THE SCENE was set.

TIO Traeger Park in Alice Springs provided one of the most spectacular backdrops in the country – and for just the second time for premiership points.

A game in the red centre is a vastly different experience to one at the MCG, but one that should be experienced by every footy fan.

The match was a beauty in the first quarter. It was akin to last year. It started in highly entertaining fashion. And for half of the second term, there was some stirring play – at least it was for those with a red and blue leaning.

But unless you’re a Port Adelaide supporter, the rest of the match turned out to be a debacle, given where Melbourne had positioned itself in the match. 

From the 16-minute mark of the second quarter, when Power young-gun Ollie Wines kicked a behind, it was the start of a stunning turnaround by the Power, which flicked the switch in incredible fashion.

A remarkable 16 goals to two for the rest of the game smashed the Demons out of the country’s centre – and it resulted in a 61-point loss – or an 85-point turnaround, given Melbourne led by 24 points mid-way through the second term.

Add the fact that Melbourne got back to within eight points at the 14-minute mark of the third term – courtesy of a Matt Jones goal – and this only further exacerbated the story.

To rub further salt into the wound, there were just two behinds scored before Jones’ major in the third term – one to Power big man Justin Westhoff at the three-minute mark and the other by Demon Cam Pedersen 12 minutes into the quarter. It highlighted that Melbourne was still right in the contest mid-way through the third term.

But four goals in eight minutes by the Power – from the 15-minute mark until the 23-minute mark – put the margin back out to 33 points at three quarter-time.

And when the Power booted six goals to one in the final term, it ended up being a miserable day for the Demons. 

Coach Paul Roos spoke at length post-match about how the key reason for the performance – and subsequent loss – was due to his side playing as individuals rather than as a team.

And he quickly dismissed any notion that it had anything to do with the warmer Alice Springs conditions. In reality, it was only 23 degrees on the day – and not 32 as many might think. 

“It’s not like one team played in the heat and the other team played in the cold,” Roos said. 

“You know when you come up here it’s going to be a difficult game, but it has no bearing on the result because both teams play in the same conditions.”

Roos also reinforced the fact that playing home matches in Alice Springs – and the Northern Territory for that matter – did not impact the side.

And given Melbourne almost knocked off Port Adelaide in the inaugural home and away match at Alice Springs last year – in one of the red and blue’s best performances of 2014, and started so positively on Saturday, before capitulating (as Roos termed it), it was hardly the fault of the Alice.

“The result has no bearing on coming back here,” Roos said. 

Although the crowd was down this time around, the venue hardly seemed empty. Last year a crowd of 5,655 attended and although that dropped to 4,866 on the weekend, the atmosphere was genuinely there. Those numbers seem incredible to comprehend from an MCG perspective, but it’s vastly different numbers in Alice Springs.

Playing matches in the Northern Territory is important for the competition, just as it is for the Giants to host matches in the Australian Capital Territory. And to suggest it can have a detrimental impact on a team that visits regularly to smaller populated states/territories, ask the league’s reigning back-to-back premiers how Tasmania has impacted Hawthorn?

The Territory has become an important partner for Melbourne. This was highlighted off the field in the lead-up to the Alice Springs match, where the club held a successful commercial partners conference in conjunction with Tourism NT.

Quite simply, Melbourne could’ve won in Alice Springs last year and this time around it should’ve been much better – given Melbourne’s start.

As Roos quite rightly said, his team has the ability to win anywhere – but also just as easily lose at any venue. Melbourne’s win over Adelaide at Adelaide Oval in round seven last year was an example of that.

“We can win at any venue and we can lose at any venue, so if it (playing in Alice Springs) is predicated on winning and losing, that’s making the wrong decision,” he said.

“We enjoyed it (coming to Alice Springs) and the crowd enjoyed Port’s effort and our effort for half a game.

“It was a good game for half a game, but after that it was pretty one-sided.”

And that wasn’t the fault of the Alice.