Melbourne vs GWS Round 23

[Barra13]

THE CURTAIN FALLS by JVM

My head is literally spinning at the prospect of Melbourne taking on the GWS Giants in our home city and while the pretenders from Western Sydney are without such key players as Shane Mumford, Phil Davis, Ryan Griffen, Dylan Shiel, Will Hoskin-Elliott and dare I say it, Tom Scully.

No, I'm not saying this because I want to emulate the positivity about the club and this game that the powers that be would like displayed by supporters (as if that would have much bearing on team performance anyway) but rather as an indication that the Giants have not used the absence of some of their better  players as an excuse for a lapse in effort leading to weak efforts and bad defeats. They are a young side, they have lost key playmakers including some of their most valuable and experienced team members - Mumford alone would make a substantial difference for then - and yet they were able to beat Carlton by 81 points last week.

That's the same Carlton that Melbourne embarrassed itself only a week earlier when, at one stage just before half time, it trailed by one goal to ten. This is Melbourne which, a week earlier produced a goalless first quarter against the Bulldogs and were twelve goals down at the main break. The Melbourne which, after the club's negative culture as seen among its long-suffering supporters was emphasised ad nauseum in the media as being the problem.

The fact is that the negative vibes at the club are merely a symptom of the fact that there are not enough players at the club who have sufficient ability to perform at the highest level, who can get their 25 to 30 possessions per game at the lower level but when it comes to the crunch, you look at their stats in the Fremantle game and the numbers beside their names are abysmally low and that's just numbers without representing the quality of their product. As a consequence, at this time of year, it's all left to the too few and to the inexperienced young kids and when the form of the team leaders in the categories of disposal count such as Nathan Jones and Bernie fall away from high 20s/30s per game to half that amount, it spells trouble with a capital T.

So the curtain falls on a season of unfulfilled promise. There might have been improvement under Paul Roos but it really has been barely enough to register on the Richter Scale when you consider the fact that the club has recruited well and the list of players available is on paper far superior to that which he inherited. There is still much deadwood to be culled before we can stop making excuses.

Against that backdrop, it is ironic that the first official end of year departure from the club is Daniel Cross who has been a fantastic heart and soul player in his two seasons with the Demons and whose example and effort will be sorely missed. Not a single one of those who follow him out of the door - and there will be many - will be able to put hand on heart and say he contributed more to the Melbourne Football Club in the last two years.

THE GAME

Melbourne v GWS Giants at Etihad Stadium, Sunday 6 September, 2015 at 1.10pm

HEAD TO HEAD

Overall Melbourne 3 wins GWS Giants 4 wins

At Etihad Stadium  Melbourne 0 wins GWS Giants 0 wins

Past five meetings
Melbourne 1 win GWS Giants 4 wins

The Coaches Roos 0 wins Cameron 3 wins

MEDIA

TV - Fox Footy Channel at 1.00pm (live)

RADIO - SEN ABC ABC Grandstand

THE BETTING

Melbourne to win - $2.95 GWS Giants to win - $1.41

THE LAST TIME THEY MET

GWS Giants 15.11.101 defeated Melbourne 8.8.56 at Startrack Stadium Round 2, 2015

The opposite Melbourne to the one we've seen in the past month played that day. The Demons were on fire early kicking four goals to nil in the opening stanza and late in the first half were leading by seven goals to one. They then put up the shutters and scored only one more goal to travel home totally humiliated, at one stage conceding fourteen unanswered goals.

MELBOURNE

B: Colin Garland, Lynden Dunn, Jeremy Howe
HB: Daniel Cross, Tom McDonald, Christian Salem
C: Jack Grimes, Bernie Vince, Mitch White
HF: James Harmes, Oscar McDonald, Angus Brayshaw
F: Jeff Garlett, Jesse Hogan, Jay Kennedy-Harris
Foll: Max Gawn, Nathan Jones, Jack Viney
I/CViv Michie, Alex Neal-Bullen, Ben Newton, Billy Stretch

NEW: Mitch White (19, Dandenong Stingrays)

GWS GIANTS

B: Adam Kennedy, Caleb Marchbank, Zac Williams
HB: Lachie Plowman, Aidan Corr, James Stewart
C: Lachie Whitfield, Adam Treloar, Heath Shaw
HF: Devon Smith, Cam McCarthy, Rhys Palmer
F: Josh Kelly, Jeremy Cameron, Adam Tomlinson
FOLL: Tom Downie, Callan Ward, Tommy Bugg
I/C (from): Jake Barrett, Toby Greene, Jacob Townsend, Nathan Wilson

IN: Paul Ahern, Jake Barrett, Rory Lobb, Jack Steele, Jacob Townsend

OUT: Stephen Coniglio (hamstring), Ryan Griffen (knee),

NEW: Paul Ahern, Jake Barrett

[Barra13]

In: JKH, Harmes, Brayshaw, White
Out: MJones

[Purple 77]

flower it

We're going to win this game!

[Barra13]

Missing some key players. Win could be on the cards.

Mumford
Coniglio
Shiel
Scully
Griffen
Patfull
Davis
Hoskin-Elliott
Haynes

[Holz]

why is Omac named up front again?

where will he play?

[Purple 77]

why is Omac named up front again?

where will he play?

He'll play down back I'm fairly sure.

[Big Mac]

flower it

We're going to win this game!

Missing some key players. Win could be on the cards.

Mumford
Coniglio
Shiel
Scully
Griffen
Patfull
Davis
Hoskin-Elliott
Haynes

The 'W' word is cursed!

[Big Mac]

Has Watts been dropped?  :o

Named in the forward pocket in the VFL too

[Barra13]

IN: Kennedy-Harris, Harmes, Brayshaw, White
OUT: Jetta (calf), Spencer (concussion), M. Jones, Watts

[elephants]

Wowee boy oh boy Watts

[Purple 77]

Has Watts been dropped?  :o

Named in the forward pocket in the VFL too

Just don't understand at all. Can't surely be due to form.

Maybe he told the club he wanted out? And by that I mean, be traded?

[Big Mac]

Has Watts been dropped?  :o

Named in the forward pocket in the VFL too

Just don't understand at all. Can't surely be due to form.

Maybe he told the club he wanted out? And by that I mean, be traded?

It does seem very odd, but maybe I've just been spending too much time on Demonland

[Purple 77]

Has Watts been dropped?  :o

Named in the forward pocket in the VFL too

Just don't understand at all. Can't surely be due to form.

Maybe he told the club he wanted out? And by that I mean, be traded?

It does seem very odd, but maybe I've just been spending too much time on Demonland

That is definitely a thing.

[elephants]

Christ you'd be filthy if after all this time he's asking for a trade?! Hes only just starting to look as though hes coming good!