubt, having a power forward or two on board would help but when a midfielder gets the ball and looks forward only to see a dwarf calling for the ball opposed to two decent sized defenders then ... well, um, you're going to hesitate and perhaps take the wrong option and turn the ball over and more than likely you'll end up kicking no more than an average of one goal per quarter. Come to think of it, that's exactly what happened. Still, it's no mean feat to finish with a possession count such as this in a 15 goal defeat (has that ever happened before?) whereas twelve months ago the different was -67. The reason is that the club has some better inside players in the midfield but is still are missing outside run and a forward line. Nathan Jones is getting better. Tyson, Vince and Cross have added to the midfield depth but they have no targets up forward, nor will they have them for the foreseeable future so the whole team will continue to be disfunctional until the Paul Roos broom cleans up the house. And that will definitely take time. Melbourne 0.1.1 1.3.9 2.4.16 4.6.30 West Coast 6.5.41 10.7.67 14.10.94 18.15.123 Goals Melbourne Byrnes 2 Kennedy-Harris Toumpas West Coast Kennedy 4 Darling 3 Le Cras Masten Shuey 2 Cripps Mackenzie Naitanui Sinclair Best N Jones Tyson Dunn Cross Toumpas Byrnes West Coast Kennedy Shuey Gaff Masten Priddis Cox Changes Melbourne Nil West Coast Nil Injuries Melbourne Michie (cut eye) West Coast Hurn (knee) Reports Melbourne Nil West Coast Nil UmpiresChris Donlon Sam Hay Shane McInerney Attendance 22,226 at the MCG.

The result of the game was pretty much expected after the coach spent the week explaining that his team was going to school and it would help if they did away with the scoreboard. The boys lived up to the coach's expectations playing like a year 10 remedial class against a collection of university graduates preparing to collect their PhD's - it was that much of a mismatch and, despite the coach's wishes it was nowhere more evident than on the ... ahem ... scoreboard. Melbourne was destroyed in the ruck duels by what is possibly the best ruck combination in the competition but then what would you expect when you're putting up possibly your fourth and fifth best big men and your upper echelon of talls are languishing in the infirmary? And once you're getting killed by the opposition out of the ruck, the next step is that you're getting slaughtered in the midfield and at the stoppages (not a single centre clearance in the first quarter) and before you can say Jay Kennedy-Harris, you're ten goals down at half time and the game has been well and truly lost. It was not all bad though because somehow, Melbourne finished with more disposals which means that the Demons were inefficient and wasteful and, as has been the case of late, unable to convert possession into score but at least they're getting their hands on the footy. No doubt, having a power forward or two on board would help but when a midfielder gets the ball and looks forward only to see a dwarf calling for the ball opposed to two decent sized defenders then ... well, um, you're going to hesitate and perhaps take the wrong option and turn the ball over and more than likely you'll end up kicking no more than an average of one goal per quarter. Come to think of it, that's exactly what happened. Still, it's no mean feat to finish with a possession count such as this in a 15 goal defeat (has that ever happened before?) whereas twelve months ago the different was -67. The reason is that the club has some better inside players in the midfield but is still are missing outside run and a forward line. Nathan Jones is getting better. Tyson, Vince and Cross have added to the midfield depth but they have no targets up forward, nor will they have them for the foreseeable future so the whole team will continue to be disfunctional until the Paul Roos broom cleans up the house. And that will definitely take time. Melbourne 0.1.1 1.3.9 2.4.16 4.6.30 West Coast 6.5.41 10.7.67 14.10.94 18.15.123 Goals Melbourne Byrnes 2 Kennedy-Harris Toumpas West Coast Kennedy 4 Darling 3 Le Cras Masten Shuey 2 Cripps Mackenzie Naitanui Sinclair Best N Jones Tyson Dunn Cross Toumpas Byrnes West Coast Kennedy Shuey Gaff Masten Priddis Cox Changes Melbourne Nil West Coast Nil Injuries Melbourne Michie (cut eye) West Coast Hurn (knee) Reports Melbourne Nil West Coast Nil UmpiresChris Donlon Sam Hay Shane McInerney Attendance 22,226 at the MCG.

Never in doubt.

FWIW

Anyone who attends Casey games and interested in writing match reports, please contact WJ or myself via PM. Cheers

Likewise.