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FOCUS by The Oracle There’s been a lot of talk about noise lately. Simon Goodwin spoke about it recently when he emphasized how important it was to ensure that his players did not permit external noise to distract them from their main focus of winning games on the march to the finals and hopefully, beyond. But the noise never stops in the football industry. Collingwood President Eddie McGuire is currently making his own brand of noise by jumping in and claiming a share of the home ground advantage for the Queen’s Birthday blockbuster games which he has hitherto magnanimously granted exclusively to Melbourne (never mind that his own club has a lion's share of other fixturing advantages that other clubs don't have). This is simply another case of Eddie doing what he does best – making some noise to create a distraction in the lead up to the important game that will end the AFL's middle round of the season – Melbourne v Collingwood: two teams each staking a claim for a place among the competition’s top echelon. It wouldn't be Collingwood if there wasn't noise about how well the team has been traveling lately with wins over Brisbane (7 points), St Kilda (28), Western Bulldogs (35) and Fremantle (61) in between a 21 point loss at the hands of Geelong. The message from their fans is loud and clear - the Pies are coming. And the Magpie fans are also quick to jump in and tell us that it was their team that prevented the Demons from grasping the opportunity to join the competition's elite sides in the finals by beating them in the last round of 2017, a memory that sits heavily in the minds of many at Demonland. There has also been noise from the pundits who expect Melbourne's fortunes to slide as a result of the season-ending injury sustained by Jake Lever which is no doubt a major blow but, of itself, is a long way off being fatal to the club's aspirations for the season. Let's not forget that the Bulldogs lost Robert Murphy to a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament early in 2016 which ultimately caused him to miss his club's premiership win later that year. Or that the Demons have a long list of potential replacements lining up to fill the void including a few who have been patiently knocking on the door and for who, the opportunity is about to come. There is so much noise around that it seems to be overshadowing the fact that what we are seeing an emerging Melbourne playing a brand of football that is a point of difference to every other club in the competition - a competitive beast of a group that has overcome their early season doubts with the reintroduction of Jack Viney, Tom McDonald and Angus Brayshaw who were all missing in the opening games adding to dominance of Max Gawn, Clayton Oliver and Jesse Hogan and the eclectic mix of young and old that makes up this team. The simple fact of the matter is that the Demons have been steeled by the events of the recent past and no amount of noise can cause them to lose focus on what lies in front of them. THE GAME Melbourne v Collingwood at the MCG Monday 11 June, 2018 at 3.20pm HEAD TO HEAD Overall Melbourne 83 wins, Collingwood 147 wins, 5 drawn At the MCG Melbourne 63 wins, Collingwood 80 wins, 3 drawn Last Five Meetings Melbourne 4 wins, Collingwood 1 win The Coaches Goodwin 1 win, Buckley 1 win MEDIA TV - Channel 7, Fox Sports Footy Channel, live at 3.00pm Radio - Triple M 3AW SEN ABC ABC Grandstand LAST TIME THEY MET Collingwood 14.15.99 defeated Melbourne 12.11.83 at the MCG in Round 23, 2017 The Magpies had very little to gain while the Demons were playing for a finals berth but it looked the other way around as they dominated the opening term to skip away to a 32 point lead at the first break. Melbourne came back and, while they came close to bridging the gap, as it turned out they finished in arrears by two goals more than they would have wanted. THE TEAMS MELBOURNE B: Christian Salem, Oscar McDonald, Neville Jetta HB: Angus Brayshaw, Michael Hibberd, Jordan Lewis ? Bernie Vince, Jack Viney, Nathan Jones HF: Bayley Fritsch, Tom McDonald, Clayton Oliver F: Charlie Spargo, Jesse Hogan, Jake Melksham Foll: Max Gawn, James Harmes, Christian Petracca I/C: Mitch Hannan, Alex Neal-Bullen, Cameron Pedersen, Joel Smith Emg: Jeff Garlett, Mitch Hannan, Jayden Hunt, Harrison Petty In: Cameron Pedersen, Joel Smith Out: Jake Lever (knee), Tim Smith (omitted) COLLINGWOOD B: Brayden Maynard, Lynden Dunn, Jack Crisp HB: Levi Greenwood, Matthew Scharenberg, Tom Langdon C : Steele Sidebottom, Scott Pendlebury, Tom Phillips HF: Jordan De Goey, Brody Mihocek, Will Hoskin-Elliott F: Josh Thomas, Mason Cox, Jaidyn Stephenson Foll: Brodie Grundy, Daniel Wells, Adam Treloar I/C (from): Taylor Adams, Josh Daicos, Jeremy Howe, Chris Mayne Emg: Flynn Appleby Ben Crocker, Sam Murray, Rupert Wills In: Jeremy Howe Out: Flynn Appleby (omitted) A funny thing happened to the Demons on their way to Etihad Stadium last Saturday. They turned up to their game against the struggling Bulldogs holding the distinction of being the competition's highest scorer and ranked number one in the competition in centre clearances for the season but at around 20 minutes into the first quarter, it was they who were under the pump. At that stage they were goalless, trailed by more than three goals and were being dominated at the stoppages, despite being a clear winner in the ruck duels thanks to the ever-reliable Max Gawn. Moreover, they had key defender Jake Lever off the field due to what turned out to be a season ending, knee injury and damaging playmaker Jake Melksham was hobbling around with a turned ankle. It wasn't exactly panic stations and in the event, Melbourne turned things around to record a handsome victory, but it was perhaps an early warning against complacency for a team that was in unfamiliar territory after five wins on the trot. The early scare could not have come at a better time for the Demons coming up against the Magpies who are themselves going through a strong patch of form and demolishing all that come before them and with a dominant ruckman of their own. Indeed, the match up between the in form Max Gawn and Brodie Grundy and their respective midfields promises to be the clash of the ages and of themselves worthy of drawing an expected crowd of 80,000 plus. Imagine the likes of Nathan Jones, Jack Viney, Clayton Oliver and Angus Brayshaw pitted against Scott Pendlebury, Steele Sidebottom, Adam Treloar and Tom Phillips? No wonder that Eddie McGuire is salivating about the idea of stealing the booty from hosting such a fixture. And that my friends is one of the main points of difference between these two rival clubs and of the attitude directed from the very top of the organisation. For the Collingwood boss, this is all about business and why not because that's what the game is first and foremost to the McGuires of this world but for this Melbourne combination nowadays, it's something more that keeps them focused. This team of Demons spent months on end after their final game of 2013 - an unexpected loss at the hands of the Magpies that saw them tumbling out of the finals race at the last hurdle - brooding over what might have been. They have strengthened themselves all around the ground and have such a potent forward line that, as they proved last week at Etihad, even if they don't dominate in the engine room, they are still capable of racking up a winning score. Melbourne to expertly and without making any noise put the big freeze on Collingwood on MND Day and to win by 31 points. .

There’s been a lot of talk about noise lately. Simon Goodwin spoke about it recently when he emphasized how important it was to ensure that his players did not permit external noise to distract them from their main focus of winning games on the march to the finals and hopefully, beyond. But the noise never stops in the football industry. Collingwood President Eddie McGuire is currently making his own brand of noise by jumping in and claiming a share of the home ground advantage for the Queen’s Birthday blockbuster games which he has hitherto magnanimously granted exclusively to Melbourne (never mind that his own club has a lion's share of other fixturing advantages that other clubs don't have). This is simply another case of Eddie doing what he does best – making some noise to create a distraction in the lead up to the important game that will end the AFL's middle round of the season – Melbourne v Collingwood: two teams each staking a claim for a place among the competition’s top echelon. It wouldn't be Collingwood if there wasn't noise about how well the team has been traveling lately with wins over Brisbane (7 points), St Kilda (28), Western Bulldogs (35) and Fremantle (61) in between a 21 point loss at the hands of Geelong. The message from their fans is loud and clear - the Pies are coming. And the Magpie fans are also quick to jump in and tell us that it was their team that prevented the Demons from grasping the opportunity to join the competition's elite sides in the finals by beating them in the last round of 2017, a memory that sits heavily in the minds of many at Demonland. There has also been noise from the pundits who expect Melbourne's fortunes to slide as a result of the season-ending injury sustained by Jake Lever which is no doubt a major blow but, of itself, is a long way off being fatal to the club's aspirations for the season. Let's not forget that the Bulldogs lost Robert Murphy to a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament early in 2016 which ultimately caused him to miss his club's premiership win later that year. Or that the Demons have a long list of potential replacements lining up to fill the void including a few who have been patiently knocking on the door and for who, the opportunity is about to come. There is so much noise around that it seems to be overshadowing the fact that what we are seeing an emerging Melbourne playing a brand of football that is a point of difference to every other club in the competition - a competitive beast of a group that has overcome their early season doubts with the reintroduction of Jack Viney, Tom McDonald and Angus Brayshaw who were all missing in the opening games adding to dominance of Max Gawn, Clayton Oliver and Jesse Hogan and the eclectic mix of young and old that makes up this team. The simple fact of the matter is that the Demons have been steeled by the events of the recent past and no amount of noise can cause them to lose focus on what lies in front of them. THE GAME Melbourne v Collingwood at the MCG Monday 11 June, 2018 at 3.20pm HEAD TO HEAD Overall Melbourne 83 wins, Collingwood 147 wins, 5 drawn At the MCG Melbourne 63 wins, Collingwood 80 wins, 3 drawn Last Five Meetings Melbourne 4 wins, Collingwood 1 win The Coaches Goodwin 1 win, Buckley 1 win MEDIA TV - Channel 7, Fox Sports Footy Channel, live at 3.00pm Radio - Triple M 3AW SEN ABC ABC Grandstand LAST TIME THEY MET Collingwood 14.15.99 defeated Melbourne 12.11.83 at the MCG in Round 23, 2017 The Magpies had very little to gain while the Demons were playing for a finals berth but it looked the other way around as they dominated the opening term to skip away to a 32 point lead at the first break. Melbourne came back and, while they came close to bridging the gap, as it turned out they finished in arrears by two goals more than they would have wanted. THE TEAMS MELBOURNE B: Christian Salem, Oscar McDonald, Neville Jetta HB: Angus Brayshaw, Michael Hibberd, Jordan Lewis ? Bernie Vince, Jack Viney, Nathan Jones HF: Bayley Fritsch, Tom McDonald, Clayton Oliver F: Charlie Spargo, Jesse Hogan, Jake Melksham Foll: Max Gawn, James Harmes, Christian Petracca I/C: Mitch Hannan, Alex Neal-Bullen, Cameron Pedersen, Joel Smith Emg: Jeff Garlett, Mitch Hannan, Jayden Hunt, Harrison Petty In: Cameron Pedersen, Joel Smith Out: Jake Lever (knee), Tim Smith (omitted) COLLINGWOOD B: Brayden Maynard, Lynden Dunn, Jack Crisp HB: Levi Greenwood, Matthew Scharenberg, Tom Langdon C : Steele Sidebottom, Scott Pendlebury, Tom Phillips HF: Jordan De Goey, Brody Mihocek, Will Hoskin-Elliott F: Josh Thomas, Mason Cox, Jaidyn Stephenson Foll: Brodie Grundy, Daniel Wells, Adam Treloar I/C (from): Taylor Adams, Josh Daicos, Jeremy Howe, Chris Mayne Emg: Flynn Appleby Ben Crocker, Sam Murray, Rupert Wills In: Jeremy Howe Out: Flynn Appleby (omitted) A funny thing happened to the Demons on their way to Etihad Stadium last Saturday. They turned up to their game against the struggling Bulldogs holding the distinction of being the competition's highest scorer and ranked number one in the competition in centre clearances for the season but at around 20 minutes into the first quarter, it was they who were under the pump. At that stage they were goalless, trailed by more than three goals and were being dominated at the stoppages, despite being a clear winner in the ruck duels thanks to the ever-reliable Max Gawn. Moreover, they had key defender Jake Lever off the field due to what turned out to be a season ending, knee injury and damaging playmaker Jake Melksham was hobbling around with a turned ankle. It wasn't exactly panic stations and in the event, Melbourne turned things around to record a handsome victory, but it was perhaps an early warning against complacency for a team that was in unfamiliar territory after five wins on the trot. The early scare could not have come at a better time for the Demons coming up against the Magpies who are themselves going through a strong patch of form and demolishing all that come before them and with a dominant ruckman of their own. Indeed, the match up between the in form Max Gawn and Brodie Grundy and their respective midfields promises to be the clash of the ages and of themselves worthy of drawing an expected crowd of 80,000 plus. Imagine the likes of Nathan Jones, Jack Viney, Clayton Oliver and Angus Brayshaw pitted against Scott Pendlebury, Steele Sidebottom, Adam Treloar and Tom Phillips? No wonder that Eddie McGuire is salivating about the idea of stealing the booty from hosting such a fixture. And that my friends is one of the main points of difference between these two rival clubs and of the attitude directed from the very top of the organisation. For the Collingwood boss, this is all about business and why not because that's what the game is first and foremost to the McGuires of this world but for this Melbourne combination nowadays, it's something more that keeps them focused. This team of Demons spent months on end after their final game of 2013 - an unexpected loss at the hands of the Magpies that saw them tumbling out of the finals race at the last hurdle - brooding over what might have been. They have strengthened themselves all around the ground and have such a potent forward line that, as they proved last week at Etihad, even if they don't dominate in the engine room, they are still capable of racking up a winning score. Melbourne to expertly and without making any noise put the big freeze on Collingwood on MND Day and to win by 31 points.

I have a headache:- THE TEAMS COLLINGWOOD B: Brayden Maynard, Lynden Dunn, Tyson Goldsack HB: Jeremy Howe, Tom Langdon, Jack Crisp ? Steele Sidebottom, Taylor Adams, Tom Phillips HF: Josh Daicos, Darcy Moore, Callum Brown F: Jamie Elliott, Mason Cox, Will Hoskin-Elliott FOLL: Brodie Grundy, Josh Thomas, Adam Treloar I/C: James Aish, Tim Broomhead, Kayle Kirby, Matthew Scharenberg EMG: Jarryd Blair, Jackson Ramsay, Josh Smith IN: Tyson Goldsack, Brodie Grundy, Kayle Kirby OUT: Jarryd Blair, Josh Smith (omitted), Ben Reid (soreness) MELBOURNE B: Michael Hibberd, Oscar McDonald, Neville Jetta HB: Nathan Jones, Tom McDonald, Jayden Hunt ? Jordan Lewis, Christian Petracca, Christian Salem HF: Clayton Oliver, Jesse Hogan Jake Melksham F: Jeff Garlett, Cameron Pedersen, James Harmes FOLL: Max Gawn, Dom Tyson, Bernie Vince I/C: Angus Brayshaw, Mitch Hannan, Alex Neal-Bullen, Jack Watts EMG: Declan Keilty, Corey Maynard, Josh Wagner IN: Christian Salem, Jack Watts OUT: Billy Stretch (omitted), Josh Wagner (omitted)

Melbourne’s hopes of winning AFLW silverware in 2018 melted away dramatically in the 37 degree hear at TIO Traeger Park when it wilted after holding its opponents scoreless then losing its grip on a game for the second time in the space of less than a week. This time the Demons suffered a complete mauling at the hands of previously winless Collingwood who applied power and pressure against a team that was a premiership fancy just seven days ago. After the first break, the Magpies embarrassed and outscored them by eight goals to winning 9.4.58 to 3.6.24. The fact that the team was on a six day break on the road and in the heat was no excuse for the sloppy play and capitulation to a team that was sitting on the bottom of the ladder. The Demons’ playmaker Daisy Pearce was well held, leaving much of the hard work to far to few. The best of the bunch were Karen Paxman and Elise O'Dea but it was disappointing that so few stood up against a tough Magpie outfit that had all of the answers. The Dees were somehow still in the game early in the last quarter when down by 17 points but in the end they were far too easily brushed aside. In particular, the defence was easily ruffled and gave away too many easy goals. The team returns home this week to regroup for a must win game after another six day break against Brisbane at Casey Fields on Friday night. Melbourne 2.2.14 2.2.14 3.4.22 3.6.24 Collingwood 0.0.0 3.2.20 6.4.40 9.4.58 Goals Melbourne Hore Mifsud O'Dea Collingwood Hope Edwards 2 Barden Bernardi Chiocci Hutchins Kuys Best Melbourne Paxman, Downie O'Dea Cunningham Jakobsson Collingwood Bernardi Lambert Chiocci Bonnici, Hope King Injuries Melbourne Cranston (hand) Smith (concussion) Collingwood Nil Reports Nil Umpires Galbraith, Crosby, Broadbent Estimated crowd 2,000 at TIO Traeger Park

Never in ...

You know what to do ...

On the Queen's Birthday (or rather, King George V’s) it is customary to hand out the honours to those most deserving members of the community for their achievements in life. Since Melbourne was playing Collingwood on the day that commemorates the royal birthday, there could not be a more deserving recipient of the honours than Melbourne. Collingwood deserve and get nothing. With the season at the half-way mark and the Demons on 5 wins and 5 losses, the second half of the year really depended on a successful outcome of this game - a win would move them into sixth place but a loss would be a disaster for it meant dropping to 11th position on the ladder and more importantly, a game outside the top eight. And therefore, when called upon to perform, the Demons delivered. In doing so they have now put themselves into a realistic position to play finals. With the 9th, 10th and 11th teams all facing difficult opposition in their next-up games Melbourne has the opportunity to go eight points clear IF they can beat the Western Bulldogs in six day's time. Now to the match at hand. The Demons finished the first quarter slightly ahead after a pretty even thirty minutes which was encouraging because, for the first time in ages, they actually turned up to play and weren’t four goals down at the break ... of course, they saved that for the second quarter! Collingwood kicked six unanswered goals in that second term which saw the Demons playing some abysmal football. All of their worst was on display, yet again, with dinky too smart kicks, stupid handball overuse, and players simply not putting in; the game looked as good as over at half-time. Fortunately, Simon Goodwin was there to right the ship and he once again instituted some critical changes. Tom McDonald into ruck (he simply cannot play forward which he did in the first half). Jake Melksham out of the middle where he had been tagging Pendelbury - the coaches realised Pendelbury was doing little, and so by keeping Melksham in the middle it was like virtually playing with a man down. A move for him to the forward line yielded a goal, but little else and he will surely be left out for next week in favour of Josh Wagner. Oscar McDonald put in a shocker in the first half, and then played a blinder in the second …go figure! Completely all at sea he was going at half pace and turning the ball over with monotonous regularity. Then he came out and spoilt everything in the air and took a truly telling mark in the third which would otherwise have resulted in a certain opposition goal. With Pedersen and Tom McDonald holding Grundy to the status of hitout king but to little or no advantage to their mids and the stronger Melbourne mids slowly took over. Clayton Oliver, Nathan Jones and Jack Viney began to get their hands on the ball and for the first time in the game started kicking it forward. This exposed the Collingwood backline, and Melbourne piled on six goals to two in the third to once again lead by the narrowest of margin at the final break. It then came down to an arm wrestle with both sides within a couple of points of each other, until the Demons managed to find Jack Watts on his own 50 meter line out on the flank. He then slowly and deliberately moved toward goal and split the majors sending the final dagger into the heart of Collingwood's hopes. While they dragged one back in the dying seconds, it was the Demons in the end by four points. The injury room at the end wouldn’t fill us with confidence as Jayden Hunt had extended treatment for an ankle, Watts for his back in addition to a previous ankle injury, and Sam Frost spent and inordinate time off the field in the third. We won’t see Jesse Hogan for another two weeks at least and Max Gawn is positively not ready yet. However, the Demons have now shown they can match it with anyone, that it can win close games and are becoming the comeback kings. The club must stop these quarters of football where the team seems to go to sleep and lapse into appalling habits. Against the Bulldogs with their ferocious attack style of play that would be a recipe for disaster. Melbourne took the honours today by a bare margin. It now must learn to take the honours emphatically and without assuming that they will be handed out without the difficult inputs that hallmark successful sides. Melbourne 4.3.27 6.6.42 12.9.81 15.14.104 Collingwood 3.2.20 10.5.65 12.8.80 15.10.100 Goals Melbourne Petracca Watts 3 Bugg Garlett 2 Hannan Harmes T McDonald Melksham Pedersen Collingwood De Goey Fasolo Greenwood Moore Phillips Sidebottom 2 Aish Crocker Treloar Best Melbourne Petracca Jones Viney Hibberd Watts Hunt Garlett Collingwood Sidebottom Grundy Treloar Howe Maynard Broomhead Changes Melbourne Nil Collingwood Nil Injuries Melbourne Jack Watts (back) Collingwood Nil Reports Melbourne Nil Collingwood Nil Umpires Rosebury, Stephens, Ryan, Mollison Official Crowd 70,926 at the MCG

Some weeks ago, I wrote something on one of these Gameday threads to the effect that I would really like to see Melbourne get off to a big start and then maintain that momentum for a full four quarters. It hasn't happened all year. I thought about that post on Saturday night when I was out at dinner with friends and I caught my first sight of the score in the game between Essendon and Port Adelaide. It was during the first quarter and the scoreline read: "Essendon 40 Port Adelaide 1" My first thought was - UNREAL - that never happens with us (at least not with us being in front). Perhaps, it might happen on the day we celebrate Her Majesty's birthday because, like everything else that's happening in this round of football, it seems the prospect is so unreal (after all, her real birthday is 21 April). Let's do something unreal today.

UNDER THE BRIDGE by Whispering Jack A lot of water has flowed under the proverbial bridge since a game between Melbourne and Collingwood has carried with it as much significance as the forthcoming Queens Birthday contest between these traditional rivals. They were at once the yin and yang or 陰陽 of our great Australian sport; one standing for the well to do at the top of the town, the other representing the downtrodden masses from a nearby industrialised inner city suburb. They were seemingly opposite or contrary forces but like light and darkness, black and white, fire and water, red and blue; they were complementary, interconnected, and interdependent. All that ended half a century ago when Melbourne fell into the abyss and while Collingwood remained mainly in the upper reaches of the competition, it more often than not floundered when put to the sword. Other rivalries flourished and the world changed. The interrelationship ended and though from time to time their paths crossed in big games, it was rare that both were on the same plane at the same time. This week however, we see them locked together in a real battle for ascendency. If Collingwood wins, the teams will change places - if Melbourne wins, it moves into the top eight and has its first real opportunity in over a decade to make a full-fisted challenge for a place in the AFL finals. The game is that important. With thanks to the bye, the Magpies have made all the running while the Demons have remained inconspicuously out of sight. The Pies won their third game in a row last Sunday in the West against a faltering Fremantle and suddenly, the media was full on Collingwood. They were everywhere and in the eyes of their fans, a trip to the finals (if not the premiership itself) suddenly became a cakewalk, notwithstanding the inconvenience of a few injuries here or there. These things mean nothing as long as the team has a midfield ranked at the top of the tree by Champion Data at the start of the season and due to lock horns with the bottom of the barrel Demon equivalent sitting at #18. What's more, Eddie McGuire continues to assure us that his club owns the MCG, a ground where Melbourne has only won once this year from five attempts. And he has a wealth of top secret information about the opposition at his fingertips courtesy of former Demons Jeremy Howe and Lynden Dunn. The latter happens to also be thriving now that he's part of a "real successful club", according to the Pies' resident genius Taylor Adams. Hell, after that I'm scratching my head trying to uncover some way in which the Demons can turn back time by half a century and win a really important game against the Magpies. I know there has to be a way - perhaps I can figure it out by the time a little more water flows under that bridge when team selection is announced. THE GAME Melbourne v Collingwood at MCG Monday 12 June 2017 at 3.20pm (AEST) HEAD TO HEAD Overall Melbourne 82 wins Collingwood 146 wins 5 drawn At the MCG Melbourne 62 wins Collingwood 79 wins 3 drawn Last Five Meetings Melbourne 3 wins Collingwood 2 wins The Coaches: Goodwin 0 wins Buckley 0 wins MEDIA TV Channel 7 Fox Footy Channel (Live at 3.00pm) Radio Triple M 3AW SEN ABC ABC Grandstand THE BETTING Melbourne $1.55 to win Collingwood $2.45 to win LAST TIME THEY MET Melbourne 16.8.104 defeated Collingwood 8.10.58 at MCG in Round 12, 2016 Bernie Vince was unstoppable with more than 40 touches and Nathan Jones was not that far behind. Both were given an armchair ride by Max Gawn who not only amassed plenty of hit outs to advantage but picked up 27 possessions which is massive for a big man in our modern game. THE TEAMS MELBOURNE B: Jayden Hunt, Tom McDonald, Neville Jetta HB: Michael Hibberd, Sam Frost, Jordan Lewis C: Christian Salem, Clayton Oliver, Nathan Jones HF: Dom Tyson, Jack Watts, Mitch Hannan F: Alex Neal-Bullen, Christian Petracca, Jeff Garlett FOLL: Cam Pedersen, Bernie Vince, Jack Viney I/C: Tomas Bugg, James Harmes, Oscar McDonald, Jake Melksham EMG: Jay Kennedy-Harris, Jake Spencer, Josh Wagner IN: Christian Salem OUT: Josh Wagner COLLINGWOOD B: Jeremy Howe, Lynden Dunn, Brayden Maynard HB: Josh Smith, Tom Langdon, Matthew Scharenberg C: Steele Sidebottom, Scott Pendlebury, Tom Phillips HF: Jordan De Goey, Alex Fasolo, Will Hoskin-Elliott F: Callum Brown, Darcy Moore, Tim Broomhead FOLL: Brodie Grundy, Taylor Adams, Adam Treloar I/C: James Aish, Jack Crisp, Ben Crocker, Levi Greenwood EMG: Mason Cox, Chris Mayne, Jackson Ramsay IN: James Aish, Callum Brown, Alex Fasolo, Tom Langdon OUT: Jamie Elliott (ankle), Tyson Goldsack (shoulder), Jackson Ramsay (omitted), Daniel Wells (calf) NEW: Callum Brown We are at the half way mark of the season and, despite some of the disappointing setbacks incurred by the team to date, I think it can be truthfully said for the Melbourne Football Club that the sky is the limit. There is one thing that currently stands between it and a place within the top eight and that is its inability to put together a full on consistent four quarter performance in any given match of football. The problem has been its inability to make a good start to a game, even when up against what is perceived to be weaker opposition. The past four games are all cases in point. The team trailed by 27 points against the Hawks at quarter time and failed to make any inroads into that deficit by half time. Two weeks later, they were 26 points behind the Kangaroos at the first break and in their game against the Suns in Alice Springs they were down until late in the third quarter, at one stage by as much as five goals. In between that, Melbourne headed Adelaide at quarter time but midway through the second term it was 28 points in arrears before a 69 point turnaround. The pattern has been evident throughout the season starting in Round 1 against the Saints. In two games - against Geelong and Richmond - the normally faster finishing Demons were crippled by injuries and understandably faded at the end. One is left to wonder about the consequences of conceding leads of up to five goals early in games and then putting in a massive effort to get back to even terms. Does the effort required to play catch up football week in, week out have an effect on the way a team approaches the start of its next games? How is that a team that crushes the top-of-the ladder Crows on their home turf can turn up a week later and make such an insipid start to a game against the Kangaroos? This week the club is pitted against a Collingwood that should have beaten the Giants a month ago and then followed that performance up with three wins on the trot. Admittedly those victories have been against Hawthorn, Brisbane and Fremantle (two teams that Melbourne failed to win against) but at least they've been a model of consistency. They have lost big time at selection with injuries to Jamie Elliot, Daniel Wells and Tyson Goldsack but that simply makes them look vulnerable and we know Melbourne's record against teams that have looked vulnerable this year. The game itself looks like being won in the middle where both sides are ranked in the top five this season for clearances. Melbourne is second in winning the contested ball, behind only Adelaide. The Pies will have the obvious advantage in the ruck but I expect Melbourne to have them covered in both defence and attack and if somehow, they can come out firing and make a good start to the game, they should win comfortably. Melbourne by 20 points

A lot of water has flowed under the proverbial bridge since a game between Melbourne and Collingwood has carried with it as much significance as the forthcoming Queens Birthday contest between these traditional rivals. They were at once the yin and yang or 陰陽 of our great Australian sport; one standing for the well to do at the top of the town, the other representing the downtrodden masses from a nearby industrialised inner city suburb. They were seemingly opposite or contrary forces but like light and darkness, black and white, fire and water, red and blue; they were complementary, interconnected, and interdependent. All that ended half a century ago when Melbourne fell into the abyss and while Collingwood remained mainly in the upper reaches of the competition, it more often than not floundered when put to the sword. Other rivalries flourished and the world changed. The interrelationship ended and though from time to time their paths crossed in big games, it was rare that both were on the same plane at the same time. This week however, we see them locked together in a real battle for ascendency. If Collingwood wins, the teams will change places - if Melbourne wins, it moves into the top eight and has its first real opportunity in over a decade to make a full-fisted challenge for a place in the AFL finals. The game is that important. With thanks to the bye, the Magpies have made all the running while the Demons have remained inconspicuously out of sight. The Pies won their third game in a row last Sunday in the West against a faltering Fremantle and suddenly, the media was full on Collingwood. They were everywhere and in the eyes of their fans, a trip to the finals (if not the premiership itself) suddenly became a cakewalk, notwithstanding the inconvenience of a few injuries here or there. These things mean nothing as long as the team has a midfield ranked at the top of the tree by Champion Data at the start of the season and due to lock horns with the bottom of the barrel Demon equivalent sitting at #18. What's more, Eddie McGuire continues to assure us that his club owns the MCG, a ground where Melbourne has only won once this year from five attempts. And he has a wealth of top secret information about the opposition at his fingertips courtesy of former Demons Jeremy Howe and Lynden Dunn. The latter happens to also be thriving now that he's part of a "real successful club", according to the Pies' resident genius Taylor Adams. Hell, after that I'm scratching my head trying to uncover some way in which the Demons can turn back time by half a century and win a really important game against the Magpies. I know there has to be a way - perhaps I can figure it out by the time a little more water flows under that bridge when team selection is announced. THE GAME Melbourne v Collingwood at MCG Monday 12 June 2017 at 3.20pm (AEST) HEAD TO HEAD Overall Melbourne 82 wins Collingwood 146 wins 5 drawn At the MCG Melbourne 62 wins Collingwood 79 wins 3 drawn Last Five Meetings Melbourne 3 wins Collingwood 2 wins The Coaches: Goodwin 0 wins Buckley 0 wins MEDIA TV Channel 7 Fox Footy Channel (Live at 3.00pm) Radio Triple M 3AW SEN ABC ABC Grandstand THE BETTING Melbourne $1.55 to win Collingwood $2.45 to win LAST TIME THEY MET Melbourne 16.8.104 defeated Collingwood 8.10.58 at MCG in Round 12, 2016 Bernie Vince was unstoppable with more than 40 touches and Nathan Jones was not that far behind. Both were given an armchair ride by Max Gawn who not only amassed plenty of hit outs to advantage but picked up 27 possessions which is massive for a big man in our modern game. THE TEAMS MELBOURNE B: Jayden Hunt, Tom McDonald, Neville Jetta HB: Michael Hibberd, Sam Frost, Jordan Lewis C: Christian Salem, Clayton Oliver, Nathan Jones HF: Dom Tyson, Jack Watts, Mitch Hannan F: Alex Neal-Bullen, Christian Petracca, Jeff Garlett FOLL: Cam Pedersen, Bernie Vince, Jack Viney I/C: Tomas Bugg, James Harmes, Oscar McDonald, Jake Melksham EMG: Jay Kennedy-Harris, Jake Spencer, Josh Wagner IN: Christian Salem OUT: Josh Wagner COLLINGWOOD B: Jeremy Howe, Lynden Dunn, Brayden Maynard HB: Josh Smith, Tom Langdon, Matthew Scharenberg C: Steele Sidebottom, Scott Pendlebury, Tom Phillips HF: Jordan De Goey, Alex Fasolo, Will Hoskin-Elliott F: Callum Brown, Darcy Moore, Tim Broomhead FOLL: Brodie Grundy, Taylor Adams, Adam Treloar I/C: James Aish, Jack Crisp, Ben Crocker, Levi Greenwood EMG: Mason Cox, Chris Mayne, Jackson Ramsay IN: James Aish, Callum Brown, Alex Fasolo, Tom Langdon OUT: Jamie Elliott (ankle), Tyson Goldsack (shoulder), Jackson Ramsay (omitted), Daniel Wells (calf) NEW: Callum Brown We are at the half way mark of the season and, despite some of the disappointing setbacks incurred by the team to date, I think it can be truthfully said for the Melbourne Football Club that the sky is the limit. There is one thing that currently stands between it and a place within the top eight and that is its inability to put together a full on consistent four quarter performance in any given match of football. The problem has been its inability to make a good start to a game, even when up against what is perceived to be weaker opposition. The past four games are all cases in point. The team trailed by 27 points against the Hawks at quarter time and failed to make any inroads into that deficit by half time. Two weeks later, they were 26 points behind the Kangaroos at the first break and in their game against the Suns in Alice Springs they were down until late in the third quarter, at one stage by as much as five goals. In between that, Melbourne headed Adelaide at quarter time but midway through the second term it was 28 points in arrears before a 69 point turnaround. The pattern has been evident throughout the season starting in Round 1 against the Saints. In two games - against Geelong and Richmond - the normally faster finishing Demons were crippled by injuries and understandably faded at the end. One is left to wonder about the consequences of conceding leads of up to five goals early in games and then putting in a massive effort to get back to even terms. Does the effort required to play catch up football week in, week out have an effect on the way a team approaches the start of its next games? How is that a team that crushes the top-of-the ladder Crows on their home turf can turn up a week later and make such an insipid start to a game against the Kangaroos? This week the club is pitted against a Collingwood that should have beaten the Giants a month ago and then followed that performance up with three wins on the trot. Admittedly those victories have been against Hawthorn, Brisbane and Fremantle (two teams that Melbourne failed to win against) but at least they've been a model of consistency. They have lost big time at selection with injuries to Jamie Elliot, Daniel Wells and Tyson Goldsack but that simply makes them look vulnerable and we know Melbourne's record against teams that have looked vulnerable this year. The game itself looks like being won in the middle where both sides are ranked in the top five this season for clearances. Melbourne is second in winning the contested ball, behind only Adelaide. The Pies will have the obvious advantage in the ruck but I expect Melbourne to have them covered in both defence and attack and if somehow, they can come out firing and make a good start to the game, they should win comfortably. Melbourne by 20 points

Happy Birthday Your Majesty - Let's have a three-peat. MELBOURNE B: Jayden Hunt, Tom McDonald, Neville Jetta HB: Billy Stretch, Oscar McDonald, Josh Wagner C: Tomas Bugg, Christian Petracca, Bernie Vince HF: Jack Trengove, Jack Watts, Aaron vandenBerg F: Sam Frost, Jesse Hogan, Chris Dawes FOLL: Max Gawn, Nathan Jones, Dom Tyson I/C: Ben Kennedy, Dean Kent, Clayton Oliver Jack Viney EMG: Jack Grimes, James Harmes, Viv Michie IN: Ben Kennedy, Jack Viney OUT: Jeff Garlett (omitted), James Harmes (omitted) COLLINGWOOD B: Brayden Maynard, Ben Reid, Jeremy Howe HB: Marley Williams, Jack Frost, Josh Smith C: Tom Phillips, Adam Treloar, Steele Sidebottom HF: Jordan deGoey, Jesse White, Travis Varcoe F: Ben Crocker, Mason Cox, Jarryd Blair FOLL: Brodie Grundy, Scott Pendlebury, Jack Crisp I/C: Levi Greenwood, Jonathon Marsh, Ben Sinclair, Jarrod Witts EMG: Nathan Brown, Matt Goodyear, Alan Toovey IN: Jonathon Marsh, Tom Phillips, Marley Williams, Jarrod Witts OUT: Nathan Brown (omitted), Travis Cloke (omitted), Matt Goodyear (omitted), Adam Oxley (omitted)

Well, well ... we have beaten Collingwood three times in less than 12 months. Twice this year!

Your votes please ... 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

GIVING THE PIES A BATH by George on the Outer The pre game activities in support of Neale Daniher’scampaign to Freeze MND got the day off to the perfect start when we finally saw the Collingwood president getting a well deserved bath. It was an unusual experience to behold the scene of a drenched Eddie McGuire as most Collingwood fans don’t go near water on a regular basis ... and of course, the crowd lapped it up. But the pre game goings on were only a portent of the bath that Eddie's team was about to endure from an invigorated Demon outfit. A scrappy first quarter saw them open with almost five minutes of football during which the opposition barely touched the football. The problem was Melbourne's inability to put something decent on the score-board came back to bite them and at quarter time it found itself two goals down. That was enough and the second term saw the Demons come out firing as they stopped over-using the ball and handballing at times when a kick was needed. The result was a seven goal to one quarter and the game was as good as over. Then they came out and finished the game by truly putting Collingwood to the sword, kicking a further seven goals to three in the second half of the game. Max Gawn absolutely and utterly cleaned up the three opposition ruckmen in Grundy, Witts and Cox with three goals, 27 disposals and 31 hitouts. He even roved to his own taps and showed the Pies how a top class ruckman plays. The injection of Jack Viney back from injury just gave others the chance to create mayhem around the ball. Bernie Vince with a mammoth 42 disposals and Dom Tyson and Ben Kennedy 29 each backed up Viney's 30 of his own. With this amount of talent around the ball it relieves the pressure from the new boys in Oliver and Petracca as they can then learn their craft without the pressure of top line opposition players. Once again Jesse Hogan stamped his authority on the game with three goals and eight contested possessions. He gave Jesse White an absolute spray when he flinched as Hogan approached from behind and dropped the mark. White then spent the rest of the match looking in the rear view mirror. It has been a long time since a Melbourne player has truly terrified the opposition, like Hogan did today. The backline is still fragile but starting to meld together. Once again Hunt and Wagner did well and provide that much needed fire from out of the defence. They also keep putting in and their second efforts, even after errors, are a credit to themselves. Even Oscar McDonald looked more at ease, and has put another game under his belt. It was particularly difficult with the three Collingwood rucks resting in their forward line, and our matchups simply weren’t good enough. We can’t have Nev Jetta trying to outmark players who are over 200cm. It is also difficult to understand why we persist with a six person forward line and only four in the backline. Too many bodies get in Hogans way, and the backs can sure use an extra body down there sometimes. With only a six day break to a game against Sydney in the Harbour city, it will be a difficult act to follow next week. However, the Swans have suffered some serious injuries and are not invincible as was proven this week against GWS. Given the rain that Sydney has faced in this past week, they surely wouldn’t be looking forward to another bath ... would they? Melbourne 2.4.16 9.6.60 11.7.73 16.8.104 Collingwood 4.4.28 5.4.34 6.6.42 8.10.58 Goals Melbourne Gawn Hogan Kent 3 Watts 2 N Jones, Kennedy Petracca Trengove Viney Collingwood Cox 2 Greenwood Grundy Maynard Sidebottom Varcoe White Best Melbourne Gawn Vince N Jones Kent T McDonald Tyson Collingwood Treloar Pendlebury Howe De Goey Varcoe Changes Melbourne Nil Collingwood Nil Injuries Melbourne vandenBerg (nose) Collingwood J Frost (shoulder) Reid (left knee) Pendlebury(left ankle) Reports Melbourne Nil Collingwood Nil Umpires Nicholls, Jeffery, Wallace Official crowd 60,158 at the MCG

The pre game activities in support of Neale Daniher’scampaign to Freeze MND got the day off to the perfect start when we finally saw the Collingwood president getting a well deserved bath. It was an unusual experience to behold the scene of a drenched Eddie McGuire as most Collingwood fans don’t go near water on a regular basis ... and of course, the crowd lapped it up. But the pre game goings on were only a portent of the bath that Eddie's team was about to endure from an invigorated Demon outfit. A scrappy first quarter saw them open with almost five minutes of football during which the opposition barely touched the football. The problem was Melbourne's inability to put something decent on the score-board came back to bite them and at quarter time it found itself two goals down. That was enough and the second term saw the Demons come out firing as they stopped over-using the ball and handballing at times when a kick was needed. The result was a seven goal to one quarter and the game was as good as over. Then they came out and finished the game by truly putting Collingwood to the sword, kicking a further seven goals to three in the second half of the game. Max Gawn absolutely and utterly cleaned up the three opposition ruckmen in Grundy, Witts and Cox with three goals, 27 disposals and 31 hitouts. He even roved to his own taps and showed the Pies how a top class ruckman plays. The injection of Jack Viney back from injury just gave others the chance to create mayhem around the ball. Bernie Vince with a mammoth 42 disposals and Dom Tyson and Ben Kennedy 29 each backed up Viney's 30 of his own. With this amount of talent around the ball it relieves the pressure from the new boys in Oliver and Petracca as they can then learn their craft without the pressure of top line opposition players. Once again Jesse Hogan stamped his authority on the game with three goals and eight contested possessions. He gave Jesse White an absolute spray when he flinched as Hogan approached from behind and dropped the mark. White then spent the rest of the match looking in the rear view mirror. It has been a long time since a Melbourne player has truly terrified the opposition, like Hogan did today. The backline is still fragile but starting to meld together. Once again Hunt and Wagner did well and provide that much needed fire from out of the defence. They also keep putting in and their second efforts, even after errors, are a credit to themselves. Even Oscar McDonald looked more at ease, and has put another game under his belt. It was particularly difficult with the three Collingwood rucks resting in their forward line, and our matchups simply weren’t good enough. We can’t have Nev Jetta trying to outmark players who are over 200cm. It is also difficult to understand why we persist with a six person forward line and only four in the backline. Too many bodies get in Hogans way, and the backs can sure use an extra body down there sometimes. With only a six day break to a game against Sydney in the Harbour city, it will be a difficult act to follow next week. However, the Swans have suffered some serious injuries and are not invincible as was proven this week against GWS. Given the rain that Sydney has faced in this past week, they surely wouldn’t be looking forward to another bath ... would they? Melbourne 2.4.16 9.6.60 11.7.73 16.8.104 Collingwood 4.4.28 5.4.34 6.6.42 8.10.58 Goals Melbourne Gawn Hogan Kent 3 Watts 2 N Jones, Kennedy Petracca Trengove Viney Collingwood Cox 2 Greenwood Grundy Maynard Sidebottom Varcoe White Best Melbourne Gawn Vince N Jones Kent T McDonald Tyson Collingwood Treloar Pendlebury Howe De Goey Varcoe Changes Melbourne Nil Collingwood Nil Injuries Melbourne vandenBerg (nose) Collingwood J Frost (shoulder) Reid (left knee) Pendlebury(left ankle) Reports Melbourne Nil Collingwood Nil Umpires Nicholls, Jeffery, Wallace Official crowd 60,158 at the MCG

Early start again, 4.5 hours at work and it's on. Gawn to show why you can't just come over here and start playing footy like it ain't no thang, put em to the sword. Go Dees

The death last week of the great boxer Muhammad Ali brought to mind the documentary film about the "Rumble in the Jungle", the famous world heavyweight championship match between Ali and George Foreman. Although that fight, held in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) took place in 1974, I have often associated the title of the movie with another set of champions from an entirely different sport and in a slightly different time frame: one that began two decades earlier right here in Melbourne. I refer to the champion football team that dominated this nation's leading sporting competition and won six premierships in the decade to 1964. When the Demons were kings, like Ali they tormented and dominated their adversaries and their main rival during that period was Collingwood. The football world was in awe of the Demons of the time. They were admired for the way they pulled themselves off the mat in the early 1950s and rose rapidly with a young team to make the grand final in 1954 (the year in which Cassius Clay, as Ali was then known, made his amateur boxing debut) which they lost to Footscray before going on to win five of the next six flags, beating the Magpies in three of those season deciders. Like Muhammad Ali however, they were not infallible - they lost the grand final of 1958 (at about the time when Cassius Clay was graduating from high school) to Collingwood who thereby prevented them from equalling the Magpies' record of four premierships in a row. Clay won the Light Heavyweight gold medal in the 1960 Rome Summer Olympics and in that year the Demons destroyed the Magpies on a wet grand final day, keeping them down to a record low two goals on that one day in September. It took them another four years to win their next premiership - the 1964 flag came in the same year that the "Louisville Lip" won the world heavyweight championship from Sonny Liston in an upset. An Australian lip, the great Magpie Lou Richards, compared the champion boxer with Melbourne's own champion skipper Ron Barassi, once dubbing him "Cassius Barassius". But after 1964, everything changed. Clay converted to Islam and officially took on the name, Muhammad Ali. Here in Australia, Barassi accepted an offer to coach Carlton and soon after ... the Demons stopped being kings. Their reign was over. By 1966, they were close to rock bottom. Ali's career also went into decline at that stage but not because he had lost his power. In 1966, two years after winning the heavyweight title, he antagonized the establishment by refusing to be conscripted into the U.S. military on the basis of his religious beliefs and opposition to American involvement in the Vietnam War. Ali was eventually arrested and in June of that year (in a week or so, it will be exactly 50 years ago) he was found guilty of draft evasion charges, sentenced to five years in prison and stripped of his boxing titles. Years later, he was exonerated on appeal to the US Supreme Court and it took another three years before he would regain his title in the "Rumble in the Jungle". Ali boxed on until he finally did lose his power and he retired in 1980. Meanwhile, the Melbourne Football Club languished, the hard times continued and despite some better days and an intermittent return to finals football, its fortunes again spiralled downwards for the past decade - perhaps, in line with Ali's declining health as he struggled with the effects of Parkinson's Disease? The Demons are slowly showing signs of recovery but sadly for Ali, it's all over now. In a few days’ time, he will be laid to his final resting place in his home town of Louisville and fittingly a few days after that, the old football rivalry will continue on the other side of the world. Like Melbourne, Collingwood has also been struggling of late. Times have changed since the glory days of the fifties and sixties when we were kings. Having grown from twelve clubs to eighteen, the competition is intense. It's a jungle out there. Let's rumble! THE GAME Melbourne v Collingwood at MCG Monday 13 June 2016 at 3.20pm (AEST) HEAD TO HEAD Overall Melbourne 81 wins Collingwood 146 wins 5 drawn At the MCG Melbourne 61 wins Collingwood 79 wins 3 drawn Last Five Meetings Melbourne 2 wins Collingwood 3 wins The Coaches: Roos 2 wins Buckley 2 wins MEDIA TV Channel 7 Fox Footy Channel (Live at 3.00pm) Radio Triple M 3AW SEN ABC ABC Grandstand THE BETTING Melbourne $1.59 to win Collingwood $2.35 to win LAST TIME THEY MET Melbourne 16.6.102 defeated Collingwood 9.13.67 at MCG in Round 4, 2016 The Demons, inspired by the great ruck/roving partnership of Max Gawn and Jack Viney, shot out to a five goal lead with a pulsating opening quarter and were never really troubled. They went on to win by 35 points MELBOURNE B: Jayden Hunt, Tom McDonald, Neville Jetta HB: Billy Stretch, Oscar McDonald, Josh Wagner C: Tomas Bugg, Christian Petracca, Bernie Vince HF: Jack Trengove, Jack Watts, Aaron vandenBerg F: Sam Frost, Jesse Hogan, Chris Dawes FOLL: Max Gawn, Nathan Jones, Dom Tyson I/C: Ben Kennedy, Dean Kent, Clayton Oliver Jack Viney EMG: Jack Grimes, James Harmes, Viv Michie IN: Ben Kennedy Jack Viney OUT: Jeff Garlett (omitted) James Harmes (omitted) COLLINGWOOD B: Brayden Maynard, Ben Reid, Jeremy Howe HB: Marley Williams, Jack Frost, Josh Smith C: Tom Phillips, Adam Treloar, Steele Sidebottom HF: Jordan deGoey, Jesse White, Travis Varcoe F: Ben Crocker, Mason Cox, Jarryd Blair FOLL: Brodie Grundy, Scott Pendlebury, Jack Crisp I/C: Levi Greenwood, Jonathon Marsh, Ben Sinclair, Jarrod Witts EMG: Nathan Brown, Matt Goodyear, Alan Toovey IN: Jonathon Marsh, Tom Phillips, Marley Williams, Jarrod Witts OUT: Nathan Brown (omitted), Travis Cloke (omitted), Matt Goodyear (omitted), Adam Oxley (omitted)

It wasn't so long ago that we played Collingwood after suffering two consecutive defeats. Can history repeat itself and can we revive our season? COLLINGWOOD B: Ben Sinclair, Nathan Brown, Tom Langdon HB: Goldsack, Ben Reid, Alan Toovey C: Adam Oxley, Adam Treloar, Steele Sidebottom HF: Travis Varcoe, Darcy Moore, Jordan De Goey F: Alex Fasolo, Travis Cloke, Jeremy Howe FOLL: Brodie Grundy, Scott Pendlebury, Taylor Adams I/C: James Aish, Jarryd Blair, Jack Crisp, Levi Greenwood EMG: Mason Cox, Matthew Goodyear, Brent Macaffer, IN: Steele Sidebottom, Alan Toovey, Travis Varcoe OUT: Matthew Goodyear (omitted), Brayden Maynard (hamstring), Marley Williams (foot) MELBOURNE B: Neville Jetta, Tom McDonald, Tomas Bugg HB: Lynden Dunn, Heritier Lumumba, Christian Salem C: James Harmes, Dom Tyson, Clayton Oliver HF: Jack Watts, Sam Frost, Matt Jones F: Dean Kent, Jesse Hogan, Ben Kennedy FOLL: Max Gawn, Nathan Jones, Jack Viney I/C: Angus Brayshaw, Jayden Hunt, Cameron Pedersen, Josh Wagner EMG: Jack Grimes, Alex Neal-Bullen, Billy Stretch In: Angus Brayshaw, Jayden Hunt, Cam Pedersen Out: Aaron vandenBerg (ankle), Bernie Vince (suspension), Billy Stretch (omitted) New: Jayden Hunt (21, Brighton Grammar)

If I get a leave pass, I'll be watching from the Roppongi Hobgoblin, a pub in Tokyo. I'm not greatly confident (because we always seem to play teams in crisis after an upset defeat) but let's see ...

WE'LL GET THEM NEXT TIME by Whispering Jack I was one of those who held high hopes for a Melbourne win over Collingwood because I believed the Demons are emerging and, as such is due to take further steps forward against a team I was not convinced about: one that had beaten only teams in the bottom half of the competition. A win would have broken the club's eight year losing streak against the Magpies and whilst, the Pies prevailed in the end and every defeat hurts, I believe that the team has their measure and will get them next time which happens to be in the return game in Round 18, so barring a major run with injuries, pencil in the date Saturday 1 August, 2015. My hopes for a win were shattered for a number of reasons but the main ones were the performance of inaugural Neale Daniher Trophy winner (and a worthy one at that) of Travis Cloke who has hitherto struggled for accuracy in front of goal this season but against Melbourne, goaled with every one of his seven shots at the big sticks. He monstered Tom McDonald in the early play and continued to be a major danger up forward for Collingwood. A few weeks ago, I heard his coach Nathan Buckley whining about how little protection Cloke gets from the umpires but on Queens Birthday, they treated him like a king. Players were being pulled off the ball in ruck and marking contests all around the ground but it didnt seem to worry the umpires until the ball got into the vicinity of Cloke who was leaning back on Lynden Dunn and suddenly, it was time for the whistle to blow. The other area where Melbourne lapsed badly was in the turnover count. According to the statisticians, Collingwood scored 84 points from Melbourne turnovers while the Dees scored 23 from Pies turnovers a differential of 61 points in a four goal-game. Thats disappointing in anyones language but turnovers happen, its part of the time and young teams have to learn to deal with the pressure of a match. In many aspects, it was a case of Melbourne taking the game on and playing high risk football rather than the dreary pedestrian stuff we saw last year when the team kicked only three goals for the game and if youre doing that, then mistakes will happen and, as time goes on, a developing team will reduce the turnovers as it matures. But you really cant take the brain fades that result in opposition goals. Lynden Dunns short kick in and Jack Fitzpatricks tunnel ball throw were two examples that are true coach killers and are simply unacceptable (as were a couple of umpiring brain fades but you cant do much about that other than your coach risking a fine and publicly stating something to the effect that he wishes Jesse Hogan got the same protection from the umpires as does Cloke). There was also a lot made of the fact that Collingwoods Adam Oxley was allowed to roam the back half unattended and Melbourne seemed to constantly kick in his direction where the numbers dictated that he was going to win the ball more often than not. I simply didnt get that Paul Roos was unable to change things with the simple move necessary to cover that situation but I for one, got sick of seeing number 43 mark it on his own time and again. It was almost as if our one avenue to goal was through Oxley and if you are going to have a go at a player for tunnel balling the pill through goals and giving away six points, then the coach who allows an unattended opposition player to save several times more through his inaction has a lot to answer for (as do I for ending a sentence with a preposition). The pity of the defeat was that it overshadowed and possibly hid the fact that the Melbourne midfield showed definite signs of emerging out of the third world that it has inhabited for those eight or so years of darkness and it started with the ruckwork of Max Gawn who, unlike others tried in this department over those years, is actually good at the craft of giving his on ballers first use and as a result Bernie Vince, Nathan Jones and Jack Viney won the day over a very accomplished AFL midfield led by some handy types in Pendlebury, Swan and Sidebottom for starters. Melbourne lost a bit after half time with the injury and subbing off of Aaron vandenBerg and the discomfort of Viney with a corked calf (and lets hope thats all was) and probably tired in this division in the final quarter. But the main thing was that because they were getting drive from the midfield and were prepared to run and move the ball with a little more speed than normal, they were able to come back a few times when we thought they were gone. And they will only get better next week with the inclusion of Dom Tyson and possibly the debut of young ball magnet Alex Neal-Bullen who has been tearing it up at Casey. Speaking of tearing, the team missed Christian Salem who did the other hamstring at training on Saturday and continues to miss the pace of Dean Kent or the other hyphen JKH. Collingwood had close to its best team on the park and got through the game unscathed. Everything went its way but that doesn't happen every week. We'll get them next time. Melbourne 3.1.19 9.1.55 13.4.82 13.7.85 Collingwood 7.1.43 11.3.69 15.4.94 17.8.110 Goals Melbourne Howe 3 Garlett N Jones Vince 2 Brayshaw Collingwood Cloke 7 Blair Elliott 3 Broomhead Fasolo Seedsman Swan Best Melbourne Jones Vince Brayshaw Viney Cross Jetta Collingwood Cloke Oxley Pendlebury Swan Elliott Blair Williams Changes Melbourne Nil Collingwood Nil Injuries Melbourne Viney (corked calf) vandenBerg (leg) Collingwood Nil Substitutions Melbourne Matt Jones replaced Aaron vandenBerg (leg) at half-time Collingwood Ben Kennedy replaced Paul Seedsman in the third quarter Reports MelbourneNil Collingwood Nil Umpires Stevic Kamolins Pannell Official Crowd 66,120 at the MCG

WELL GET THEM NEXT TIME by Whispering Jack I was one of those who held high hopes for a Melbourne win over Collingwood because I believed the Demons are emerging and, as such is due to take further steps forward against a team I was not convinced about: one that had beaten only teams in the bottom half of the competition. A win would have broken the club's eight year losing streak against the Magpies and whilst, the Pies prevailed in the end and every defeat hurts, I believe that the team has their measure and will get them next time which happens to be in the return game in Round 18, so barring a major run with injuries, pencil in the date Saturday 1 August, 2015. My hopes for a win were shattered for a number of reasons but the main ones were the performance of inaugural Neale Daniher Trophy winner (and a worthy one at that) of Travis Cloke who has hitherto struggled for accuracy in front of goal this season but against Melbourne, goaled with every one of his seven shots at the big sticks. He monstered Tom McDonald in the early play and continued to be a major danger up forward for Collingwood. A few weeks ago, I heard his coach Nathan Buckley whining about how little protection Cloke gets from the umpires but on Queens Birthday, they treated him like a king. Players were being pulled off the ball in ruck and marking contests all around the ground but it didnt seem to worry the umpires until the ball got into the vicinity of Cloke who was leaning back on Lynden Dunn and suddenly, it was time for the whistle to blow. The other area where Melbourne lapsed badly was in the turnover count. According to the statisticians, Collingwood scored 84 points from Melbourne turnovers while the Dees scored 23 from Pies turnovers a differential of 61 points in a four goal-game. Thats disappointing in anyones language but turnovers happen, its part of the time and young teams have to learn to deal with the pressure of a match. In many aspects, it was a case of Melbourne taking the game on and playing high risk football rather than the dreary pedestrian stuff we saw last year when the team kicked only three goals for the game and if youre doing that, then mistakes will happen and, as time goes on, a developing team will reduce the turnovers as it matures. But you really cant take the brain fades that result in opposition goals. Lynden Dunns short kick in and Jack Fitzpatricks tunnel ball throw were two examples that are true coach killers and are simply unacceptable (as were a couple of umpiring brain fades but you cant do much about that other than your coach risking a fine and publicly stating something to the effect that he wishes Jesse Hogan got the same protection from the umpires as does Cloke). There was also a lot made of the fact that Collingwoods Adam Oxley was allowed to roam the back half unattended and Melbourne seemed to constantly kick in his direction where the numbers dictated that he was going to win the ball more often than not. I simply didnt get that Paul Roos was unable to change things with the simple move necessary to cover that situation but I for one, got sick of seeing number 43 mark it on his own time and again. It was almost as if our one avenue to goal was through Oxley and if you are going to have a go at a player for tunnel balling the pill through goals and giving away six points, then the coach who allows an unattended opposition player to save several times more through his inaction has a lot to answer for (as do I for ending a sentence with a preposition). The pity of the defeat was that it overshadowed and possibly hid the fact that the Melbourne midfield showed definite signs of emerging out of the third world that it has inhabited for those eight or so years of darkness and it started with the ruckwork of Max Gawn who, unlike others tried in this department over those years, is actually good at the craft of giving his on ballers first use and as a result Bernie Vince, Nathan Jones and Jack Viney won the day over a very accomplished AFL midfield led by some handy types in Pendlebury, Swan and Sidebottom for starters. Melbourne lost a bit after half time with the injury and subbing off of Aaron vandenBerg and the discomfort of Viney with a corked calf (and lets hope thats all was) and probably tired in this division in the final quarter. But the main thing was that because they were getting drive from the midfield and were prepared to run and move the ball with a little more speed than normal, they were able to come back a few times when we thought they were gone. And they will only get better next week with the inclusion of Dom Tyson and possibly the debut of young ball magnet Alex Neal-Bullen who has been tearing it up at Casey. Speaking of tearing, the team missed Christian Salem who did the other hamstring at training on Saturday and continues to miss the pace of Dean Kent or the other hyphen JKH. Collingwood had close to its best team on the park and got through the game unscathed. Everything went its way but that doesn't happen every week. We'll get them next time. Melbourne 3.1.19 9.1.55 13.4.82 13.7.85 Collingwood 7.1.43 11.3.69 15.4.94 17.8.110 Goals Melbourne Howe 3 Garlett N Jones Vince 2 Brayshaw Collingwood Cloke 7 Blair Elliott 3 Broomhead Fasolo Seedsman Swan Best Melbourne Jones Vince Brayshaw Viney Cross Jetta Collingwood Cloke Oxley Pendlebury Swan Elliott Blair Williams Changes Melbourne Nil Collingwood Nil Injuries Melbourne Viney (corked calf) vandenBerg (leg) Collingwood Nil Substitutions Melbourne Matt Jones replaced Aaron vandenBerg (leg) at half-time Collingwood Ben Kennedy replaced Paul Seedsman in the third quarter Reports MelbourneNil Collingwood Nil Umpires Stevic Kamolins Pannell Official Crowd 66,120 at the MCG

Ever since the tradition of the Queens Birthday game against Collingwood began, this fixture has been seen as a milestone game for the season. It's situated at close to the half way mark and the Pies have always been strong contenders who don't take kindly to a lack of success so it's usually a good measuring stick as to how we've been traveling. Unfortunately, we've been so abysmal for so long that it's taken on the appearance and the feel of Groundhog Day except for 2010 when we thought we had broken through. Five years later, we're still waiting ...

THE BEAST by Whispering Jack This weekend the football world will recognise the man who was the last coach to take the Demons to a finals appearance (not to mention a win over Collingwood on Queens Birthday) with the Big Freeze at the "G" event to raise awareness of and funds for a cure for motor neurone disease, an affliction which Neale Daniher suffers. The cause is a worthy one and the clubs involved in this weekend's blockbuster game are to be commended for throwing their efforts behind the objective of finding a cure for the "beast". And when the game begins and hopefully a massive sum has been raised for MND research, the fans of this club which Daniher coached to finals appearances and one grand final for almost a decade can be a part of the search to cure their own club's "beast", an affliction that has wracked the club since his last days at the helm. Since Daniher's departure, the club has been in a constant cycle of disastrous and failed attempts to rebuild with few glimpses of light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. Even with the arrival of new coach Paul Roos and the advent of some bright young talent, the ride continues to be a bumpy one as attested by the season's record to date of three wins and six defeats and a poor percentage. The anomaly is that five of those losses have been against clubs that occupy the top eight and the other was against a team that came within a whisker of making last year's grand final. One of the wins was over a current top eight side; another against a team just outside. In a competition where the fixture is engineered to give the lower sides a decent draw, Melbourne has played only once against a club occupying the current bottom seven spots on the ladder. The Demons can't even win the luck of the draw because this week they're up against fourth placed Collingwood. They are also a team that shows all of the signs of a young team with some promise, exhibiting growing pains and carrying baggage from its unsuccessful recent past. One of those signs is inconsistency. The gap between the team's best and its worst is a gaping chasm and one has no clue as to which side of its persona will emerge at the long weekend. That is the nature of the Beast. THE GAME Melbourne v Collingwood at MCG Monday 8 June 2015 at 3.20pm (AEST) HEAD TO HEAD Overall Melbourne 79 wins Collingwood 145 wins 5 drawn At the MCG Melbourne 59 wins Collingwood 78 wins 3 drawn Last Five Meetings Melbourne 0 wins Collingwood 4 wins 1 drawn The Coaches: Roos 0 wins Buckley 1 win MEDIA TV Channel 7 Fox Footy Channel (Live at 3.00pm) Radio Triple M 3AW SEN ABC ABC Grandstand THE BETTING Melbourne $ 3.55 to win Collingwood $1.30 to win LAST TIME THEY MET Collingwood 8.13.61 defeated Melbourne 3.10.28 at MCG in Round 12, 2014 Melbourne lost by only 33 points but it was an excruciatingly painful game to watch. The Demons kicked a goal in the first minute and only two more for the afternoon in a defensive slog but were well in the game until late in the third quarter when an umpiring slip and some skill errors gave the Pies the upper hand. In spite of all that, honours for best on the ground went to Demon Bernie Vince. TEAMS MELBOURNE B: Colin Garland, Tom McDonald, Jack Fitzpatrick HB: Jeremy Howe, Lynden Dunn, Neville Jetta C: Daniel Cross, Aaron vandenBerg, Heritier Lumumba HF: Ben Newton, Cam Pedersen, Jack Viney F: Jeff Garlett, Jesse Hogan, Aidan Riley FOLL: Max Gawn, Nathan Jones, Bernie Vince I/C: Angus Brayshaw, Matt Jones, Jimmy Toumpas, Jack Watts EMG: Jack Grimes, Viv Michie, Jake Spencer IN: Max Gawn, Ben Newton, Aidan Riley OUT: Rohan Bail, Jack Grimes, Jake Spencer (all omitted) COLLINGWOOD B: Tom Langdon, Nathan Brown, Marley Williams HB: Alan Toovey, Jack Frost, Tyson Goldsack C: Travis Varcoe, Dane Swan, Paul Seedsman HF: Jamie Elliott, Jesse White, Steele Sidebottom F: Alex Fasolo, Travis Cloke, Jarryd Blair FOLL: Brodie Grundy, Jack Crisp, Scott Pendlebury I/C: Tim Broomhead, Jordan De Goey, Adam Oxley, Jarrod Witts EMG: Sam Dwyer, Ben Kennedy, Brayden Maynard IN: Tim Broomhead OUT: Taylor Adams (toe) Neale Daniher spoke to the Melbourne players again this week. Perhaps there's not a lot of logic behind what I'm about to suggest but I believe that the last time Daniher spoke to this group, they got up and played possibly their best game of the season against the Western Bulldogs and on that basis, I'm giving them the nod to break an eight year old streak and win a Queens Birthday clash against Collingwood. Last week, in the absence of a rev from the Rev, Melbourne demonstrated its inconsistency and its brittleness by turning a comfortable four goal lead halfway through the second quarter into a ten goal defeat against a previously flailing Port Adelaide. There's little doubt that such form has a lot to do with what's going on in the collective heads of the group and Neale Daniher's courage and example over the past year during his battle with MND is enough to spur those with doubts in their minds about their ability to succeed in this sport. And for this reason, I believe that the Melbourne Football Club will join American Pharoah, the Aussie Test Cricket Team, Serena Williams, the Casey Scorpions and Barcelona (remind me about their colours) in their triumph over the Beast this week. Melbourne by 17 points.

This weekend the football world will recognise the man who was the last coach to take the Demons to a finals appearance (not to mention a win over Collingwood on Queens Birthday) with the Big Freeze at the "G" event to raise awareness of and funds for a cure for motor neurone disease, an affliction which Neale Daniher suffers. The cause is a worthy one and the clubs involved in this weekend's blockbuster game are to be commended for throwing their efforts behind the objective of finding a cure for the "beast". And when the game begins and hopefully a massive sum has been raised for MND research, the fans of this club which Daniher coached to finals appearances and one grand final for almost a decade can be a part of the search to cure their own club's "beast", an affliction that has wracked the club since his last days at the helm. Since Daniher's departure, the club has been in a constant cycle of disastrous and failed attempts to rebuild with few glimpses of light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. Even with the arrival of new coach Paul Roos and the advent of some bright young talent, the ride continues to be a bumpy one as attested by the season's record to date of three wins and six defeats and a poor percentage. The anomaly is that five of those losses have been against clubs that occupy the top eight and the other was against a team that came within a whisker of making last year's grand final. One of the wins was over a current top eight side; another against a team just outside. In a competition where the fixture is engineered to give the lower sides a decent draw, Melbourne has played only once against a club occupying the current bottom seven spots on the ladder. The Demons can't even win the luck of the draw because this week they're up against fourth placed Collingwood. They are also a team that shows all of the signs of a young team with some promise, exhibiting growing pains and carrying baggage from its unsuccessful recent past. One of those signs is inconsistency. The gap between the team's best and its worst is a gaping chasm and one has no clue as to which side of its persona will emerge at the long weekend. That is the nature of the Beast. THE GAME Melbourne v Collingwood at MCG Monday 8 June 2015 at 3.20pm (AEST) HEAD TO HEAD Overall Melbourne 79 wins Collingwood 145 wins 5 drawn At the MCG Melbourne 59 wins Collingwood 78 wins 3 drawn Last Five Meetings Melbourne 0 wins Collingwood 4 wins 1 drawn The Coaches: Roos 0 wins Buckley 1 win MEDIA TV Channel 7 Fox Footy Channel (Live at 3.00pm) Radio Triple M 3AW SEN ABC ABC Grandstand THE BETTING Melbourne $ 3.55 to win Collingwood $1.30 to win LAST TIME THEY MET Collingwood 8.13.61 defeated Melbourne 3.10.28 at MCG in Round 12, 2014 Melbourne lost by only 33 points but it was an excruciatingly painful game to watch. The Demons kicked a goal in the first minute and only two more for the afternoon in a defensive slog but were well in the game until late in the third quarter when an umpiring slip and some skill errors gave the Pies the upper hand. In spite of all that, honours for best on the ground went to Demon Bernie Vince. TEAMS MELBOURNE B: Colin Garland, Tom McDonald, Jack Fitzpatrick HB: Jeremy Howe, Lynden Dunn, Neville Jetta C: Daniel Cross, Aaron vandenBerg, Heritier Lumumba HF: Ben Newton, Cam Pedersen, Jack Viney F: Jeff Garlett, Jesse Hogan, Aidan Riley FOLL: Max Gawn, Nathan Jones, Bernie Vince I/C: Angus Brayshaw, Matt Jones, Jimmy Toumpas, Jack Watts EMG: Jack Grimes, Viv Michie, Jake Spencer IN: Max Gawn, Ben Newton, Aidan Riley OUT: Rohan Bail, Jack Grimes, Jake Spencer (all omitted) COLLINGWOOD B: Tom Langdon, Nathan Brown, Marley Williams HB: Alan Toovey, Jack Frost, Tyson Goldsack C: Travis Varcoe, Dane Swan, Paul Seedsman HF: Jamie Elliott, Jesse White, Steele Sidebottom F: Alex Fasolo, Travis Cloke, Jarryd Blair FOLL: Brodie Grundy, Jack Crisp, Scott Pendlebury I/C: Tim Broomhead, Jordan De Goey, Adam Oxley, Jarrod Witts EMG: Sam Dwyer, Ben Kennedy, Brayden Maynard IN: Tim Broomhead OUT: Taylor Adams (toe) Neale Daniher spoke to the Melbourne players again this week. Perhaps there's not a lot of logic behind what I'm about to suggest but I believe that the last time Daniher spoke to this group, they got up and played possibly their best game of the season against the Western Bulldogs and on that basis, I'm giving them the nod to break an eight year old streak and win a Queens Birthday clash against Collingwood. Last week, in the absence of a rev from the Rev, Melbourne demonstrated its inconsistency and its brittleness by turning a comfortable four goal lead halfway through the second quarter into a ten goal defeat against a previously flailing Port Adelaide. There's little doubt that such form has a lot to do with what's going on in the collective heads of the group and Neale Daniher's courage and example over the past year during his battle with MND is enough to spur those with doubts in their minds about their ability to succeed in this sport. And for this reason, I believe that the Melbourne Football Club will join American Pharoah, the Aussie Test Cricket Team, Serena Williams, the Casey Scorpions and Barcelona (remind me about their colours) in their triumph over the Beast this week. Melbourne by 17 points.

This team kicked three goals in an entire game - TEAMS MELBOURNE B: Colin Garland, Lynden Dunn, Neville Jetta HB: Jack Grimes, Tom McDonald, Jeremy Howe C: Daniel Cross, Dom Tyson, Bernie Vince HF: Rohan Bail, James Frawley, Matt Jones F: Cam Pedersen, Chris Dawes, Jack Watts FOLL: Mark Jamar, Nathan Jones, Jack Viney I/C: Max Gawn, Jay Kennedy-Harris, Christian Salem, Dean Terlich EMG: Jordie McKenzie, Aidan Riley, Jimmy Toumpas IN: Chris Dawes OUT: Jimmy Toumpas COLLINGWOOD B: Tom Langdon, Jack Frost, Alan Toovey HB: Marley Williams, Lachlan Keeffe, Tyson Goldsack C: Dane Swan, Brent Macaffer, Heritier Lumumba HF: Alex Fasolo, Jesse White, Jarryd Blair F: Luke Ball, Travis Cloke, Jamie Elliott FOLL: Jarrod Witts, Dayne Beams, Scott Pendlebury I/C: Sam Dwyer, Paul Seedsman, Josh Thomas, Clinton Young EMG: Taylor Adams, Tim Broomhead, Brodie Grundy IN: Luke Ball, Sam Dwyer, Dane Swan OUT: Taylor Adams, Nick Maxwell (calf), Steele Sidebottom (suspension)