MIDFIELD and strategy coach George Stone says this Monday’s Queen’s Birthday clash against Collingwood at the MCG will be a great opportunity for his emerging midfield to come up against one of the best in the business.
Stone said the likes of Dom Tyson would benefit greatly from being pitted against some of the competition’s best midfielders.
“You look at Collingwood’s midfield with [Scott] Pendlebury, [Dane] Swan and [Dayne] Beams – and [Steele] Sidebottom’s not playing now [due to suspension] – but all of those guys are really good midfielders and they hit the scoreboard and they score goals,” he said.
“Not only do you have to win the ball, but you also have to defend them when they have the ball, so it’ll be a real test for our younger midfielders – the Dom Tysons and some of those guys, who are cutting their teeth at AFL level.
“This is a good test for them against a class midfield.”
Stone said veteran Daniel Cross and youngster Christian Salem were impressive in the midfield last round for two different reasons.
“Crossy’s job on [Jared] Polec was one we set before the game and that was a pleasing result for us. Daniel’s a very good role player and he has great concentration, so we were really pleased with his effort there,” he said.
“Christian just showed that he’s a talent. He’s got all the skills and the tricks, and all the good parts of football that we like, but he’s also starting to work really hard now with his tackling and chasing, so we’re pleased with his progress.
“He’s been a great acquisition for the club.”
Stone, who has been involved in six AFL premierships (four with Hawthorn and two with the Sydney Swans), said he was eagerly anticipating his first Queen’s Birthday clash with the club.
“I’m really excited. It’s a big game for the Melbourne Football Club and it’s also the only game on Monday, so I’m really looking forward to it. And of course, everyone wants to be beat Collingwood, so you couldn’t get a bigger game,” he said.
“We’re fortunate we’ve had a longer week, coming back from Alice and playing on the Monday. We got back on Sunday and recovered pretty quickly and we’ve had a good training week so far and we’re building into a big game.”
“The players are aware that the Queen’s Birthday round is always a big game for the Melbourne Football Club. The week’s been pretty good and we’ve still got to get through another couple of days, but it’s been good and we’re really strong at the moment.”
Stone said he was disappointed with last round’s 20-point loss to ladder leader Port Adelaide at TIO Traeger Park Oval, adding that the Demons needed to up the ante against the Pies this round.
“There were two parts to the game last weekend. They (Port Adelaide) scored four goals early in the game and they scored four goals late in the game,” he said.
“We’ve got to play 120 minutes and we need to be going the whole time – not half the time or not 75 per cent or not 80 per cent of the time. We need to be going 100 per cent of the time.
“We’ve learned from that and we expect to do the same on Monday and we expect the game to go a full 120 minutes and we’ll be pressing all the way to get a win, because Collingwood is a good side and a very talented side. They’re in the top four, so we’ll have to be at our best to beat them.”
