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Lots of water under the bridge since our humiliation almost 12 months ago in the equivalent fixture at the MCG. The Suns came out playing with great intensity and pushed us aside with their midfield dominance which lasted throughout the 120 minutes. Their midfield led by Garry Ablett but consisting also of Bennell, Swallow, Prestia and O'Meara (147 touches between them, Ablett with 38) with Zac Smith heading the ruck simply put us away. Nathan Jones had a relatively quiet day and Gazza's influence was sublime. I was sitting almost at ground level when at one stage I saw him surrounded by Demons. He somehow found space to get through and wheel away then land a pass on a teammate's chest. He didn't beat us in his own - Campbell Brown and Smith booted three each and he and his mates made sure that the Suns dominated the stoppages. So what's changed? On the Suns' side of the ledger, they don't have Brown, Smith or Bennell today - they were the danger men around goals. On our side, we have a new coach, a new mindset and half a different team. It's a new midfield and a vastly different forward line set up and while it's been slow in getting its act together, the new look team started showing some positive signs of a turn around last week. We know we can move the ball more directly towards goal and we know we can win. I think we can expect big things today from Dom Tyson and Bernie Vince and Jack Viney is starting to imprint his influence on matches. I've been impressed by Nev Jetta's work at Casey and I have a feeling he has something to prove now that his career has received a boost with his elevation off the rookie list. Last year we were shamed off our home ground by these young upstarts from the Gold Coast. It's time to reclaim it back with intensity and aggression that was lacking in our makeup last year but under Paul Roos should be a given every time we take the field.

INTO DARKNESS: THE BOULEVARD OF BROKEN DREAMS by The Oracle Following Melbourne these days is like waking up from a bad dream. It was only two or three weeks ago that things were looking up after that 12 goal final quarter against GWS and a dwindling injury list gave us some hope of better things to come. Even the defeat at the hands of Brisbane at the Gabba didn't seem so bad given the losing margin was contained to a margin of slightly less than five goals. But all of a sudden and almost in the blink of an eye, our worst nightmare was realised. A home game against the Gold Coast Suns, several key players injured and unavailable and the team runs out in front of its last remaining 13 thousand or so supporters and it produces an inept, soul destroying, non-competitive, soft performance that highlights that, apart from possibly GWS, it is the AFL's easiest team to play against. There were few redeeming features, most provided by young blokes like Jack Viney and Max Gawn who tried their hearts out, lion-hearted new skipper Nathan Jones despite having to fight off a hard tag and Jeremy Howe. Mature age newcomers Matt Jones and Dean Terlich battled hard but that was it - many of the others were spectators, wasting our time and standing around like stale laboratory samples. Nothing went right and the team was penalised heavily for simply being inept and inert, unwilling to chase and work anywhere near hard enough, especially against a young team willing to run and spread into the empty spaces its opposition appeared to be too lazy or simply physically unable to fill. They moved from defence to attack without resistance. In that respect, Melbourne has advanced not a single inch since it hosted the last Queensland team it played against at home in the opening round of 2012 when Mark Neeld coached his first game. Since then he's produced a team that's good only at botching things up like running too far and giving up an easy goal or standing around watching the footy do four or five leg breaks before finding its way between the big sticks or blowing any chance of a second half comeback by giving away a free in front goal before proceedings have even started - all characteristic of teams that are simply not switched on or awake. The night before the game I had a dream in which I saw the legendary Hawthorn coach John Kennedy delivering his famous plea to his players and bellowing out loud: "DO SOMETHING!" In my dream, he was addressing Neeld and his panel of coaches but they did nothing. Couldn't even get the team to produce a half decent tackle count. It didn't take long for the dream to come true. But if fingers are to be pointed at the coach and his assistants for the disaster that unfolded at the MCG on Mothers Day, then they should also be pointed at the fitness and conditioning people because to their shame, the Demons couldn't even run out a game better than the Suns who finished a couple of players short because of injury. And that must surely be a fitting epitaph to one of our worst nightmares. Melbourne 0.2.2 3.7.25 4.10.34 7.12.54Gold Coast Suns 5.5.35 9.8.62 14.12.96 16.18.114Goals Melbourne Howe 3 Gawn 2 Strauss SylviaGold Coast Suns Brown Smith 3, Hall Lynch 2 Bennell Day Harbrow McKenzie May Shaw Best Melbourne Howe Viney N Jones Gawn Terlich M Jones Gold Coast Ablett Bennell Shaw Brennan Smith Thompson Injuries Melbourne 13,000 fans (broken hearts) Gold Coast Brennan (concussion) Murphy (concussion) Changes Melbourne Nil Gold Coast Nil Reports Melbourne Colin Sylvia for allegedly striking Jared Brennan Gold Coast Nil Umpires McBurney Armstrong Harris Crowd 13,304 at the MCG

INTO DARKNESS: THE BOULEVARD OF BROKEN DREAMS by The Oracle Following Melbourne these days is like waking up from a bad dream. It was only two or three weeks ago that things were looking up after that 12 goal final quarter against GWS and a dwindling injury list gave us some hope of better things to come. Even the defeat at the hands of Brisbane at the Gabba didn't seem so bad given the losing margin was contained to a margin of slightly less than five goals. But all of a sudden and almost in the blink of an eye, our worst nightmare was realised. A home game against the Gold Coast Suns, several key players injured and unavailable and the team runs out in front of its last remaining 13 thousand or so supporters and it produces an inept, soul destroying, non-competitive, soft performance that highlights that, apart from possibly GWS, it is the AFL's easiest team to play against. There were few redeeming features, most provided by young blokes like Jack Viney and Max Gawn who tried their hearts out, lion-hearted new skipper Nathan Jones despite having to fight off a hard tag and Jeremy Howe. Mature age newcomers Matt Jones and Dean Terlich battled hard but that was it - many of the others were spectators, wasting our time and standing around like stale laboratory samples. Nothing went right and the team was penalised heavily for simply being inept and inert, unwilling to chase and work anywhere near hard enough, especially against a young team willing to run and spread into the empty spaces its opposition appeared to be too lazy or simply physically unable to fill. They moved from defence to attack without resistance. In that respect, Melbourne has advanced not a single inch since it hosted the last Queensland team it played against at home in the opening round of 2012 when Mark Neeld coached his first game. Since then he's produced a team that's good only at botching things up like running too far and giving up an easy goal or standing around watching the footy do four or five leg breaks before finding its way between the big sticks or blowing any chance of a second half comeback by giving away a free in front goal before proceedings have even started - all characteristic of teams that are simply not switched on or awake. The night before the game I had a dream in which I saw the legendary Hawthorn coach John Kennedy delivering his famous plea to his players and bellowing out loud: "DO SOMETHING!" In my dream, he was addressing Neeld and his panel of coaches but they did nothing. Couldn't even get the team to produce a half decent tackle count. It didn't take long for the dream to come true. But if fingers are to be pointed at the coach and his assistants for the disaster that unfolded at the MCG on Mothers Day, then they should also be pointed at the fitness and conditioning people because to their shame, the Demons couldn't even run out a game better than the Suns who finished a couple of players short because of injury. And that must surely be a fitting epitaph to one of our worst nightmares. Melbourne 0.2.2 3.7.25 4.10.34 7.12.54Gold Coast Suns 5.5.35 9.8.62 14.12.96 16.18.114Goals Melbourne Howe 3 Gawn 2 Strauss SylviaGold Coast Suns Brown Smith 3, Hall Lynch 2 Bennell Day Harbrow McKenzie May Shaw Best Melbourne Howe Viney N Jones Gawn Terlich M Jones Gold Coast Ablett Bennell Shaw Brennan Smith Thompson Injuries Melbourne 13,000 fans (broken hearts) Gold Coast Brennan (concussion) Murphy (concussion) Changes Melbourne Nil Gold Coast Nil Reports Melbourne Colin Sylvia for allegedly striking Jared Brennan Gold Coast Nil Umpires McBurney Armstrong Harris Crowd 13,304 at the MCG

Is the game still happening?

It was reported on the Demons website during the week that Melbourne coach Mark Neeld said that in last week's game against Carlton his team displayed a glimpse of its future. Certainly, at times, there were snapshots of the way that were moving our football club forward absolutely no question, he said. There was a snapshot there lets enjoy the journey and get on board with these young boys. The boys who took the field on the weekend, Ive got a feeling that theyre going to be around for quite a while. This comes on the back of a 61 point defeat in which Carlton doubled Melbourne's score and, apart from the first 8½ minutes, the Blues were well in control of the game. The basis of the glimpse into future claim stems from the raw statistic of games played by the players making up the respective sides. Carlton not only doubled Melbourne's score but it also had almost double the number of games in its players' legs (more than double once Demon co-captain Jack Grimes broke his collarbone and had to be subbed off for first gamer Dean Kent). They fielded a team featuring 1109 games experience to the Blues 2165. With eight players coming away from the game with 68 games in total, the lack of experience was plainly obvious and, while that group contained a couple of tall lads, the deficiency in size and physical strength was a clear factor that enabled Carlton to break away at any time it looked as if there was a remote threat to the five goal lead it had developed in a short time during the first quarter (and yet the lead was just a little over six goals at one stage early in the last). The eight players and their games played were: ■ James Strauss (19) ■ Jake Spencer (17) ■ Michael Evans (8) ■ Max Gawn (7) ■ Matt Jones (6) ■ Dean Terlich (5) ■ Jack Viney (5) ■ Dean Kent (1) Neeld, himself lacking in coaching experience with less than 30 games under his belt, has constantly raised the inexperience factor in explaining his team's slow development and poor results over his tenure but we live in times when immediate results are the order of the day and Ken Hinkley is showing him up over at Port Adelaide with a 5-1 win loss record at an equally inexperienced club. On Sunday, the moment of truth will arrive. The Gold Coast Suns are also inexperienced although they do have the best player in the competition and a man whose skills and ability overshadow all else that will be on the field of play. As a young coach Neeld has had to contend with far more than most would on entering this most demanding profession and although his toughest assignment has always been the need to turn around what for want of a better description has become a dysfunctional culture at the club after years of incompetence in the areas of recruiting, player development and coaching, he faces the prospect of being eaten up by the very same culture if his team is unable to match it with a team of equally experienced counterparts. In the absence of Jack Grimes for several weeks due to his injury and in light of Jack Trengove's form slump, Nathan Jones has been given a co-captain's role. He has already shown great leadership without the captain tag and he has big shoulders. One hopes that he can continue to lead by the example of endeavour and strength he has routinely shown through the dark times, as otherwise, the critics will continue to harp on and call for his coach's head. It doesn't seem to be fair that a coach should not be given time to see his plan through but thats the AFL for you. If Neelds team is unable to show some more concrete and definite signs of moving forward, the jungle drums will keep on beating and the calls for a replacement coach will continue to be heard more loudly. The snapshot of the future might be a very ugly one for the coach and his players a little after 7.00pm on Sunday. THE GAME Melbourne v Gold Coast at the MCG Sunday 12 May 2013 at 4.40pm. HEAD TO HEAD Overall Melbourne 3 wins Gold Coast 0 wins MCG Melbourne 2 wins Gold Coast 0 wins Since 2000 Melbourne 3 wins Gold Coast 0 wins The Coaches Neeld 1 win McKenna 0 wins MEDIA TV Fox Footy Channel (live) Radio ABC THE LAST TIME THEY MET Melbourne 16.12.108 defeated Gold Coast Suns 9.12.66 in round 19, 2012 at the MCG. The Demons had a great opening term booting six unanswered goals and spent the rest of the time coasting to win by 42 points, Brad Green booted five goals and Jeremy Howe and Nathan Jones had field days against an opposition that only had two performers you know who and Harley Bennell. THE BETTING Melbourne $2.10 to win Gold Coast $1.77 to win THE TEAMS MELBOURNE Backs Lynden Dunn James Frawley Dean Terlich Half backs Daniel Nicholson Tom McDonald Colin Garland Centreline Rohan Bail Jack Viney Matthew Jones Half forwards Jeremy Howe Chris Dawes Colin Sylvia Forwards Luke Tapscott Max Gawn Shannon Byrnes Followers Jake Spencer Michael Evans Nathan Jones Interchange Dean Kent Jordie McKenzie James Strauss James Sellar Emergencies Aaron Davey Troy Davis David Rodan In Chris Dawes James Sellar Out Jack Grimes (collar bone) Jack Trengove (calf) GOLD COAST SUNS Backs Trent McKenzie Tom Murphy Sam Day Half backs David Swallow Rory Thompson Broughton Centreline Matthew Shaw Gary Ablett Harbrow Half forwards: Harley Bennell Tom Lynch Jesse Lonergan Forwards Brandon Matera Steven May Aaron Hall Followers Zac Smith Jaeger OMeara Dion Prestia Interchange Jarrod Brennan Campbell Brown Jack Hutchins Danny Stanley Emergencies Clay Cameron Luke Russell Tim Sumner In Campbell Brown Jack Hutchins Steven May Out Charlie Dixon (ankle) Karmichael Hunt (hamstring) Michael Rischitelli BLUEY'S BLOOPER Gold Coast coach Guy McKenna is fortunate he's coaching where he's so far out of the public gaze that he doesn't have to put up with eagle-eyed critics who dwell on his every word looking for inconsistencies to justify why he should be sacked. Earlier this week, he was quoted in the Herald Sun as saying it was unlikely that Campbell Brown would be rushed back into the Suns' line-up now that his six match suspension had come to an end. Bluey said his team was already carrying a few bodies struggling to get through a full game and to bring Brown straight back for the clash with Melbourne might be "a risk too far". When Brown was selected on Thursday might, there was a suggestion on the Courier Mail website that he was included to rough up the young Demons but that story has mysteriously disappeared and in it's place is one that says Brown's inclusion was "to shock underperforming pair Brandon Matera and Aaron Hall into action". Make of this what you will but it seems to me that the Suns' coach is in a state of panic and is already waving the white flag. His team had the opportunity of a lifetime to knock off the injury-riddled Dockers on their own home turf last week but they were brushed off like flies. Now, he has completely compromised his principles and resorted to the desperate act of picking a veteran coming off no match practice to throw his weight around. That's the attitude of a loser who must be dreading the thought of losing the one ace he has up his sleeve in the form of Gary Ablett Junior without who his team might as well not turn up on Sunday evening against the Demons. Ablett has been under an injury cloud for several weeks and my mail is that he's been close to being rested for a mystery ailment. It's likely that he will come up against an in form Lynden Dunn, who despite the distraction of having a mum who rings up talk back radio, has returned from injury in ripping form. After a top game on comeback as a defender in the VFL, he took Brownlow Medallist Chris Judd apart last week, keeping him down to just 13 touches and drastically limiting his effectiveness around the ground (pity about the rest of the Blues' midfield). Dunn has shown he has the mongrel to take on his second Brownlow Medal winning opponent in consecutive weeks and if he succeeds there will be plenty of people, including the bookies, with egg on their faces this week. I can't for the life of me work out why people are throwing their money away by betting against Melbourne on the strength of the omission through injury of the co-captains. Jack Grimes was always going to be an "out" and Jack Trengove contributed only six touches against Carlton. Meanwhile, the Suns have lost their top goalkicker Dixon, one of the few matchwinners in their history in Hunt and Michael Rischitelli who was dropped but has always proved a bit of a thorn in the side for the Demons. Melbourne gains Chris Dawes to add to its forward line where it was undermanned badly last week and James Sellar as a back up who performed well there in the pre season. This is a perfect opportunity for the team to reload on confidence and I'm looking for some break out performances from players like James Strauss and Luke Tapscott who are ready to step up a notch. Melbourne by 55 points.

THE HOWE JONES INDEX by Mean Gene After yet another torrid week in a difficult year for the Melbourne Football Club, the Demons stocks climbed and eventually hit the roof. It started before the game when it was announced that leadership group member Nathan Jones, a certainty to be club champion this year and high flying Jeremy Howe had both signed on for the next three years. Then, when the team ran out onto the ground, the newly signed duo set the example for their team mates and they blew their opponents off the field. In that respect, they had set the Howe Jones Football Index and it was mostly upward and positive after their club had received a whacking in the media, most of it undeserved and some of it based on sheer malevolence from persons with an agenda against the club, its board and its officialdom. In the early moments of the game we saw Howe, who is better known for his hangers, setting the example by shepherding perfectly for a team mate (he would keep the best of his highflying exploits for later in the game). Jones was burrowing into packs and laying tackles with as much, if not more, impact than his more celebrated chrome down counterpart from the opposition. Their example and the effect of their efforts told on the scoreboard as the team snuffed out the young Gold Coast Suns with six unanswered first quarter goals to take an unassailable forty point lead into the first break. It was a smashing of a first quarter and even the unlikely Jake Spencer joined in the festivities with his first ever AFL goal (in his first ever winning match after almost four seasons), albeit after a fifty metre penalty! It's true that, after that first quarter, the plucky Gold Coast Suns with Gary Ablett Junior and Harley Bennell on fire, managed to limit Melbourne's ascendency even as its men were going down like flies, it was still a big win for the home side even if it couldn't shut up the critics in the media who made no concession whatsoever for the depleted nature of a team that went into the weekend with more than a third of its list, 16 players, unavailable. Despite that fact, had they lost this match, it would have been odds on that those baying for blood last week would have been on automatic pilot droning on ad nauseum about the club's culture. Make no mistake about it, this was no classic contest in the mould of Friday night's epic between Geelong and Hawthorn but, for the Melbourne faithful starved of success for so long, it was good to see their team lead from go to whoa for once. Brad Green shrugged off his horror start to the season and demonstrated that he had not lost his ability to snag the goals and Lynden Dunn played a sterling game in defence proving that forwards can move back without raising suspicious eyebrows. Colin Sylvia is also returning to the sort of form expected of him and his strong marking and contribution to the goal tally were welcome after some of his earlier disappointments. The skippers are also raising their own personal bars with every week and I expect that the real benefits of the brave decision to give such young men the responsibility of leadership will bring its own dividends in the years to come. In the end, it was Howe again who soared over a pack and took his latest mark of the day for the highlights reel. The resulting goal saw the Howe Jones Football Index rise another notch. Melbourne 6.6.42 10.7.67 13.8.86 16.12.108 Gold Coast 0.2.2 4.5.29 5.9.39 9.12.66 Goals Melbourne Green 5 Blease Sylvia 2 Bail Howe Rivers Sellar Spencer Tapscott Trengove Gold Coast Bennell 4 Ablett Brennan Lynch Rischitelli Russell Best Melbourne Howe Jones Green Grimes Dunn Sylvia Gold Coast Bennell Ablett Harbrow Swallow Shaw Injuries Melbourne Morton (shoulder) Gold Coast Hunt (shoulder) Prestia (hamstring) Rischitelli (knee) Russell (shoulder) Smith (ankle) Changes Melbourne McKenzie (knee) replaced in selected side by Magner Gold Coast Stanley (shoulder) replaced in selected side by Weller Changes Melbourne Nil Gold Coast Nil Umpires Schmitt B Ryan H Ryan Crowd 18,097 at MCG

IRRELEVANT by Clyde The (former) Clifton Hill Cabbie I don't know if anybody out there remembers me. In my time as one of this great city's leading cab drivers I was well known by all and sundry who used my services to convey them around town for my opinions on politics, religion, sport and a variety of other subjects. I always believed I had a deep knowledge and understanding about our nation's number one sport until one day, this young bloke turned his attention away from his iphone, sat up in the back seat of my taxi cab, angrily snubbed his nose up against the perspex window that divided us and told me to STFU. To him, my opinions on the football were "irrelevant". How dare he? I was a keen student of the game and I got a lot of my inside information from listening to talk back radio and reading the sports pages of the little newspaper which was full of stories written by people who had contacts inside the various league clubs. Surely, the sources of my information were impeccable? Later, after thinking about it a little more, I realised that time was indeed passing me by in this new world of digital electronics and whiz bang gadgets. Perhaps, I was becoming irrelevant? I'm in retirement now. I live in this nice nursing home and although I occasionally get to watch a game on TV, I usually manage to fall asleep even before the result's done and dusted (which these days means by half time). I hardly ever get to read the newspapers because the print's too small and the eyesight's failing and most of the people here knit or play lawn bowls so I don't really know much about what's going on in the AFL any more. I suppose that's what makes me feel even less relevant than ever before. However, I always look forward to that once a year day when one of the good people at Demonland visits me and asks me to write a preview of a Melbourne game for the site. This year's visitor was my old friend The Oracle but he delivered what I regarded at first as the supreme insult when he asked if I would write about the Demons' forthcoming encounter with the Gold Coast Suns. I thought for a while and asked, "who in blazes are the Gold Coast Suns?". He replied that they were one of the new franchises that joined the competition last year. "You mean like Hungry Jacks or Dominoes Pizza?" "No, they're an AFL team that plays at Carrara. Gary Ablett Junior's their captain." "Ablett? Well, that's okay then. Brock'll fix him up." Brock was one of my favourites. The Oracle's next revelation hit me right between the eyes. He told of Brock's defection from Melbourne at the end of 2009 because of a problem he had with the club's "experimentation" that went against the grain of everything he'd ever been taught. So he decided to leave and head to a club whose traditions were seeped in integrity and honesty. I was incredulous as The Oracle explained the events of the week in great detail. There was one thing that puzzled me but no sooner had the words leapt out of my mouth that I realised that my question was totally irrelevant. "You would think with three experienced journalists and commentators doing the interview, one of them would have asked him why a man who held such lofty principles could have possibly gone straight to a club whose reputation not only for tanking but for generally rorting the system was legendary?" It was at this point that all those years of spouting conspiracy theories gripped me and in a moment of inspiration, I understood what this was all about and it had very little to do with the practice of tanking. The whole thing was a set up. The puppeteers were pulling the strings to perfection. The kid who not long ago publicly claimed he contracted aids from somebody's mother had left what passed for his brain in the studio's green room. They knew from the start that he would take the bait and it played itself out perfectly for them. The agenda and the people behind it soon became apparent. As I put this proposition to my visitor, I suddenly felt that I was becoming relevant again. He was almost out of the door when I noticed he had left me with several copies of the sporting sections of the week's newspapers to help with the research for my story. All that was left for me to do was to wade through the rubbish and sift through half a dozen beat ups and testimonies from former players and officials and then I could write my match preview. That was the easy part. The clash between 16th and 17th is a game in which every aspect of team selection and every move that the coaches make is likely to come under scrutiny for all the wrong reasons by suspicious journalists and others struggling to make a sensational story out of nothing. But the game itself is totally irrelevant. THE GAME Melbourne v Gold Coast at the MCG Sunday 5 August 2011 at 1.10pm. HEAD TO HEAD Overall Melbourne 2 wins Gold Coast 0 wins MCG Melbourne 1 win Gold Coast 0 wins Since 2000 Melbourne 2 wins Gold Coast 0 wins The Coaches Neeld 0 wins McKenna 0 wins MEDIA TV – Fox Footy Channel at 1:00pm (live) Radio –SEN ABC774 THE LAST TIME THEY MET Melbourne 17.10.112 defeated Gold Coast Suns 12.10.82 in round 23, 2011 at the MCG. Oh my god. This was a game so tedious and boring that I was driven to the bar not long after the start of the second quarter. By the time I returned to watch the action fortified by an unknown volume of the amber liquid Melbourne was on its way to a five goal victory. THE BETTING Melbourne $1.33 to win Gold Coast $3.40 to win THE TEAMS MELBOURNE Backs Joel Macdonald James Sellar Tom McDonald Half backs Jack Grimes James Frawley Colin Garland Centreline Jordie McKenzie Jack Trengove Rohan Bail Half forwards Sam Blease Jared Rivers Lynden Dunn Forwards Jeremy Howe Colin Sylvia Brad Green Followers Jake Spencer Brent Moloney Nathan Jones Interchange Jordan Gysberts Cale Morton James Strauss Luke Tapscott Emergencies Jack Fitzpatrick James Magner Josh Tynan In Jordan Gysberts Cale Morton Luke Tapscott Out Neville Jetta (suspension) Daniel Nicholson (jaw) Stef Martin (foot) GOLD COAST SUNS Backs Taylor Hine Charlie Dixon Trent McKenzie Half backs Daniel Stanley Matthew Warnock Jarrod Harbrow Centreline David Swallow Gary Ablett Michael Rischitelli Half forwards Jared Brennan Tom Lynch Brandon Matera Forwards Luke Russell Sam Day Campbell Brown Followers Zac Smith Karmichael Hunt Harley Bennell Interchange Josh Caddy Liam Patrick Dion Prestia Matt Shaw Emergencies Aaron Hall Steven May Maverick Weller In Sam Day Michael Rischitelli Out Steven May Maverick Weller There must be a clever linguist out there somewhere who is capable of coming up with a word that means the opposite to "blockbuster", because such a word word be perfect to describe this game. Until recently, I would have regarded a Melbourne home game against the Gold Coast Suns as unlosable but I'm not so sure any more. With the club under attack in the media and the tanking debate swirling around it, I'm not all that certain about how the players will react to what I can only consider to be the destabilising atmosphere that has surrounded them throughout the week. After all, it's not often that you have a situation where a former player and former president are out there publicly whacking your club across the head and the media heavies are baying for your blood on a daily basis. It also doesn't help if, on top of these worries, you have a substantial injury list that severely restricts your capacity to pick a team that can win games. On my reckoning, no more than 30 players from the combined Melbourne senior and rookie list of 46 will be in action at the weekend. By way of contrast, North Melbourne will have close to its full list playing in three teams (the Roos are aligned to two VFL clubs and had 12 players representing Werribee alone in the final of the Foxtel Cup on Thursday night). Nevertheless, there are many commentators, either oblivious to thus situation or simply chosing to ignore it, who are maintaining that the Demons will come under more tanking scrutiny if they lose this match. Go figure? Being from the old school, I like to analyse games line by line and, pardon the pun, but I've come up with a result that is going to be very much a line ball. A great deal has been made of Melbourne's much maligned midfield but paradoxically, this is likely to be where the Dees can draw great strength. They might not have the sheer brilliance of Gary Ablett Junior or the youth, pace and ability to spread of their Gold Coast counterparts but they do have size, strength, experience and home ground advantage going for them. Nathan Jones has been a revelation all year and should not be underrated even in the company of the AFL's best player. He proved that last week with his 32 disposals 10 clearances playing to a losing ruck. His partner in crime, Brent Moloney was not far behind him in the disposal count with 29 on return from a brief stint in the VFL. Let there be no doubt, Beamer is playing for his football life along with one or two others like Cale Morton and Jordan Gysberts who are back in the side this week. Jordie McKenzie will probably have the toughest task of the lot after a down week against the Roos but he's taken some scalps this year and, as a kid from down Geelong way, he should rise to the challenge of taking on the former local hero. So this game might well be the antithesis of a blockbuster but I think it will be close and that the Demons will rise to the occasion, put their critics in their rightful place and make themselves relevant once again. Melbourne by 2 points.