REMEMBER Scandal’us? And its song Me, Myself and I?
You’d be forgiven if you didn’t.
But the band formed via the reality TV show Popstars were top of the Australian charts precisely the same time Melbourne last won in South Australia.
That was back on April 7, 2001 – or in football vernacular, round two.
If studying the music trends of that time isn’t your go, perhaps consider this.
Back in 2001, John Howard was Australia’s prime minister, the now bottom-placed Brisbane Lions won their first of three successive premierships and a youngster by the name of Jay Kennedy-Harris was just six years old.
Since round two, 2001, Melbourne has gone 17 matches without winning a match against either Adelaide-based club at AAMI Stadium (where 16 matches were played) or the Adelaide Oval (where Melbourne played Port Adelaide in the first AFL match at the venue in round 24, 2011).
At the risk of reaching new lows with puns, some would say Melbourne’s inability to win in 13 years was scandalous.
But on Saturday, the Demons achieved their ‘best’ win for quite some time – not their highest winning margin, yet their most important.
In fact, Melbourne’s thrilling three-point win over the Adelaide Crows at Adelaide Oval was its most considerable victory since round 10, 2012, when the then bottom-placed Demons defeated then second on the ladder Essendon, giving former coach Mark Neeld his first taste of victory.
Like that match almost two years ago, it was an upset against the odds.
In many respects, Melbourne’s win over Adelaide was akin to Melbourne’s drought-breaking win one-point win against Geelong at the Cattery in 2005, when Russell Robertson played his greatest match for the club, kicking seven goals on a fair defender named Matthew Scarlett.
The Demons hadn’t won in almost 20 years at Geelong – 1988 to be exact – and it was a victory to remember – as was this round’s against the Crows.
Not since Neale Daniher was coach in just his fourth season has Melbourne been able to win in Adelaide.
It really is a pivotal moment for the club, given where it has been in recent years.
Add to the fact that Paul Roos was able to guide the Demons to a victory in the city of churches in just his seventh match as coach of his new club – and it only adds to the significance.
The Demons are still a long way from matching the best in the business on a regular basis, but already they have made massive strides this year, when you consider the club has come off its fifth worst season since it become a foundation club in the VFL/AFL in 1897.
Given Melbourne has two wins to its name – after gaining the same amount of victories in 22 matches last year – is a big tick.
Taking away one shocker – a 93-point loss to the West Coast Eagles in round two – the Demons have dropped their other four games by an average of 23 points. That’s miles ahead of where they were this time last year.
Roos remains realistic about the job at hand, but in a ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day’ moment, round seven’s win was another block put in place.
“It’s a long haul, but I think it keeps the momentum going and it keeps the players really enthusiastic. It’s a long year when you’re a team that starts at the bottom of the ladder,” he said.
“As long as you’re getting wins along the way and you’re seeing some improvement and the players can butter up again next week – I think it’s important to keep the momentum going and the improvement.
“It doesn’t change the destination and how long it might take to get there, but beating Adelaide in Adelaide is a really good win.”
Still, even the 2005 Sydney Swans premiership coach and one of the greats of the game, managed to relish Melbourne’s moment on the weekend.
“I was excited after the game. I love winning and I don’t like losing,” Roos said.
“I’m really pleased for the players, I’m pleased for the staff and I’m pleased for the footy club, because it’s been really tough.
“I’m very content [with the win] and you’ve got to enjoy it. The coach has got to enjoy it as well as the players, because there has been a lot of downs. I’m very pleased for the players and I’m very excited – I think it was a terrific win.”
For the likes of Mark Jamar – Melbourne longest serving current player – even he hadn’t experienced a win in Adelaide.
But for the native South Australian, it tasted like a Barossa Shiraz.
“It’s fantastic. It just means so much more, because I haven’t won over here before – the last time we won was in 2001 and my first year was in ’02,” Jamar told melbournefc.com.au.
“So every year we’ve come over since – we’ve been beaten convincingly every time by Adelaide, so it’s a great effort by the boys and everyone played their role.
“It’s pretty amazing what can happen when that goes on.”
And we eagerly await the next installment.