Demonland

MEMORIAL by Whispering Jack When Thomas Wentworth Wills sat down to pen the rules for the new game of Australian Rules football he could have hardly imagined that he was setting the scene for the fiasco of a contest that would mark the 150th anniversary of the sport he invented and which was first played at Yarra Park, roughly in the same ball park as that which hosted last night's game between the game's first two clubs – Melbourne and Geelong. That first game lasted three weeks; last night's performance lasted two and a half hours but it seemed like three weeks. Fittingly, the two teams came out attired in the fashionable style of 19th century footballers but unfortunately for the hardy crowd of supporters who came to see the home side, their team played the game in a style much as you would expect from a bunch of half fit out of season cricketers from that era, while the visitors from across the bay, performed as a professional, well drilled outfit of the modern day. The gulf between the teams appeared to be exactly 150 years. On the evidence of this game, there was little wonder why the powers that be who run our sport decided to snub the historic occasion and fled instead to watch the Olympics in smog-filled Beijing. Ironical too, because back in the days when our game was being conceived, thousands of residents from that land were arriving in our own fledgling colony searching for new fortunes in the form of the gold that was being mined in the bushland outside Melbourne. History records that they didn't bother to embrace our sport in any great numbers. Perhaps they had a premonition about last night's game! To be fair, Geelong was not all that far from its full strength and is, after all, the raging favourite to win the premiership this year while Melbourne was young, inexperienced and a team that has been ravaged by injury over the past two years. There is no need to conduct a roll call of those missing from its best side to gain an appreciation of how deep a cut has been caused to the team's fibre by the numbers of those missing in action. Many of those who are left are lacking in body size and strength necessary to take on the best side in the land in the cold wet conditions that prevailed during the game. They need time. Plenty of time! The result was that Geelong managed to amass 24 goals to five on a damp night and almost held Melbourne scoreless for an entire first half which is not such an unusual result given that, for large slabs of that eminently forgettable hour, both sides seemed to be heading in the direction of the same goals. The difference was that the Cats were attacking theirs, while the Demons were aimlessly seeking to defend who knows what? The ultimate embarrassment came with Melbourne's first score – a point that was recorded 9 minutes into the second quarter as a result of a fumble across the goal line by Geelong defender Josh Hunt. The first goal from Austin Wonaeamirri came after a few squandered attempts. By then, the visitors had already booted their first ten and we were already 24 minutes and 13 seconds into the quarter. Along the way, Melbourne players committed every sin in the football handbook: they struggled to get the ball but when they did, they used it poorly, made some shocking decisions, they fumbled, dropped marks, kicked often directly to unmarked opponents, tackled without conviction and generally failed to man up on their opponents. On the other hand, Geelong's performance was sublime although, in effect, it was more of a training drill than a sporting contest and the 34,610 fans who braved the conditions would have a fair case for demanding their money back – even those who got in on freebies. AS for the umpires, they were able to match Melbourne pound for pound for ineptitude and incompetence. Thanks for putting the icing on the cake and reminding us of the bushranger heritage and tradition of our state, Messrs. Donlon, Kennedy and Ryan! What can one say about the oldest club in the world after a week in which it launched a massive fund raising campaign to save itself from extinction? The Demons have a difficult battle on their hands to right the ship both on and off the field but as far as their future as a team is concerned, there were still some faint glimpses of hope among the gloom of the night. Youngsters Addam Maric and Shane Valenti worked their butts off all evening against bigger, stronger and more experienced opponents and there was a lot to like from the displays of two young embattled defenders in Stefan Martin and James Frawley. Irrespective of the result, this game would have provided a learning experience for Bailey's young side that will hold it in good stead for years to come. If they can learn from the way in which Geelong found space, moved the ball to its advantage and never stopped running, then one day, the wheel will start turning for the Demons. It would be remiss of me to omit to mention the contribution of Matthew Whelan who was fantastic against the odds in defence. He set an example not only for his younger team mates but also for some of the veterans who are surely on their last legs at the club. Cameron Bruce, Nathan Carroll and Brad Green also worked hard against the odds. Last night's game was played in honour of Tom Wills and nicely ended a week in which alcohol tore apart one old football club and another went to its supporters with begging cup in hand to ensure its survival. Wills died in 1880, an isolated, destitute alcoholic, after stabbing himself in the heart. The scene that was played out yesterday evening at the MCG was therefore a fitting memorial to the most important Australian sportsman of the time. Melbourne 0.0.0 1.3.9 2.6.18 5.11.41 Geelong 8.5.53 12.7.79 19.10.124 24.13.157 Goals Melbourne Valenti 2 C Johnson P Johnson Wonaeamirri Geelong Lonergan Stokes 4 Prismall 3 G Ablett Bartel Ling Mackie 2 Blake Gamble S Johnson Mooney Selwood Best Melbourne Whelan Maric Martin Bruce Valenti Frawley Geelong Mackie Ling Selwood Corey Scarlett Prismall Injuries Melbourne McDonald (wrist) Wonaemirri (ankle) Geelong Blake (elbow) Reports Nil Changes Melbourne Jamar - ill replaced in selected side by White Umpires Donlon Kennedy Ryan Crowd 34,610 at the MCG

by Whispering Jack When Thomas Wentworth Wills sat down to pen the rules for the new game of Australian Rules football he could have hardly imagined that he was setting the scene for the fiasco of a contest that would mark the 150th anniversary of the sport he invented and which was first played at Yarra Park, roughly in the same ball park as that which hosted last night's game between the game's first two clubs – Melbourne and Geelong. That first game lasted three weeks; last night's performance lasted two and a half hours but it seemed like three weeks. Fittingly, the two teams came out attired in the fashionable style of 19th century footballers but unfortunately for the hardy crowd of supporters who came to see the home side, their team played the game in a style much as you would expect from a bunch of half fit out of season cricketers from that era, while the visitors from across the bay, performed as a professional, well drilled outfit of the modern day. The gulf between the teams appeared to be exactly 150 years. On the evidence of this game, there was little wonder why the powers that be who run our sport decided to snub the historic occasion and fled instead to watch the Olympics in smog-filled Beijing. Ironical too, because back in the days when our game was being conceived, thousands of residents from that land were arriving in our own fledgling colony searching for new fortunes in the form of the gold that was being mined in the bushland outside Melbourne. History records that they didn't bother to embrace our sport in any great numbers. Perhaps they had a premonition about last night's game! To be fair, Geelong was not all that far from its full strength and is, after all, the raging favourite to win the premiership this year while Melbourne was young, inexperienced and a team that has been ravaged by injury over the past two years. There is no need to conduct a roll call of those missing from its best side to gain an appreciation of how deep a cut has been caused to the team's fibre by the numbers of those missing in action. Many of those who are left are lacking in body size and strength necessary to take on the best side in the land in the cold wet conditions that prevailed during the game. They need time. Plenty of time! The result was that Geelong managed to amass 24 goals to five on a damp night and almost held Melbourne scoreless for an entire first half which is not such an unusual result given that, for large slabs of that eminently forgettable hour, both sides seemed to be heading in the direction of the same goals. The difference was that the Cats were attacking theirs, while the Demons were aimlessly seeking to defend who knows what? The ultimate embarrassment came with Melbourne's first score – a point that was recorded 9 minutes into the second quarter as a result of a fumble across the goal line by Geelong defender Josh Hunt. The first goal from Austin Wonaeamirri came after a few squandered attempts. By then, the visitors had already booted their first ten and we were already 24 minutes and 13 seconds into the quarter. Along the way, Melbourne players committed every sin in the football handbook: they struggled to get the ball but when they did, they used it poorly, made some shocking decisions, they fumbled, dropped marks, kicked often directly to unmarked opponents, tackled without conviction and generally failed to man up on their opponents. On the other hand, Geelong's performance was sublime although, in effect, it was more of a training drill than a sporting contest and the 34,610 fans who braved the conditions would have a fair case for demanding their money back – even those who got in on freebies. AS for the umpires, they were able to match Melbourne pound for pound for ineptitude and incompetence. Thanks for putting the icing on the cake and reminding us of the bushranger heritage and tradition of our state, Messrs. Donlon, Kennedy and Ryan! What can one say about the oldest club in the world after a week in which it launched a massive fund raising campaign to save itself from extinction? The Demons have a difficult battle on their hands to right the ship both on and off the field but as far as their future as a team is concerned, there were still some faint glimpses of hope among the gloom of the night. Youngsters Addam Maric and Shane Valenti worked their butts off all evening against bigger, stronger and more experienced opponents and there was a lot to like from the displays of two young embattled defenders in Stefan Martin and James Frawley. Irrespective of the result, this game would have provided a learning experience for Bailey's young side that will hold it in good stead for years to come. If they can learn from the way in which Geelong found space, moved the ball to its advantage and never stopped running, then one day, the wheel will start turning for the Demons. It would be remiss of me to omit to mention the contribution of Matthew Whelan who was fantastic against the odds in defence. He set an example not only for his younger team mates but also for some of the veterans who are surely on their last legs at the club. Cameron Bruce, Nathan Carroll and Brad Green also worked hard against the odds. Last night's game was played in honour of Tom Wills and nicely ended a week in which alcohol tore apart one old football club and another went to its supporters with begging cup in hand to ensure its survival. Wills died in 1880, an isolated, destitute alcoholic, after stabbing himself in the heart. The scene that was played out yesterday evening at the MCG was therefore a fitting memorial to the most important Australian sportsman of the time. Melbourne 0.0.0 1.3.9 2.6.18 5.11.41 Geelong 8.5.53 12.7.79 19.10.124 24.13.157 Goals Melbourne Valenti 2 C Johnson P Johnson Wonaeamirri Geelong Lonergan Stokes 4 Prismall 3 G Ablett Bartel Ling Mackie 2 Blake Gamble S Johnson Mooney Selwood Best Melbourne Whelan Maric Martin Bruce Valenti Frawley Geelong Mackie Ling Selwood Corey Scarlett Prismall Injuries Melbourne McDonald (wrist) Wonaemirri (ankle) Geelong Blake (elbow) Reports Nil Changes Melbourne Jamar - ill replaced in selected side by White Umpires Donlon Kennedy Ryan Crowd 34,610 at the MCG

Weighting for this game is a year low .2611 which reflects the miserable performance we saw from the team today. Still, somebody has to get some votes --- so take it away folks! 6,5,4,3,2,1 and please be serious ...

Best we could do was this quoted from nickvb5 on bigfooty: Anyone know how Jack Watts goes at this level from Brighton Grammar?

Selected on the wing for his debut in the Sandy seniors this weekend. Woth going to the TBO just for this alone!

Fantastic initiative - let's hope some of the Ballarat people give as generously as the Demon fans who attended on Tuesday night.

SCOTCH COLLEGE v MELBOURNE GRAMMAR The Cordner part of the Cup is named after the great Don Cordner, a Brownlow Medallist for Melbourne in 1946 and one of the Melbourne Football Club's all time greats. This is the ladder with one match to go i.e. tomorrow night(Friday)'s game between Scotch and Melbourne. Because MGC defeated Haileybury in their game during the year, they will win the flag if they win this game despite their percentage: LADDER TEAM PLD W L PTS F A % HC 10 9 1 36 1273 671 189.72 MGS 9 8 1 32 838 535 156.64* XAV 10 7 3 28 892 680 131.18 BGS 10 7 3 28 795 718 110.72 SKC 10 6 4 24 994 660 150.61 SCO 9 5 4 20 823 757 108.72 GCS 10 4 6 16 893 853 104.69 CGS 10 4 6 16 904 883 102.38 CAREY 10 3 7 12 563 977 57.63 WES 10 1 9 4 541 928 58.30 GGS 10 0 10 0 467 1148 40.68 If anyone wants to write a match preview of the game, please feel free to post here.

by Clyde the Clifton Hill Cabbie I'm very excited to announce how specially proud I am of the contribution I made to the Melbourne Football Club's Debt Demolition extravaganza the raised in excess of $2,000,000.00 on Tuesday evening. My contribution was not as handsome, nor did it come in the form of the huge piles of cash contributed by the club's high roller supporters but it was still significant in its own humble way. I speak here of the important and vital professional services I performed on the evening of the big event. First, I drove one of the club's generous supporters to the function and then, close on midnight, I queued up in Elizabeth Street, Kensington along with about twenty other cabbies waiting to ferry the punters safely home from the event in the Clydemobile after having relieved themselves of a reasonable percentage of their personal fortunes. I also acted as interpreter for the other cabbies. Not only that, but the evening was so lucrative for me personally that I ended up making a donation to the Debt Demolition fund in the form of the proceeds of the tip he provided at the end of the journey (the "tip" somehow managed to salute the judges in race 4 at Morphettville the following day paying a handsome $16.20 for the win). In this day and age when much talk in the football world is about tanking, I have to admit that my fare on the outward journey was, err, fairly well tanked up himself. I gathered from his babbling that he was suitably impressed by the events of the evening and in particular, one piece of vision shown early in the piece which carried the soundtrack of the famous speech made by the Al Pacino character in the movie "Any Given Sunday". In the film, Pacino played Tony D'Amato, a character based on long time Dallas Cowboys head coach Tom Landry. The fare was so inspired by this speech to the footballers in the film that he wants Dean Bailey to repeat it verbatim to his players pre match on Friday night as the Demons gear up to face premiership favourite Geelong in their round 19 heritage game that marks the 150th year of Australian football. He thinks the words will motivate the young Demons to overcome the adversity of a seemingly unbeatable foe. I have an alternative suggestion which is to get singer David Hobson to repeat his rendition of another piece of American schmaltz, "The Impossible Dream" but I'm meeting a lot of resistance. Nobody has ever sung a sixties pop song in a pre match warm up in the 150 year history of the game and lived to tell about the experience. I doubt whether things are going to change in that regard any time soon. Pity! Anyhow, I've been given the gig of driving this bloke to Friday night's game with the promise of another big tip (this time in the Liston Stakes at Caulfield on Saturday week) but I promised him I would try to convince the powers that be at the Melbourne Football Club that Bailey be asked to render the Inch By Inch speech to the players before the game. He believes that the only way the Demons can beat the AFL's power house is the little bit of extra inspiration that this speech provides. Here are the words from the script: I don't know what to say really. Three minutes to the biggest battle of our professional lives all comes down to today. Either we heal as a team or we are going to crumble. Inch by inch play by play till we're finished. We are in hell right now, gentlemen believe me and we can stay here and get the shit kicked out of us or we can fight our way back into the light. We can climb out of hell. One inch, at a time. Now I can't do it for you. I'm too old. I look around and I see these young faces and I think I mean I made every wrong choice a middle age man could make. I uh.... I pissed away all my money believe it or not. I chased off anyone who has ever loved me. And lately, I can't even stand the face I see in the mirror. You know when you get old in life things get taken from you. That's, that's part of life but you only learn that when you start losing stuff. You find out that life is just a game of inches. So is football. Because in either game life or football the margin for error is so small. I mean one half step too late or too early you don't quite make it. One half second too slow or too fast and you don't quite catch it. The inches we need are everywhere around us. They are in ever break of the game every minute, every second. On this team, we fight for that inch. On this team, we tear ourselves, and everyone around us to pieces for that inch. We CLAW with our finger nails for that inch. Cause we know when we add up all those inches that's going to make the fucking difference between WINNING and LOSING between LIVING and DYING. I'll tell you this in any fight it is the guy who is willing to die who is going to win that inch. And I know if I am going to have any life anymore it is because, I am still willing to fight, and die for that inch because that is what LIVING is. The six inches in front of your face. Now I can't make you do it. You gotta look at the guy next to you. Look into his eyes. Now I think you are going to see a guy who will go that inch with you. You are going to see a guy who will sacrifice himself for this team because he knows when it comes down to it, you are gonna do the same thing for him. That's a team, gentlemen and either we heal now, as a team, or we will die as individuals. That's football guys. That's all it is. Now, whattaya gonna do? Well, what do you think? THE GAME Melbourne v Geelong at the MCG - Friday 8 August 2008 at 7.05pm HEAD TO HEAD Overall Melbourne 83 wins Geelong 118 wins 2 draws At the MCG Melbourne 51 wins Geelong 49 wins Since 2000 Melbourne 6 wins Geelong 8 wins 1 draw The Coaches Bailey 0 Thompson 1 MEDIA TV Channel 7 live from 7.00pm RADIO ABC774 K-Rock SEN Triple M 3AW THE BETTING Melbourne to win $9.00 Geelong to win $1.03 LAST TIME THEY MET Geelong 16.16.112 defeated Melbourne 12.10.82 at Skilled Stadium in Round 3 2008 This was a real impossible dream for the Melbourne Football Club, coming off two losses aggregating 199 points and playing the reigning premier on its home turf immediately after the unfurling of its 2007 flag. That's exactly how it turned out, although the Demons with Cameron Bruce back and young Tiwi Islander Austin Wonaeamirri making his debut after coming off the rookie list, made a great fist of things and even took an early 3 goal lead before the Cats went ape for a while when Ablett, Bartel and Corey took control. The Demons were dogged however, fought back a couple of times and were within a goal away from the lead half way through the third term. Geelong steadied and finally skipped away to a handy five goal win which was not the shellacking everyone expected when the Dees were at $34.00 odds to win earlier in the week. Bruce kicked three goals. THE TEAMS MELBOURNE Backs Matthew Whelan Nathan Carroll Chris Johnson Half backs James Frawley Matthew Warnock Paul Wheatley Centreline Cale Morton Cameron Bruce Simon Buckley Half forwards Brad Green Matthew Bate Lynden Dunn Forwards Paul Johnson Colin Sylvia Addam Maric Followers Mark Jamar Clint Bartram James McDonald Interchange Nathan Jones Stef Martin Shane Valenti Austin Wonaeamirri Emergencies Jace Bode Jeff White Adem Yze In Nathan Carroll James Frawley Nathan Jones Out Daniel Bell (hamstring) Aaron Davey (foot) Colin Garland (hamstring) GEELONG Backs Tom Harley Matthew Scarlett Andrew Mackie Half backs Harry Taylor Josh Hunt Corey Enright Centreline James Kelly Max Rooke Jimmy Bartel Half forwards Gary Ablett Cameron Mooney Steve Johnson Forwards Mathew Stokes Tom Lonergan Joel Selwood Followers Brad Ottens Cameron Ling Joel Corey Interchange Mark Blake Shannon Byrnes Ryan Gamble Brent Prismall Emergencies Simon Hogan Kane Tenace Travis Varcoe In Gary Ablett Shannon Byrnes Out Darren Milburn (suspended) Travis Varcoe Umpires Donlon Kennedy S Ryan HONESTY IS SUCH A LONELY WORD "Honesty is such a lonely word. Everyone is so untrue. Honesty is hardly ever heard." If you ever have the privilege of travelling in the Clydemobile, you'll be able to enjoy music from my extensive Billy Joel collection including the song from which I've lifted the above words. Even the boguns I pick up from tme to time prefer Billy to the eardrum piercing sitar playing cacophony that some of my colleagues play in their taxis these days. And unless you've been in the Himalayas or Ravi's cab this week, you would know that "honesty" is the buzzword in football at the moment. If only Messrs. H. & R. Shaw and A. Didak would have lived up to Billy's words they wouldn't have found themselves in hot water earlier this week. In fact, had they taken the time to call Clyde to the rescue when they realised the state of their sobriety, I would have collected them from the Geebung Polo Club and delivered them to the bosom of their families without a single person on earth being any the wiser for the experience. As we all know, cab drivers are people of integrity; we don't gossip, we don't tell tales out of school and we don't tell porkies. So, I'll level with you right now and give you the honest truth about tomorrow night's Melbourne v Geelong game. The Cats are going to win! See, unlike those Magpies, Clyde doesn't tell lies and he doesn't fill his articles with BS. No way Jose. And these are the reasons why the Cats are going to win. Ablett's back. Statistically, Geelong has the best ranked attack and the best ranked defence in the competition while Melbourne has the worst ranked defence and the second worst ranked attack. As it that isn't enough, the Cats have Ablett, Bartel, Corey, Enright, Ling and Joel Selwood in their midfield. Geelong has the experience to easily cover anything the enthusiastic young Demons can muster and anyway, hope and enthusiasm rarely win matches alone. Finally, even if Dean Bailey does deliver the Inch by Inch speech, the Cats are metres better. Although Geelong will win this one by 45 points, it will never take away from the fact that Melbourne was the world's first football club and it beat Geelong by a year. I can say in all honesty that during that year, Melbourne was the dominant team in the competition and that I hope that one day soon, it will again take pride of place among all of the AFL's clubs.

ANY GIVEN FRIDAY NIGHT by Clyde the Clifton Hill Cabbie I'm very excited to announce how specially proud I am of the contribution I made to the Melbourne Football Club's Debt Demolition extravaganza the raised in excess of $2,000,000.00 on Tuesday evening. My contribution was not as handsome, nor did it come in the form of the huge piles of cash contributed by the club's high roller supporters but it was still significant in its own humble way. I speak here of the important and vital professional services I performed on the evening of the big event. First, I drove one of the club's generous supporters to the function and then, close on midnight, I queued up in Elizabeth Street, Kensington along with about twenty other cabbies waiting to ferry the punters safely home from the event in the Clydemobile after having relieved themselves of a reasonable percentage of their personal fortunes. I also acted as interpreter for the other cabbies. Not only that, but the evening was so lucrative for me personally that I ended up making a donation to the Debt Demolition fund in the form of the proceeds of the tip he provided at the end of the journey (the "tip" somehow managed to salute the judges in race 4 at Morphettville the following day paying a handsome $16.20 for the win). In this day and age when much talk in the football world is about tanking, I have to admit that my fare on the outward journey was, err, fairly well tanked up himself. I gathered from his babbling that he was suitably impressed by the events of the evening and in particular, one piece of vision shown early in the piece which carried the soundtrack of the famous speech made by the Al Pacino character in the movie "Any Given Sunday". In the film, Pacino played Tony D'Amato, a character based on long time Dallas Cowboys head coach Tom Landry. The fare was so inspired by this speech to the footballers in the film that he wants Dean Bailey to repeat it verbatim to his players pre match on Friday night as the Demons gear up to face premiership favourite Geelong in their round 19 heritage game that marks the 150th year of Australian football. He thinks the words will motivate the young Demons to overcome the adversity of a seemingly unbeatable foe. I have an alternative suggestion which is to get singer David Hobson to repeat his rendition of another piece of American schmaltz, "The Impossible Dream" but I'm meeting a lot of resistance. Nobody has ever sung a sixties pop song in a pre match warm up in the 150 year history of the game and lived to tell about the experience. I doubt whether things are going to change in that regard any time soon. Pity! Anyhow, I've been given the gig of driving this bloke to Friday night's game with the promise of another big tip (this time in the Liston Stakes at Caulfield on Saturday week) but I promised him I would try to convince the powers that be at the Melbourne Football Club that Bailey be asked to render the Inch By Inch speech to the players before the game. He believes that the only way the Demons can beat the AFL's power house is the little bit of extra inspiration that this speech provides. Here are the words from the script: I don't know what to say really. Three minutes to the biggest battle of our professional lives all comes down to today. Either we heal as a team or we are going to crumble. Inch by inch play by play till we're finished. We are in hell right now, gentlemen believe me and we can stay here and get the shit kicked out of us or we can fight our way back into the light. We can climb out of hell. One inch, at a time. Now I can't do it for you. I'm too old. I look around and I see these young faces and I think I mean I made every wrong choice a middle age man could make. I uh.... I pissed away all my money believe it or not. I chased off anyone who has ever loved me. And lately, I can't even stand the face I see in the mirror. You know when you get old in life things get taken from you. That's, that's part of life but you only learn that when you start losing stuff. You find out that life is just a game of inches. So is football. Because in either game life or football the margin for error is so small. I mean one half step too late or too early you don't quite make it. One half second too slow or too fast and you don't quite catch it. The inches we need are everywhere around us. They are in ever break of the game every minute, every second. On this team, we fight for that inch. On this team, we tear ourselves, and everyone around us to pieces for that inch. We CLAW with our finger nails for that inch. Cause we know when we add up all those inches that's going to make the fucking difference between WINNING and LOSING between LIVING and DYING. I'll tell you this in any fight it is the guy who is willing to die who is going to win that inch. And I know if I am going to have any life anymore it is because, I am still willing to fight, and die for that inch because that is what LIVING is. The six inches in front of your face. Now I can't make you do it. You gotta look at the guy next to you. Look into his eyes. Now I think you are going to see a guy who will go that inch with you. You are going to see a guy who will sacrifice himself for this team because he knows when it comes down to it, you are gonna do the same thing for him. That's a team, gentlemen and either we heal now, as a team, or we will die as individuals. That's football guys. That's all it is. Now, whattaya gonna do? Well, what do you think? THE GAME Melbourne v Geelong at the MCG - Friday 8 August 2008 at 7.05pm HEAD TO HEAD Overall Melbourne 83 wins Geelong 118 wins 2 draws At the MCG Melbourne 51 wins Geelong 49 wins Since 2000 Melbourne 6 wins Geelong 8 wins 1 draw The Coaches Bailey 0 Thompson 1 MEDIA TV Channel 7 live from 7.00pm RADIO ABC774 K-Rock SEN Triple M 3AW THE BETTING Melbourne to win $9.00 Geelong to win $1.03 LAST TIME THEY MET Geelong 16.16.112 defeated Melbourne 12.10.82 at Skilled Stadium in Round 3 2008 This was a real impossible dream for the Melbourne Football Club, coming off two losses aggregating 199 points and playing the reigning premier on its home turf immediately after the unfurling of its 2007 flag. That's exactly how it turned out, although the Demons with Cameron Bruce back and young Tiwi Islander Austin Wonaeamirri making his debut after coming off the rookie list, made a great fist of things and even took an early 3 goal lead before the Cats went ape for a while when Ablett, Bartel and Corey took control. The Demons were dogged however, fought back a couple of times and were within a goal away from the lead half way through the third term. Geelong steadied and finally skipped away to a handy five goal win which was not the shellacking everyone expected when the Dees were at $34.00 odds to win earlier in the week. Bruce kicked three goals. THE TEAMS MELBOURNE Backs Matthew Whelan Nathan Carroll Chris Johnson Half backs James Frawley Matthew Warnock Paul Wheatley Centreline Cale Morton Cameron Bruce Simon Buckley Half forwards Brad Green Matthew Bate Lynden Dunn Forwards Paul Johnson Colin Sylvia Addam Maric Followers Mark Jamar Clint Bartram James McDonald Interchange Nathan Jones Stef Martin Shane Valenti Austin Wonaeamirri Emergencies Jace Bode Jeff White Adem Yze In Nathan Carroll James Frawley Nathan Jones Out Daniel Bell (hamstring) Aaron Davey (foot) Colin Garland (hamstring) GEELONG Backs Tom Harley Matthew Scarlett Andrew Mackie Half backs Harry Taylor Josh Hunt Corey Enright Centreline James Kelly Max Rooke Jimmy Bartel Half forwards Gary Ablett Cameron Mooney Steve Johnson Forwards Mathew Stokes Tom Lonergan Joel Selwood Followers Brad Ottens Cameron Ling Joel Corey Interchange Mark Blake Shannon Byrnes Ryan Gamble Brent Prismall Emergencies Simon Hogan Kane Tenace Travis Varcoe In Gary Ablett Shannon Byrnes Out Darren Milburn (suspended) Travis Varcoe Umpires Donlon Kennedy S Ryan HONESTY IS SUCH A LONELY WORD "Honesty is such a lonely word. Everyone is so untrue. Honesty is hardly ever heard." If you ever have the privilege of travelling in the Clydemobile, you'll be able to enjoy music from my extensive Billy Joel collection including the song from which I've lifted the above words. Even the boguns I pick up from tme to time prefer Billy to the eardrum piercing sitar playing cacophony that some of my colleagues play in their taxis these days. And unless you've been in the Himalayas or Ravi's cab this week, you would know that "honesty" is the buzzword in football at the moment. If only Messrs. H. & R. Shaw and A. Didak would have lived up to Billy's words they wouldn't have found themselves in hot water earlier this week. In fact, had they taken the time to call Clyde to the rescue when they realised the state of their sobriety, I would have collected them from the Geebung Polo Club and delivered them to the bosom of their families without a single person on earth being any the wiser for the experience. As we all know, cab drivers are people of integrity; we don't gossip, we don't tell tales out of school and we don't tell porkies. So, I'll level with you right now and give you the honest truth about tomorrow night's Melbourne v Geelong game. The Cats are going to win! See, unlike those Magpies, Clyde doesn't tell lies and he doesn't fill his articles with BS. No way Jose. And these are the reasons why the Cats are going to win. Ablett's back. Statistically, Geelong has the best ranked attack and the best ranked defence in the competition while Melbourne has the worst ranked defence and the second worst ranked attack. As it that isn't enough, the Cats have Ablett, Bartel, Corey, Enright, Ling and Joel Selwood in their midfield. Geelong has the experience to easily cover anything the enthusiastic young Demons can muster and anyway, hope and enthusiasm rarely win matches alone. Finally, even if Dean Bailey does deliver the Inch by Inch speech, the Cats are metres better. Although Geelong will win this one by 45 points, it will never take away from the fact that Melbourne was the world's first football club and it beat Geelong by a year. I can say in all honesty that during that year, Melbourne was the dominant team in the competition and that I hope that one day soon, it will again take pride of place among all of the AFL's clubs.

ADELAIDE New Rookie elevation Jared Petrenko Scholarship elevation Nil Draft Picks 10 28 44 60 72 Delisted Bryce Campbell Edward Curnow ® Luke Jericho Kris Massie Traded Nil Retired Nathan Bassett Rhett Biglands Ken McGregor BRISBANE New Rookie elevation Scott Clouston Scholarship elevation Nil Draft Picks 7 25 41 57 69 81 82 Delisted Colm Begley ® Robert Copeland Daniel Dzufer ® Haydn Kiel ® Wayde Mills Matthew Moody Chris Schmidt Phil Smith ® Joel Tippett ® Traded Anthony Corrie (Collingwood) Retired Nigel Lappin Beau McDonald CARLTON New Robert Warnock (Fremantle) Rookie elevation Michael Jamison Scholarship elevation Nil Draft Picks 6 40 65 80 85 Delisted Cain Ackland Clinton Benjamin Luke Blackwell David Ellard ® Lachie Hill ® Sam Jacobs ® Ryan Jackson Aaron Joseph ® Aisake O’hAilpin Darren Pfeiffer Michael Shields ® Traded Draft Pick # 24 Draft Pick # 56 Draft Pick # 72 Retired Jason Saddington COLLINGWOOD New Anthony Corrie (Brisbane) Rookie elevation Brent Macaffer Sharrod Wellingham Scholarship elevation Scott Reed (Pennant Hills) ® Non-registered for three years selection Lachlan Keefe (Queensland) ® Draft Picks 11 29 45 46 73 Delisted Luke Casey-Leigh ® Chris Egan Brodie Holland Sam Iles Tobias Thoolen Traded Rhyce Shaw (Sydney) Draft Pick # 61 Draft Pick # 93 Retired Scott Burns Ryan Lonie Shane Wakelin ESSENDON New Brent Prismall (Geelong) Rookie elevation Jarrod Atkinson Scholarship elevation Nil Draft Picks 5 23 55 67 79 Delisted Danny Chartres ® Dean Dick ® Tom Hislop Courtney Johns Andrew Lee Damien Peverill Traded Draft Pick # 39 Retired Jason Johnson Mal Michael Adam Ramanauskas FREMANTLE New Rookie elevation Scholarship elevation Nil Draft Picks 3 21 24 37 53 56 68 77 Delisted Josh Carr Ryley Dunn ® Calib Mourish ® Chris Smith ® Traded Robert Warnock (Carlton) Draft Pick # 69 Retired Peter Bell Heath Black Matthew Carr Jeff Farmer Mark Johnson Shaun McManus Luke Webster GEELONG New Rookie elevation Nil Scholarship elevation Ranga Ediriwickrama (Pennant Hills) ® Draft Picks 15 33 39 49 Delisted Liam Bedford Jason Davenport Chris Kangars ® Traded Brent Prismall (Essendon) Retired Nathan Ablett HAWTHORN New Rookie elevation Nil Scholarship elevation Will Sierakowski (Riverview) ® Draft Picks 16 34 50 63 75 Delisted Tim Clarke Zac Dawson Alex Grima ® Luke McEntee Garry Moss Hugh Sandilands ® Matt Suckling ® Traded Nil Retired Shane Crawford Danny Jacobs MELBOURNE New Rookie elevation Austin Wonaeamirri Scholarship elevation Nil Draft Picks 1 17 19 35 51 64 76 Delisted Jace Bode Nathan Carroll Chris Johnson Isaac Weetra Jeff White Adem Yze Traded Nil Retired Ben Holland David Neitz NORTH MELBOURNE New Rookie elevation Nil Scholarship elevation Nil Draft Picks 9 27 43 59 71 Delisted Leigh Brown Ben Davies Blake Grima Alan Obst ® Eddie Sansbury James Wilsen ® Traded Nil Retired Shanon Grant Jess Sinclair Nathan Thompson PORT ADELAIDE New Rookie elevation Nick Salter Scholarship elevation Nil Draft Picks 4 22 38 42 54 66 78 84 Delisted Greg Bentley Daniel Boyle ® Adam Cockshell Fabian Deluca Gavin Grose ® Nathan Lonie Damon White Ryan Williams Ryan Willits ® Traded Adam Thomson (Richmond) Retired Hugh Minson Michael Wilson RICHMOND New Adam Thomson (Port Adelaide) Rookie elevation Nil Scholarship elevation Nil Draft Picks 8 26 58 70 Delisted Tristan Cartledge ® Travis Casserly Clayton Collard ® David Gourdis Cam Howat ® Chris Hyde Danny Meyer Traded Draft Pick # 42 Retired Greg Tivendale ST. KILDA New Farren Ray (W Bulldogs) Rookie elevation Robert Eddy Andrew McQualter Scholarship elevation Blake McGrath (Pennant Hills) Draft Picks 13 47 48 62 74 83 Delisted Jayden Attard ® Shane Birss Glenn Chivers ® Matthew Ferguson Aaron Fiora Charlie Gardiner Brad Howard Michael Rix Luke van Rheenan ® Traded Draft Pick # 31 Retired Fraser Gehrig Robert Harvey SYDNEY New Rhyce Shaw (Collingwood) Rookie elevation Matt O'Dwyer Nick Smith Scholarship elevation Nil Draft Picks 12 30 61 Delisted Matthew Beckmans ® Luke Brennan Aaron Bruce ® Nick Davis Peter Faulks Dean Terlich ®Kristin Thornton Traded Nil Retired Peter Everitt Ben Mathews WEST COAST New Rookie elevation Beau Wilkes Draft Picks 2 18 20 36 52 Delisted Steven Armstrong Chad Jones James Thomson Traded Nil Retired Michael Braun Jaymie Graham WESTERN BULLDOGS New Ayce Cordy – father/son Rookie elevation Nil Scholarship elevation Chris Ogle (UNSW/ES) Draft Picks 14 (Ayce Cordy – father/son) 31 32 Delisted Peter Street Scott West Traded Farren Ray (St. Kilda) Draft Pick # 48 Retired Gavin Hughes ® Andrew McDougall

If you think they're familiar, check the first response to this Whispering Jack article earlier this year - LESSONS FROM GOTHAM

The AFL has advised the key dates for the 2008 NAB AFL DRAFT/TRADING PERIOD as follows (all times are EST): Tuesday 30 September - COMMENCEMENT OF 2008 DRAFT CAMP, AIS CANBERRA Friday 3 October - CONCLUSION OF 2008 DRAFT CAMP Friday 3 October(2.00pm) - FATHER/SON NOMINATIONS LODGED WITH AFL Saturday 4 October - VICTORIAN STATE SCREENING SESSION, MONASH UNIVERSITY Monday 6 October (10.00am) - FATHER/SON BIDDING MEETING (TELSTRA DOME) Monday 6 October - COMMENCEMENT OF 2008 AFL EXCHANGE PERIOD Friday 10 October (2.00pm) - CONCLUSION OF 2008 AFL EXCHANGE PERIOD Saturday 11 October - SOUTH AUSTRALIAN STATE SCREENING SESSION, SA INSTITUTE OF SPORT Sunday 12 October - WESTERN AUSTRALIAN STATE SCREENING SESSION, UNIVERSITY OF WA. Friday 31 October (2.00pm) - CLUB LIST LODGEMENT LIST 1: MAXIMUM 35 PLAYERS, ROOKIE PROMOTION, RETAINED ROOKIES, SCHOLARSHIP PLAYER TRANSFER AND INTERNATIONAL SCHOLARSHIP Tuesday 11 November (2.00pm) - UNCONTRACTED LISTED PLAYERS NOMINATE Wednesday 12 November (2.00pm) - DRAFT NOMINATIONS CLOSE Friday 14 November (2.00pm) - LIST LODGEMENT Wednesday 19 November (2.00pm) - DELISTED PLAYERS NOMINATE Saturday 29 November (10.00am) - 2008 NAB AFL DRAFT SELECTION MEETING (TELSTRA DOME) Tuesday 2 December (10.00am) - NOMINATION OF SCHOLARSHIP-LISTED PLAYER AND INTERNATIONAL SCHOLARSHIP-LISTED PLAYER TO ROOKIE LIST Tuesday 2 December (10.00am) - NOMINATION OF AN INTERNATIONAL PLAYER AND A PLAYER NOT REGISTERED FOR THREE YEARS Tuesday 2 December - UNCONTRACTED LISTED PLAYERS NOMINATE Wednesday 3 December (3.00pm) - LIST LODGEMENT 3 AND TPP ESTIMATES Tuesday 9 December (2.00pm) - DELISTED PLAYERS NOMINATE Tuesday 16 December (10.00am) - 2008 NAB AFL PRE-SEASON DRAFT SELECTION MEETING (MICROSOFT LIVE MEETING) Tuesday 16 December (10.15am) - BRISBANE LIONS AND SYDNEY SWANS NOMINATE ELIGIBLE ROOKIE LIST PLAYERS Tuesday 16 December (10.15am) - NOMINATION OF THIRD-YEAR ROOKIES Tuesday 16 December (10.30am) - 2008 NAB AFL ROOKIE DRAFT SELECTION MEETING (MICROSOFT LIVE MEETING)

Didak, Shaw out for season Confirmed. Will they now tank for the best possible draft picks ?

I hope its a darn sight higher than that by 11pm tonight!

by Scoop Junior Despite going down for the 16th time this season, Melbourne again showed plenty of fight despite going down in spirited fashion to a resurgent Essendon side on Saturday. Despite looking down and out at times, and with a number of questionable umpiring decisions going against them, the young Demons fought hard to remain in the game right until the end in what was an encouraging sign for the club. Even more than encouraging was the fact that a youthful side full of players with a mere handful of games under their belts simply refused to give in to an opponent with far more experience in its playing ranks. The young guns are starting to fire. As has been the case for most of the season, the defence was under the pump from the "get go", with Matthew Lloyd kicking two early goals on first-year player Stefan Martin. Matthew Warnock was switched onto the Essendon spearhead after that and while Lloyd finished with 8, Warnock battled manfully. Considering that two of Lloyd's goals were kicked on Martin, one came from a Colin Sylvia turnover, another from a screamer and another from a fortuitous crumb off a pack, Warnock could count himself unlucky to have conceded so many goals. As it was, Lloyd's contribution was clearly the difference between the two teams and we know that Lloyd will not be at the helm of the Essendon forward line forever. Colin Garland put in a solid day's work and showed further signs of his increasing confidence in his own ability, while Martin, after a horror start on Lloyd, performed well on Laycock. He completely subdued the Essendon tall and underlined his rapid development this year. Clint Bartram kept Leroy Jetta quiet in a good match up and Matthew Whelan played a handy game, providing experience and stability to a young defence and using the ball well throughout the match. He showed that he still is a valuable member of the backline. The midfield, despite being seriously depleted in the absence of Brock McLean, Brent Moloney and Nathan Jones, amongst others, performed well. They won the clearances and looked more dangerous out of the middle, thanks largely to the contribution of McDonald, who won nine clearances and battled hard throughout the match, Mark Jamar, who nullified in-form Essendon ruckman David Hille, and Lynden Dunn, who played a great stoppers game on the Bombers' most dangerous clearance midfielder in Jobe Watson. Simon Buckley provided good dash and used his pace to advantage, but still made too many decisional errors. While his decision making has improved, he must continually fine tune this aspect of his game if he is to succeed at AFL level. Cam Bruce won his fair share of the ball and was a good link up player through the midfield, while rookie Shane Valenti was valuable in close and worked hard for the team. Melbourne's most dangerous midfielder on the day was youngster Cale Morton. Despite some disposal errors, Morton found plenty of the ball, worked hard into space, linked up play and kicked three valuable goals. His excellent endurance was also on show, with his final quarter, which included two goals, particularly impressive. Up forward, it was inevitable that Melbourne would struggle to adjust in the absence of the three main marking forwards on their list (the now retired David Neitz and injured pair Russell Robertson and Brad Miller). The Demons struggled to find a system going forward in the first quarter and their forward structure looked a little dishevelled. However, credit must go to the coaching staff for engineering a structure that kicked 17 goals despite the absentees (15 of them scored after quarter time). Credit must also go to Matthew Bate and Colin Sylvia, who worked extremely hard presenting up the ground and kicked 5 goals between them. Sylvia in particular was impressive and played one of his best games for the club. Still, a number of clangers detracted from his performance. When he hits it well, he is a beautiful long kick of the footy, however, too many times for a player of his class he kicks wobblers and helicopters. Second-gamer Addam Maric showed some encouraging signs. He picked up sixteen possessions, booted two goals and used the ball very neatly. He looks like a good decision maker and will be a more than handy addition to the side. Aaron Davey was quiet save for some flashes of brilliance, while Austin Wonaeamirri was well held and struggled to have an influence on the game. While the Demons did lose the game, the signs shown by the young team were very encouraging and supporters would have left the MCG satisfied in the knowledge that their team is refusing to give in and that the club is still very much in line for three quality draft selections. The loss, combined with Fremantle's defeat of West Coast, means the Demons have just about sewn up a top two pick in the draft and a priority pick at the end of the first round appears increasingly likely with only four rounds to play. With more quality youth to be added to the side, the Dees can look forward to building a team that can grow and improve and can force its way up the ladder in the years to come. Melbourne 2.2 .14 7.3.45 11.5.71 17.6.108 Essendon 3.1.19 9.6.60 14.8.92 19.10.124 Goals Melbourne Morton Sylvia 3 Bate Maric 2 Bartram Buckley Davey Green Jamar P Johnson Wonaeamirri Essendon Lloyd 8 Monfries 3 Lovett McPhee 2 Atkinson Jetta Reimers Slattery Best Melbourne Morton McDonald Sylvia Bate Dunn Jamar Essendon Lloyd Lovett-Murray McPhee Lovett Peverill Monfries Fletcher Injuries Melbourne Davey (heel) Garland (hamstring) Essendon Reimers (hamstring) Reports Nil Changes Nil Umpires Kennedy Sully Fila Crowd 46,334 at the MCG

YOUNG GUNS STARTING TO FIRE by Scoop Junior Despite going down for the 16th time this season, Melbourne again showed plenty of fight despite going down in spirited fashion to a resurgent Essendon side on Saturday. Despite looking down and out at times, and with a number of questionable umpiring decisions going against them, the young Demons fought hard to remain in the game right until the end in what was an encouraging sign for the club. Even more than encouraging was the fact that a youthful side full of players with a mere handful of games under their belts simply refused to give in to an opponent with far more experience in its playing ranks. The young guns are starting to fire. As has been the case for most of the season, the defence was under the pump from the "get go", with Matthew Lloyd kicking two early goals on first-year player Stefan Martin. Matthew Warnock was switched onto the Essendon spearhead after that and while Lloyd finished with 8, Warnock battled manfully. Considering that two of Lloyd's goals were kicked on Martin, one came from a Colin Sylvia turnover, another from a screamer and another from a fortuitous crumb off a pack, Warnock could count himself unlucky to have conceded so many goals. As it was, Lloyd's contribution was clearly the difference between the two teams and we know that Lloyd will not be at the helm of the Essendon forward line forever. Colin Garland put in a solid day's work and showed further signs of his increasing confidence in his own ability, while Martin, after a horror start on Lloyd, performed well on Laycock. He completely subdued the Essendon tall and underlined his rapid development this year. Clint Bartram kept Leroy Jetta quiet in a good match up and Matthew Whelan played a handy game, providing experience and stability to a young defence and using the ball well throughout the match. He showed that he still is a valuable member of the backline. The midfield, despite being seriously depleted in the absence of Brock McLean, Brent Moloney and Nathan Jones, amongst others, performed well. They won the clearances and looked more dangerous out of the middle, thanks largely to the contribution of McDonald, who won nine clearances and battled hard throughout the match, Mark Jamar, who nullified in-form Essendon ruckman David Hille, and Lynden Dunn, who played a great stoppers game on the Bombers' most dangerous clearance midfielder in Jobe Watson. Simon Buckley provided good dash and used his pace to advantage, but still made too many decisional errors. While his decision making has improved, he must continually fine tune this aspect of his game if he is to succeed at AFL level. Cam Bruce won his fair share of the ball and was a good link up player through the midfield, while rookie Shane Valenti was valuable in close and worked hard for the team. Melbourne's most dangerous midfielder on the day was youngster Cale Morton. Despite some disposal errors, Morton found plenty of the ball, worked hard into space, linked up play and kicked three valuable goals. His excellent endurance was also on show, with his final quarter, which included two goals, particularly impressive. Up forward, it was inevitable that Melbourne would struggle to adjust in the absence of the three main marking forwards on their list (the now retired David Neitz and injured pair Russell Robertson and Brad Miller). The Demons struggled to find a system going forward in the first quarter and their forward structure looked a little dishevelled. However, credit must go to the coaching staff for engineering a structure that kicked 17 goals despite the absentees (15 of them scored after quarter time). Credit must also go to Matthew Bate and Colin Sylvia, who worked extremely hard presenting up the ground and kicked 5 goals between them. Sylvia in particular was impressive and played one of his best games for the club. Still, a number of clangers detracted from his performance. When he hits it well, he is a beautiful long kick of the footy, however, too many times for a player of his class he kicks wobblers and helicopters. Second-gamer Addam Maric showed some encouraging signs. He picked up sixteen possessions, booted two goals and used the ball very neatly. He looks like a good decision maker and will be a more than handy addition to the side. Aaron Davey was quiet save for some flashes of brilliance, while Austin Wonaeamirri was well held and struggled to have an influence on the game. While the Demons did lose the game, the signs shown by the young team were very encouraging and supporters would have left the MCG satisfied in the knowledge that their team is refusing to give in and that the club is still very much in line for three quality draft selections. The loss, combined with Fremantle's defeat of West Coast, means the Demons have just about sewn up a top two pick in the draft and a priority pick at the end of the first round appears increasingly likely with only four rounds to play. With more quality youth to be added to the side, the Dees can look forward to building a team that can grow and improve and can force its way up the ladder in the years to come. Melbourne 2.2 .14 7.3.45 11.5.71 17.6.108 Essendon 3.1.19 9.6.60 14.8.92 19.10.124 Goals Melbourne Morton Sylvia 3 Bate Maric 2 Bartram Buckley Davey Green Jamar P Johnson Wonaeamirri Essendon Lloyd 8 Monfries 3 Lovett McPhee 2 Atkinson Jetta Reimers Slattery Best Melbourne Morton McDonald Sylvia Bate Dunn Jamar Essendon Lloyd Lovett-Murray McPhee Lovett Peverill Monfries Fletcher Injuries Melbourne Davey (heel) Garland (hamstring) Essendon Reimers (hamstring) Reports Nil Changes Nil Umpires Kennedy Sully Fila Official Crowd 46,334 at the MCG

Brock McLean hasn't played for a while but still holds the lead: 78.366 Brock McLean 69.590 Brad Green 53.514 Brad Miller 44.698 Paul Wheatley 43.680 Colin Garland 42.742 Chris Johnson 40.082 Austin Wonaemirri 39.766 Paul Johnson 37.927 Matthew Bate 37.636 Cameron Bruce 33.297 Colin Sylvia 31.490 Aaron Davey 31.241 Cale Morton 29.347 Nathan Jones 24.063 James McDonald 21.411 Simon Buckley 17.896 Lynden Dunn 12.282 Brent Moloney 11.331 Shane Valenti 10.684 Jared Rivers 10.482 Nathan Carroll 10.346 Matthew Warnock 8.217 Stef Martin 8.132 Clint Bartram 5.904 Matthew Whelan 5.265 Russell Robertson 5.164 Mark Jamar 5.087 Jeff White 2.845 Adem Yze 0.871 Addam Maric

by Barry from Beach Road Sandringham lost the points and a place in the VFL top eight as it stumbled its way to a narrow defeat at the hands of the Northern Bullants amid the crumbling ruins of a once majestic stadium known at various times as Princes Park, Optus Oval and more lately MC Labour Park. The venue holds a special place in the hearts of the Zebras as the scene of their triple premiership run of 2004-2006 and the day was supposed to be one of celebration of the past achievements of two club stalwarts in skipper Peter Summers and the popular David Gallagher. Both were playing their 100th AFL games just a fortnight after star forward Nick Sautner passed the club games record before last week's bye. However, in a further reminder of days past, it was the battle of the big men in Cain Ackland of the Northern Bullants and Jeff White of Sandringham that proved to be the highlight of the day. The two are not exactly "dinosaurs" and they weren't directly opposed to each other, but their respective contributions were the major influences in determining the result of the game. In the days when former Sports Minister Justin Madden played for Carlton, it was often reported that he was a modern day dinosaur roaming Princes Park. The description is now applied to any tall ruckman closing in on the end of his career, not overly endowed with pace, but who still has the occasional capacity to win games for his team. Yesterday's crowd was certainly treated to some polished football from two of the older brigade of ruckmen but the latter will be remembered for all of the wrong reasons after his late shot at goal from 35m out went wide and denied his team a taste of victory. While the missed shot proved costly to the Zebras, White would be unfortunate if his contribution to the game was judged on that kick alone. He dominated his position all day and finished with 15 kicks, seven handballs, 10 marks and two goals in an outstanding performance. Unfortunately for Sandringham, Ackland, who spent a great deal of the game up forward, put on a display that overshadowed that of White because of his match winning seven goal effort – most of them in the first half. It was Ackland who started proceedings with an early six pointer but the Zebras soon took control with goals from White, Chad Liddell and Sautner. Sandy was in control and its lead would have been bigger but for a couple of misses from the normally reliable Adem Yze. Without warning however, the tide suddenly turned with two goals from Ackland. Sautner booted his second but the Bullants kept the pressure on and a goal after the siren to who else but Ackland reduced the margin to three points at the first change. Sandringham opened the second term with confidence. White pulled down some great marks and Liddell scored his second for the game but the team suddenly seemed to go into hibernation with the Bullants making all the play from this point onward, piling on the next five goals and Acland was in the thick of it. A preponderance of the free kicks went the way of the home side during the quarter and some Zebra fans were not happy as their team limped in at half time with the home side enjoying a 25 point lead and their hero Ackland, having seen off Chris Lamb and Nathan Carroll, was now looking to make young James Frawley his next victim. Coach Andy Lovell fired his team up at the half time break and they came out playing with much greater intensity and discipline. Tom Dean was playing his best game yet for the club and he scored the first of three quick goals (the others went to Liddell and Chris Waller) that saw the pendulum swing back in Sandy's favour. Frawley was doing his bit to slow down the Ackland onslaught but, at the other end of the ground, Sautner was being well held after his initial two goal burst in the opening term. The Sandy surge continued and goals to Summers and White late in the quarter saw the Zebras back in front and poised to take on the game in the critical final quarter. Although the game never reached great heights, it remained a tight contest throughout the final term with both sides receiving goals from fifty metre penalties. Meesen's goal enabled the visitors to retake the lead and when Guy Martyn snapped truly, the Zebras were 7 points ahead halfway through the term. The Northern Bullants showed a lot of desperation and fought back tooth and nail. Late in the game, when the Zebras were holding on by a solitary point, fate conspired to give the home side a five point lead through the agency of an Andre Gianfagna goal. The irony was that the young left footer spent a season playing in Sandy colours as a Melbourne rookie a couple of years back. With the seconds ticking away, White was paid a free kick but his miss signalled a dramatic end to the Zebras' long run as a leading light in the VFL although with four rounds left, they are still capable of reversing the trend with forthcoming games against other finals contenders. On an individual level, Peter Summers was once again outstanding with 33 disposals in his 100th game followed by veterans White and Yze (28 touches). Andy Biddlecombe put together another tight display in defence and James Frawley continued to impress with his defensive work. The focus this week will be on a return to winning form against last year's premier Geelong in what will be a vital game for both clubs at the Trevor Barker Beach Oval. HOW THE DEMONS FARED Jace Bode – worked hard across half back and was in a lot of the play. Nathan Carroll – beaten by Ackland James Frawley – played on Ackland in the last half and dampened his influence after the tall forward threatened to blow the game apart. Has good leg speed, goes well body on body and at this level, has good disposal skills. A chance to step up this week with the injury to Colin Garland. Ben Holland – pretty much ineffective for most of the game. Nathan Jones – had a relatively quiet day chasing opposition midfielders for a change. John Meesen – not a great game from Meesen who lacked impact and intensity although he did manage to score a goal late in the game. Michael Newton – played as a key forward with a bit of a roaming role Presented well across half forward and even laid some good tackles but never looked really dangerous. Jeff White – a quality game in the ruck from a complete professional. Adem Yze – worked hard all day and picked up plenty of disposals although he missed a couple of shots at goal early for which the team paid dearly later in the game. Sandringham 4.3.27 5.4.34 11.7.73 13.9.87 Northern Bullants 4.0.24 9.5.59 10.8.68 13.13.91 Goals Sandringham Liddell 3 Sautner White 2 Dean Jones Martyn Meesen Summers Waller Northern Bullants Ackland 7 Boundy 2 Bentick Blackwell Gianfagna Jackson Best Sandringham White Frawley Biddlecombe Yze Dean Waller Northern Bullants Ackland Bannister Blackwell Vansittart Bentick Saddington The reserves returned to the winning list after several disappointing weeks in free fall and, despite their poor kicking for goal, they were able to run out convincing winners by 17 points. Sam Monaghan continued his excellent form with a particularly strong game highlighted by a couple of long goals on the run as well as providing several goal assists. Young Demon Jack Grimes got a lot of the ball and showed enormous potential for the future while Andrew McConnell and Maddison Hardiman were busy all day. The Zebra reserves have a bye this week. HOW THE DEMONS FARED There were six Demons in the team but Jack Grimes was by far the stand out player. He has lots of class and must be close to taking on senior football at last. Isaac Weetra was a useful contributor while the other Demons, Kyle Cheney, Tom McNamara, Jake Spencer and Trent Zomer were serviceable at best. Sandringham 4.5.29 4.12.36 11.16.82 14.22.106 Northern Bullants 0.4.4 2.7.19 7.8.50 13.11.89 Goals Sandringham Monaghan 3 Cleeve Gribbin 2 Calder Gilchrist Grimes Hardiman Johnson Lockwood Zomer Northern Bullants Colbert Spiteri 5 Benjamin Mercuri Robertson Best Sandringham Monaghan Grimes McConnell Gilchrist Weetra Gribbin Northern Bullants Williams Dennis Morgan Davies Spiteri Bransgrove

DAY OF THE DINOSAURS by Barry from Beach Road Sandringham lost the points and a place in the VFL top eight as it stumbled its way to a narrow defeat at the hands of the Northern Bullants amid the crumbling ruins of a once majestic stadium known at various times as Princes Park, Optus Oval and more lately MC Labour Park. The venue holds a special place in the hearts of the Zebras as the scene of their triple premiership run of 2004-2006 and the day was supposed to be one of celebration of the past achievements of two club stalwarts in skipper Peter Summers and the popular David Gallagher. Both were playing their 100th AFL games just a fortnight after star forward Nick Sautner passed the club games record before last week's bye. However, in a further reminder of days past, it was the battle of the big men in Cain Ackland of the Northern Bullants and Jeff White of Sandringham that proved to be the highlight of the day. The two are not exactly "dinosaurs" and they weren't directly opposed to each other, but their respective contributions were the major influences in determining the result of the game. In the days when former Sports Minister Justin Madden played for Carlton, it was often reported that he was a modern day dinosaur roaming Princes Park. The description is now applied to any tall ruckman closing in on the end of his career, not overly endowed with pace, but who still has the occasional capacity to win games for his team. Yesterday's crowd was certainly treated to some polished football from two of the older brigade of ruckmen but the latter will be remembered for all of the wrong reasons after his late shot at goal from 35m out went wide and denied his team a taste of victory. While the missed shot proved costly to the Zebras, White would be unfortunate if his contribution to the game was judged on that kick alone. He dominated his position all day and finished with 15 kicks, seven handballs, 10 marks and two goals in an outstanding performance. Unfortunately for Sandringham, Ackland, who spent a great deal of the game up forward, put on a display that overshadowed that of White because of his match winning seven goal effort – most of them in the first half. It was Ackland who started proceedings with an early six pointer but the Zebras soon took control with goals from White, Chad Liddell and Sautner. Sandy was in control and its lead would have been bigger but for a couple of misses from the normally reliable Adem Yze. Without warning however, the tide suddenly turned with two goals from Ackland. Sautner booted his second but the Bullants kept the pressure on and a goal after the siren to who else but Ackland reduced the margin to three points at the first change. Sandringham opened the second term with confidence. White pulled down some great marks and Liddell scored his second for the game but the team suddenly seemed to go into hibernation with the Bullants making all the play from this point onward, piling on the next five goals and Acland was in the thick of it. A preponderance of the free kicks went the way of the home side during the quarter and some Zebra fans were not happy as their team limped in at half time with the home side enjoying a 25 point lead and their hero Ackland, having seen off Chris Lamb and Nathan Carroll, was now looking to make young James Frawley his next victim. Coach Andy Lovell fired his team up at the half time break and they came out playing with much greater intensity and discipline. Tom Dean was playing his best game yet for the club and he scored the first of three quick goals (the others went to Liddell and Chris Waller) that saw the pendulum swing back in Sandy's favour. Frawley was doing his bit to slow down the Ackland onslaught but, at the other end of the ground, Sautner was being well held after his initial two goal burst in the opening term. The Sandy surge continued and goals to Summers and White late in the quarter saw the Zebras back in front and poised to take on the game in the critical final quarter. Although the game never reached great heights, it remained a tight contest throughout the final term with both sides receiving goals from fifty metre penalties. Meesen's goal enabled the visitors to retake the lead and when Guy Martyn snapped truly, the Zebras were 7 points ahead halfway through the term. The Northern Bullants showed a lot of desperation and fought back tooth and nail. Late in the game, when the Zebras were holding on by a solitary point, fate conspired to give the home side a five point lead through the agency of an Andre Gianfagna goal. The irony was that the young left footer spent a season playing in Sandy colours as a Melbourne rookie a couple of years back. With the seconds ticking away, White was paid a free kick but his miss signalled a dramatic end to the Zebras' long run as a leading light in the VFL although with four rounds left, they are still capable of reversing the trend with forthcoming games against other finals contenders. On an individual level, Peter Summers was once again outstanding with 33 disposals in his 100th game followed by veterans White and Yze (28 touches). Andy Biddlecombe put together another tight display in defence and James Frawley continued to impress with his defensive work. The focus this week will be on a return to winning form against last year's premier Geelong in what will be a vital game for both clubs at the Trevor Barker Beach Oval. HOW THE DEMONS FARED Jace Bode – worked hard across half back and was in a lot of the play. Nathan Carroll – beaten by Ackland James Frawley – played on Ackland in the last half and dampened his influence after the tall forward threatened to blow the game apart. Has good leg speed, goes well body on body and at this level, has good disposal skills. A chance to step up this week with the injury to Colin Garland. Ben Holland – pretty much ineffective for most of the game. Nathan Jones – had a relatively quiet day chasing opposition midfielders for a change. John Meesen – not a great game from Meesen who lacked impact and intensity although he did manage to score a goal late in the game. Michael Newton – played as a key forward with a bit of a roaming role Presented well across half forward and even laid some good tackles but never looked really dangerous. Jeff White – a quality game in the ruck from a complete professional. Adem Yze – worked hard all day and picked up plenty of disposals although he missed a couple of shots at goal early for which the team paid dearly later in the game. Sandringham 4.3.27 5.4.34 11.7.73 13.9.87 Northern Bullants 4.0.24 9.5.59 10.8.68 13.13.91 Goals Sandringham Liddell 3 Sautner White 2 Dean Jones Martyn Meesen Summers Waller Northern Bullants Ackland 7 Boundy 2 Bentick Blackwell Gianfagna Jackson Best Sandringham White Frawley Biddlecombe Yze Dean Waller Northern Bullants Ackland Bannister Blackwell Vansittart Bentick Saddington The reserves returned to the winning list after several disappointing weeks in free fall and, despite their poor kicking for goal, they were able to run out convincing winners by 17 points. Sam Monaghan continued his excellent form with a particularly strong game highlighted by a couple of long goals on the run as well as providing several goal assists. Young Demon Jack Grimes got a lot of the ball and showed enormous potential for the future while Andrew McConnell and Maddison Hardiman were busy all day. The Zebra reserves have a bye this week. HOW THE DEMONS FARED There were six Demons in the team but Jack Grimes was by far the stand out player. He has lots of class and must be close to taking on senior football at last. Isaac Weetra was a useful contributor while the other Demons, Kyle Cheney, Tom McNamara, Jake Spencer and Trent Zomer were serviceable at best. Sandringham 4.5.29 4.12.36 11.16.82 14.22.106 Northern Bullants 0.4.4 2.7.19 7.8.50 13.11.89 Goals Sandringham Monaghan 3 Cleeve Gribbin 2 Calder Gilchrist Grimes Hardiman Johnson Lockwood Zomer Northern Bullants Colbert Spiteri 5 Benjamin Mercuri Robertson Best Sandringham Monaghan Grimes McConnell Gilchrist Weetra Gribbin Northern Bullants Williams Dennis Morgan Davies Spiteri Bransgrove

Barry from Beach Road will be filing his report on this site sometime tomorrow evening.

Beach Road Bazza reports from MC Labour Park that Sandringham is having trouble coping with Ackland's marking power and look shot. Carroll went onto Ackland and had some effect but the team will need a big effort in the final half if they want to keep their 2008 season track. Sandringham 4.3.27 5.4.34 Northern Bullants 4.0.24 9.5.59 Sandingham goalkickers - Liddell Sautner 2 White The reserves have kept their finals hopes well and truly alive with a 17 point win. Sandringham 4.5.29 4.12.36 11.16.82 14.22.106 Northern Bullants 0.4.4 2.7.19 7.8.50 13.11.89 Goals Sandringham Monaghan 3 Cleeve Gribbin 2 Calder Gilchrist Grimes Hardiman Johnson Lockwood Zomer Northern Bullants Colbert Spiteri 5 Benjamin Mercuri Robertson Best Sandringham Monaghan Grimes McConnell Gilchrist Weetra Gribbin Northern Bullants Williams Dennis Morgan Davies Spiteri Bransgrove

I will be taking two sets of votes from the above votes and one set from Scoop Junior who is doing the match report this week. Weighting for this game is .8709.

Anyone know the status of the two Johnsons?

by The Oracle So much water has flowed under the bridge since Melbourne last played against Essendon that the players from the respective clubs will spend more time with introductions before the game than anything else. Last time, was over a year ago when Neale Daniher coached his last game in an emotion packed Friday night match at Telstra Dome. Daniher has gone and so has his replacement Mark Riley who was warming the seat for the current coach Dean Bailey. Melbourne's President and two CEO's have also fallen by the wayside along with a raft of others. Against the mob from Windy Hill, the Demons will be donning a guernsey which has silver as its predominant colour and that is as foreign to Melbourne as snow is in the Arabian Desert. There have been many changes at Bomberland as well with Kevin Sheedy, leaving after more than a generation at the coaching helm, to be replaced by Matthew Knights. The same can be said of the playing staff of the respective sides and, on top of all that, both clubs have been struck hard of late by injury meaning that after 26 rounds of football, the two combatants on Saturday afternoon, will barely be discernable from the teams that represented Essendon and Melbourne way back then. Both clubs struggled in the first half of the season but Essendon has made a resurgence, winning five of its last six games (the loss was by less than a goal) after looking a serious challenger for the wooden spoon and a likely recipient of a priority pick at this year’s draft. The Bomber revival has come through the fine form of veteran players like skipper Matthew Lloyd, Scott Lucas and Dustin Fletcher, its middle tier headed by David Hille who has had a dominant season in the ruck as well as the youth speed and enthusiasm of names such as Ryder, Jetta, Reimers and co. While Essendon has been hurt by a wave of injuries, it has managed to maintain a balance in its team make up and this has been an important factor in it keeping in touch with the top eight and retaining an outside chance of playing off in the finals. Melbourne, on the other hand, has continued to struggle although, after casting off some of its older guard and concentrating on youth, it continues to show tiny glimpses of improvement on a weekly basis. Unfortunately, those tiny glimpses are also interspersed with some very ordinary form. There are however, reasons for the inconsistency and the brittleness. It’s true that in our sport as in others, we shouldn’t use injuries as an excuse but they have plagued Melbourne for the past two years. While most scribes are marvelling at how some clubs manage to get by without some of their better players for a couple of weeks (e.g. Geelong without Ablett and Ling), spare a thought for the Demons. Since late 2006, they’ve gone without a large number of their top echelon players. Last week when Melbourne lost to the Kangaroos by 28 points, it had missing the following players who most judges would consider to be among the top six in the voting for club champion this year; namely Brock McLean, Brad Green, Paul Wheatley and Austin Wonaeamirri. And that’s not taking into account, other longer term casualties like Jared Rivers, Brent Moloney and Russell Robertson or retired skipper David Neitz. Melbourne’s policy of playing youth at the expense of some of the experienced old heads has also contributed to its indifferent bottom line of results. Jeff White, Adem Yze and Nathan Carroll all sat out last week after showing good form at Sandringham the week before. Their presence in the team could even have tipped the balance against North Melbourne. However, it would also have meant that three players in the under 23 age group would each have had one game less of vitally needed AFL experience – a factor that is obviously more important than the short term gains of playing the older brigade. The upshot of this is that Melbourne’s improvement will come with the return of some of the bigger names from injury and another pre season and further match experience for the younger Demon brigade – the likes of Matthew Bate, Lynden Dunn, Matthew Warnock, Clint Bartram, Nathan Jones, Simon Buckley, Colin Garland, Stef Martin and others who are getting games in their legs and mostly will form the basis of a formidable side that will one day need no introductions. THE GAME Essendon v Melbourne at MCG - 2 August 2008 at 2.10pm HEAD TO HEAD Overall Essendon 124 wins Melbourne 77 wins 2 draws At the MCG Essendon 62 wins Melbourne 41 wins Since 2000: Essendon 8 wins Melbourne 4 wins The Coaches Knights 0 wins Bailey 0 wins MEDIA Fox Sports 1 (Live) RADIO 3AW MMM THE BETTING Essendon to win $1.22 Melbourne to win $4.00 LAST TIME THEY MET Essendon 19.11.125 d Melbourne 18.15.123 Round 13, 2007, at Telstra Dome This was Neale Daniher’s last hurrah and his charges took their time showing any appreciation for their long time coach. The Bombers, with Lloyd and Lucas in red-hot form, booted eight goals in the opening stanza to take an early stranglehold on the game. The Demons fought back on more than one occasion. They nearly bridged the gap just prior to the main break and then took the lead in the third term. With James McDonald, Aaron Davey and Colin Sylvia all working hard, Melbourne held a 17-point lead as time on in the final term approached. However, Lucas was inspirational and a late flurry of goals saw the Bombers home with seconds to spare. David Neitz hobbled off in the arms of his coach and mentor and an era came to an end THE TEAMS ESSENDON Backs Jay Nash Mal Michael Dustin Fletcher Half backs Adam McPhee Patrick Ryder Jarrod Atkinson Centreline Ricky Dyson Jobe Watson Henry Slattery Half forwards Angus Monfries Matthew Lloyd Sam Lonergan Forwards Jason Laycock Nathan Lovett-Murray Leroy Jetta Followers David Hille Andrew Welsh Brent Stanton Interchange Kyle Reimers Andrew Lovett Damien Peverill Adam Ramanauskas Emergencies Heath Hocking Cale Hooker Rhys Magin In Andrew Lovett Out Scott Lucas (back) MELBOURNE Backs Matthew Whelan Colin Garland Matthew Warnock Half backs Chris Johnson Daniel Bell Paul Wheatley Centreline Cale Morton Cameron Bruce Simon Buckley Half forwards Brad Green Matthew Bate AaronDavey Forwards Paul Johnson Colin Sylvia Addam Maric Followers Mark Jamar Clint Bartram James McDonald Interchange Lynden Dunn Stefan Martin Shane Valenti Stefan Martin Austin Wonaeamirri Emergencies Nathan Carroll Nathan Jones Jeff White In Brad Green Paul Wheatley Austin Wonaeamirri Out Brad Miller (hamstring) Nathan Jones Michael Newton Umpires Kennedy Sully Fila Earlier in the season, I would have pencilled this game in as one that was extremely winnable as far as Melbourne was concerned with the venue tipping the scale in favour of the Demons. Then something strange happened – the Dons started winning their games. Essendon's only loss in the run home in the second half of the season came a fortnight ago when their last ditch attempt to win was frustrated by Tiger defender Joel Bowden’s ball hogging tactics in the final minute of the game. Melbourne's record over the same period has been marked by a slight improvement over the first half of the season but it has also been a time of frustration for the club as the injuries mount. For once, the pendulum has swung slightly in that regard with the return from injury of some valuable players – Brad Green, Paul Wheatley and Austin Wonaeamirri. However, their return has been offset to an extent by the loss of the team’s only effective key forward in Brad Miller through a hamstring injury. The selectors dropped Michael Newton, who was out of touch up forward last week and returns to Sandringham to gain some confidence and Nathan Jones who has struggled lately under the pressure of being the club's main man in the midfield and the target of heavy tagging, often in the form of double teaming. The Bombers lose Scott Lucas who starred against the Demons when they last met but was quiet last week against the Magpies. He is replaced by Andrew Lovett who returns after being disciplined by the club for yet another infraction against team rules. His inclusion will add to the Bombers' pace advantage. And it's this advantage in pace that will give the Bombers the edge over the Demons in this game. Melbourne's midfield is not overburdened with pace or quality for that matter and, while these deficiencies will need to be addressed in the forthcoming trade and draft period, there is little coach Dean Bailey can do in the short term to offset this glaring disadvantage. Simon Buckley on a wing has been good in this area lately but he’s also somewhat predictable in how he operates, attempting to take on the opposition and run the lines at every opportunity. Lynden Dunn will be called on to shut down one of the Essendon midfield brigade (Jobe Watson?). Thankfully, the Bomber on ballers won’t yap on like Boomer Harvey and, in any event, it is hoped that Dunn has now learned his lessons from last week well. Melbourne has had to recast its forward line yet again and, despite the return of Wonaeamirri, they will struggle. Essendon is the highest scoring team over the past six weeks, while Melbourne has been struggling to kick a decent score all year. That, and the fact that Melbourne will be donning its silver atrocity for thankfully the last time, suggests a Bomber victory by a good margin. Essendon by 32 points.

HELLO THERE! by The Oracle So much water has flowed under the bridge since Melbourne last played against Essendon that the players from the respective clubs will spend more time with introductions before the game than anything else. Last time, was over a year ago when Neale Daniher coached his last game in an emotion packed Friday night match at Telstra Dome. Daniher has gone and so has his replacement Mark Riley who was warming the seat for the current coach Dean Bailey. Melbourne's President and two CEO's have also fallen by the wayside along with a raft of others. Against the mob from Windy Hill, the Demons will be donning a guernsey which has silver as its predominant colour and that is as foreign to Melbourne as snow is in the Arabian Desert. There have been many changes at Bomberland as well with Kevin Sheedy, leaving after more than a generation at the coaching helm, to be replaced by Matthew Knights. The same can be said of the playing staff of the respective sides and, on top of all that, both clubs have been struck hard of late by injury meaning that after 26 rounds of football, the two combatants on Saturday afternoon, will barely be discernable from the teams that represented Essendon and Melbourne way back then. Both clubs struggled in the first half of the season but Essendon has made a resurgence, winning five of its last six games (the loss was by less than a goal) after looking a serious challenger for the wooden spoon and a likely recipient of a priority pick at this year’s draft. The Bomber revival has come through the fine form of veteran players like skipper Matthew Lloyd, Scott Lucas and Dustin Fletcher, its middle tier headed by David Hille who has had a dominant season in the ruck as well as the youth speed and enthusiasm of names such as Ryder, Jetta, Reimers and co. While Essendon has been hurt by a wave of injuries, it has managed to maintain a balance in its team make up and this has been an important factor in it keeping in touch with the top eight and retaining an outside chance of playing off in the finals. Melbourne, on the other hand, has continued to struggle although, after casting off some of its older guard and concentrating on youth, it continues to show tiny glimpses of improvement on a weekly basis. Unfortunately, those tiny glimpses are also interspersed with some very ordinary form. There are however, reasons for the inconsistency and the brittleness. It’s true that in our sport as in others, we shouldn’t use injuries as an excuse but they have plagued Melbourne for the past two years. While most scribes are marvelling at how some clubs manage to get by without some of their better players for a couple of weeks (e.g. Geelong without Ablett and Ling), spare a thought for the Demons. Since late 2006, they’ve gone without a large number of their top echelon players. Last week when Melbourne lost to the Kangaroos by 28 points, it had missing the following players who most judges would consider to be among the top six in the voting for club champion this year; namely Brock McLean, Brad Green, Paul Wheatley and Austin Wonaeamirri. And that’s not taking into account, other longer term casualties like Jared Rivers, Brent Moloney and Russell Robertson or retired skipper David Neitz. Melbourne’s policy of playing youth at the expense of some of the experienced old heads has also contributed to its indifferent bottom line of results. Jeff White, Adem Yze and Nathan Carroll all sat out last week after showing good form at Sandringham the week before. Their presence in the team could even have tipped the balance against North Melbourne. However, it would also have meant that three players in the under 23 age group would each have had one game less of vitally needed AFL experience – a factor that is obviously more important than the short term gains of playing the older brigade. The upshot of this is that Melbourne’s improvement will come with the return of some of the bigger names from injury and another pre season and further match experience for the younger Demon brigade – the likes of Matthew Bate, Lynden Dunn, Matthew Warnock, Clint Bartram, Nathan Jones, Simon Buckley, Colin Garland, Stef Martin and others who are getting games in their legs and mostly will form the basis of a formidable side that will one day need no introductions. THE GAME Essendon v Melbourne at MCG - 2 August 2008 at 2.10pm HEAD TO HEAD Overall Essendon 124 wins Melbourne 77 wins 2 draws At the MCG Essendon 62 wins Melbourne 41 wins Since 2000: Essendon 8 wins Melbourne 4 wins The Coaches Knights 0 wins Bailey 0 wins MEDIA Fox Sports 1 (Live) RADIO 3AW MMM THE BETTING Essendon to win $1.22 Melbourne to win $4.00 LAST TIME THEY MET Essendon 19.11.125 d Melbourne 18.15.123 Round 13, 2007, at Telstra Dome This was Neale Daniher’s last hurrah and his charges took their time showing any appreciation for their long time coach. The Bombers, with Lloyd and Lucas in red-hot form, booted eight goals in the opening stanza to take an early stranglehold on the game. The Demons fought back on more than one occasion. They nearly bridged the gap just prior to the main break and then took the lead in the third term. With James McDonald, Aaron Davey and Colin Sylvia all working hard, Melbourne held a 17-point lead as time on in the final term approached. However, Lucas was inspirational and a late flurry of goals saw the Bombers home with seconds to spare. David Neitz hobbled off in the arms of his coach and mentor and an era came to an end THE TEAMS ESSENDON Backs Jay Nash Mal Michael Dustin Fletcher Half backs Adam McPhee Patrick Ryder Jarrod Atkinson Centreline Ricky Dyson Jobe Watson Henry Slattery Half forwards Angus Monfries Matthew Lloyd Sam Lonergan Forwards Jason Laycock Nathan Lovett-Murray Leroy Jetta Followers David Hille Andrew Welsh Brent Stanton Interchange Kyle Reimers Andrew Lovett Damien Peverill Adam Ramanauskas Emergencies Heath Hocking Cale Hooker Rhys Magin In Andrew Lovett Out Scott Lucas (back) MELBOURNE Backs Matthew Whelan Colin Garland Matthew Warnock Half backs Chris Johnson Daniel Bell Paul Wheatley Centreline Cale Morton Cameron Bruce Simon Buckley Half forwards Brad Green Matthew Bate AaronDavey Forwards Paul Johnson Colin Sylvia Addam Maric Followers Mark Jamar Clint Bartram James McDonald Interchange Lynden Dunn Stefan Martin Shane Valenti Stefan Martin Austin Wonaeamirri Emergencies Nathan Carroll Nathan Jones Jeff White In Brad Green Paul Wheatley Austin Wonaeamirri Out Brad Miller (hamstring) Nathan Jones Michael Newton Umpires Kennedy Sully Fila Earlier in the season, I would have pencilled this game in as one that was extremely winnable as far as Melbourne was concerned with the venue tipping the scale in favour of the Demons. Then something strange happened – the Dons started winning their games. Essendon's only loss in the run home in the second half of the season came a fortnight ago when their last ditch attempt to win was frustrated by Tiger defender Joel Bowden’s ball hogging tactics in the final minute of the game. Melbourne's record over the same period has been marked by a slight improvement over the first half of the season but it has also been a time of frustration for the club as the injuries mount. For once, the pendulum has swung slightly in that regard with the return from injury of some valuable players – Brad Green, Paul Wheatley and Austin Wonaeamirri. However, their return has been offset to an extent by the loss of the team’s only effective key forward in Brad Miller through a hamstring injury. The selectors dropped Michael Newton, who was out of touch up forward last week and returns to Sandringham to gain some confidence and Nathan Jones who has struggled lately under the pressure of being the club's main man in the midfield and the target of heavy tagging, often in the form of double teaming. The Bombers lose Scott Lucas who starred against the Demons when they last met but was quiet last week against the Magpies. He is replaced by Andrew Lovett who returns after being disciplined by the club for yet another infraction against team rules. His inclusion will add to the Bombers' pace advantage. And it's this advantage in pace that will give the Bombers the edge over the Demons in this game. Melbourne's midfield is not overburdened with pace or quality for that matter and, while these deficiencies will need to be addressed in the forthcoming trade and draft period, there is little coach Dean Bailey can do in the short term to offset this glaring disadvantage. Simon Buckley on a wing has been good in this area lately but he’s also somewhat predictable in how he operates, attempting to take on the opposition and run the lines at every opportunity. Lynden Dunn will be called on to shut down one of the Essendon midfield brigade (Jobe Watson?). Thankfully, the Bomber on ballers won’t yap on like Boomer Harvey and, in any event, it is hoped that Dunn has now learned his lessons from last week well. Melbourne has had to recast its forward line yet again and, despite the return of Wonaeamirri, they will struggle. Essendon is the highest scoring team over the past six weeks, while Melbourne has been struggling to kick a decent score all year. That, and the fact that Melbourne will be donning its silver atrocity for thankfully the last time, suggests a Bomber victory by a good margin. Essendon by 32 points.