MATT Burgan looks at the talking points, facts and moments from Melbourne’s 18-point loss against Hawthorn at the MCG on Saturday …
1 – Closest Melbourne has come in 10 years to Hawthorn
Frustratingly, Melbourne couldn’t end its 10-year losing streak against the Hawks – even though it came so close. In fact, the red and blue’s three-goal loss was the closest it has come to defeating Hawthorn since its most recent win in round eight, 2006. The two sides meet again on August 6, round 20 – a match Melbourne will be confident it can take up to the Hawks again.
2 – Strong second quarter results in competitive comeback
Melbourne’s second quarter comeback showed genuine character and how far the group has come, when previously it could’ve turned ugly. After Hawthorn kicked five goals in a row – four in the first quarter and the opening major of the second term – Melbourne hit back with four in succession to reel in a 23-point deficit. The red and blue won the second term by 18 points and made sure the rest of the match was a hard-fought contest.
3 – Jack’s back
Jack Trengove’s return was one of the great footy stories of the season. The highly-popular midfielder made his long-awaited return from a career-threatening foot injury, which sidelined him for more than two years. He finished with 19 disposals and four clearances, and showed plenty of courage to comeback when he wouldn’t have lost any admirers, had he chosen a different path. Well done Jack – it was great to have you back!
4 – Vince shines on star Hawk
Vince had the job on Hawthorn great Sam Mitchell and in the process won a season-high 36 disposals, 11 clearances and nine inside 50s. Coach Paul Roos couldn’t speak highly enough of Vince’s game. “It’s hard to keep the ball off him (Mitchell) the whole day. You’ve got to have a smart guy [on Mitchell and] that means a lot of his possessions may be out of the back half or aren’t as damaging. It’s a hard thing to thing to do, because he (Mitchell) is such a good player. But Bernie did a terrific role for us.”
5 – Tyson gains equal PB numbers
Dom Tyson earned strong praise from Roos, following the midfielder’s equal best 32-disposal performance. “We’ve felt he’s been in really good form. He missed that week [against the Brisbane Lions in round nine], when he was sick, and then he came in last week and we possibly shouldn’t have played him. But we rate him really highly as a player and he really bounced back from a disappointing game last week. He’s been pretty consistent this year and last year he battled through a lot of injuries, and the year before he was second in our best and fairest, so he’s been a fantastic addition. But he’s really learning how to play good consistent AFL footy,” he said.
6 – 50/50 for Gawn
Ruckman Max Gawn reached a personal milestone against Hawthorn, notching up his 50th AFL match. He also had 50 hit outs and had more than Jon Ceglar (35) and Ben McEvoy (11) combined.
7 – Big O building
In just his sixth AFL match, 20-year-old emerging defender Oscar McDonald had a personal-best 22 disposals – Melbourne’s fourth highest ball-winner for the match.
8 – Best wishes to Roughy
Well done to the Demon Army and the crew who put together Melbourne’s banner before the game. It was a touching, yet classy message to much-loved Hawk Jarryd Roughead, who is fighting melanoma. The banner said: “They don’t need to be in our hearts to wear red and blue. Good luck, Roughy.” And all in the footy community and beyond extends its very best to the great Hawthorn forward.
9 – What the coach says …
“We got beaten by 105 points last year against Hawthorn and to give ourselves a chance to win against a high quality team was a good effort.” – Roos
10 – A big week coming up
One of Melbourne’s biggest home and away matches of the season will again take place next round, when the red and blue hosts Collingwood in the annual Queen’s Birthday clash. Not only is it a blockbuster game for Melbourne, it’s now a massive game across the AFL community, given ‘Big Freeze 2’ will be held before the match. The second big freeze is part of former Essendon star and Melbourne’s most recent Grand Final coach Neale Daniher’s quest to help raise funds to find a cure for motor neurone disease (MND). Roos said it was a massive day for the club and one that he urged all Melbourne supporters and the community at large to get behind. “I think it’s exciting for us as a club. It’s a big day for us and Collingwood is probably used to playing in big games. They have a lot of big games and a lot of marquee games, but this is an exciting day for us. Hopefully the fans can see … that in the first 11 weeks there has been some real improvement and we get a really big crowd next week. [I] just hope it’s a big crowd and there is some real excitement around the footy club going into that game,” he said.
