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DEE-DAY OR NO DEE-DAY by George on The Outer Seventy years since the Allies started the counter-attack against the might of Germany. Fifty years since the Demons won a Premiership Was the Queens Birthday of 2014 going to be the beginning of something special, or just another re-run of the ordinary performances that have marked the past years encounters? With an earlygoal on the scoreboard courtesy of Nathan Jones within the first thorty seconds, the supporters could have been thinking that the something special was going to happen. The first salvo in a reversal of fortune just like what D-Day represented all those years ago? Sadly, the fans were to see only another two goals for their side in the remaining 99 or so minutes of the game. And the final score represented the lowest score the Demons had kicked against the Pies since 1960! One would have thought the ground was a mud heap, but it was exactly the opposite! The small consolation was that the Magpies themselves could only manage eight for the day. Twelve months ago, we would have been happy with that result. However, the expectations have been raised, and with 68,000 at the game to give the Demons the experience of big time football, there should have been more to show for the day. Still the Allied forces barely made it across the sand on the first day in France, but within months they were knocking at the door of Berlin. To hold a top four side to a paltry three goals to half time and eight goals in total was a sign of the change that has occurred at the club. But there is simply not enough true talent there to get the side across the line when needed. Like the game against Port Adelaide it was there to be won, but there was no-one to stand up and show the way. Yes we had plenty of contributors with the usual bevy of Jones, Vince, Cross, Jamar, Dawes, Dunn and Pedersen showing the way it needed to be done, but there are simply too many being dragged along for the ride. The likes of Watts, Bail, Salem, Gawn, Terlich, Howe and Frawley simply did not impact the game. Yes some of them had 20 touches, but did they really have any effect on the outcome? Sometimes the game is there to be won from a series of one-on-one contests, and to be successful it requires each and every player to do his part when it counts. Not just a contribution, but to make it count. It is also doubly hard for an up and coming team to overcome the sheer ineptitude of the umpiring department as witnessed today. Five free kicks to Melbourne in the whole game, two of which were out-on-the-full. Even 13 to Collingwood over the course of a game is insufficient. Is there any wonder that packs of players develop and is turning the game into a variation of Rugby Union? Why Vince was denied a goal after Jetta elected to play on from a mark was simply incomprehensible. There is no time on after a mark, and the player is perfectly entitled to play on. But then we would have to teach the umpires some simply rules of the game, and at the moment they are being taught incorrectly. When the fans are bombarded with written examples of the rules of the game prior to the match, it only highlights that something is seriously wrong. Pity is that the umpires werent the ones subject to the Power-point display pre-game, and not the fans who can read what is written down in the Rule book. Last year we would have been happy to see a competitive side this year. That we have! We are no longer blown away on the score-board, but until we learn and are capable of putting some score-board pressure on ourselves, then the results of the past two weeks will continue. If this was our Dee-day, then it is only the start. The darkest hours are surely behind us, but we need more small wins to be able to continue the fight ever upward. In this torrid run that we have against a series of the top sides, we are staying on the battlefield and are not being overrun. We can only bide our time, and wait for that final break-out which surely is coming Melbourne 1.3.9 2.4.16 3.6.24 3.10.28 Collingwood 1.2.8 3.7.25 5.10.40 8.13.61 Goals Melbourne Howe N Jones Vince Collingwood Beams Cloke 2 Elliott Goldsack Macaffer Pendelbury Best Melbourne Cross N Jones Vince Pedersen Dunn Dawes Collingwood Young Macaffer Pendlebury Lumumba Seedsman Swan Injuries Melbourne Nil Collingwood Nil Changes Melbourne Nil Collingwood Jesse White (finger) replaced in selected side by Brodie Grundy Reports Melbourne Nil Collingwood Nil Umpires Fisher, Kamolins, Findlay Crowd 66,124 at the MCG

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Seventy years since the Allies started the counter-attack against the might of Germany. Fifty years since the Demons won a Premiership Was the Queens Birthday of 2014 going to be the beginning of something special, or just another re-run of the ordinary performances that have marked the past years encounters? With an earlygoal on the scoreboard courtesy of Nathan Jones within the first thorty seconds, the supporters could have been thinking that the something special was going to happen. The first salvo in a reversal of fortune just like what D-Day represented all those years ago? Sadly, the fans were to see only another two goals for their side in the remaining 99 or so minutes of the game. And the final score represented the lowest score the Demons had kicked against the Pies since 1960! One would have thought the ground was a mud heap, but it was exactly the opposite! The small consolation was that the Magpies themselves could only manage eight for the day. Twelve months ago, we would have been happy with that result. However, the expectations have been raised, and with 68,000 at the game to give the Demons the experience of big time football, there should have been more to show for the day. Still the Allied forces barely made it across the sand on the first day in France, but within months they were knocking at the door of Berlin. To hold a top four side to a paltry three goals to half time and eight goals in total was a sign of the change that has occurred at the club. But there is simply not enough true talent there to get the side across the line when needed. Like the game against Port Adelaide it was there to be won, but there was no-one to stand up and show the way. Yes we had plenty of contributors with the usual bevy of Jones, Vince, Cross, Jamar, Dawes, Dunn and Pedersen showing the way it needed to be done, but there are simply too many being dragged along for the ride. The likes of Watts, Bail, Salem, Gawn, Terlich, Howe and Frawley simply did not impact the game. Yes some of them had 20 touches, but did they really have any effect on the outcome? Sometimes the game is there to be won from a series of one-on-one contests, and to be successful it requires each and every player to do his part when it counts. Not just a contribution, but to make it count. It is also doubly hard for an up and coming team to overcome the sheer ineptitude of the umpiring department as witnessed today. Five free kicks to Melbourne in the whole game, two of which were out-on-the-full. Even 13 to Collingwood over the course of a game is insufficient. Is there any wonder that packs of players develop and is turning the game into a variation of Rugby Union? Why Vince was denied a goal after Jetta elected to play on from a mark was simply incomprehensible. There is no time on after a mark, and the player is perfectly entitled to play on. But then we would have to teach the umpires some simply rules of the game, and at the moment they are being taught incorrectly. When the fans are bombarded with written examples of the rules of the game prior to the match, it only highlights that something is seriously wrong. Pity is that the umpires werent the ones subject to the Power-point display pre-game, and not the fans who can read what is written down in the Rule book. Last year we would have been happy to see a competitive side this year. That we have! We are no longer blown away on the score-board, but until we learn and are capable of putting some score-board pressure on ourselves, then the results of the past two weeks will continue. If this was our Dee-day, then it is only the start. The darkest hours are surely behind us, but we need more small wins to be able to continue the fight ever upward. In this torrid run that we have against a series of the top sides, we are staying on the battlefield and are not being overrun. We can only bide our time, and wait for that final break-out which surely is coming Melbourne 1.3.9 2.4.16 3.6.24 3.10.28 Collingwood 1.2.8 3.7.25 5.10.40 8.13.61 Goals Melbourne Howe N Jones Vince Collingwood Beams Cloke 2 Elliott Goldsack Macaffer Pendelbury Best Melbourne Cross N Jones Vince Pedersen Dunn Dawes Collingwood Young Macaffer Pendlebury Lumumba Seedsman Swan Injuries Melbourne Nil Collingwood Nil Changes Melbourne Nil Collingwood Jesse White (finger) replaced in selected side by Brodie Grundy Reports Melbourne Nil Collingwood Nil Umpires Fisher, Kamolins, Findlay Crowd 66,124 at the MCG

I've been out of town for a few weeks and thanks to the bye, I managed to miss only the last two games but it's great to be back, especially for the Collingwood game. Worried that we might be living on the extraordinary amount of hype we've been getting across the media lately. Hope there aren't any swollen heads or anything like that. We need a big crowd and a 5 goal win. I'll take both.

THE SCORE by Whispering Jack Ten years ago Aaron Davey was drafted as a rookie by the Melbourne Football Club. He was a revelation instantly with his blistering pace - a feature not only of the attacking side of his game but, with his ability to run down opponents, he became a formidable weapon for his team in defending from the forward line. Over time, injuries took their toll on his body but he still had a glittering career at the club which included a "Bluey" Truscott Medal in 2009. In a fashion, it was Davey who was the prototype player for the way in which the game evolved over the past decade with the demand for almost all players to have the capacity to run both ways and moreover, do it all day, albeit that the effort required in achieving this outcome makes rest and rotation of players necessary. Players with Davey's speed only but without the endurance, soon were forced to play lesser roles within a team structure or were superceded altogether. The relevance of this in the context of the Queens Birthday fixture between Melbourne and Collingwood is that a decade ago it was the Magpies who were in the doldrums while the Demons were up near the top of the tree (they reached first place at the end of round 18, 2004) and the situation reversed itself very quickly over the course of the next few years. There are a number of reasons why the teams changed places including financial stability, good management and recruiting but on the field, it was mainly Collingwood's ability to adapt in style and then to take the lead over the rest of the competition with its hard running midfield which resulted in a premiership in 2010 and regular top four placings in other years. The record shows that Melbourne has languished behind the pack for far too long but this year, the changes to the defensive side of the team style introduced by new coach Paul Roos are starting to reap rewards. The flow of goals against has been stemmed and we are no longer seeing massive opposition scores on a weekly basis. Leaving aside the round 2 game against the Eagles (hopefully, an aberration) the team's percentage would now be sitting at around 90 compared to just over 50 last year. The challenge is for the team to maintain its new found defensive intensity while at the same time develop more potency when going into attack. Against the top team last week, Melbourne gathered 421 disposals to 364 but they translated into only 43 inside 50s against 60. You can maintain defensive pressure for only so long but, in the end, you need to include scoreboard pressure as well. When Melbourne successfully manages the next step, it will be able to take its place with the likes of Collingwood in the AFL scheme of things. THE GAME Melbourne v Collingwood at MCG Monday 9 June 2014 at 3.20pm (AEST) HEAD TO HEAD Overall Melbourne 79 wins Collingwood 144 wins 5 drawn At the MCG Melbourne 59 wins Collingwood 77 wins 3 drawn Last Five Years Melbourne 0 wins Collingwood 4 wins 1 drawn The Coaches: Roos 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 $4.20 to win Collingwood $1.22 to win LAST TIME THEY MET Collingwood 17.20.122 defeated Melbourne 5.9.39 at MCG in Round 11, 2013 The Demons opened up brightly enough and kept up with the Pies until the first break but when the pressure was applied, the team collapsed without so much as a whimper in the game that spelled the end of coach Mark Neeld. Aaron Davey kicked his team's first and last goal for the game. Ironically, neither of the team's other goalkickers from that day (Trengove 2, Blease 1) will be out there on Monday afternoon. 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) The status of Melbourne's traditional rivalry with Collingwood has taken a battering lately and certainly its performances over the past three years have not helped it in maintaining its hold on the Queens Birthday blockbuster. The Demons haven't won against the Magpies since they surprised them in the 2007 encounter. They also drew in the 2010 Queens Birthday match up (although died in the wool Collingwood fanatics insist that their wayward kicking cost them 2 premiership points that day). Since that day, the best effort we've seen is a 42 point loss in 2012 sandwiched in between 88 points (2011) and 83 points (last year). And though this day is potentially the biggest revenue earner of the year for the club, the crowds have been dwindling in direct proportion to its fortunes on the field. This makes the 2014 version a vital one for the Melbourne Football Club. There has been a substantial amount of discussion about the club's improvement this year but 3 wins out of 10 is nothing to write home about. The danger for the team now is that it will be content to rely on the recent spate of positive publicity about its mini-resurgence and rest on its laurels, rather than make a concerted effort to rise out of the bottom six. A win against a top four contender would certainly give momentum to that resurgence and Melbourne ceryainly blew its chances against Port Adelaide last week; to concede the first 26 points and the last 25 and be in arrears by only 20 at the final siren suggests that it had its chances. To take the next step, it needs to apply itself for 100% (or close to that figure) of the time against whatever opposition it comes against. Collingwood, with its outstanding midfield has dominated Melbourne in the engine room in their recent meetings but the Demons' rise in this division has narrowed the gap between the two teams. Mark Jamar leads the way with his return to close to his All Australian form of 2010 and the well documented inclusions that are the product of the pre season recruiting campaign should ensure that the on ball duels between the teams will be competitive. Melbourne's defence is performing well beyond expectations even with the move of James Frawley to attack and this week, the return of Chris Dawes to face his old club could give it an edge in the key forward area. I'm tipping a cliffhanger with Collingwood's big game experience to give it the edge in a close game worthy of an expected crowd of 75-80 thousand.

Ten years ago Aaron Davey was drafted as a rookie by the Melbourne Football Club. He was a revelation instantly with his blistering pace - a feature not only of the attacking side of his game but, with his ability to run down opponents, he became a formidable weapon for his team in defending from the forward line. Over time, injuries took their toll on his body but he still had a glittering career at the club which included a "Bluey" Truscott Medal in 2009. In a fashion, it was Davey who was the prototype player for the way in which the game evolved over the past decade with the demand for almost all players to have the capacity to run both ways and moreover, do it all day, albeit that the effort required in achieving this outcome makes rest and rotation of players necessary. Players with Davey's speed only but without the endurance, soon were forced to play lesser roles within a team structure or were superceded altogether. The relevance of this in the context of the Queens Birthday fixture between Melbourne and Collingwood is that a decade ago it was the Magpies who were in the doldrums while the Demons were up near the top of the tree (they reached first place at the end of round 18, 2004) and the situation reversed itself very quickly over the course of the next few years. There are a number of reasons why the teams changed places including financial stability, good management and recruiting but on the field, it was mainly Collingwood's ability to adapt in style and then to take the lead over the rest of the competition with its hard running midfield which resulted in a premiership in 2010 and regular top four placings in other years. The record shows that Melbourne has languished behind the pack for far too long but this year, the changes to the defensive side of the team style introduced by new coach Paul Roos are starting to reap rewards. The flow of goals against has been stemmed and we are no longer seeing massive opposition scores on a weekly basis. Leaving aside the round 2 game against the Eagles (hopefully, an aberration) the team's percentage would now be sitting at around 90 compared to just over 50 last year. The challenge is for the team to maintain its new found defensive intensity while at the same time develop more potency when going into attack. Against the top team last week, Melbourne gathered 421 disposals to 364 but they translated into only 43 inside 50s against 60. You can maintain defensive pressure for only so long but, in the end, you need to include scoreboard pressure as well. When Melbourne successfully manages the next step, it will be able to take its place with the likes of Collingwood in the AFL scheme of things. THE GAME Melbourne v Collingwood at MCG Monday 9 June 2014 at 3.20pm (AEST) HEAD TO HEAD Overall Melbourne 79 wins Collingwood 144 wins 5 drawn At the MCG Melbourne 59 wins Collingwood 77 wins 3 drawn Last Five Years Melbourne 0 wins Collingwood 4 wins 1 drawn The Coaches: Roos 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 $4.20 to win Collingwood $1.22 to win LAST TIME THEY MET Collingwood 17.20.122 defeated Melbourne 5.9.39 at MCG in Round 11, 2013 The Demons opened up brightly enough and kept up with the Pies until the first break but when the pressure was applied, the team collapsed without so much as a whimper in the game that spelled the end of coach Mark Neeld. Aaron Davey kicked his team's first and last goal for the game. Ironically, neither of the team's other goalkickers from that day (Trengove 2, Blease 1) will be out there on Monday afternoon. 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) The status of Melbourne's traditional rivalry with Collingwood has taken a battering lately and certainly its performances over the past three years have not helped it in maintaining its hold on the Queens Birthday blockbuster. The Demons haven't won against the Magpies since they surprised them in the 2007 encounter. They also drew in the 2010 Queens Birthday match up (although died in the wool Collingwood fanatics insist that their wayward kicking cost them 2 premiership points that day). Since that day, the best effort we've seen is a 42 point loss in 2012 sandwiched in between 88 points (2011) and 83 points (last year). And though this day is potentially the biggest revenue earner of the year for the club, the crowds have been dwindling in direct proportion to its fortunes on the field. This makes the 2014 version a vital one for the Melbourne Football Club. There has been a substantial amount of discussion about the club's improvement this year but 3 wins out of 10 is nothing to write home about. The danger for the team now is that it will be content to rely on the recent spate of positive publicity about its mini-resurgence and rest on its laurels, rather than make a concerted effort to rise out of the bottom six. A win against a top four contender would certainly give momentum to that resurgence and Melbourne ceryainly blew its chances against Port Adelaide last week; to concede the first 26 points and the last 25 and be in arrears by only 20 at the final siren suggests that it had its chances. To take the next step, it needs to apply itself for 100% (or close to that figure) of the time against whatever opposition it comes against. Collingwood, with its outstanding midfield has dominated Melbourne in the engine room in their recent meetings but the Demons' rise in this division has narrowed the gap between the two teams. Mark Jamar leads the way with his return to close to his All Australian form of 2010 and the well documented inclusions that are the product of the pre season recruiting campaign should ensure that the on ball duels between the teams will be competitive. Melbourne's defence is performing well beyond expectations even with the move of James Frawley to attack and this week, the return of Chris Dawes to face his old club could give it an edge in the key forward area. I'm tipping a cliffhanger with Collingwood's big game experience to give it the edge in a close game worthy of an expected crowd of 75-80 thousand.

It would be fair to say that there have been a number of changes in the past twelve months. For starters, Collingwood's O'Brien is now Lumumba and Melbourne changed its coach MELBOURNE Backs Lynden Dunn Cameron Pedersen Dean Terlich Half backs Colin Garland Tom McDonald Sam Blease Centreline Jack Trengove Colin Sylvia Michael Evans Half forwards Jeremy Howe Jack Fitzpatrick Jack Watts Forwards David Rodan Chris Dawes Aaron Davey Followers Mark Jamar Matt Jones Nathan Jones Interchange Dean Kent Jordie McKenzie Luke Tapscott Jimmy Toumpas Emergencies Rohan Bail Max Gawn James Sellar In Sam Blease Max Gawn Tom McDonald Colin Sylvia Out Rohan Bail James Frawley (hamstring) Joel Macdonald (foot) James Strauss COLLINGWOOD Backs Nathan Brown Ben Reid Heritier O'Brien Half backs Heath Shaw Nick Maxwell Marley Williams Centreline Steele Sidebottom Brent Macaffer Luke Ball Half forwards Jamie Elliott Quinten Lynch Dane Swan Forwards Ben Kennedy Travis Cloke Alan Didak Followers Darren Jolly Scott Pendlebury Jarryd Blair Interchange Josh Thomas Ben Sinclair Kyle Martin Paul Seedsman Emergencies Martin Clarke Jackson Paine Adam Oxley In Travis Cloke Ben Sinclair Out Martin Clarke Andrew Krakouer

MELBOURNE'S GRAND FINAL ... or the last game of the season for a good number of players? by George on the Outer What a simply pathetic display, yet again, by the group of players that turned out against Collingwood on the QB holiday? And it was a good holiday for a lot of them, as (yet again) they failed to put in any serious effort, and (yet again ) disgraced the history and pride of both the Club and its long suffering supporters. The Collingwood coach paternalistically alluded to the game being "Melbourne's Grand Final"; probably because there is little likelihood of seeing another one for most of our supporters, especially the older ones. But also we have become so irrelevant in the competition, that a single game is now seen as the pinnacle achievable for the club. How pathetic is that? How demoralizing? The only real connection is since the GF is the last game of the season, hopefully we have seen the last game for the season for the usual group of lazy culprits! When Col Garland busts his guts out (yet again) playing on Cloke, giving away height and weight and has to watch the half-hearted efforts of those up the field, it was no surprise that he finally lost it with them. It would have been good to be a fly on the wall in the rooms afterwards to hear the tongue lashing that some rightly deserved. Good to see Tommy Mac back and capably assisting him, but the shocker put in by Lynden Dunn with eight turnovers by foot alone, undid all the hard work of the backline. Not that the mids were any better, save for Terlich and Jones x2 (yet again). Sylvia returned to his usual form (yet again), picking up the easy outside kicks and not running and chasing. Jordie McKenzie has turned into a liability by refusing to kick the ball under any circumstances (yet again). And the coach must take some heat for putting Jeremy Howe in the middle. A plodding Magner would at least get his hand on the leather at some time, if he would only get the opportunity. But Jeremy, the forward who can mark, playing in the mid-field ... please spare me! Jack Watts is playing with the same level of interest as Buddy Franklin at Hawthorn. Unless someone kicks it down his throat, he simply will not go anywhere near the ball (yet again), or his opponent until they are 10 metres down the field and running away (yet again). Another 15 goal, or thereabouts loss (yet again) and the supporters can only look forward to the bye, because the team won't lose by 15 goals next week. One goal (yet again) in a half of football is simply disgraceful by any standards. This IS without any shadow of a doubt the worst team that has played for the MFC. At least in the terrible 80s we could go to see Robbie Flower show his wares, but even if the rest of the team were no good as footballers, they would try. Today the team's score was kicked by 3 players, none of who actually play in the forward line! If the MFC site puts up "5 things we have learnt" again this week (yet again) there should be a prosecution made by the ACCC for false advertising because it is patently clear that since Round 1 the players have learned absolutely and completely NOTHING. If the Club and the AFL are concerned about attendances at MFC games, they should now be terrified. There is no possibility that any self-respecting supporter can continue or even think about turning up to watch the gutless performances put on by this group (yet again). Grand Final game for Melbourne? Tell em you're dreaming ... it wasn't a game of a standard fit for suburban footy (yet again). Melbourne 1.5.11 1.7.13 3.9.27 5.9.39 Collingwood 1.6.12 7.11.53 12.15.87 17.20.122 Goals Melbourne Davey Trengove 2 Blease Collingwood Cloke Kennedy Martin 3 J Thomas 2 Didak Lynch Macaffer Pendlebury O'Brien Swan Best Melbourne Garland McDonald M Jones Terlich N Jones Collingwood Swan Ball Shaw Pendlebury J Thomas O'Brien Changes Melbourne Nil. Collingwood Elliott replaced by Oxley Injuries Melbourne Dawes (ankle) McKenzie (mouth) Collingwood Nil. Reports Melbourne Nil. Collingwood Nil. Umpires McBurney Margetts Kamolins Official crowd 50,835 at the MCG

MELBOURNE'S GRAND FINAL ... or the last game of the season for a good number of players? What a simply pathetic display, yet again, by the group of players that turned out against Collingwood on the QB holiday? And it was a good holiday for a lot of them, as (yet again) they failed to put in any serious effort, and (yet again ) disgraced the history and pride of both the Club and its long suffering supporters. The Collingwood coach paternalistically alluded to the game being "Melbourne's Grand Final"; probably because there is little likelihood of seeing another one for most of our supporters, especially the older ones. But also we have become so irrelevant in the competition, that a single game is now seen as the pinnacle achievable for the club. How pathetic is that? How demoralizing? The only real connection is since the GF is the last game of the season, hopefully we have seen the last game for the season for the usual group of lazy culprits! When Col Garland busts his guts out (yet again) playing on Cloke, giving away height and weight and has to watch the half-hearted efforts of those up the field, it was no surprise that he finally lost it with them. It would have been good to be a fly on the wall in the rooms afterwards to hear the tongue lashing that some rightly deserved. Good to see Tommy Mac back and capably assisting him, but the shocker put in by Lynden Dunn with eight turnovers by foot alone, undid all the hard work of the backline. Not that the mids were any better, save for Terlich and Jones x2 (yet again). Sylvia returned to his usual form (yet again), picking up the easy outside kicks and not running and chasing. Jordie McKenzie has turned into a liability by refusing to kick the ball under any circumstances (yet again). And the coach must take some heat for putting Jeremy Howe in the middle. A plodding Magner would at least get his hand on the leather at some time, if he would only get the opportunity. But Jeremy, the forward who can mark, playing in the mid-field ... please spare me! Jack Watts is playing with the same level of interest as Buddy Franklin at Hawthorn. Unless someone kicks it down his throat, he simply will not go anywhere near the ball (yet again), or his opponent until they are 10 metres down the field and running away (yet again). Another 15 goal, or thereabouts loss (yet again) and the supporters can only look forward to the bye, because the team won't lose by 15 goals next week. One goal (yet again) in a half of football is simply disgraceful by any standards. This IS without any shadow of a doubt the worst team that has played for the MFC. At least in the terrible 80s we could go to see Robbie Flower show his wares, but even if the rest of the team were no good as footballers, they would try. Today the team's score was kicked by 3 players, none of who actually play in the forward line! If the MFC site puts up "5 things we have learnt" again this week (yet again) there should be a prosecution made by the ACCC for false advertising because it is patently clear that since Round 1 the players have learned absolutely and completely NOTHING. If the Club and the AFL are concerned about attendances at MFC games, they should now be terrified. There is no possibility that any self-respecting supporter can continue or even think about turning up to watch the gutless performances put on by this group (yet again). Grand Final game for Melbourne? Tell em you're dreaming ... it wasn't a game of a standard fit for suburban footy (yet again). Melbourne 1.5.11 1.7.13 3.9.27 5.9.39 Collingwood 1.6.12 7.11.53 12.15.87 17.20.122 Goals Melbourne Davey Trengove 2 Blease Collingwood Cloke Kennedy Martin 3 J Thomas 2 Didak Lynch Macaffer Pendlebury O'Brien Swan Best Melbourne Garland McDonald M Jones Terlich N Jones Collingwood Swan Ball Shaw Pendlebury J Thomas O'Brien Changes Melbourne Nil. Collingwood Elliott replaced by Oxley Injuries Melbourne Dawes (ankle) McKenzie (mouth) Collingwood Nil. Reports Melbourne Nil. Collingwood Nil. Umpires McBurney Margetts Kamolins Official crowd 50,835 at the MCG

Queens Birthday and our biggest stage for the 2013 season (although I'm discounting the fact that its still mathematically possible for us to make the finals if we win every remaining game and improve our percentage). And with us on the big stage, it gets really weird. The Ox gets death threats? Please, if the perpetrator of that little piece of nonsense is reading this, turn yourself in - you need help! On the field, I'm full of hope that the team will respond today. It used to be a non negotiable that Melbourne would come out and perform at its best against the old enemy. I suppose that's ancient history but it would be good if we had a dip and gave them a scare like GWS did v Geelong on Saturday. The changes to the team (apart from Frawley's outing by injury) give me some confidence.

HORSE FEATHERS by Whispering Jack Alison Caldwell on the ABC on Mark Neeld this week: The name Ms. Caldwell was probably struggling to find was Quincy Adams Wagstaff who, like Neeld, is an educator. Here's Wagstaff in action: According to some, Melbourne needs a coach who is against everything; who will try nothing and do nothing in order to keep the level of the media's concentration on its current plight. Wagstaff presents the ideal scenario for the Demons but what makes him so appealing is the fact that he has several brothers who can act as his able assistants including brother Pinky who would make an excellent spokesperson for the club because he never talks. There's so much white noise reverberating around the club at this time that Pinky's role should be a welcome addition in place of the random meaningless talk that abounds around and about the club. We need more action and less talk. Some of the talk in recent times has been particularly destructive but a some of it might have been helpful. However, while it might be well-intentioned (e.g. this), its all horse feathers - stuff of which weve already been made well aware and know and is therefore better left unsaid and dealt with in the manner in which Pinky deals with such things. The only unfortunate aspect of Wagstaff's appointment as coach in the place of Mark Neeld (if indeed, he is the man who's name Ms. Caldwell can't remember) is that the new coach cannot bring to the club the action that's needed to win games. Why? Because he's against it! THE GAME Melbourne v. Collingwood at the MCG Monday 10 June 2013 at 3.20pm HEAD TO HEAD Overall Melbourne 79 wins Collingwood 143 wins 5 draws At the MCG Melbourne 59 wins Collingwood 76 wins 3 draws Since 2000 Melbourne 5 wins Collingwood 10 wins 1 draw The Coaches Neeld 0 wins Buckley 1 win MEDIA TV - Channel 7 & Fox Footy Channel live from 3.00pm. RADIO - SEN ABC 3AW Triple M THE BETTING Melbourne to win $ 17.00 Collingwood to win $1.01 LAST TIME THEY MET Collingwood 19.15.129 defeated Melbourne 13.9.87 in Round 11, 2012 at the MCG. Melbourne started poorly and conceded six goals to nil in the first quarter before regrouping and showing some of the spirit that had been missing for most of the season. With Jones and Grimes working hard in the midfield and Clark and Howe livening up the forward line, they threatened but unfortunately, some dreadful turnovers prevented them from getting close before the Pies reasserted their position. THE TEAMS MELBOURNE Backs Lynden Dunn Cameron Pedersen Dean Terlich Half backs Colin Garland Tom McDonald Sam Blease Centreline Jack Trengove Colin Sylvia Michael Evans Half forwards Jeremy Howe Jack Fitzpatrick Jack Watts Forwards David Rodan Chris Dawes Aaron Davey Followers Mark Jamar Matt Jones Nathan Jones Interchange Dean Kent Jordie McKenzie Luke Tapscott Jimmy Toumpas Emergencies Rohan Bail Max Gawn James Sellar In Sam Blease Max Gawn Tom McDonald Colin Sylvia Out Rohan Bail James Frawley (hamstring) Joel Macdonald (foot) James Strauss COLLINGWOOD Backs Nathan Brown Ben Reid Heritier O'Brien Half backs Heath Shaw Nick Maxwell Marley Williams Centreline Steele Sidebottom Brent Macaffer Luke Ball Half forwards Jamie Elliott Quinten Lynch Dane Swan Forwards Ben Kennedy Travis Cloke Alan Didak Followers Darren Jolly Scott Pendlebury Jarryd Blair Interchange Josh Thomas Ben Sinclair Kyle Martin Paul Seedsman Emergencies Martin Clarke Jackson Paine Adam Oxley In Travis Cloke Ben Sinclair Out Martin Clarke Andrew Krakouer DUCK SOUP As if the unfortunate Ms. Caldwell's remarks weren't sufficient evidence of the media's descent into some sort of collective madness presaged recently by the incoherent rantings of the chief football writer for a former broadsheet now turned tabloid but unworthy of wrapping fish 'n chips, this takes the potato cake:- That's right folks. Even the once mighty Kiss of Death has taken leave of his/her/its senses and predicts Collingwood will fall to Melbourne by a margin of 13 points. Appropriately, there's a Men's Grand Slam singles final on the night before the game which allows me to segue beautifully into one of the greatest quotes from the history of such tournaments:- The whole world knows that Melbourne's average winning margin in matches this season is an AFL high of 41 points. With the eyes of the football world well and truly upon us, we are not going to lower our standards one iota on Queen's Birthday. We will win the game by 42 points. Yes - you heard it first right here.[Editor's note: Just in case you're a sceptic, remember that last week's DEMONLAND reviewer George On The Outer predicted a 15 goal Hawthorn victory which, but for David Rodan's miss after the ¾ time buzzer, would have been spot on the mark.] While my main motivation in tipping a Melbourne victory is that KOD went for Collingwood and he/she/it usually gets them wrong, there are other reasons. Since the first two rounds of the season, the Magpies have struggled to put together wins on the trot and there are rumours of trouble in their camp. Buckley seems to be on the nose. Dane Swan is said to have even added a new tattoo of Bucks with a target imprinted on his forehead (we just don't know what part of Swan's anatomy houses this feature). The Demons, on the other hand, have been a model of stability and consistency throughout the season. As they say in the classics, "what you see is what you get." Despite Ms. Caldwell's above gaffe, the Board has full confidence in its coach. The letter of dismissal was never sent - it was dealt with in the way that Rufus T Firefly (coach Quicy's alter ego) did it in Duck Soup:- And there you have it - nobody got fired at Melbourne (at least not this week).In fact, a remarkable thing is happening at Demonland before our very eyes. Young people with a bit of talent are infiltrating their way into the team. This week Jimmy Toumpas quietly makes his way back into the side along with Sam Blease. Last week it was Jack Fitzpatrick and the week before, Dean Kent. Soon we'll see Jack Viney, Max Gawn and maybe even Rory Taggert in the 22. Together with some of the mature age players introduced this year as well as the return of our injured stars, the addition to the mix of Jeff Kennett, will really make this place rock. OK, I'm not serious about Jeff but his style reminds me of the words of the slightly less than immortal Rufus T. Firefly:- That's Melbourne these days but whilst I've proved the case for a Demon win by 42 points on Monday, please don't tell the Ox.He's against it!

Alison Caldwell on the ABC on Mark Neeld this week: The name Ms. Caldwell was probably struggling to find was Quincy Adams Wagstaff who, like Neeld, is an educator. Here's Wagstaff in action: According to some, Melbourne needs a coach who is against everything; who will try nothing and do nothing in order to keep the level of the media's concentration on its current plight. Wagstaff presents the ideal scenario for the Demons but what makes him so appealing is the fact that he has several brothers who can act as his able assistants including brother Pinky who would make an excellent spokesperson for the club because he never talks. There's so much white noise reverberating around the club at this time that Pinky's role should be a welcome addition in place of the random meaningless talk that abounds around and about the club. We need more action and less talk. Some of the talk in recent times has been particularly destructive but a some of it might have been helpful. However, while it might be well-intentioned (e.g. this), its all horse feathers - stuff of which weve already been made well aware and know and is therefore better left unsaid and dealt with in the manner in which Pinky deals with such things. The only unfortunate aspect of Wagstaff's appointment as coach in the place of Mark Neeld (if indeed, he is the man who's name Ms. Caldwell can't remember) is that the new coach cannot bring to the club the action that's needed to win games. Why? Because he's against it! THE GAME Melbourne v. Collingwood at the MCG Monday 10 June 2013 at 3.20pm HEAD TO HEAD Overall Melbourne 79 wins Collingwood 143 wins 5 draws At the MCG Melbourne 59 wins Collingwood 76 wins 3 draws Since 2000 Melbourne 5 wins Collingwood 10 wins 1 draw The Coaches Neeld 0 wins Buckley 1 win MEDIA TV - Channel 7 & Fox Footy Channel live from 3.00pm. RADIO - SEN ABC 3AW Triple M THE BETTING Melbourne to win $ 17.00 Collingwood to win $1.01 LAST TIME THEY MET Collingwood 19.15.129 defeated Melbourne 13.9.87 in Round 11, 2012 at the MCG. Melbourne started poorly and conceded six goals to nil in the first quarter before regrouping and showing some of the spirit that had been missing for most of the season. With Jones and Grimes working hard in the midfield and Clark and Howe livening up the forward line, they threatened but unfortunately, some dreadful turnovers prevented them from getting close before the Pies reasserted their position. THE TEAMS MELBOURNE Backs Lynden Dunn Cameron Pedersen Dean Terlich Half backs Colin Garland Tom McDonald Sam Blease Centreline Jack Trengove Colin Sylvia Michael Evans Half forwards Jeremy Howe Jack Fitzpatrick Jack Watts Forwards David Rodan Chris Dawes Aaron Davey Followers Mark Jamar Matt Jones Nathan Jones Interchange Dean Kent Jordie McKenzie Luke Tapscott Jimmy Toumpas Emergencies Rohan Bail Max Gawn James Sellar In Sam Blease Max Gawn Tom McDonald Colin Sylvia Out Rohan Bail James Frawley (hamstring) Joel Macdonald (foot) James Strauss COLLINGWOOD Backs Nathan Brown Ben Reid Heritier O'Brien Half backs Heath Shaw Nick Maxwell Marley Williams Centreline Steele Sidebottom Brent Macaffer Luke Ball Half forwards Jamie Elliott Quinten Lynch Dane Swan Forwards Ben Kennedy Travis Cloke Alan Didak Followers Darren Jolly Scott Pendlebury Jarryd Blair Interchange Josh Thomas Ben Sinclair Kyle Martin Paul Seedsman Emergencies Martin Clarke Jackson Paine Adam Oxley In Travis Cloke Ben Sinclair Out Martin Clarke Andrew Krakouer DUCK SOUP As if the unfortunate Ms. Caldwell's remarks weren't sufficient evidence of the media's descent into some sort of collective madness presaged recently by the incoherent rantings of the chief football writer for a former broadsheet now turned tabloid but unworthy of wrapping fish 'n chips, this takes the potato cake:- That's right folks. Even the once mighty Kiss of Death has taken leave of his/her/its senses and predicts Collingwood will fall to Melbourne by a margin of 13 points. Appropriately, there's a Men's Grand Slam singles final on the night before the game which allows me to segue beautifully into one of the greatest quotes from the history of such tournaments:- The whole world knows that Melbourne's average winning margin in matches this season is an AFL high of 41 points. With the eyes of the football world well and truly upon us, we are not going to lower our standards one iota on Queen's Birthday. We will win the game by 42 points. Yes - you heard it first right here. [Editor's note: Just in case you're a sceptic, remember that last week's DEMONLAND reviewer George On The Outer predicted a 15 goal Hawthorn victory which, but for David Rodan's miss after the ¾ time buzzer, would have been spot on the mark.] While my main motivation in tipping a Melbourne victory is that KOD went for Collingwood and he/she/it usually gets them wrong, there are other reasons. Since the first two rounds of the season, the Magpies have struggled to put together wins on the trot and there are rumours of trouble in their camp. Buckley seems to be on the nose. Dane Swan is said to have even added a new tattoo of Bucks with a target imprinted on his forehead (we just don't know what part of Swan's anatomy houses this feature). The Demons, on the other hand, have been a model of stability and consistency throughout the season. As they say in the classics, "what you see is what you get." Despite Ms. Caldwell's above gaffe, the Board has full confidence in its coach. The letter of dismissal was never sent - it was dealt with in the way that Rufus T Firefly (coach Quicy's alter ego) did it in Duck Soup:- And there you have it - nobody got fired at Melbourne (at least not this week). In fact, a remarkable thing is happening at Demonland before our very eyes. Young people with a bit of talent are infiltrating their way into the team. This week Jimmy Toumpas quietly makes his way back into the side along with Sam Blease. Last week it was Jack Fitzpatrick and the week before, Dean Kent. Soon we'll see Jack Viney, Max Gawn and maybe even Rory Taggert in the 22. Together with some of the mature age players introduced this year as well as the return of our injured stars, the addition to the mix of Jeff Kennett, will really make this place rock. OK, I'm not serious about Jeff but his style reminds me of the words of the slightly less than immortal Rufus T. Firefly:- That's Melbourne these days but whilst I've proved the case for a Demon win by 42 points on Monday, please don't tell the Ox. He's against it!

Twelve months ago - MELBOURNE Backs James Sellar Jared Rivers Tom McDonald Half backs Daniel Nicholson Jack Watts James Frawley Centreline Jack Grimes James Magner Cale Morton Half forwards Nathan Jones Colin Garland Colin Sylvia Forwards Jack Trengove Mitch Clark Jeremy Howe Followers Mark Jamar Brent Moloney Jordie McKenzie Interchange Sam Blease Lynden Dunn Brad Green Luke Tapscott Emergencies Matthew Bate Aaron Davey Joel Macdonald In James Frawley Out Joel Macdonald COLLINGWOOD Backs Chris Tarrant Nathan Brown Heritier O'Brien Half backs Martin Clarke Nick Maxwell Marley Williams Centreline Jarryd Blair Dale Thomas Simon Buckley Half forwards Ben Sinclair Chris Dawes Alex Fasolo Forwards Tyson Goldsack Travis Cloke Dayne Beams Interchange Alan Didak Jamie Elliot Sharrod Wellingham Tom Young Emergencies Paul Seedsman Kirk Ugle Cameron Wood In Darren Jolly Dane Swan Chris Tarrant Out Scott Pendlebury (leg) Kirk Ugle

YOU CAN'T WIN THEM ALL by The Oracle The mantra concerning the Melbourne Football Club has, since the start of the season been midfield, midfield and more midfield. From the time Simon Black and his cohorts from the Lions sliced open the Demons in the middle of the MCG in Round 1, it's been the same story. Opposition midfields simply have more run, greater smarts and are prepared to work so much harder than their one- dimensional counterparts at Melbourne. The result on Queens Birthday Monday was that Collingwood iced the game in the opening minutes by going bang, bang, bang out of the middle and before the midpoint of the opening term they had a four goal plus lead. Thirty minutes later and into the second term, the Pies had eight on the board, the Dees were still goalless and the smell of 186 was starting to permeate through the nostrils. To its credit, Melbourne managed to regroup and almost work its way back into the contest, kicking three on end before the half time break and moving back to within four goals at stages within the third quarter. Things were not helped by the odd self-inflicted gaffe. Turnovers which lead to easy opposition goals can be heartbreaking but the team persisted and refused to wilt. Faced with a similar picture in 2011, Melbourne sank into the oblivion of a near 15 goal defeat but, at least this time it showed some resistance even after the Collingwood midfield opened the last quarter by going bang, bang, bang again and converting a slightly worrisome 26 point differential into a seven goal lead in the space of less than three minutes, a position which it maintained through the shoot out that ensued for the rest of the game. Collingwood kicked nine straight goals in the final term to record an easy 42–point win. Given that they booted the first eight and were so accurate at the end, the result could have been so much worse for Melbourne whose first half record of 1/10 has been positively underwhelming. The midfield statistics told the story. Collingwood, even without Scott Pendelbury had Dane Swan, returning after two weeks from a hamstring injury, with 42 disposals, eight marks and two goals. I got the impression that during his layoff he might not have showered because the Melbourne players weren't too keen on getting anywhere near him and particularly not between him and the leather. Dayne Beams was almost as prolific with 37 touches, Steele Sidebottom was close behind with 36 possessions and Jarryd Blair had 27 with two goals thrown in for good measure. Melbourne's best midfielder, as usual, was Nathan Jones with 30 and it fell away badly from there. Only Jack Grimes with 25 managed to surpass the 20 possession mark. Jeremy Howe continues to improve in leaps and bounds with his strong marking and two goals a feature for Demon fans. Mitch Clark was dangerous with four goals up forward but there was simply too little in the way of forward line support even though the team notched up its highest score for the season. Nathan Jones (30) and Jack Grimes (25) led the way in terms of possessions, but on the whole it was another pretty disappointing day for Melbourne. Tactically, nothing much that Mark Neeld tried actually worked. Having a couple of men behind the ball seemed counter productive. Of course, if your skills are well behind those of your opponents then you're always going to struggle, especially if the minds of some are weak and tired as well. With half the season gone and no chance of any finals action, it's inevitable that Neeld is going to have to look more and more to the future in the rounds to come. Some of those who lowered their colours badly in this game might never be seen again in Demon colours because whilst it's true that you can't win them all, it's also true that if you can hardly win at all with what you've got, then it's time to ring in the changes. There are some young kids performing impressively at the Casey Scorpions. Some play in the middle and some in key positions. Their time is coming. Melbourne 0.4.4 3.4.22 7.7.49 13.9.87 Collingwood 6.3.39 8.9.57 10.15.75 19.15.129 Goals Melbourne Clark 4 Dunn Howe 2 Blease Magner Rivers Sylvia Trengove Collingwood Sinclair 3 Blair Cloke Fasolo Goldsack Jolly Swan Wellingham 2 Beams Sidebottom Best Melbourne Howe, Grimes, Clark, Jones, McKenzie Collingwood Swan, Beams, Sidebottom, Blair, Bellingham, Goldsack Injuries Melbourne Nil Collingwood Didak (groin) Young (ribs) Changes Melbourne Nil Collingwood Nil Reports Melbourne Nil Collingwood Nil Umpires Stevic Nicholls Bannister Crowd 64,250 at the MCG

YOU CAN'T WIN THEM ALL by The Oracle The mantra concerning the Melbourne Football Club has, since the start of the season been midfield, midfield and more midfield. From the time Simon Black and his cohorts from the Lions sliced open the Demons in the middle of the MCG in Round 1, it's been the same story. Opposition midfields simply have more run, greater smarts and are prepared to work so much harder than their one- dimensional counterparts at Melbourne. The result on Queens Birthday Monday was that Collingwood iced the game in the opening minutes by going bang, bang, bang out of the middle and before the midpoint of the opening term they had a four goal plus lead. Thirty minutes later and into the second term, the Pies had eight on the board, the Dees were still goalless and the smell of 186 was starting to permeate through the nostrils. To its credit, Melbourne managed to regroup and almost work its way back into the contest, kicking three on end before the half time break and moving back to within four goals at stages within the third quarter. Things were not helped by the odd self-inflicted gaffe. Turnovers which lead to easy opposition goals can be heartbreaking but the team persisted and refused to wilt. Faced with a similar picture in 2011, Melbourne sank into the oblivion of a near 15 goal defeat but, at least this time it showed some resistance even after the Collingwood midfield opened the last quarter by going bang, bang, bang again and converting a slightly worrisome 26 point differential into a seven goal lead in the space of less than three minutes, a position which it maintained through the shoot out that ensued for the rest of the game. Collingwood kicked nine straight goals in the final term to record an easy 42–point win. Given that they booted the first eight and were so accurate at the end, the result could have been so much worse for Melbourne whose first half record of 1/10 has been positively underwhelming. The midfield statistics told the story. Collingwood, even without Scott Pendelbury had Dane Swan, returning after two weeks from a hamstring injury, with 42 disposals, eight marks and two goals. I got the impression that during his layoff he might not have showered because the Melbourne players weren't too keen on getting anywhere near him and particularly not between him and the leather. Dayne Beams was almost as prolific with 37 touches, Steele Sidebottom was close behind with 36 possessions and Jarryd Blair had 27 with two goals thrown in for good measure. Melbourne's best midfielder, as usual, was Nathan Jones with 30 and it fell away badly from there. Only Jack Grimes with 25 managed to surpass the 20 possession mark. Jeremy Howe continues to improve in leaps and bounds with his strong marking and two goals a feature for Demon fans. Mitch Clark was dangerous with four goals up forward but there was simply too little in the way of forward line support even though the team notched up its highest score for the season. Nathan Jones (30) and Jack Grimes (25) led the way in terms of possessions, but on the whole it was another pretty disappointing day for Melbourne. Tactically, nothing much that Mark Neeld tried actually worked. Having a couple of men behind the ball seemed counter productive. Of course, if your skills are well behind those of your opponents then you're always going to struggle, especially if the minds of some are weak and tired as well. With half the season gone and no chance of any finals action, it's inevitable that Neeld is going to have to look more and more to the future in the rounds to come. Some of those who lowered their colours badly in this game might never be seen again in Demon colours because whilst it's true that you can't win them all, it's also true that if you can hardly win at all with what you've got, then it's time to ring in the changes. There are some young kids performing impressively at the Casey Scorpions. Some play in the middle and some in key positions. Their time is coming. Melbourne 0.4.4 3.4.22 7.7.49 13.9.87 Collingwood 6.3.39 8.9.57 10.15.75 19.15.129 Goals Melbourne Clark 4 Dunn Howe 2 Blease Magner Rivers Sylvia Trengove Collingwood Sinclair 3 Blair Cloke Fasolo Goldsack Jolly Swan Wellingham 2 Beams Sidebottom Best Melbourne Howe, Grimes, Clark, Jones, McKenzie Collingwood Swan, Beams, Sidebottom, Blair, Bellingham, Goldsack Injuries Melbourne Nil Collingwood Didak (groin) Young (ribs) Changes Melbourne Nil Collingwood Nil Reports Melbourne Nil Collingwood Nil Umpires Stevic Nicholls Bannister Crowd 64,250 at the MCG

RIPE FOR THE PICKING? by JVM I spent the better part of Sunday between fighting off a self-inflicted headache from the previous late night's celebrations (which included watching a replay of the game) and fending off congratulatory phone calls from friends and acquaintances who have been giving me a hell of a bagging during what has truly been an annus horribilus for Demon fans. The majority of the callers were Bomber fans and this left me wondering whether they were being nice and magnanimous or alternatively, were they getting in first to avoid an almighty ribbing. The Collingwood fans in my circle were noticeably absent from my list of callers. I suspect they were too busy preparing for the twilight game at the G that evening against Gary Ablett and his team of schoolboys where they would witness the only team in the competition to go 0 and 10. Strangely enough, that lot have managed to go through a half season of abject failure with very little media scrutiny and their coach was even re-appointed without an obligatory visit to the psychiatrist's couch. And nobody even said, "boo"? But I digress. The Bomber fans were totally stunned by the resolute nature of the Demon defence and the intensity and resolve of the group. A few came up with lame excuses citing the fact that the Bombers were ordinary in the game before against GWS and they were heading for a fall - ripe for the picking. Now, Melbourne comes up against the traditional enemy in Collingwood which brushed off the Suns like little insects providing nothing more than a minor irritation. It's leader who wears as many hats as he has chins was, as is customary, spending the days following that win talking up problematic issues within a rival club in a clear attempt to destabilise the coach and his team. No problem there but would he be commenting in similar fashion if it was Nathan Buckley who was under the pump? Buckley is fairly safe for the time being because the Magpies have won the last seven games on the trot, are playing with a confidence that borders on arrogance and have established themselves as premiership favourites. They have reached this point despite some serious injury woes with their champion midfielder, Scott Pendlebury, the latest in a long line of victims. So are they ripe for the picking too? THE GAME Melbourne v. Collingwood at the MCG – Monday 13 June 2011 at 3.15pm HEAD TO HEAD Overall Melbourne 79 wins Collingwood 142 wins 5 draws At the MCG Melbourne 59 wins Collingwood 75 wins 3 draws Since 2000 Melbourne 5 wins Collingwood 9 wins 1 draw The Coaches Neeld 0 wins Buckley 0 wins MEDIA TV - Channel 7 & Fox Footy Channel live at 3.00pm. RADIO - SEN ABC774 3AW Triple M THE BETTING Melbourne to win $8.00 Collingwood to win $1.08 LAST TIME THEY MET Collingwood 19.15.129 defeated Melbourne 6.5.41 Round 12 at the MCG The Demons were fresh off a big Friday night win over the Bombers and, given their excellent record against the Pies in both of their matches in the 2010 season, their was a fair amount of enthusiasm for the contest in the days leading up to the game. This dissipated early in the piece when the Magpie Machine applied the press and the Dees wilted. The last quarter was a procession of goals all going the way of Collingwood who recorded their biggest win over Melbourne in fourteen years. THE TEAMS MELBOURNE Backs James Sellar Jared Rivers Tom McDonald Half backs Daniel Nicholson Jack Watts James Frawley Centreline Jack Grimes James Magner Cale Morton Half forwards Nathan Jones Colin Garland Colin Sylvia Forwards Jack Trengove Mitch Clark Jeremy Howe Followers Mark Jamar Brent Moloney Jordie McKenzie Interchange Sam Blease Lynden Dunn Brad Green Luke Tapscott Emergencies Matthew Bate Aaron Davey Joel Macdonald In James Frawley Out Joel Macdonald COLLINGWOOD Backs Chris Tarrant Nathan Brown Heritier O'Brien Half backs Martin Clarke Nick Maxwell Marley Williams Centreline Jarryd Blair Dale Thomas Simon Buckley Half forwards Ben Sinclair Chris Dawes Alex Fasolo Forwards Tyson Goldsack Travis Cloke Dayne Beams Interchange Alan Didak Jamie Elliot Sharrod Wellingham Tom Young Emergencies Paul Seedsman Kirk Ugle Cameron Wood In Darren Jolly Dane Swan Chris Tarrant Out Scott Pendlebury (leg) Kirk Ugle Cameron Wood Umpires M.Stevic (9) M.Nicholls (15) J.Bannister (33) B.Hosking (16) UNLEASHING THE GENIE by JVM Has Mark Neeld been playing around with our heads? The thought came to me when I studied the replay of last Saturday night’s triumphal victory over Essendon and I noticed such a stark difference between the way the team played the game in comparison to its early season performances. Back in round one against Brisbane, they played it hard in the first half and were only a bee’s diaphragm short behind the Lions at the main break. A great deal of the play was being directed towards the flanks and the team was rather one-dimensional in its forward movement. If it didn’t hit the big bloke (Clark) who was often being double teamed in the marking duels, the ball would be repulsed easily. After half time in particular, the Brisbane midfield, led by a rampant Simon Black took control in the heat of the afternoon while their counterparts virtually waved the white flag. They seemingly were unable to run and spread to combat the effectiveness of their opponents. The result was a disaster. In between round one and ten a lot of bad things happened but in the past couple of games there has been a discernible lift in the intent of the players and suddenly, against Essendon, they won the possession count and played with confidence and flair for four quarters. The result was a victory over a team that would otherwise be sitting on top of the AFL ladder. It was as if someone had unleashed the genie from the bottle - a triumph. Of course Bomber fans will tell you that they lost because they were awful, they were sloppy, the conditions were bad and they kicked badly but that doesn’t give enough credit to the strength of Melbourne’s defensive play or the fact that, for the first time this year, they had more than a single effective attacking target. We don’t know yet whether they’ve completely turned the corner but a win is a win is a win. The question now is whether they can repeat the dose against the Magpies and no doubt many would simply laugh at this suggestion. Collingwood is coming off seven successive wins and is, along with the Eagles, the form team of the competition at the moment. And they might be without Scott Pendlebury who has a cracked tibia but they welcome back a handy replacement in Brownlow Medallist Dane Swan – available after a hamstring injury - as well as Chris Tarrant and Darren Jolly. You might recall that the Pies were so cocky about the equivalent fixture last year that the sent Swan off for a couple of week’s R and R in Arizona before he came back and destroyed all before him to win the Charlie. One advantage that Melbourne has is that Mark Neeld should have full knowledge of the workings of the Collingwood midfield. The big question mark is whether he knows how to shut them down because many others have tried and failed in that task. Guy McKenna couldn’t come close even with one midfielder who equalled the world possession record of 53 so the Demons have their work cut out for them. In any event, I don’t think the Demons are ready yet for the back to back stuff and most of us will be happy to see another gritty, determined performance that sees them finish within five goals of the traditional enemy. Collingwood by 29 points.

After we beat Essendon last year, we were quietly confident about the Queens Birthday fixture. After all ... they had a few great midfielders out and we made no change. MELBOURNE Backs Dan Nicholson James Frawley Joel Macdonald Half backs Cale Morton Jared Rivers James Strauss Centrelin Tom Scully Brent Moloney Liam Jurrah Half forwards Jeremy Howe Jack Watts Jordan Gysberts Forwards Jamie Bennell Colin Sylvia Brad Green Followers Stef Martin Jack Trengove Jordie McKenzie Interchange Michael Evans Max Gawn Neville Jetta Nathan Jones Emergencies Clint Bartram Matthew Bate Ricky Petterd No change COLLINGWOOD Backs Leon Davis Ben Reid Heritier O'Brien Half backs Alan Toovey Nick Maxwell Heath Shaw Centreline Tyson Goldsack Steele Sidebottom Sharrod Wellingham Half forwards Chris Tarrant Chris Dawes Andrew Krakouer Forwards Alan Didak Travis Cloke Leigh Brown Followers Cameron Wood Scott Pendlebury Luke Ball Interchange (from) Jarryd Blair Simon Buckley Alex Fasolo John McCarthy Emergencies Brad Dick Luke Rounds Tom Young In Jarryd Blair Simon Buckley Alex Fasolo Out Dayne Beams (foot) Dane Swan (soreness) Dale Thomas (suspended)