Inexperienced crew stands up again  
You could argue Melbourne’s top half a dozen against Gold Coast, included four players with fewer than 10 matches to their name. Aside from Jeremy Howe and Colin Sylvia in the top player bracket, the other four of Melbourne’s best players were Dean Terlich, Jack Viney, Matt Jones and Max Gawn. It was one bright light from an otherwise bleak evening. Coach Mark Neeld pointed to Viney, M. Jones, Terlich and another youngster in Michael Evans, who has impressed recently, as the “core of the club” for the future. He was adamant those players would take the club forward, while also making mention of Sylvia’s performance.

Neeld laments tackles
Coach Mark Neeld said he was “really disappointed” with his side’s tackle count, and when he opened up about it post-match, you could understand his reasons. “It was appalling. We had 39 tackles,” he said. “We go though our internal stats – and you want to call it 75 per cent effort – we had 144 attempted tackles. That’s 106 times we tried to tackle Gold Coast and it didn’t work. The disposal count is completely unbalanced, so if we stuck half of those tackles – that takes 50 disposals off Gold Coast and it gives us an opportunity to pick the footy up and use it. That’s just one example of a part of the game where we were not good enough today.”

Poor third quarters continue
Although Melbourne’s goalless first term was its worst quarter against Gold Coast, the Demons managed to add just 1.3 to 5.4 in the third stanza, continuing a frustrating trend this year. Melbourne has now kicked just 10.12 in third quarters this year, with its opposition kicking 44.30 for the season.

Ablett proves he’s No. 1 yet again
He was officially rated the game’s No. 1 player in the lead up to the clash by Champion Data’s new Player Rankings on afl.com.au – most agreed with that notion beforehand – but the brilliance of Ablett was there for all to see. He proved that he could do much on the football field that many others can’t. He simply mesmerised the Demons.  Ablett had 38 disposals and was best on ground, guiding Gold Coast to its first win on the MCG, and its greatest win yet.

What next for the Demons?
Melbourne’s fixture up until its mid-season bye is not easy. Its next four matches are against current top eight teams: Richmond (seventh), Fremantle (sixth) in Perth, Hawthorn (third) and Collingwood (eighth). Coach Mark Neeld is not shying away from the mammoth task at hand. Instead, he was adamant he will – along with the rest of the coaches and senior players – keep driving the message home. “We keep educating and we keep training and we have a very inexperienced bunch and that’s how you deal with it.” Neeld added that if just a few players were off each week, then his side would be exposed. “Which was the case today [against the Suns].”