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"I think we have got a team that can win a premiership, and if we get in this year, I don't think there is a team that is going to want to play us. This year is not a write-off, I don't concede that. Not at all." — Collingwood President Jeff Browne. I love this sort of optimism from the Magpie President after his club’s eleven goal defeat at the hands of the fast rising Hawks. It’s consistent with the fighting spirit of the club that won last year’s flag. I only wish I could say the same about Melbourne after its own heart-wrenching capitulation to Fremantle last Sunday. However, despite the imminent return of captain Max Gawn for Saturday night’s clash against the GWS Giants and the fact that the team still sits ever so close to the top eight, there’s a pall of gloom over the club. That’s due to the inconsistency of performance that we’ve witnessed throughout the year both during games and between matches. How could the team go from crushing the previously undefeated Cats in the final quarter of their Round 8 clash to opening with nothing to five straight goals in Round 9 against Carlton and then come home with a rush at the end to just lose? How do you explain a brilliant attacking third term against the Saints followed by a near 100 point capitulation in Alice Springs a week later? A pulsating eight goal second quarter in Brisbane to go goalless in the final term and concede the same match? Or last week’s humiliating total inability to win the ball at stoppages with the previous week’s heroic attack on the football against the Bombers? Perhaps it’s the number of young, inexperienced players or the missing ruckman or the superstar upon whose shoulders they rely heavily, premiership midfielders out of form or a tiring flight interstate? These are all excuses — this week is their last chance. Perform, or most likely sit out the business end of the season with the likes of Collingwood and one or two other prospective finalists while the likes of Hawthorn shoot up the ladder for a taste of September action. The Giants are potentially vulnerable because they, like the Demons, perform their best at home and are shaky away from their own nest. However, Melbourne desperately needs to mix up its repertoire to drag itself out of the hot and cold routine rut that it has found itself in this season. With this week’s game to be played in front of a majority crowd of its own fans at the MCG, I would like to see the selectors try something different and pick two ruckmen to play in the ruck. Give Will Verrall the opportunity to be understudy to the best ruckman in the competition and give Harry Petty and Jacob van Rooyen roles as key position forwards. The idea might sound a little unconventional but who knows, it might help bring some consistency into the Demon equation. My own accuracy in tipping winners this year has been a little inconsistent so please forgive me for tipping the Giants who seem more focused on winning at the moment, to salute the judges by a margin of 23 points at the end of the night. THE GAME Melbourne v GWS Giants at the MCG, Saturday 27 July 2024 at 7:30pm HEAD TO HEAD Overall – Melbourne 9 wins GWS Giants 8 wins At the MCG – Melbourne 5 wins GWS Giants 3 wins Past five meetings – Melbourne 2 wins GWS Giants 3 wins The Coaches – Goodwin 0 wins Kingsley 1 win THE LAST TIME THEY MET GWS Giants 7.5.47 Melbourne 5.15.45 at TIO Traeger Park, Round 16 2023 They say that bad kicking is bad football. Melbourne played some bad football on an unseasonably wet and wild day in the red heart of the country. It was all over the Giants but failed time and time to convert with a kick from outside fifty by Josh Kelly finding its way through the goals to give them the lead late in the game. THE TEAMS MELBOURNE B Tom McDonald, S. May, J. McVee HB J. Bowey, J. Lever, A. Moniz-Wakefield C E. Langdon, C. Oliver, C. Windsor HF K. Pickett, J. van Rooyen, J. Melksham F K. Chandler, B. Fritsch, H. Petty FOLL M. Gawn, J. Viney, T. Rivers I/C J. Billings, B. Laurie, A. Neal-Bullen, D. Turner, T. Woewodin EMG K. Brown, B. Howes, T. Sparrow IN M. Gawn, B. Laurie, T. Woewodin OUT C. Salem (hamstring), T. Sparrow (omitted), K. Tholstrup (concussion) GWS GIANTS B C. Idun, J. Buckley, H. Himmelberg HB L. Whitfield, S. Taylor, H. Perryman C C. Ward, T. Green, T. McMullin HF B. Daniels, Jake Riccardi, T. Bedford F T. Greene, J. Hogan, D. Jones FOLL K. Briggs, F. Callaghan, J. Peatling I/C L. Ash A. Cadman, J. Fonti, X. O’Halloran, H. Thomas EMG N. Haynes, L. Keeffe, C. Stone IN S. Taylor OUT I. Cummings (hamstring) Injury List: Round 20 Lachie Hunter — calf / available Max Gawn — ankle / test Jed Adams — lung / 1 week Koltyn Tholstrup — concussion / 1 - 2 weeks Christian Salem — hamstring / 3 - 4 weeks Charlie Spargo — Achilles / season Christian Petracca — spleen / indefinite

Did anyone say Alice Springs? MELBOURNE 1.5.11 2.9.21 4.12.36 5.15.45 GWS GIANTS 1.0.6 3.3.21 6.4.40 7.5.47 THE TEAMS MELBOURNE B J. McVee S. May C. Salem HB T. Sparrow J. Lever T. Rivers C L. Hunter J. Viney E. Langdon HF C. Petracca B. Fritsch J. Smith F A. Neal-Bullen B. Grundy K. Chandler FOLL M. Gawn A. Brayshaw J. Harmes I/C J. Bowey B. Brown H. Petty K. Pickett SUB J. Melksham EMG J. van Rooyen C. Spargo A. Tomlinson IN J. Bowey B. Brown J. Harmes J. Melksham OUT M. Hibberd (kidney) James Jordon (omitted) C. Spargo (omitted) J. van Rooyen GREATER WESTERN SYDNEY GIANTS B J. Buckley S. Taylor C. Idun HF L. Ash H. Himmelberg N. Haynes C J. Kelly C. Ward F. Callaghan HF D. Lloyd J. Riccardi T. Bedford F X. O'Halloran J. Hogan T. Greene FOLL K. Briggs S. Coniglio T. Green I/C C. M. Brown I. Cumming L. Keefe H. Perryman SUB R. Angwin EMG A. Cadman J. Fahey M. Flynn IN R. Angwin I. Cumming J. Hogan OUT A. Cadman (omitted) J. Fahey (omitted) L. Whitfield (suspension)

Remember the days when we simply couldn’t miss … MELBOURNE 4.0.24 6.2.38 16.4.100 19.6.120 GWS GIANTS 0.5.5 3.6.24 5.8.38 7.11.53 THE TEAMS MELBOURNE B: J.Hunt 29 S.May 1 H.Petty 35 HB: T.Rivers 24 J.Lever 8 J.Harmes 4 C: E.Langdon 15 C.Petracca 5 J.Viney 7 HF: A.Brayshaw 10 S.Weideman 26 A.Neal-Bullen 30 F: K.Pickett 36 L.Jackson 6 B.Fritsch 31 Foll: M.Gawn 11 C.Oliver 13 T. Sparrow 32 I/C: C.Spargo 9 J.Bowey 17 J.Jordon 23 T.McDonald 25 Sub: T.Bedford 12 Emerg: L.Dunstan 27 K.Chandler 37 J.Smith 44 In: H.Petty Out: A.Tomlinson GREATER WESTERN SYDNEY GIANTS B: L.Keeffe 25 S.Taylor 15 X.O’Halloran 33 HB: L.Whitfield 6 N.Haynes 19 H.Perryman 36 C: A.Kennedy 40 C.Ward 8 L.Ash 7 HF: T.Taranto 14 H.Himmelberg 27 S.Coniglio 3 F: B. Hill 37 J.Hogan 23 M.de Boer 24 Foll: M.Flynn 30 J.Kelly 22 T.Green 12 I/C: J.Stein 42 T.Bruhn 5 C.Idun 39 F.Callaghan 17 Sub: 10 J.Riccardi Emerg: 26 J.Wehr 10 L.Aleer 21 K.Briggs 32 In F.Callaghan M.Flynn N.Haynes Out I.Cumming (H & S Protocols) J.Peatling (omitted) B.Preuss (suspended)

This one hurt. A game at the MCG where things went pear shaped for one of the few occasions in 2021. THE TEAMS MELBOURNE B: J. Hunt 29 S. May 1 J. Lever 8 HB: M. Hibberd 14 H. Petty 35 C. Salem 3 C: J. Jordon 23 C. Petracca 5 E. Langdon 15 HF: J. Viney 7 T. McDonald 25 C. Spargo 9 F: A. Neal-Bullen L. Jackson 6 B. Fritsch 31 Foll: M. Gawn 11 C. Oliver 13 K. Pickett 36 I/C: A. Brayshaw 10 J. Harmes 4 T. Rivers 24 T. Sparrow 32 Sub: A. vandenBerg 22 Emerg: J. Bowey 17 B. Brown 50 K. Chandler 37 In: A. vandenBerg Out: N. Jones (calf) GWS GIANTS B: J. Buckley 44 P. Davis 1 L. Ash 7 HB: H. Perryman 36 N. Haynes 19 I. Cumming 13 C: J. Kelly 22 C. Ward 8 L. Whitfield 6 HF: B. Daniels 16 H. Himmelberg 27 B. Hill 37 F: T. Greene 4 J. Finlayson 31 D. Lloyd 38 Foll: S. Mumford 41 T. Taranto 14 J. Hopper 2 I/C: M. Flynn T. Green 12 30 C. Idun 39 A. Kennedy 40 Sub: S. Reid 50 Emerg: K. Briggs 32 M. de Boer 24 X. O'Halloran 33 In: T. Green S. Mumford Out: K. Briggs (omitted) M. de Boer (omitted)

It wasn’t all that long ago that we beat them at Manuka Oval. Their accuracy in front of goal kept them in the game for three quarters and then we skipped away. GWS GIANTS B: S. Taylor 15 L. Keeffe 25 M. Buntine 21 HB: I. Cumming 13 N. Haynes 19 L. Ash C: J. Kelly 22 S. Coniglio 3 J. Buckley 44 HF: T. Taranto 14 T. Greene 4 M. de Boer 24 F: B. Hill 37 H. Himmelberg 27 B. Daniels 16 Foll: M. Flynn 30 J Hopper 2 C. Ward 8 I/C: P. Davis 1 T. Green 12 C. Idun 39 X. O'Halloran 33 Sub: N. Shipley 34 Emerg: K. Briggs 32 Z. Sproule 28 C.Stone 18 In: M. Buntine T. Green C. Idun X. O’Halloran Out: T. Bruhn (Omitted) H. Perryman (Illness) S. Reid (Suspension) Z. Sproule (Omitted) MELBOURNE B: N. Jetta 39 S. May 1 J. Lever 8 HB: Christian C Salem 3 A. Tomlinson 20 J. Hunt 29 C: E. Langdon 15 C. Petracca 5 N. Jones 2 HF: K. Pickett 36 T. McDonald 25 A. Neal-Bullen 30 F: C. Spargo 9 L. Jackson 6 B. Fritsch 31 Foll: M. Gawn 11 C.Oliver 13 J. Viney 7 I/C: A. Brayshaw 10 J. Jordon 23 T. Rivers 24 T. Sparrow Sub: J. Melksham 18 Emerg: K. Chandler 37 M. Hibberd 14 H. Petty 35 In: J. Melksham Out: O. Baker (Omitted)

Not sure what happened to the site there. Seems the lights were on but nobody was home. I thought the tone was set early by the youngsters - Harmes, Brayshaw and Viney in particular in the first half. The senior players stepped up in the latter half lead by Jones and Vince. Nice to finish the season off strongly. Wasn't the perfect game in terms of ball use, but the effort was definitely there. Loved the interview with Crossy. He was clearly on another planet, but it was great to see him able to be chaired off like he deserved. In a strange kind of way it seemed a fitting way to end his career - getting smashed in a desperate attempt to win a contest.