Milestone Jones stands up
Nathan Jones, who played his 150th AFL match, was Melbourne’s best player against Geelong, winning a season-high 31 disposals. It was also two shy of his personal best. Jones shared his 150^th milestone with Colin Sylvia, who, although only had 16 touches, has been one of Melbourne’s better performers this year. Jeremy Howe also notched up 50 games, having not missed a match since making his debut in round 11, 2011.

Now, for the good …
The good news was that Melbourne had four more tackles than Geelong and improved its contested work, which has been a problematic area. Coach Neil Craig was particularly pleased with his team’s improved contested possessions. “We’ve been really poor – last week against Sydney it was minus 40,” he said. “That’s been a bit of a trend for us throughout the year, so in those conditions against Geelong, if we weren’t on our best behaviour in that area, we could’ve really got blown out of the water. It was minus 11 in the end - our last quarter in that area was a positive result and that comes from a mentality of staying with the task. I was pleased with our capacity just to stay at it, even though it was pretty archaic in the way we went about it. I’ve got great admiration for our mental capacity to stay into the contest, even though we were outclassed.”

An improved statistic, given Melbourne’s year, was the fact that for the first time this season, the Demons managed to restrict a team to fewer than 100 points. Even in Melbourne’s two wins this season, Greater Western Sydney (103) and the Western Bulldogs (103), have still managed 100 points or more. Geelong was Ashton Agar-like in its pursuit, registering 98 points, but it was far from the 140.4 points average kicked by the Cats against the Demons at Simonds Stadium in their past five matches.

The bad …
Melbourne claimed an unwanted League record when it had just 19 inside 50s for the match. It was the lowest recorded by Champion Data, eclipsing the 20 set by the Brisbane Lions against Fremantle in round three, 2012. Remarkably, Melbourne started well in inside 50s, leading Geelong with eight to five at the 15-minute mark of the opening term. But by the 12-minute mark of the last quarter, Geelong held a 55 to eight advantage and at the 15-minute mark, it was 65 to 11. In the wash-up, the Cats had 70 to 19.

And the ugly …  
Had it not been for a lone final term goal from Melbourne, via Jeremy Howe at the 17-minute mark, the team would’ve scored its lowest ever total at Kardinia Park. Instead, it equalled it, matching the 4.6 (30) it kicked in round 16, 1996. Interestingly, that game did have some Melbourne highlights, although it lost by 58 points to Geelong. Now Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson had a game-high 27 disposals, Andrew Leoncelli made his debut and showed some promising signs, and ‘mark of the century’ high flyer Shaun Smith kept the mercurial Gary Ablett goalless, earning two Brownlow Medal votes in the process. Smith’s effort on Ablett was one of the finest individual performances on the Geelong superstar. It was just the third time Ablett was held goalless from 1992-96.

The roadshow has started for the Demons
Melbourne started its Leyland Brothers-like itinerary with its clash against Geelong in round 16. Next round, the Demons are off to its ‘home away from home’ Northern Territory, where they will host the Brisbane Lions at TIO Stadium. The Dees then play North Melbourne at Etihad Stadium, followed by Greater Western Sydney at Skoda Stadium and then the Gold Coast Suns at Metricon Stadium. The Demons will return to the MCG for their final appearance of 2013 at the home of football in round 21 against Fremantle, but they then head interstate again, playing Adelaide at AAMI Stadium. Melbourne will conclude its year against the Western Bulldogs at Etihad Stadium. 

Although the Demons will go from the cold conditions at Geelong to the hot Darwin climate, they are eager to make the most of their opportunities on the road, according to youngster Jimmy Toumpas. “We’ve been stuck in Melbourne for a fair bit of the start of the year, which has been good and that’s something different, going to Darwin,” he told melbournefc.com.au. “We did our pre-season camp there and the boys hopefully would’ve become accustomed to this weather. We’ve been doing a bit of heat work in our chamber at the club, so the boys will be fine, I reckon.”

Ruckman Max Gawn added that the slippery conditions in Geelong may benefit Melbourne’s game in Darwin. “I presume it’s going to be wet up there, with that hot humidity, so it’s almost good preparation, [although] it’s going to be completely different weather,” he told melbournefc.com.au.