Melbourne vs Western Bulldogs Round 8

[Barra13]

THE DEVIL IN THE DETAIL by Whispering Jack

Tonight I'll be fronting up as usual to the Devil's Advocates Dinner for members of the legal fraternity who support the Melbourne Football Club. They include judges and their associates, solicitors, barristers, paralegal people and their staff all  with that one thing in common - the fact that red and blue blood courses through their veins. That, and the fact that they have suffered greatly through the sport over time (except of course, for those who managed to get a professional involvement in the Essendon drug saga)

It's almost becoming a tradition that on the weekend before this function, Melbourne suffers a hiding of gigantic proportions meaning that the mood of the evening is usually sombre if not funereal. As a reminder of how poorly the Demons performed in their game against the Hawks, I give you this report from Footy Almanac.

As a result, I pity for instance, Phil Kingston, the auctioneer who has to flog various Demon related products during the course of the evening, like an afternoon in the coaches box, when the enthusiasm among the crowd leaves a lot to be desired. I might even be tempted to put in a bid for the coaches box gig but only on a non match day.

Still, I always look forward to the event and trust that there will be some special revelation that might reveal a light at the end of that very long tunnel that seems to extend itself whenever we get a third of the way into a season.

THE GAME

Melbourne v Western Bulldogs at The MCG Sunday 24 May 2015 at 3.20pm

HEAD TO HEAD

Overall:  Melbourne 84 Western Bulldogs 74 wins wins 1 draw

At MCG: Melbourne 44 wins Western Bulldogs 27 wins

Last Five Meetings: Melbourne 1 win Western Bulldogs 4 wins

The Coaches:  Roos 0 wins Beveridge 0 wins

THE BETTING

Melbourne $3.05 to win Western Bulldogs $1.38 to win

LAST TIME THEY MET

Western Bulldogs 14.7.91 defeated Melbourne 13.7.85 at Etihad Stadium in Round 15, 2014.

TEAMS

MELBOURNE

B: Colin Garland, Tom McDonald, Jack Grimes
HB: Jeremy Howe, Lynden Dunn, Heritier Lumumba
C: Daniel Cross, Nathan Jones, Matt Jones
HF: Angus Brayshaw, Cameron Pedersen, Jack Watts
F: Jeff Garlett, Jesse Hogan, Aaron vandenBerg
FOLL: Jake Spencer, Dom Tyson, Bernie Vince
I/C (from): Rohan Bail, Jack Fitzpatrick, Max Gawn, Ben Newton, Aidan Riley, Billy Stretch, Jimmy Toumpas,

IN: Jack Fitzpatrick, Max Gawn, Jesse Hogan, Ben Newton, Aidan Riley, Jack Watts
OUT: Chris Dawes (calf), Viv Michie (omitted), Christian Salem (hamstring)

The Demons had a slow start but recovered from way back to lead late in the game until a few defensive mistakes and some brilliance from Marcus Bontempelli saw the Dogs home by a goal.

I sat opposite Heritier Lumumba for part of the Devil's Advocates function (they rotate the club guests during the evening) and found him to be a revelation in terms of his ability to articulate his views on life and football with such intelligence, passion and humour. He is a major asset to the club not only as a player but as a mentor for our young team. When asked by compere Doctor Turf what his initial thoughts were of the three way trade involving Mitch Clark (to Geelong), Travis Varcoe (to Collingwood) and him to Melbourne, it was that the Demons had won. Perhaps he was jesting but I think he might be right. He also added that he felt at home at this function because his stepfather was a Solicitor which meant he understood why so many there were wearing mismatched ties. His story of how his parents were both dancers who met in Brazil (his father was from the undemocratic Republic of Congo). This probably explains the graceful way he moves around the field at times and he was the big hit of the night from my perspective.

Josh Mahoney spoke of his experiences as a twice rejected AFL player (Collingwood and Bulldogs) who spent three seasons in the VFL before getting a chance to be a premiership player at Port Adelaide. Josh has had a role change at Melbourne, moving from the coaching to the business side of football which he says suits him just fine. He did mention that Neville Jetta and Jack Viney would miss another week before returning but that Jesse Hogan was good to go this week.

The final speaker was Simon Goodwin who spoke of his experiences as coach in waiting and how he was enjoying the learning experience under Paul Roos and how he is being mentored as a future coach by Neale Daniher. It was something that most of the audience knew little about and there a great deal of interest in Neale’s experiences as he fights his debilitating illness. Goodwin remains very confident that the club is on the right trajectory despite the difficult three week period it has just experienced against three of the competition’s strongest sides. He expects us to be a finals prospect within the next two to three years.

Congratulations to Devils Advocates convener Ralph Glezer with who I first went with to the footy in our university days which started not long after our golden era ended. There were many times in the barren years of the 70s and 80s that our only joy was the sight of Robbie Flower running on the wings of the MCG and the suburban football grounds of Melbourne. Kudos to Ralph for bringing in poet and Demon fan Greg Shalless to open the night by delivering his tribute to Robbie - https://soundcloud.c...-robbie-flower/

Phil Kingston of Garry Peer & Associates estate agents was brilliant as the auctioneer of various bits and pieces of Melbourne related goodies.

Dr. Turf was the compere and ran the show well with his wit and wisdom. He brought the house down with his story about how Prime Minister Bob Hawke gave him his private telephone number so that he could deliver his horse racing tips on a Saturday morning. Turfie asked the PM what would happen if the phone was engaged, to which Hawke answered, “then we’re all ‘f---ed’  because the only person who has the number is George Bush and if he’s on the line it means he’s gotten us involved in another bloody war!”

I’m wondering if he has the number for Paul Roos because I would dearly like to know what he’s thinking as Melbourne takes on the Western Bulldogs with a side that it somewhat depleted from the games of early in the season when the team showed significant advances over last year.

[Purple 77]

Wow, love how Daniher has been mentoring Goodwin, that's just brings a smile to the face :)



In regards to the team, Calf or no calf, Dawes was SO dropped from this team, if not then he deserves to be.

Watts in the 18? I hope this circus is kept to a minimal ::)

I have no qualms with any of the ins tbh, and wouldn't mind at all if they are were selected in the 22.

[Big Mac]

Apparently Fitzy and Newton weren't named for Casey, so they're likely to be in this week. Fitzpatrick an odd choice though given he was sent to hospital during the 1st qtr last week

[Purple 77]

Apparently Fitzy and Newton weren't named for Casey, so they're likely to be in this week. Fitzpatrick an odd choice though given he was sent to hospital during the 1st qtr last week

Yeah, Newton didn't play at Casey either... very odd.

[Bill Manspeaker]

Melvourne sounds like it could be Vince Vaughn's missus

[Pkbaldy]

Melvourne sounds like it could be Vince Vaughn's missus

Is she guest staring in the new season of True Detective?

[elephants]

If Newton wants to be named, that'd be really great. Sounds like last week might have just been a straight up rest?

[Barra13]

Melvourne sounds like it could be Vince Vaughn's missus

Haha. I just saw what I did.  :-[ All fixed.

[Purple 77]

Welp. Tyson is out, and Toumpas is amazingly still in the team.

FARKK!

[Big Mac]

Welp. Tyson is out, and Toumpas is amazingly still in the team.

FARKK!

Riley gets a chance though :) Had 14 tackles on the weekend

Also Fitzy in to help us out down back - I wonder who he'll go to. Surely Tommy will go to Boyd, Garland probably the only one who can go with Stringer, Dunn on Crameri and then that leaves Fitzy to go with maybe Dickson or Cordy when he is resting forward?

[Purple 77]

Welp. Tyson is out, and Toumpas is amazingly still in the team.

FARKK!

Riley gets a chance though :) Had 14 tackles on the weekend

Also Fitzy in to help us out down back - I wonder who he'll go to. Surely Tommy will go to Boyd, Garland probably the only one who can go with Stringer, Dunn on Crameri and then that leaves Fitzy to go with maybe Dickson or Cordy when he is resting forward?

That's a pretty tall defence though... they've actually named Fitzy forward for the time being. Whether that's an indication of his role or not, I'm not sure.

Does Fitzy's inclusion move Howe up forward?

The times he has been there have either been:
1) Melbourne have been getting belted, and can't get it in the inside 50; or
2) Hogan wasn't playing forward at the same time ::)

Howe is only an effective forward when he isn't the number 1, or second option IMO.

Still, am interested to see how Fitz and Riley go on sunday... and I don't think I will ever get sick of watching Hulk.

[Barra13]

Welp. Tyson is out, and Toumpas is amazingly still in the team.

FARKK!

How do you feel about this now?  :P

It was shaky in the first half but the second half was what we should be all of the time. When we got out the back and had runners they could not match us. We need to do this more often, it shows when the effort is put in, we can run with the quickest teams out there. Stopping Bob Murphy's run was crucial as well. Also, Bernie Vince's role on Bontempelli was all class, annihilated him. Sucks for my DT though haha.

Fitzy did a number on Boyd and was subbed off with just 1 handball. Spencer was top notch getting around the ground and delivering a couple lace out in the 50. Cross was in fine form, Brayshaw 11 touches in the last quarter, Jones was back to his best and stood up when needed and Watts did some nice things as well.

[Purple 77]

Welp. Tyson is out, and Toumpas is amazingly still in the team.

FARKK!

How do you feel about this now?  :P

It was shaky in the first half but the second half was what we should be all of the time. When we got out the back and had runners they could not match us. We need to do this more often, it shows when the effort is put in, we can run with the quickest teams out there. Stopping Bob Murphy's run was crucial as well. Also, Bernie Vince's role on Bontempelli was all class, annihilated him. Sucks for my DT though haha.

Fitzy did a number on Boyd and was subbed off with just 1 handball. Spencer was top notch getting around the ground and delivering a couple lace out in the 50. Cross was in fine form, Brayshaw 11 touches in the last quarter, Jones was back to his best and stood up when needed and Watts did some nice things as well.

Alright, alright. Toumpas had his first ever game where he has shown SOMETHING! Kudos to the lad.

It was just a team effort, all 22 contributed and it has made for a feel good win  8)