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CALL FOR THE DOCTOR by George on the Outer Not just for the players, but for the supporters as well. Once again, a Melbourne side comes into a game off the back of a first class performance against Adelaide, playing against a team that lost by nearly 7 goals the previous week, at home ... yes there was only going to be one result. Another match that should have/could have been won ... and it wasn’t. Once again the side failed to turn up in the first quarter, and it was obvious from the first ten minutes that Melbourne weren’t playing serious committed football. It was fortunate that North couldn’t kick straight with 13 scoring shots to 7 and only a 26 point lead at quarter time. In a bad coaching mistake, Tom McDonald played at full forward while his brother Oscar was left to mind the North man-mountain, Ben Brown. Tom didn’t get a touch and Brown had a party, as Oscar is not physically well developed enough to take on someone built like Brown. Tom goes back and Brown doesn’t get another grab until the final quarter. With the proper structure reestablished, the backline suddenly looked solid again as Frost and Hibberd in particular provided the solid attack out of defence, instead of struggling to contain the North big men up forward. Once again the Melbourne fight back come and the Demons found themselves down by 2 points at the major break. But coming from behind just saps strength and eventually the players pay. The third quarter was just a repeat of the first quarter as all around the ground the Melbourne players just looked tired. Dom Tyson just continues to go through the motions, especially when the ball is beyond his reach. He was the same last week, yet it was covered by the efforts of others around him. He no longer gets a start in the middle, yet cannot generate enough vigour to make the contest around the ball when playing off the wing at centre bounces. Two tackles in a game is simply not good enough for someone who plays around the ball. Jack Watts looks even more tired, but can be expected since he has now had to shoulder ruck duties for over the past month. He simply isn’t built for that job, especially when he is brought in against the current best ruckman in the competition in Goldstein. Cam Pedersen played another great game, but Goldstein simply was able to feed his mids with precise taps, something Jacobs didn’t do last week. With Clayton Oliver tagged and Bernie Vince tagging Higgins, it left a solitary one on one situation in the middle. Goldstein was always able to tap it to the right spot to advantage the North player, no matter who was standing there. Without a proper ruck, and without a proper forward, Melbourne were always going to struggle against a bigger bodied North. But with tired players now crying for the mid-season bye, the battle became even harder. At the end of the third quarter the Demons again found themselves 22 points down. And despite a spirited comeback in the final quarter, to get within a kick, North just had too much strength and finally won by a 14 point margin. We had chances, Tom Bugg in particular who with 3 set shots and an easy snap, scored 4 points. Bernie had the chance to give us the lead in the final quarter with an easy snap, but again missed. In the end, the opportunities were lost, and all the momentum with it. Our opportunities were further stymied by a simply appalling umpiring display. Not a single holding the ball was paid in favour of Melbourne, deliberate OOB paid against us after a North player knocked the ball out, a blatant kick out on the full was paid a mark, and from at least two of these North goals resulted. With a final tally of 22 frees to 10 there was a one sided disparity, yet the unwillingness to award obvious frees is now becoming endemic within the umpiring fraternity. Play on seems to be the only call some umpires are capable of making. Unfortunately, the Demon tank is rather empty still. Weidemann is getting games, simply because we have no-one else at Casey who can play forward. We haven’t the luxury of leaving him there for a couple of games to gain confidence, and he was shoved aside and monstered by Tarrant and Thompson. He doesn’t help himself with a complete lack of second efforts and also just stops once the ball is outside his reach,as he watches his opponent stream downfield. Kent, Bugg and Wagner had shockers, but once again the pickings at Casey are slim, and to be honest, not much of an upgrade in the forms of Melksham, ANB, Trengove or Stretch. We are scraping the bottom of the barrel, and any further injuries will severely deplete our ability to put a competitive side on the park, at least until we see the return of Gawn, Spencer, Hogan and Vandenberg. With the current injury list, the side has been making good use of the medical profession. The supporters have been suffering a severe case of MFCSS (Melbourne Football Club Supporter Syndrome), yet in both cases there is no short term cure. Do we expect to win against Gold Coast in Alice next week? The MFCSS says probably not, as 2 metre Peter, Ablett and Lynch are due for break-out games, as they come off a bye. We have some very tired individuals and no prospect of injured players returning. So based on these facts, there is a better than even chance that the Demons will come out and trounce the Suns. We certainly hope so, or the fans will be calling for the doctor themselves. Melbourne 2.5.17 8.7.55 9.9.63 13.12.90 North Melbourne 6.7.43 8.9.57 12.13.85 15.14.104 Goals Melbourne Hannan 3 Pedersen 2 Frost, Jetta Jones, Kent Lewis Oliver Salem Viney North Melbourne Brown 5 Wood 3 Garner 2 Cunnington Higgins McDonald Williams Ziebell Best Melbourne Hibberd Viney T. McDonald Jones Hannan Jetta North Melbourne Brown, Cunnington, Turner, Goldstein, Thompson, Tarrant Changes Melbourne Nil North Melbourne Nil Injuries Melbourne Nil North Melbourne Cunnington (right ankle/knee) Reports Melbourne Nil North Melbourne Nil Umpires Nicholls, Hosking, Hay Official crowd 33,218 at the MCG