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Things have changed in the more than ten years since the West Coast Eagles decimated Melbourne by 93 points on the MCG early in the 2014 season. The two sides had not met at the home of football in the interim until yesterday when Melbourne won by a comfortable 54 points to remain in contention for this year’s finals series. Back in those days, the Demons were in the midst of their Great Depression but they have since tasted premiership glory and experienced a long enough period among the top echelons of the AFL that their fans became spoiled. A few weeks ago however, all that changed and for the first time since the early days of the Covid epidemic, we were all challenged by the prospect of the team being pushed off the top shelf and relegated to a place among the also rans. A win against a team that is well down the ladder, out of form and traveling across the continent is no big deal. The Eagles are young but the Demons are younger. The visiting team looked jaded at times and played as if they might have checked out on the season already. However, the way in which the win was achieved provides scope for optimism for Demon fans because this was a Melbourne team so different to the one that has spoiled its fans in recent years. The overriding theme is youth and the scene was set early in the opening five minutes when fourth gamer Koltyn Tholstrup scored his AFL goal before repeating the dose a minute later. His enthusiasm over the rest of the game was infectious and while it’s early in his career, he’s living in the moment. It might be a long way from here to the Christian Petracca stratosphere but it’s a space worth watching. Enter the multitasker Jacob van Rooyen who played two separate roles to perfection. He was particularly dangerous in front of the big sticks in the first half with his strong marking and four goals. He missed a couple of easy ones in the second half but he could be excused because he was also engaged in playing second ruck to Max Gawn, a role that was expanded in the final quarter when the skipper was subbed off with what was explained as a right ankle niggle. Daniel “Disco” Turner added to the pressure up forward and kicked a nice goal as well as playing a role in the transition of the ball forward. Meanwhile, 22-year-old Trent Rivers who is approaching his 100th AFL game was relishing his long awaited elevation from defence into the midfield. In a best on ground performance, the long-kicking Rivers managed to accumulate a career high (and game high) 29 disposals along with seven clearances and nine score involvements. Rivers told the media after the game: “Goody (Simon Goodwin) threw me in there for a little bit last year, but to be (in there) full-time, I’m loving it.” “I was nagging at him a little bit, but I’m grateful that he’s given (me) the opportunity, and hopefully (I can) repay him for the favour.” With Petracca out for the year, Jack Viney playing well and applying the pressure whilst not prolific in gathering the football and Clayton Oliver being heavily tagged, Rivers was a standout but he had a couple of rivals around the middle stratas of the MCG in Ed Langdon and another first year wonder in Caleb Windsor. The former returned to his best form for a while but the latter had some stellar patches with his 25 touches and a lovely goal. Then there was Kozzie Pickett who finally took that hanger but failed to convert with the ensuing kick but, along with Alex Neal-Bullen, they certainly kept the Eagle defence on its toes. And speaking of defence and youngsters, Judd McVee and Andy Moniz-Wakefield each applied themselves to the task. The infusion of youth has seen a team with more run and more confidence to take the game on – something that was lacking during the recent midseason slump. Of course, it wasn’t all youth that did the damage. Max Gawn was strong in the ruck and around the ground until injured and Christian Salem’s return was most welcome. The Melbourne defence works much better now that Jake Lever has been reunited with Steven May and Tom McDonald, the only survivor from the 2014 debacle playing in the same position at centre half back ten years after, was relishing the fact that he’s fit, injury free and playing like a youngster once again. It was also good to see Bayley Fritsch getting among the goals again and on an emotional level, Jake Melksham’s two goals on return from his ACL injury was a real fillip for the team. The real test for the new young Demons is coming over the next month and a half. Every game from hereon is against a contender and the greater bulk of them must be won, starting with Essendon on Saturday night at the MCG. MELBOURNE 7.3.45 11.5.71 14.9.93 17.10.112 WEST COAST EAGLES 1.2.8 3.4.22 6.8.44 8.10.58 GOALS MELBOURNE van Rooyen 4 Fritsch 3 Melksham Pickett Tholstrup Gawn Langdon Turner Windsor WEST COAST EAGLES Allen 4 Waterman 2 Darling Ryan BEST MELBOURNE Rivers Windsor van Rooyen Langdon Pickett Viney WEST COAST EAGLES Yeo Kelly Allen Hutchinson B Williams INJURIES MELBOURNE Gawn (ankle) Pickett (finger) WEST COAST EAGLES Allen (ankle) REPORTS MELBOURNE Nil WEST COAST EAGLES Nil SUBSTITUTIONS MELBOURNE Taj Woewodin (replaced Max Gawn in the fourth quarter) WEST COAST EAGLES Jack Williams (replaced Tyler Brockman at three-quarter time) UMPIRES Robert O'Gorman Simon Meredith Andrew Adair Nick Jankovskis CROWD 32,000 at The MCG

Melbourne stands at the crossroads. Sunday’s game against the West Coast Eagles who have not met the Demons at the MCG in more than ten years, is a make or break for the club’s finals aspirations. That proposition is self-evident since every other team the club will be opposed to over the next eight weeks of footy is a prospective 2024 finalist. To add to this perspective is the fact that while the Demons are now in twelfth position on the AFL table, they are only a game and a half behind third placed Fremantle. So, with games to come against seven of the teams above it on the ladder, including the Dockers, their destiny is well and truly in their own hands. But if they can’t prevail on their home soil against the only remaining opponent that’s out of the finals race, then their credibility as a contender and their finals hopes will become greatly diminished. There is a pall hanging over Melbourne even though the club showed some good signs in last week’s game against Brisbane that its mid-season slump, which began with a narrow loss to Carlton two months ago, is nearing an end. Why the concern then with the lowly Eagles? For starters, one of the West Coast’s three wins this year was a resounding victory recorded when they monstered the Demons at Optus Stadium in mid-May. That Harley Reid goal running away from a now absent Christian Petracca and the masterful performance of Jake Waterman at full forward is still clear in the memory. And there’s more concern if you add the way in which Melbourne has squandered substantial leads with stuttering finishes in the final quarters of each of its last two games — leads which, if built upon during those periods, would have seen it sitting as high as fifth rather than labouring below the pack of finals aspirants. At the head of those concerns is the dramatic decline in the Demons’ final quarter differential figures from first in the league in Rounds 0 to 9 (at +8.7 points) to last since then (-14.2). The first thing that comes to mind at this sudden development is the question of the team’s fitness but this isn’t backed up work rate statistics on distance run, repeat sprint numbers, clearances and contested possession. The explanation suggested by coach Simon Goodwin is that it’s the team’s conservatism late in games when the team went safe enabling the opposition midfields to get on top enhancing their ability to transition the ball too easily from one end of the ground to the other. There’s also the change in profile to one of the competition’s most youthful. Against the Lions, the Demons had nine players aged 22 or younger in their side (Daniel Turner, Trent Rivers, Jacob van Rooyen, Taj Woewodin, Judd McVee, Andy Moniz-Wakefield, Caleb Windsor, Koltyn Tholstrup and Kynan Brown) while Brisbane had sixteen 100-plus gamers to ten. The way I look at this week’s game is that we should be focussing more on how the club has performed in its first three quarters than in its last. They have been impressive and seem to be building up with more fitness and greater aggression at the football. The return of Jake Lever saw a massive change in the way the team went about defending its ground and attacking the football through the middle as they did in the second quarter against the Lions. Clayton Oliver was threatening and Kozzie Pickett was back to his best. Bayley Fritsch is due to return to his early season goalkicking form as well. Meanwhile, the Eagles are well down on their form from a month and a half ago. Their form has been poor, they’re coming off a six day break and are travelling across the continent to get to Sunday’s game. Lightning won’t strike a second time. Melbourne to win by 45 points. THE GAME Melbourne v West Coast Eagles at the MCG, Sunday 7 July 2024 at 1.10pm HEAD TO HEAD Overall Melbourne 20 wins West Coast Eagles 38 wins At the MCG Melbourne 7 wins West Coast Eagles 9 wins Past five meetings Melbourne 3 wins West Coast Eagles 2 wins The Coaches Goodwin 4 wins Simpson 5 wins THE LAST TIME THEY MET Waalitj Marawar 16.9.105 defeated Narrm 10.10.70 at Optus Stadium in Round 10, 2024 Jake Waterman and Jack Darling had days out with five and three goals respectively while Harley Reid was explosive out of the middle for the Eagles. The Demons were hurt by the early loss of Jake Lever and were unable to mount any semblance of a revival against an opponent that went 90% in kicking for goal in the second half. THE TEAMS MELBOURNE B J. Lever, S. May, J. McVee HB A. Moniz-Wakefield, T. McDonald, T. Rivers C T. Sparrow, A. Neal-Bullen, C. Windsor HF K. Tholstrup, J. Van Rooyen, E. Langdon F K. Pickett, B. Fritsch, J. Melksham FOLL M. Gawn, J. Viney, C. Oliver I/C J. Bowey, K. Chandler, C. Salem, D. Turner SUB T. Woewodin EMG T. Fullarton, B. Laurie, A. Tomlinson IN J. Bowey, J. Melksham, C. Salem OUT K. Brown (omitted), H. Petty (hamstring), A. Tomlinson WEST COAST EAGLES B B. Hough, T. Barrass, A. Witherden HB T. Cole, J. McGovern, L. Duggan C J. Hunt, E. Yeo, J. Jones HF L. Ryan, J. Waterman, T. Brockman F J. Cripps, O. Allen, J. Darling FOLL B. Williams, H. Reid, T. Kelly I/C C. Chesser, R. Ginbey, J. Hutchinson, J. Rotham SUB J. Williams EMG H. Edwards, H. Johnston, R. Maric IN J. Hutchinson, J. Williams OUT M.Flynn (ankle), R. Maric (omitted) Injury List: Round 17 Marty Hore — calf / available Jake Melksham — knee / available Jake Bowey — general soreness / test Ben Brown — knee / test Harrison Petty — hamstring / test Will Verrall — concussion / test Christian Salem — knee / test Charlie Spargo — Achilles / TBC Christian Petracca — spleen / indefinite