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ANOTHER WHAT IF? by George on the Outer Sunday's loss against Adelaide at the MCG has put an end to the Demons' finals aspirations for 2016. It was a game that could have been won, but for a few critical phases and individual failings during the course of the match. What if Dom Tyson had not spilled a simple chest mark from Jack Watts 30 metres out of goal? What if Nathan Jones had looked before he hand passed blindly to an Adelaide player, missing the Melbourne team-mate clear only meters out from goal? What if the team had come out with even half the endeavor shown in the second quarter, in the first four minutes of the third only to see Adelaide kick four unanswered goals? Yes the Demons lost the game. It was a loss of only 22 points against a side that has now had six wins on the trot and is probably going to go deep into September. Adelaide really didn’t win the game, it was gifted to them. Were the Demons competitive? They certainly were, and after the catastrophic performances that we have witnessed in the past couple of years, it was light-years ahead of where they have been. But as another supporter noted after the game ... we played as if we thought we were Hawthorn, but the players simply aren’t (at least yet). And it is those little errors at critical junctures in the game that are the difference between winning and losing. Hawthorn wins this type of game and we don’t - yet! And that remains the hope for the supporters. All too often we have seen the same this year. What if we had beaten Essendon, North, St Kilda and now Adelaide? All these games had the same flavor. We could have won. We should have won….but we didn’t. The pity is that we haven’t won any of these. Even half of them would have kept us in contention this year. But we still have a long way to go. Strangely, after the bye, there were too many Melbourne players who chose to put in well below par performances. Chris Dawes was a standout in this ignominious category and simply provided nothing up forward. Nine disposals (a team low) and only two marks were matched by his treacle like movement around the ground. Pity is that we have little to replace him, as Cam Pedersen is still out for another week with a shoulder injury. Bernie Vince put in a lacklustre performance as he played off half-back and took kick outs. However, his mere 17 disposals and those four clangers cost us dearly. The real contrast to these old stagers was the emergence of Jayden Hunt. He simply turned the game around in the second quarter with a spectacular intercept mark and a couple of courageous efforts to frustrate and deny the opposition goals. It was no surprise when he was cheered wildly by the crowd when he left the ground for a well-deserved break. Up forward and as stand-in ruck Jack Watts was simply superb. He has truly taken another step forward this year, and his placement in the ruck seems to mean that he is much more aggressive at ball and opponent. He was rewarded with three goals including one that came from a solo effort that epitomized his changed character. Unfortunately, the coaching box failed again after ½ time as it took them a whole quarter to wake up to the Crows placing Charlie Cameron or Eddie Betts at half-back for centre bounces, who ran past to receive and break open into their forward line. Our spare sat on the wing, which was pointless if the ball went to the wrong side of the pack. Worse still was that Max Gawn kept hitting the ball forward to ... you guessed it ... Cameron or Betts. And once again, the overuse of handball cruelled the team with costly turnovers. The ability to get meterage with kicks is critical so when the opportunity exists, it has to be taken, the way football is being played today. More so in the middle where we try to be too smart instead of scrubbing it out whatever way we can and give the forwards that we now have the chance to show their wares. Dom Tyson with 6 kicks and 18 handballs simply has to reverse those numbers, because the handballs are not effective. We are that close to becoming something truly competitive. But we will not get there until the attitude shown by the likes of Viney and Hunt and Jetta become the norm for all the team. We won’t be playing in September, and Paul Roos will now have the opportunity to give more games to the players at Casey who MAY provide something in the future. We need to get the likes of Brayshaw, Oliver, Viney and Petracca playing together in the middle to give them a foundation for next year. We now need to see what Weideman and Hulett can produce up forward. We simply cannot be asking the same “what if’s…” next year. There can be no more questions. We are due for answers. Melbourne 2.3.15 10.4.64 14.5.89 15.8.98 Adelaide 5.2.32 8.5.53 15.8.98 18.12.120 Goals Melbourne Gartlett 4 Hogan Watts 3 Hunt Harmes N Jones Kennedy Kent Adelaide Betts Douglas Walker 3 Cameron Jenkins McGovern 2 Atkins Lyons Lynch Best Melbourne Watts Hunt Jones Hogan Garlett Jetta Adelaide Laird Walker M Crouch B Crouch Cameron Douglas Changes Melbourne Nil Adelaide Nil Injuries Melbourne Nil Adelaide Nil Reports Melbourne Nil Adelaide Nil Umpires Chamberlain, Hay, Meredith, Harris Official crowd 29,133 at the MCG

Sunday's loss against Adelaide at the MCG has put an end to the Demons' finals aspirations for 2016. It was a game that could have been won, but for a few critical phases and individual failings during the course of the match. What if Dom Tyson had not spilled a simple chest mark from Jack Watts 30 metres out of goal? What if Nathan Jones had looked before he hand passed blindly to an Adelaide player, missing the Melbourne team-mate clear only meters out from goal? What if the team had come out with even half the endeavor shown in the second quarter, in the first four minutes of the third only to see Adelaide kick four unanswered goals? Yes the Demons lost the game. It was a loss of only 22 points against a side that has now had six wins on the trot and is probably going to go deep into September. Adelaide really didn’t win the game, it was gifted to them. Were the Demons competitive? They certainly were, and after the catastrophic performances that we have witnessed in the past couple of years, it was light-years ahead of where they have been. But as another supporter noted after the game ... we played as if we thought we were Hawthorn, but the players simply aren’t (at least yet). And it is those little errors at critical junctures in the game that are the difference between winning and losing. Hawthorn wins this type of game and we don’t - yet! And that remains the hope for the supporters. All too often we have seen the same this year. What if we had beaten Essendon, North, St Kilda and now Adelaide? All these games had the same flavor. We could have won. We should have won….but we didn’t. The pity is that we haven’t won any of these. Even half of them would have kept us in contention this year. But we still have a long way to go. Strangely, after the bye, there were too many Melbourne players who chose to put in well below par performances. Chris Dawes was a standout in this ignominious category and simply provided nothing up forward. Nine disposals (a team low) and only two marks were matched by his treacle like movement around the ground. Pity is that we have little to replace him, as Cam Pedersen is still out for another week with a shoulder injury. Bernie Vince put in a lacklustre performance as he played off half-back and took kick outs. However, his mere 17 disposals and those four clangers cost us dearly. The real contrast to these old stagers was the emergence of Jayden Hunt. He simply turned the game around in the second quarter with a spectacular intercept mark and a couple of courageous efforts to frustrate and deny the opposition goals. It was no surprise when he was cheered wildly by the crowd when he left the ground for a well-deserved break. Up forward and as stand-in ruck Jack Watts was simply superb. He has truly taken another step forward this year, and his placement in the ruck seems to mean that he is much more aggressive at ball and opponent. He was rewarded with three goals including one that came from a solo effort that epitomized his changed character. Unfortunately, the coaching box failed again after ½ time as it took them a whole quarter to wake up to the Crows placing Charlie Cameron or Eddie Betts at half-back for centre bounces, who ran past to receive and break open into their forward line. Our spare sat on the wing, which was pointless if the ball went to the wrong side of the pack. Worse still was that Max Gawn kept hitting the ball forward to ... you guessed it ... Cameron or Betts. And once again, the overuse of handball cruelled the team with costly turnovers. The ability to get meterage with kicks is critical so when the opportunity exists, it has to be taken, the way football is being played today. More so in the middle where we try to be too smart instead of scrubbing it out whatever way we can and give the forwards that we now have the chance to show their wares. Dom Tyson with 6 kicks and 18 handballs simply has to reverse those numbers, because the handballs are not effective. We are that close to becoming something truly competitive. But we will not get there until the attitude shown by the likes of Viney and Hunt and Jetta become the norm for all the team. We won’t be playing in September, and Paul Roos will now have the opportunity to give more games to the players at Casey who MAY provide something in the future. We need to get the likes of Brayshaw, Oliver, Viney and Petracca playing together in the middle to give them a foundation for next year. We now need to see what Weideman and Hulett can produce up forward. We simply cannot be asking the same “what if’s…” next year. There can be no more questions. We are due for answers. Melbourne 2.3.15 10.4.64 14.5.89 15.8.98 Adelaide 5.2.32 8.5.53 15.8.98 18.12.120 Goals Melbourne Gartlett 4 Hogan Watts 3 Hunt Harmes N Jones Kennedy Kent Adelaide Betts Douglas Walker 3 Cameron Jenkins McGovern 2 Atkins Lyons Lynch Best Melbourne Watts Hunt Jones Hogan Garlett Jetta Adelaide Laird Walker M Crouch B Crouch Cameron Douglas Changes Melbourne Nil Adelaide Nil Injuries Melbourne Nil Adelaide Nil Reports Melbourne Nil Adelaide Nil Umpires Chamberlain, Hay, Meredith, Harris Official crowd 29,133 at the MCG

Looking at the ladder, it's clear that this is a last chance saloon event for the Melbourne Football Club. For weeks, we've been meandering just outside the top but today, we need to pull a rabbit out of a hat just in order to stay in touch.

STONE THE ... by The Oracle The Demons are coming off their biggest loss for the season and a bye only to run into the undoubted form team of the competition, the Adelaide Crows who have won their last five games on end. They are in supreme form and are a credit to their new coach Don Pyke who took over a club that tragically lost its coach around twelve months and then lost their champion player to another club at the start of the season. Since the Crows lost their Friday night home game against the Cats some 6 weeks ago, they demolished the Suns (75 points), beat the Giants (22 points), crushed the Saints (88 points), overran the Eagles in Perth (29 points) and toppled the Kangaroos (33 points). That's an enviable record, one that the Demons have struggled to emulate for over a decade. The question is whether Melbourne can turn things around after its poor last up performance in the slog in Sydney when the young team was overwhelmed by the stronger Swans and in the end produced barely a whimper in difficult conditions. That 55-point deficit in those conditions translates into a complete beat mugging. Can the Demons come back and thereby keep in touch with the top 8? They do have a few things going for them, home ground advantage for starters. The Crows don't play against Melbourne often at this ground - it's been a few years and the last time was when the Demons were at their lowest ebb. The next thing that Melbourne has in its favour is the competition's in form ruckman in Max Gawn who has his eyes on the scalp of Sam Jacobs. In his last up start in the deluge up in the harbour city, big Max amassed more than fifty hit outs but that huge number was nullified by the conditions which prevented his on ballers from taking advantage. This week should be kinder to him and his midfield headed by Nathan Jones, Jack Viney, Bernie Vince and Dom Tyson. They face some tough opposition with Rory Sloane and Scott Thompson leading the way and feeding a formidable forward line including the likes of Tex Walker, Josh Jenkins, Tom Lynch and Eddie Betts. I can't see Melbourne's young and inexperienced defence holding all of Adelaide's forwards to the point where they can win. Adelaide by 35 points. THE GAME Melbourne v Adelaide at the MCG Sunday 3 July, 2016 at 3.20 pm HEAD TO HEAD Overall Melbourne 12 wins Adelaide 22 wins At MCG Melbourne 7 wins Adelaide 6 wins Past five meetings Melbourne 1 win Adelaide 4 wins The Coaches Paul Roos 0 wins Don Pyke 0 wins MEDIA TV - Fox Footy Channel Live at 3.00pm RADIO - Triple M 3AW SEN ABC ABC Grandstand THE BETTING Melbourne to win - $3.15 Adelaide to win - $1.36 THE LAST TIME THEY MET Adelaide 12.8.80 defeated Melbourne 7.13.55 Round 3, 2015 at Adelaide Oval The 25 point win by Adelaide was somewhat misleading because the Demons were well into the game until they dropped off the pace in the final term against the more accurate Crows. THE TEAMS MELBOURNE B: Sam Frost, Tom McDonald, Neville Jetta HB: Jayden Hunt, Oscar McDonald, Tomas Bugg C: Aaron vandenBerg, Dom Tyson, Bernie Vince HF: Christian Petracca, Chris Dawes, Billy Stretch F: Jack Watts, Jesse Hogan, Dean Kent FOLL: Max Gawn, Nathan Jones, Jack Viney I/C: Jeff Garlett, James Harmes, Matt Jones, Ben Kennedy EMG: Jack Grimes, Viv Michie, Jack Trengove IN: Jeff Garlett, James Harmes, Matt Jones OUT: Clayton Oliver (omitted), Jack Trengove (omitted), Josh Wagner (knee) ADELAIDE CROWS B: Jake Lever, Daniel Talia, Rory Laird HB: Brodie Smith, Kyle Hartigan, Luke Brown C: David Mackay, Rory Sloane, Rory Atkins HF: Mitch McGovern, Josh Jenkins, Richard Douglas F: Eddie Betts, Taylor Walker, Tom Lynch FOLL: Sam Jacobs, Scott Thompson, Jarryd Lyons I/C: Charlie Cameron, Kyle Cheney, Brad Crouch, Matt Crouch EMG: Ricky Henderson, Wayne Milera, Andy Otten NO CHANGE

The Demons are coming off their biggest loss for the season and a bye only to run into the undoubted form team of the competition, the Adelaide Crows who have won their last five games on end. They are in supreme form and are a credit to their new coach Don Pyke who took over a club that tragically lost its coach around twelve months and then lost their champion player to another club at the start of the season. Since the Crows lost their Friday night home game against the Cats some 6 weeks ago, they demolished the Suns (75 points), beat the Giants (22 points), crushed the Saints (88 points), overran the Eagles in Perth (29 points) and toppled the Kangaroos (33 points). That's an enviable record, one that the Demons have struggled to emulate for over a decade. The question is whether Melbourne can turn things around after its poor last up performance in the slog in Sydney when the young team was overwhelmed by the stronger Swans and in the end produced barely a whimper in difficult conditions. That 55-point deficit in those conditions translates into a complete beat mugging. Can the Demons come back and thereby keep in touch with the top 8? They do have a few things going for them, home ground advantage for starters. The Crows don't play against Melbourne often at this ground - it's been a few years and the last time was when the Demons were at their lowest ebb. The next thing that Melbourne has in its favour is the competition's in form ruckman in Max Gawn who has his eyes on the scalp of Sam Jacobs. In his last up start in the deluge up in the harbour city, big Max amassed more than fifty hit outs but that huge number was nullified by the conditions which prevented his on ballers from taking advantage. This week should be kinder to him and his midfield headed by Nathan Jones, Jack Viney, Bernie Vince and Dom Tyson. They face some tough opposition with Rory Sloane and Scott Thompson leading the way and feeding a formidable forward line including the likes of Tex Walker, Josh Jenkins, Tom Lynch and Eddie Betts. I can't see Melbourne's young and inexperienced defence holding all of Adelaide's forwards to the point where they can win. Adelaide by 35 points. THE GAME Melbourne v Adelaide at the MCG Sunday 3 July, 2016 at 3.20 pm HEAD TO HEAD Overall Melbourne 12 wins Adelaide 22 wins At MCG Melbourne 7 wins Adelaide 6 wins Past five meetings Melbourne 1 win Adelaide 4 wins The Coaches Paul Roos 0 wins Don Pyke 0 wins MEDIA TV - Fox Footy Channel Live at 3.00pm RADIO - Triple M 3AW SEN ABC ABC Grandstand THE BETTING Melbourne to win - $3.15 Adelaide to win - $1.36 THE LAST TIME THEY MET Adelaide 12.8.80 defeated Melbourne 7.13.55 Round 3, 2015 at Adelaide Oval The 25 point win by Adelaide was somewhat misleading because the Demons were well into the game until they dropped off the pace in the final term against the more accurate Crows. THE TEAMS MELBOURNE B: Sam Frost, Tom McDonald, Neville Jetta HB: Jayden Hunt, Oscar McDonald, Tomas Bugg C: Aaron vandenBerg, Dom Tyson, Bernie Vince HF: Christian Petracca, Chris Dawes, Billy Stretch F: Jack Watts, Jesse Hogan, Dean Kent FOLL: Max Gawn, Nathan Jones, Jack Viney I/C: Jeff Garlett, James Harmes, Matt Jones, Ben Kennedy EMG: Jack Grimes, Viv Michie, Jack Trengove IN: Jeff Garlett, James Harmes, Matt Jones OUT: Clayton Oliver (omitted), Jack Trengove (omitted), Josh Wagner (knee) ADELAIDE CROWS B: Jake Lever, Daniel Talia, Rory Laird HB: Brodie Smith, Kyle Hartigan, Luke Brown C: David Mackay, Rory Sloane, Rory Atkins HF: Mitch McGovern, Josh Jenkins, Richard Douglas F: Eddie Betts, Taylor Walker, Tom Lynch FOLL: Sam Jacobs, Scott Thompson, Jarryd Lyons I/C: Charlie Cameron, Kyle Cheney, Brad Crouch, Matt Crouch EMG: Ricky Henderson, Wayne Milera, Andy Otten NO CHANGE

It was round three of last year and we should have beaten them but we didn’t ... ADELAIDE CROWS B: Luke Brown, Daniel Talia, Rory Laird HB: Jake Kelly, Kyle Hartigan, Brodie Smith C: Ricky Henderson, Scott Thompson, Matthew Jaensch HF: Cam Ellis-Yolmen, Taylor Walker, Charlie Cameron F: Eddie Betts, Patrick Dangerfield, Tom Lynch FOLL: Sam Jacobs, Rory Sloane, Nathan Van Berlo I/C: Richard Douglas, Josh Jenkins, David Mackay, Matthew Wright EMG: Matt Crouch, Mitch Grigg, Jarryd Lyons IN: Jake Kelly, Scott Thompson OUT: Kyle Cheney (hamstring), Mitch Grigg NEW: Kelly MELBOURNE B: Colin Garland, Lynden Dunn, Jeremy Howe HB: Neville Jetta, Tom McDonald, Christian Salem C: Daniel Cross, Heritier Lumumba, Sam Frost HF: Dean Kent, Jesse Hogan, Bernie Vince F: Jeff Garlett, Chris Dawes, Jack Watts FOLL: Mark Jamar, Dom Tyson, Nathan Jones I/C: Angus Brayshaw, Jay Kennedy-Harris, Ben Newton, Aaron vandenBerg EMG: Jack Grimes, Viv Michie, Jake Spencer IN: Jay Kennedy-Harris OUT: Jack Viney (leg)

Your votes please.

TIRED by The Oracle For the first quarter and a half of the Demons' farewell to favoured son Brad Green, things were going well. When Jared Rivers' goal put them only five points down, they looked a substantially improved outfit to the one which stumbled through most of the first half of the season. Green himself had featured prominently in his team's impressive start with two first quarter goals and he could easily have set his retirement match alight had he not missed two easy shots that presented themselves in the second term. His final tally of goals sits at an impressive 350 from 254 matches but this one was not to be the fairytale ending that most would hope for after giving so much for his team. The Crows made the most of a few Demon turnovers and other errors kicking the last four goals of the half to lead by 31 points at the main break. The problem with this young team decimated by injuries and loss of form was that it was travelling on two cylinders while the opposition, winning in the ruck and midfield, with two dominant key position forwards in fine marking form and a final four finish in its sights, put on the afterburners in the third quarter and that was that. The Crows kicked ten goals for the term to take a 74-point lead into Green's last quarter and, though the Demons looked tired and dispirited they fought on gamely to narrowly win the final term. Colin Sylvia who started the season with a broken back and had to contend with injury and criticism as to his attitude has kept his best games until near the very end. Nathan Jones was his usual self as the battering ram midfielder and Jeremy Howe did well, taking a few marks to add to the album. Sam Blease did a few nice things and the co-leaders worked hard for a lost cause. Their team is playing as if it is in the middle of a long, hard pre season. It looks tired and in need of a rest as much as its supporters. Melbourne 3.4.22 5.7.37 8.10.58 11.15.81 Adelaide 5.3.33 10.8.68 20.12.132 22.18.150 Goals Melbourne Green Rivers Sellar 2 Blease Howe Jones Spencer Watts Adelaide Callinan Walker 4 Dangerfield Tippett 3 Douglas Johncock 2 Petrenko Reilly van Berlo Wright Best Melbourne Sylvia Jones Howe Grimes Bail McKenzie Adelaide Walker Dangerfield Tippett Thompson Wright Petrenko Jacobs Callinan Changes Melbourne Nil. Adelaide Nil. Injuries Melbourne Nil. Adelaide Nil. Reports Melbourne Nil. Adelaide Nil. Umpires Wenn Leppard Fleer Official Crowd 18,450 at MCG

TIRED by The Oracle For the first quarter and a half of the Demons' farewell to favoured son Brad Green, things were going well. When Jared Rivers' goal put them only five points down, they looked a substantially improved outfit to the one which stumbled through most of the first half of the season. Green himself had featured prominently in his team's impressive start with two first quarter goals and he could easily have set his retirement match alight had he not missed two easy shots that presented themselves in the second term. His final tally of goals sits at an impressive 350 from 254 matches but this one was not to be the fairytale ending that most would hope for after giving so much for his team. The Crows made the most of a few Demon turnovers and other errors kicking the last four goals of the half to lead by 31 points at the main break. The problem with this young team decimated by injuries and loss of form was that it was travelling on two cylinders while the opposition, winning in the ruck and midfield, with two dominant key position forwards in fine marking form and a final four finish in its sights, put on the afterburners in the third quarter and that was that. The Crows kicked ten goals for the term to take a 74-point lead into Green's last quarter and, though the Demons looked tired and dispirited they fought on gamely to narrowly win the final term. Colin Sylvia who started the season with a broken back and had to contend with injury and criticism as to his attitude has kept his best games until near the very end. Nathan Jones was his usual self as the battering ram midfielder and Jeremy Howe did well, taking a few marks to add to the album. Sam Blease did a few nice things and the co-leaders worked hard for a lost cause. Their team is playing as if it is in the middle of a long, hard pre season. It looks tired and in need of a rest as much as its supporters. Melbourne 3.4.22 5.7.37 8.10.58 11.15.81 Adelaide 5.3.33 10.8.68 20.12.132 22.18.150 Goals Melbourne Green Rivers Sellar 2 Blease Howe Jones Spencer Watts Adelaide Callinan Walker 4 Dangerfield Tippett 3 Douglas Johncock 2 Petrenko Reilly van Berlo Wright Best Melbourne Sylvia Jones Howe Grimes Bail McKenzie Adelaide Walker Dangerfield Tippett Thompson Wright Petrenko Jacobs Callinan Changes Melbourne Nil. Adelaide Nil. Injuries Melbourne Nil. Adelaide Nil. Reports Melbourne Nil. Adelaide Nil. Umpires Wenn Leppard Fleer Official Crowd 18,450 at MCG

All set for a big afternoon/evening after a round that had already seen the demise of heavyweights Carlton, Collingwood and Essendon. Looking forward to a big day of farewell to a club icon in Brad Green. Also to Jeremy Howe's 9th mark of the year nomination.

THE GREEN MILE by Whispering Jack The last home game of the season is to be played at the ungodly hour of 4.40pm on a Sunday night in late winter and, because it's against Adelaide and the forecast is for a shower or two, one wonders whether a crowd will turn up to farewell Brad Green who will play his 254th game proudly wearing the number 18 guernsey for the last time in a distinguished career with the Melbourne Football Club. It would be a shame if the Demon faithful fail to turn up to celebrate the occasion. This season has been a long, hard and eventful one but for all the wrong reasons. While the passion and the generosity of the Melbourne fans at Tuesday night's Foundation Heroes Dinner was encouraging, the curtain will come down this week on the difficult era in which Green played in a pall of gloom but, as always, there is hope for better times on the horizon. Brad Green arrived at the Melbourne Football Club at another low moment in its history at the end of the last century. The Demons had recently admitted to breaching the AFL's salary cap and, as a consequence, were sanctioned by way of fines and the loss of their first draft pick at the 1999 National Draft which would have been selection five. Ironically, that pick was given to Fremantle who selected Leigh Brown of the Gippsland Power who is currently an assistant coach at Melbourne. The club's first pick that year became selection 19 and it chose wisely when it named young Brad Green from the Tasmanian Under 18s. Green was a versatile young all round sportsman who had played representative cricket and soccer as a teenager, captaining the Australian under-15 cricket team. He was scouted by Manchester United and spent time in training at Old Trafford before deciding to concentrate on our game. Years into his career, commentators would always reprise the connection with the great soccer club whenever they were caught short for words while Green was present on the playing field. Things immediately turned around for the club in Green's first year as it rose from 14th to make the 2000 Grand Final where it fell to a great side in Essendon, a tough, match-hardened team brim full of experience that lost only one game that year and took the opportunity to maul its younger opponents into submission on its way to the premiership. The young Green, who was a star in the other finals and had booted four goals in the semi final against Carlton was bashed in the throat and ended in hospital. He hadn't lasted a quarter in the season's ultimate game. It was ironical that when Melbourne's current coach spoke at this week's Foundation Heroes Dinner, he highlighted the fact that the team he now has at his disposal suffered from its inexperience of an average of roughly sixty games per player against the leading clubs whose make up is nearly double that figure - a differential of two to three seasons per player on average. This was not dissimilar to the gulf between the two participants that one day in September, a dozen years away in a year in which Green, Cameron Bruce, Paul Wheatley and Matthew Whelan were all introduced to the club from a draft in which it was deprived of its first pick. Green grew with the club and established himself in a number of roles. He was equally adept in the middle, in defence, on a wing, half forward or deep in the forward line where his accurate kicking for goal was a feature of his game. The club was strong enough to contest the finals in most of those early years under Neale Daniher but never enough to make it to the last two weeks in September (actually, that 2000 grand final was played in the first week of September due to the forthcoming Olympic Games in Sydney). In 2006, the Demons finished fifth but were the highest placed of all the Victorian teams. Off the field, the club had endured in-fighting when two separate factions emerged in the wake of the dismissal of Joseph Gutnick as its chairman and further controversy affected its fortunes when Gabriel Szondy suddenly resigned amid accusations of incompetence and mismanagement of the CEO. Rarely during the past decade or so have the Demons been without some form of off-field wrangling and controversy which still manages to dog them to this very day. At the start of 2007, hopes for the team were high but it fell into a form of football recession, one from which it is yet to emerge. Wooden spoons and early draft picks followed and these have led to charges of cheating and the current round of tanking allegations. On the ground, the club has failed to rise above twelfth position in the past six seasons and it currently sits close to the foot of the ladder. Through all of the gloom, Brad Green stood out like a beacon in a stellar career that has now spanned more than 250 games and 348 goals (hopefully, he will make it to 350 on Sunday evening). In 2010, he had his best season, kicking 55 goals and taking 153 marks. He made the All-Australian squad and won the Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Medal along with the Ron Barassi Leadership Award and the "Heart and Soul" Award stamping him as the ideal successor for the captaincy of the Demons, after the retirement of James McDonald. He skippered his country in the round ball 2011 International Rules series against Ireland and was the only Australian to kick a goal during the series with many commentators describing this goal as a "captain's goal". His leaving is soured to an extent by the club's recent history. When the club fell on hard times and was close to broke during its 150th season in 2008, a new Board headed by the legendary Jimmy Stynes took over to lead its fight for survival. The debt was broken and the club was ultimately able to provide its players with better facilities and an upgrade in the amount of personnel available but some discontentment in the background culminated in the now infamous loss at Geelong on 30 July 2011 that led to the sacking of coach Dean Bailey. In the wash up that followed the appointment of the new coach, Green lost the captaincy and his place in the leadership group for this year and was then struck by injury and loss of form that wiped out most of the first half of his current and final season that even saw him playing a few games with the Casey Scorpions. He returned in the way that great players do and recently kicked a bag against Gold Coast as the team stormed to a seven goal win at the MCG. And so the time has come for Brad Green and one suspects, some of the other club elders as a new generation emerges to take up fresh challenges in changing times. I look upon the end of his illustrious career in much the same way as that of the biblical Moses who took a whole generation through the wilderness but never made it to the Promised Land. THE GAME Melbourne v Adelaide at the MCG 26 August 2012 at 4.40pm (AEST) HEAD TO HEAD Overall Melbourne 11 wins Adelaide 19 wins At MCG Melbourne 7 wins Adelaide 5 wins Since 2000 Melbourne 6 wins Adelaide 11 wins The coaches Neeld 0 wins Sanderson 0 wins MEDIA TV Fox Footy Channel – live at 4.30pm. RADIO SEN ABC774 3AW Triple M THE BETTING Melbourne to win $6.00 Adelaide to win $1.13 LAST TIME THEY MET Melbourne 22.17.149 defeated Adelaide 8.5.53 at the MCG Round 7, 2011 Less than 20,000 fans (actually 19,987) turned up to watch the Demons demolish a poor Adelaide outfit at the MCG but the game turned out to be a disaster for the Demons even though they won by 16 goals. Jack Grimes injured his foot only minutes from the start and missed the rest of the year and Mark Jamar was also injured during the game and forced to miss several weeks. Jack Trengove was reported and suspended for a sling tackle on Patrick Dangerfield. Ricky Petterd, Colin Sylvia kicked four goals each and Liam Jurrah three while Brent Moloney was his team's best. THE TEAMS MELBOURNE Backs Joel Macdonald Colin Garland Tom McDonald Half backs Jack Watts, James Frawley, Lynden Dunn Centreline Jack Trengove Jordie McKenzie Jack Grimes Half forwards Sam Blease Jared Rivers Rohan Bail Forwards Jeremy Howe Brad Green Neville Jetta Followers Jake Spencer Colin Sylvia Nathan Jones Interchange Daniel Nicholson James Sellar James Strauss Luke Tapscott Emergencies Matthew Bate Tom Couch Jordan Gysberts In Daniel Nicholson Out Tom Couch Milestone: James Frawley 100 games ADELAIDE Backs Graham Johncock Ben Rutten Sam Shaw Half backs Brodie Smith Daniel Talia Michael Doughty Centreline Bernie Vince Nathan van Berlo David Mackay Half forwards Jared Petrenko Taylor Walker Richard Douglas Forwards Jason Porplyzia Kurt Tippett Matthew Wright Followers Sam Jacobs Scott Thompson Patrick Dangerdfield Interchange Luke Brown Ian Callinan Brent Reilly Aidan Riley Emergencies Josh Jenkins Tom Lynch Jarryd Lyons In Jason Porplyzia Aidan Riley Brodie Smith Out Chris Knights Josh Jenkins Rory Sloane (elbow) The Demons have already played their part in the downfall of one premiership contender earlier in the year when they caused a major shock in beating the Bombers. Ever since that game Essendon has been in freefall and if you composed a ladder for the second half of the year it would sit below Melbourne in the pecking order. Now it's the moment of truth for Adelaide whose credentials in the top four have been questioned because its fixture looked much easier than the other contenders. A week ago, the Crows were coasting towards a top two finish and a home final in the first week of the finals with Brisbane, Melbourne and Gold Coast left on their roster but their shock loss to the Brisbane Lions after holding a 38 point quarter time lead has served as a wake up call. They now need to win both remaining games and do so by reasonable margins to strengthen their position going into the finals. Melbourne has languished through the season without showing much credibility and will be aiming to finish the season strongly to hold it in good stead for the future. The Demons' record against the Crows on the MCG is good and the last time they met, it was an easy 16 goal win for the home side. Times have changed but with Adelaide suddenly shaky, Melbourne has another opportunity to upset a premiership contender. And what a great way that would be to send of a great servant of the club like Brad Green? For the Demons to get over the Crows they must get on top in the midfield against an opponent that boasts the dynamic Scott Thompson and Patrick Dangerfield together with an array of foot soldiers who can run and spread as well as any in the land. It is their midfield, its improvement and its consistency that has been instrumental in lifting them from the depths under the adept coaching of Brenton Sanderson. It also has a strong spine with Walker and Tippett dangerous up forward and Rutten and the much improved Talia down back. In comparison, the Demons don't have the midfield depth and while they are solid in defence, they've struggled all year up forward and more so since the injuries to Mitch Clark, Ricky Petterd and the demise of Liam Jurrah. For these reasons and the fact that the Crows have too much to lose if it can't come home with the four points, I'm tipping them to win but not by much. Adelaide by 11 points.

THE GREEN MILE by Whispering Jack The last home game of the season is to be played at the ungodly hour of 4.40pm on a Sunday night in late winter and, because it's against Adelaide and the forecast is for a shower or two, one wonders whether a crowd will turn up to farewell Brad Green who will play his 254th game proudly wearing the number 18 guernsey for the last time in a distinguished career with the Melbourne Football Club. It would be a shame if the Demon faithful fail to turn up to celebrate the occasion. This season has been a long, hard and eventful one but for all the wrong reasons. While the passion and the generosity of the Melbourne fans at Tuesday night's Foundation Heroes Dinner was encouraging, the curtain will come down this week on the difficult era in which Green played in a pall of gloom but, as always, there is hope for better times on the horizon. Brad Green arrived at the Melbourne Football Club at another low moment in its history at the end of the last century. The Demons had recently admitted to breaching the AFL's salary cap and, as a consequence, were sanctioned by way of fines and the loss of their first draft pick at the 1999 National Draft which would have been selection five. Ironically, that pick was given to Fremantle who selected Leigh Brown of the Gippsland Power who is currently an assistant coach at Melbourne. The club's first pick that year became selection 19 and it chose wisely when it named young Brad Green from the Tasmanian Under 18s. Green was a versatile young all round sportsman who had played representative cricket and soccer as a teenager, captaining the Australian under-15 cricket team. He was scouted by Manchester United and spent time in training at Old Trafford before deciding to concentrate on our game. Years into his career, commentators would always reprise the connection with the great soccer club whenever they were caught short for words while Green was present on the playing field. Things immediately turned around for the club in Green's first year as it rose from 14th to make the 2000 Grand Final where it fell to a great side in Essendon, a tough, match-hardened team brim full of experience that lost only one game that year and took the opportunity to maul its younger opponents into submission on its way to the premiership. The young Green, who was a star in the other finals and had booted four goals in the semi final against Carlton was bashed in the throat and ended in hospital. He hadn't lasted a quarter in the season's ultimate game. It was ironical that when Melbourne's current coach spoke at this week's Foundation Heroes Dinner, he highlighted the fact that the team he now has at his disposal suffered from its inexperience of an average of roughly sixty games per player against the leading clubs whose make up is nearly double that figure - a differential of two to three seasons per player on average. This was not dissimilar to the gulf between the two participants that one day in September, a dozen years away in a year in which Green, Cameron Bruce, Paul Wheatley and Matthew Whelan were all introduced to the club from a draft in which it was deprived of its first pick. Green grew with the club and established himself in a number of roles. He was equally adept in the middle, in defence, on a wing, half forward or deep in the forward line where his accurate kicking for goal was a feature of his game. The club was strong enough to contest the finals in most of those early years under Neale Daniher but never enough to make it to the last two weeks in September (actually, that 2000 grand final was played in the first week of September due to the forthcoming Olympic Games in Sydney). In 2006, the Demons finished fifth but were the highest placed of all the Victorian teams. Off the field, the club had endured in-fighting when two separate factions emerged in the wake of the dismissal of Joseph Gutnick as its chairman and further controversy affected its fortunes when Gabriel Szondy suddenly resigned amid accusations of incompetence and mismanagement of the CEO. Rarely during the past decade or so have the Demons been without some form of off-field wrangling and controversy which still manages to dog them to this very day. At the start of 2007, hopes for the team were high but it fell into a form of football recession, one from which it is yet to emerge. Wooden spoons and early draft picks followed and these have led to charges of cheating and the current round of tanking allegations. On the ground, the club has failed to rise above twelfth position in the past six seasons and it currently sits close to the foot of the ladder. Through all of the gloom, Brad Green stood out like a beacon in a stellar career that has now spanned more than 250 games and 348 goals (hopefully, he will make it to 350 on Sunday evening). In 2010, he had his best season, kicking 55 goals and taking 153 marks. He made the All-Australian squad and won the Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Medal along with the Ron Barassi Leadership Award and the "Heart and Soul" Award stamping him as the ideal successor for the captaincy of the Demons, after the retirement of James McDonald. He skippered his country in the round ball 2011 International Rules series against Ireland and was the only Australian to kick a goal during the series with many commentators describing this goal as a "captain's goal". His leaving is soured to an extent by the club's recent history. When the club fell on hard times and was close to broke during its 150th season in 2008, a new Board headed by the legendary Jimmy Stynes took over to lead its fight for survival. The debt was broken and the club was ultimately able to provide its players with better facilities and an upgrade in the amount of personnel available but some discontentment in the background culminated in the now infamous loss at Geelong on 30 July 2011 that led to the sacking of coach Dean Bailey. In the wash up that followed the appointment of the new coach, Green lost the captaincy and his place in the leadership group for this year and was then struck by injury and loss of form that wiped out most of the first half of his current and final season that even saw him playing a few games with the Casey Scorpions. He returned in the way that great players do and recently kicked a bag against Gold Coast as the team stormed to a seven goal win at the MCG. And so the time has come for Brad Green and one suspects, some of the other club elders as a new generation emerges to take up fresh challenges in changing times. I look upon the end of his illustrious career in much the same way as that of the biblical Moses who took a whole generation through the wilderness but never made it to the Promised Land. THE GAME Melbourne v Adelaide at the MCG 26 August 2012 at 4.40pm (AEST) HEAD TO HEAD Overall Melbourne 11 wins Adelaide 19 wins At MCG Melbourne 7 wins Adelaide 5 wins Since 2000 Melbourne 6 wins Adelaide 11 wins The coaches Neeld 0 wins Sanderson 0 wins MEDIA TV Fox Footy Channel – live at 4.30pm. RADIO SEN ABC774 3AW Triple M THE BETTING Melbourne to win $6.00 Adelaide to win $1.13 LAST TIME THEY MET Melbourne 22.17.149 defeated Adelaide 8.5.53 at the MCG Round 7, 2011 Less than 20,000 fans (actually 19,987) turned up to watch the Demons demolish a poor Adelaide outfit at the MCG but the game turned out to be a disaster for the Demons even though they won by 16 goals. Jack Grimes injured his foot only minutes from the start and missed the rest of the year and Mark Jamar was also injured during the game and forced to miss several weeks. Jack Trengove was reported and suspended for a sling tackle on Patrick Dangerfield. Ricky Petterd, Colin Sylvia kicked four goals each and Liam Jurrah three while Brent Moloney was his team's best. THE TEAMS MELBOURNE Backs Joel Macdonald Colin Garland Tom McDonald Half backs Jack Watts, James Frawley, Lynden Dunn Centreline Jack Trengove Jordie McKenzie Jack Grimes Half forwards Sam Blease Jared Rivers Rohan Bail Forwards Jeremy Howe Brad Green Neville Jetta Followers Jake Spencer Colin Sylvia Nathan Jones Interchange Daniel Nicholson James Sellar James Strauss Luke Tapscott Emergencies Matthew Bate Tom Couch Jordan Gysberts In Daniel Nicholson Out Tom Couch Milestone: James Frawley 100 games ADELAIDE Backs Graham Johncock Ben Rutten Sam Shaw Half backs Brodie Smith Daniel Talia Michael Doughty Centreline Bernie Vince Nathan van Berlo David Mackay Half forwards Jared Petrenko Taylor Walker Richard Douglas Forwards Jason Porplyzia Kurt Tippett Matthew Wright Followers Sam Jacobs Scott Thompson Patrick Dangerdfield Interchange Luke Brown Ian Callinan Brent Reilly Aidan Riley Emergencies Josh Jenkins Tom Lynch Jarryd Lyons In Jason Porplyzia Aidan Riley Brodie Smith Out Chris Knights Josh Jenkins Rory Sloane (elbow) The Demons have already played their part in the downfall of one premiership contender earlier in the year when they caused a major shock in beating the Bombers. Ever since that game Essendon has been in freefall and if you composed a ladder for the second half of the year it would sit below Melbourne in the pecking order. Now it's the moment of truth for Adelaide whose credentials in the top four have been questioned because its fixture looked much easier than the other contenders. A week ago, the Crows were coasting towards a top two finish and a home final in the first week of the finals with Brisbane, Melbourne and Gold Coast left on their roster but their shock loss to the Brisbane Lions after holding a 38 point quarter time lead has served as a wake up call. They now need to win both remaining games and do so by reasonable margins to strengthen their position going into the finals. Melbourne has languished through the season without showing much credibility and will be aiming to finish the season strongly to hold it in good stead for the future. The Demons' record against the Crows on the MCG is good and the last time they met, it was an easy 16 goal win for the home side. Times have changed but with Adelaide suddenly shaky, Melbourne has another opportunity to upset a premiership contender. And what a great way that would be to send of a great servant of the club like Brad Green? For the Demons to get over the Crows they must get on top in the midfield against an opponent that boasts the dynamic Scott Thompson and Patrick Dangerfield together with an array of foot soldiers who can run and spread as well as any in the land. It is their midfield, its improvement and its consistency that has been instrumental in lifting them from the depths under the adept coaching of Brenton Sanderson. It also has a strong spine with Walker and Tippett dangerous up forward and Rutten and the much improved Talia down back. In comparison, the Demons don't have the midfield depth and while they are solid in defence, they've struggled all year up forward and more so since the injuries to Mitch Clark, Ricky Petterd and the demise of Liam Jurrah. For these reasons and the fact that the Crows have too much to lose if it can't come home with the four points, I'm tipping them to win but not by much. Adelaide by 11 points.

We won by 15 goals and it was the day Jack Grimes was injured and Jack Trengove reported for a sling tackle. MELBOURNE Backs James Frawley Matthew Warnock Clint Bartram Half backs Nathan Jones Colin Garland Luke Tapscott Centreline Ricky Petterd Jack Grimes Colin Sylvia Half forwards Jack Watts Liam Jurrah Addam Maric Forwards Brad Green Matthew Bate Aaron Davey Followers Mark Jamar Brent Moloney Jack Trengove Interchange Jordan Gysberts Lynden Dunn Austin Wonaeamirri Rohan Bail Emergencies Joel Macdonald Michael Newton Neville Jetta In Ricky Petterd Matthew Bate Matthew Warnock Addam Maric Out Jared Rivers (ankle) Cale Morton Stef Martin Jamie Bennell ADELAIDE Backs Graham Johncock Ben Rutten Michael Doughty Half backs Matthew Jaensch Luke Thompson Nathan van Berlo Centreline Brodie Smith Brent Reilly Ricky Henderson Half forwards Chris Knights Shaun McKernan Richard Douglas Forwards Taylor Walker Kurt Tippett Matthew Wright Followers Sam Jacobs Scott Thompson Patrick Dangerfield Interchange Jared Petrenko Christopher Schmidt Rory Sloane Brad Symes Emergencies Jack Gunston Ivan Maric James Sellar In Jared Petrenko Rory Sloane Christopher Schmidt Out, Phil Davis (Shoulder) Brodie Martin Richard Tambling (Suspension)