It’s been an amazing opening round of the AFL season and we can’t wait for the second round to start on Friday, but what do we make of the opening matches?
Do we think we got the Western Bulldogs wrong after they thrashed Brisbane in a performance no one saw coming from both sides?
Are North Melbourne still a long way from being a team that can have success in September after they struggled against the intensity of an undermanned Collingwood?
And could St Kilda, suffering yet another close first round loss – this time to Gold Coast – come to rue a match that could be the difference between them missing or making the eight?
I think the answer to all of those questions is that it’s way too early to tell, but what of Melbourne’s horror show against Port Adelaide at the MCG on Easter Sunday?
There have been many examples of teams having a terrible first match and then turning it around quickly and actually making the finals.
The Demons did it in 2004, when Hawthorn trounced them in round one, yet by round 18 they were on top.
However, you could write your own ticket on that happening this season. It was an insipid performance for a side already coming off a poor 2012.
It looks like Port will improve under new coach Ken Hinkley, but they won’t be allowed to play with the freedom the Demons allowed them to on Easter Sunday.
Melbourne lacked passion, effort and pride in their performance and jumper and their long suffering fans certainly let them know about it.
They performed like that in round one last year, also at the MCG, coming up against another team who had finished in the bottom four the previous season, the Brisbane Lions. And from then on Melbourne’s season went from bad to worse.
Coach Mark Neeld has a massive task to make sure that doesn’t happen again in 2013, but does he have the talent to ensure they improve?
I am not sure, to be honest. It’s well known they turned the playing list upside down in the pre-season, but did they get the right players?
They went for the quick fix in picking up experienced players rejected from other clubs, like Shannon Byrnes, Tom Gillies, David Rodan, Cam Pedersen and Chris Dawes, who missed the first round debacle.
However, the other four struggled and you could argue and ask how will they make Melbourne better, when players such as Matthew Bate, Ricky Petterd and Jared Rivers, who had all given fine service, were given their marching orders with Petterd now at Richmond and Rivers a key defender with Geelong.
He was solid for the Cats as they came from behind again to beat Hawthorn for the 10th consecutive time.
Jack Viney in his first game was a shining light and it is embarrassing that a teenager in his first game could be his team’s best player.
His performance was outstanding, but not many of his teammates seemed keen on the fight and that was evident in the first 10 minutes of the opening match of the season.
You would think these players would be jumping out of their skin to seek redemption and start getting this footy club back on track. But it wasn’t to be. And that’s disgraceful.
They continue to lack leadership and guidance on the field and appear to be confused about how to adapt to Neeld’s game plan.
He forged a fine reputation as an excellent assistant to Mick Malthouse at Collingwood, but moving into the hot seat is a massive step and the former Geelong and Richmond player, to me, doesn’t look comfortable in that role at the moment.
He said in the press conference that his team is on a long road and it will take time, but the Demons have been rebuilding since 2007 and on bare and raw statistics, there’s been no improvement.
In fact, Melbourne has probably gone backwards and is lower than the lowest ebb, if that’s possible.
As well as recruiting these recycled players who were not required by other clubs, Melbourne’s early draft picks for finishing near or on the bottom for the past five seasons or so haven’t worked and Neeld is obviously not responsible for that.
They recruited too many light outside runners and not enough hard inside big-bodied midfielders like Viney to cope with today’s football, which is contested footy.
Port’s onballers exposed that and they are a long way from being the best midfield in the competition, so imagine what Geelong, Hawthorn, West Coast and Sydney could do with all their mature bodies at the coal face.
Melbourne’s next match is against Essendon, a team that they have a reasonable recent record against. That is no mean feat when you consider how poor they have been for the best part of a decade, so all isn’t lost.
But they must play with passion and commitment, otherwise this fragile club could unravel to the point of no return.
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