Melbourne great Nathan Jones was 18 years of age and four matches into his AFL career when the Demons steamrolled the Kangaroos by 50 points on the MCG in Round 20, 2006.
After that game, the club toiled for years to beat North Melbourne and had to endure the embarrassment of a 17-game losing streak that finally ended in 2018. By that time, Jones was a 30 year old veteran of 242 games and most of Demonkind was bedeviled by the memory of those multiple losses over a dozen seasons.
Times have changed. Jones went on to play in a couple more wins against the Kangaroos but he has retired and someone else is wearing the famous #2 guernsey. The club won a flag, the Kangaroos fell on hard times and picked up a couple of wooden spoons.
The Demons have started their own three game mini streak over the Roos and are looking to add to that on Saturday night when the two meet at the MCG for the first time since that streak-breaking game of 2018.
We’ve heard a great deal about Alastair Clarkson’s efforts to convert the hapless Kangaroos into a more competitive unit this year but after two early wins, they are falling behind the pack. Nobody is under any illusions that the process is long and slow and it would be easy to think of this week’s encounter as an opportunity for revenge or to humiliate a wounded opponent. But that’s something for hyped up fans, not for clubs, coaches, players and most true supporters.
The reality is that you can never take any opponent for granted. In 2021, a premiership year for Melbourne, the team lowered its colours to the reigning wooden spooner, Adelaide which tell us that there’s no place for complacency against any opponent these days.
Clarko is a crafty and experienced coach and he would have observed how Brad Scott and to a lesser extent, Damien Hardwick managed to trouble Melbourne’s defensive capabilities over the past two weeks. The problem for him is that to replicate such a scenario, he needs to have his side playing at their early season form. That’s a big ask.
Meanwhile, Simon Goodwin is carrying out a not so subtle reboot of the team’s systems after Melbourne‘s disappointing straight sets exit from the AFL 2022 finals. After a great preseason and a promising opening match, his team has been affected by injuries to key personnel and a fixture that took them interstate three times in four weeks, a combination which has produced a mixed bag of super performances interspersed with games highlighted by a lack of intensity and pressure that led to defeat and near defeat.
And while the team has been relieved of carrying the burden of the “premiership favourite” tag — one it didn’t wear well in the latter half of 2022 — the challenges keep on coming.
This week it’s the five day break in between games which places additional pressure on the fitness staff and the selectors. The season is long, entailing lots of travel and heavy training loads adding to stress on players and the need for management of players young and old. Melbourne’s much vaunted depth is about to be tested.
Fortunately for the Demons, they have the edge in football experience and know how over the young Kangaroos. Irrespective of the team’s makeup this week, it’s strength in the ruck and midfield should be too great in the end.
The problem for Clarkson is that he’s working with a young and inexperienced, albeit enthusiastic group and, as Demon fans will recall from the times when their team had exactly such a makeup a decade ago, you need a lot more to beat a winning streak.
Melbourne by 45 points.
THE GAME
Melbourne v North Melbourne on Saturday 29 April, 2023 at The MCG at 7.25pm
HEAD TO HEAD
Overall Melbourne 87 wins North Melbourne 82 wins 1 draw
At The MCG Melbourne 55 wins North Melbourne 37 wins
Last five times Melbourne 4 wins North Melbourne 1 win
The coaches Goodwin 0 wins Clarkson 0 wins
THE LAST TIME THEY MET
Narrm 14.16.100 defeated North Melbourne 8.5.53 at Marvel Stadium, Round 10, 2022
The Demons played in their first game as Narrm Football Club in recognition of the indigenous name for the region in which the club plays as part of the celebrations of the Indigenous Round. North challenged early but by the third quarter their scoring dried up and 'Narrm' kicked away to win comfortably to make it 10 wins on end to start the season. The victory against a plucky opponent marked the last of a long run of 17 consecutive wins that included the club’s 13th Premiership in September 2021. Clayton Oliver was outstanding with his 45 possessions in a dominant midfield. The club was struck hard by injury with Ed Langdon subbed off with broken ribs and it was also Tom McDonald’s last game for the season as he missed the remainder of 2021 with a foot injury.
THE TEAMS
MELBOURNE
B J. Bowey S. May J. Lever
HB A. Brayshaw B. Fritsch T. Rivers
C E. Langdon C. Oliver T. Sparrow
HF J. Viney J. Schache M. Hibberd
F J. Jordon J van Rooyen J. McVee
FOLL M. Gawn C. Petracca K. Chandler
I/C B. Grundy L. Hunter A. Neal-Bullen K. Pickett SUB J. Harmes EMG B. Laurie T. McDonald D. Turner
IN J. Harmes J. Schache
OUT B. Laurie (omitted) H. Petty (concussion)
NORTH MELBOURNE
B G. Logue B. McKay J. Ziebell
HB L. McDonald A. Hall H. Sheezel
C C. Taylor T. Powell L. Shiels
HF P. Curtis C. Comben J. Stephenson
F J. Simpkin N. Larkey C. Coleman-Jones
FOLL T. Goldstein D. Tucker C. Zurhaar
I/C A. Corr B. Cunnington B. Scott K. Turner SUB D. Howe EMG B. Drury H. Greenwood D. Howe W. Phillips
IN C. Coleman-Jones D. Howe J. Simpkin
OUT L. Davies-Uniacke (heel) D. Howe (omitted) W. Phillips (omitted)
Injury List: Round 7 (TBC)
