The boom recruit has been one of Melbourne’s shining lights in an otherwise trying start to the season. Clark entered 2012 under considerable scrutiny, but has delivered in bucket loads. And it hasn’t all come his way either. Former coach Leigh Matthews put Clark under the microscope following a tough round one initiation at Melbourne. But since round two, Clark has been a constant for the Dees. He kicked five goals against West Coast Eagles on the road, and later booted four majors against Geelong in round six. Although Melbourne went down by 43 points against the Cats, Clark was arguably second to Geelong’s Steve Johnson as best on ground. Not only did the big Dee provide a strong target in front of goal, he pushed further up the ground and made an impact. Many forget he was a top 10 draft pick and All-Australian squad member with the Lions, so it’s not surprising to see Clark prosper, given his age and experience - he is a 24 year-old with 88 matches to his name. From limited opportunities against Hawthorn on Friday night, Clark was again impressive. He kicked three goals in the opening term and although that was it for the night, Melbourne was unable to penetrate its forward 50 with regularity. Again, he pushed up the ground to help out. But he couldn’t do it all. And the Demons could do with a few more Clarks on their side, but at least one is better than none.

Hawks still too good

It was always going to be a significant challenge to overcome the Hawks, given they had Melbourne’s measure for six years. Although the Dees started positively, leading by three points at quarter time, the Hawks ran away with the match, booting 6.6. to 0.2 in the second term. In the end, it proved to be another frustrating chapter for Melbourne against the brown and gold. Hawthorn has now beaten the Demons on the past nine occasions. The last time Melbourne defeated the Hawks was round eight, 2006.

A tale of two scoreboards

Melbourne’s 6.13 was its lowest score for the year and although Hawthorn’s inaccuracy (15.25) was a major storyline in its win, the Hawks still had more than double the scoring shots than the Demons - and the 66-point loss could’ve been much worse for the Dees. To put it context, West Coast defeated Melbourne by 108 points in round two after recording one more scoring shot (25.16). Clark’s three in a row during the first term represented half of Melbourne’s goals against Hawthorn. Back-to-back goals from the Demons, courtesy of Jordie McKenzie and Jeremy Howe, followed in the third term, after the Dees were unable to trouble the scoreboard with any majors in the second term. A Jimmy Magner major in the final term was the only other goal for Melbourne. Interestingly, Clark was the match’s equal leading goalkicker with Lance Franklin, although ‘Buddy’s’ inaccuracy cost him - he kicked 3.7. But the main difference was that Hawthorn had 11 goalkickers to Melbourne’s four.

The challenge continues …

So, what now for the Demons? Well, it doesn’t get any easier. In fact, on form it gets harder, considering the upcoming opponents - Sydney Swans (sixth on the ladder) at the SCG on Saturday, then Carlton (fourth), Essendon (second) and Collingwood (sixth) before the mid-season bye. It may sound absurd, but these are opportunities the Demons need to confront head-on. The Dees showed they could produce competitive displays against last year’s finalists in St Kilda and Geelong, so they must draw on those performances. The Dees head to Sydney, knowing the Swans have lost their past two after starting the season with a bang, and will again be without injured superstar Adam Goodes. That touch of vulnerability must be drawn upon, despite the enormity of the task at hand. The pundits have suggested for the past month that a win won’t come for the Demons, but the challenge is to break through against the odds.

… And the co-captain says the Dees must be up for it

Despite the tough times, co-captain Jack Grimes is not backing down from his responsibilities. He is an outstanding young character and is in it for the long haul - as he told melbournefc.com.au: “Footy is all about winning games, but we have to look past the win/loss [record] and you have to look deeper these days. It’s a tough patch with the quality teams that we’re playing against, but what better way than to learn against the best? If you can do it against the best, then you can do it against anyone. We got taught a lesson against a quality team and it showed that when you have lapses in games, it really costs you. We really learned some lessons about matching it against the best. I don’t think anyone is shying away from playing these good teams - it’s a great opportunity and we’re definitely learning.”