Wonaeamirri33
Lovable Whore With A Heart Of Gold
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Bay 13: Flog of the Year
Chocolate
Artist
Ruby
- May 10, 2009
- 28,743
- 44,822
- AFL Club
- Melbourne
- Other Teams
- FITZROY, Aylesbury United, St Pauli
THE GAME: MCG, Friday, May 11, 7.40pm (AEST)
HEAD TO HEAD:
Overall: Played 154, Melbourne 74 wins, Hawthorn 80
Since 2000: Melbourne 6 wins, Hawthorn 14
LAST TIME: Hawthorn 20.12 (132) def Melbourne 12.6 (78), round 18 2011 at the MCG
The Demons carried on a poor recent record against Hawthorn with a 54-point loss at the MCG in this encounter. Hawthorn kicked the opening five goals and never looked back.
Lance Franklin kicked five goals opposed to James Frawley and moved to the lead in the race for the Coleman Medal with 51 goals.
In the midfield, former Hawks skipper Sam Mitchell (30) continued his superb form, while Brad Sewell (33) and Jordan Lewis (24) were also influential in their return from injury and suspension respectively.
The Demons' midfield struggled to gain possession, with Brent Moloney held to 17 touches, while Nathan Jones (23), ruckman Stef Martin (21) and forward Brad Green (17) led the possession count for their side.
Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson said limiting the influence of Melbourne's midfielders was one of the key components of the win. "We were able to limit the influence of Moloney and their important players. He only had 18 or so touches, when usually he's more prolific than that," Clarkson said after the match.
The defeat was the first time since 1980-84 that the Demons have lost eight consecutive matches against the Hawks, the last win coming in round eight, 2006, when forward David Neitz kicked six goals.
MEDIA
TV: Channel 7/7mate (live in all areas except WA - 90 mins delay)
RADIO: SEN, ABC, 3AW, Triple M, NIRS, 5AA, Heart FM (Tas), 6PR
SUMMARY:
A win is obviously unlikely here, but the team have been infinitely more competitive in recent weeks, and another competitive performance is a must. The strongest hope is that the continuous progress sustained in so many areas of our game over the last three weeks, continues on Friday night, as it did last Saturday.
I doubt that anyone would have expected us to be within a goal at the first change against the Cats. It wasn't that we did so well with the first use of the breeze (and we were lucky with the Cats' inaccuracy) but there were enough contributors plugging away to keep us in touch.
The likes of Clark and Frawley, key players at opposite ends of the ground - missing from last week's near loss to St. Kilda - were making a difference. Frawley comprehensively killed off any threat from Hawkins in this match, and all those self-proclaimed "experts" claiming Hawkins would run riot were thoroughly embarrassed, to say the least.
The Russky was winning the ruck battles (even if his onballers were being outclassed) and co-captain Jack Grimes was also doing well. And Nathan Jones was continuing his good form for the season.
As was Cale Morton, with another good performance, including 20 possessions (with 7 contested ball wins), 4 clearances, and 3 tackles. He has been something of a revelation during the last three weeks, and this week was no different.
Statistically, the bulk of Geelong's winning margin was attained in the second term, when they put on a masterclass, exhibiting exactly how you dominate any opposition on this particular ground. You need the team to be well-organised and well-structured, with players having the experience and the instinctiveness to know where to put the ball next.
Mix that with the skills that give you a disposal efficiency rating in excess of 80%, even in wet conditions.
Last year, that would have given Geelong a seven or eight-goal break in a single quarter (and it did). This year, the dominance was restricted - even in our worst quarter for the day - to 23 points.
This was mainly due to the fact that we were able to match them throughout the whole day in contested possession. That is the area in which the team has languished so badly in past seasons against the competition's stronger teams. Precisely what new coach Mark Neeld has stressed would ultimately distinguish the Melbourne of the past from that of the future.
We saw signs of that from the massive efforts of Clark and Jones, together with the rapidly improving Jeremy Howe and Tom McDonald.
We were competitive for long periods, being within 14 points of the Cats at the 11-minute mark of the third quarter after Jeremy Howe snapped a goal - making it four in a row up to that stage, and easily our strongest period of the match.
Each week, we have been able to build on the week before in one way or another:
Contested possession - we ended up actually beating Geelong in this area, just as with St Kilda last week.
Contested marks - we thoroughly outmatched the Cats in this department, 19-12. And are now close to being the best contested marking team in the league. That's an undeniable fact.
Inside 50s - 46 this time, up from 44 against St Kilda the previous week - which was, as I said at the time, 12 up on our average.
And Mitch Clark, as mentioned before, continues his exceptional performance in the forward line, maintaining his position amongst the top 10 goalkickers in the league with another 4-goal haul on Saturday.
Our dominance in the ruck continues, with the big Russian once again slaughtering all comers, hitouts ending 52-30 in our favour.
Tangible progress most definitely continues.
Meanwhile, the Hawks are out to climb the ladder and build percentage, as they recover from three losses in the first five games.
The knives were out after they seemed to fade away in their loss to the Swans at Aurora Stadium. Fans have become accustomed to the Hawks' physical style of play and while that was missing in Launceston, it returned last Saturday night. Many think the scoreboard flattered, but they stormed home to move up to 3-3 after the opening six rounds.
Against St Kilda, Cyril Rioli kicked six goals and Franklin five, showing the damage they can do when the Hawks' midfield gets on top.
WALKING WOUNDED:
Melbourne coach Mark Neeld has no new injury worries ahead of Friday's clash against the Hawks but former captain Brad Green (finger) is a chance to return via the Casey Scorpians.
Youngsters Stef Martin (hip) and James Strauss (leg) are back training and are also likely to line up in the VFL this weekend while midfielder Jordan Gysberts was one of three players to suffer a broken jaw for Casey and is set to miss four to six weeks.
There is some mixed news for Hawthorn. Defender Josh Gibson will test his injured ankle at training before making a decision on his inclusion. The 28-year-old missed the Hawks' 35-point win over the Saints on Saturday after rolling his ankle in the loss to Sydney two weeks ago.
Another injury concern for the Hawks is Luke Hodge. The versatile skipper suffered a heavy knock to the hip/back but the club is hopeful he will recover in time for Friday's match, while Stephen Gilham (knee) could be in contention for his first senior match since Round 8 last year, following two impressive performances for Box Hill. News for key defender Jarrad Boumann isn't so good. Boumann had his appendix removed on Monday and is expected to miss at least two weeks of action.
FORM:
Demons' Last Five:
Round 6: Loss, 11.10 (76) - 17.17 (119) v Geelong, Simonds Stadium
Round 5: Loss, 10.6 (66) - 12.12 (84) v St Kilda, MCG
Round 4: Loss, 9.13 (67) - 13.10 (88) v Western Bulldogs, MCG
Round 3: Loss, 11.8 (74) - 20.13 (133) v Richmond, MCG
Round 2: Loss, 9.4 (58) - 25.16 (166) v West Coast, Patersons Stadium
Hawks' Last Five:
Round 6: Win, 18.15 (123) - 13.10 (88) v St Kilda, MCG
Round 5: Loss, 10.9 (69) - 16.10 (106) v Sydney, Aurora Stadium
Round 4: Loss, 5.16 (46) - 5.21 (51) v West Coast, Patersons Stadium
Round 3: Win, 21.14 (140) - 12.12 (84) v Adelaide, MCG
Round 2: Loss, 13.12 (90) - 14.8 (92) v Geelong, MCG
WHO'S HOT:
Cyril Rioli - Alastair Clarkson will be expecting more of the same from Rioli. The speedster went into last week's clash against the Saints under extreme pressure to perform and he stepped up to kick six goals and collect a season-high 18 disposals after averaging 13 in the opening five rounds.
Mitch Clark - A shining light in an otherwise gloomy start to the season for the Demons. Clark battled brilliantly in Geelong and converted well in front of goal, to take his season tally to 14. He also had 21 disposals, including eight marks - six of those contested.
______________________________________________
Round seven team
B: James Frawley, Jared Rivers, Clint Bartram
HB: Jack Grimes, Colin Garland, Cale Morton
C: Ricky Petterd, Brent Moloney, Jack Trengove
HF: Nathan Jones, Mitch Clark, Jamie Bennell
F: Jeremy Howe, Colin Sylvia, Aaron Davey
FOLL: Mark Jamar, James Magner, Jordie McKenzie
I/C: Matthew Bate, Rohan Bail, Tom McDonald, Jack Fitzpatrick
EMG: Lynden Dunn, Joel Macdonald, Luke Tapscott
IN: Ricky Petterd, Jack Fitzpatrick, Jamie Bennell
OUT: James Sellar (calf), Lynden Dunn, Luke Tapscott
Hawthorn
B: Brent Guerra, Stephen Gilham, Benjamin Stratton
HB: Grant Birchall, Ryan Schoenmakers, Matt Suckling
C: Brendan Whitecross, Sam Mitchell, Jordan Lewis
HF: Isaac Smith, Lance Franklin, Luke Breust
F: Cyril Rioli, Jarryd Roughead, Michael Osborne
Foll: David Hale, Shaun Burgoyne, Brad Sewell
I/C: Clinton Young, Liam Shiels, Shane Savage, Paul Puopolo
EMG: Kyle Cheney, Bradley Hill, Broc McCauley
In: Stephen Gilham, Clinton Young
Out: Luke Hodge (Knee), Jarrad Boumann (Appendix)
