The low end of the ladder delivers an intriguing contest today, as the Gold Coast Suns search for their first win at the MCG, while Melbourne will be craving any kind of win. Join us from 4.40pm AEST for live scores and commentary.
It was a similar story in Round 4, when Melbourne were nearly embarrassed at home by Greater Western Sydney.
The Giants led by 19 points early in the last quarter, before Melbourne somehow produced the highest-scoring quarter in their club’s history to win by 41 points.
That kind of miracle is unlikely to be a regular feature of Melbourne’s season, and Gold Coast already look a more solid unit this year than the side in orange, so the Demons can’t afford to give the Suns such a firm grasp on the match.
The Suns also approach the game from 13th position on the ladder, enjoying their two wins to date and the unfamiliar feeling of having five sides below them.
Melbourne are one of those sides, back in 17th with one win, and would dearly love to restore what they would see as the natural order of things by catching up and clearing the new teams.
Ladder positions notwithstanding, Gold Coast will start as underdogs due to the fact they’ve not yet won at football’s spiritual home in Jolimont.
Winning on the road won’t be easy until this side develops further.
But with MCG expert Gary Ablett Jr to lead them on the ground where he won two premierships, and Melbourne suffering an abysmal start to the 2013 season, this is surely Gold Coast’s best chance so far.
Chris Dawes comes in for his first match for the Demons, and at least playing will leave him less time to ponder the wisdom of his off-season move from Collingwood.
With the Suns impressive in several of their games this year, and the super-impressive Nathan Jones taking the Melbourne captaincy in place of injured co-captains Jack Grimes and Jack Trengove, this should be a game that offers plenty to the neutral observer, even if its influence on the league’s standings will be minimal.
As for the partisans, either side will grieve a loss in a game that is important for the morale of both.
Knoxy
Guest
Sadly I'm not all that surprised by this result given their form this year. God knows how big the margin could have been if Gold Coast had kicked more accurately.
Chairman Kaga
Guest
In my lifetime, they managed to somehow get to the GF twice and on both occasions they were slaughtered. Not a professional football club and should not have an AFL license. Give Tasmania or Ballarat the license instead.
Timmuh
Roar Guru
The talent will come from the same places it came from in the rapid (25% in the five years) expansion from 1987 to 1991. The state leagues and youth setups, and hopefully with more coming out of NSW and Qld. Talent dilution did not need to be as big an issue as it has been, except both new clubs decided to go for long term prospects rather than trying to be competitive and build a side from a solid base; and Melbourne are just in trouble. Admittedly it is different to 1987 and 1991, as both the WAFL and SANFL at that time had a significant pool of players to draw on of VFL/AFL standard who had not made the move for whatever reason. That doesn't apply any more, and certainly not in the NEAFL, making it a bit harder to recruit proven mature age players.
Stevo
Guest
This is an interesting observation. The headlong rush to expand the AFL leaves the question of where is the talent going to come from? Well Sudan is an obvious answer as North are proving LOL! Or fold the Demons now. No touching the Scraggers thankyou :)
Nathan of Perth
Guest
When West Coast came we had at least a few thousand supporters present. With Gold Coast having a couple tens of thousand supporters in the country versus a few hundred thousand, who aren't travelling yet and haven't had the chance to start migrating around... It's taken years but Melbourne's supporter base is simply broken.
Nathan of Perth
Guest
Someone explain that tackle count. It just defies all belief. Melbourne chases all day, still gets blown out in the tackle stakes.
Nathan of Perth
Guest
My god in heaven, Melbourne FC is dying before our eyes.
Geoff Lemon
Expert
Hard to know what to do at this stage, Graeme. It's going to be a long term project.
Geoff Lemon
Expert
That's it from us today. Thanks for joining The Roar's live blog, and make sure to tune in any time you want updates on AFL, cricket, NRL, Super Rugby, cycling, or any of the other sports we cover live.
Geoff Lemon
Expert
Want some more bleak stats for Melbourne? Demons first, Suns second. Disposals 309 - 409 Free kicks 19 - 29 Inside 50s 43 - 57 Contested possessions 121 - 157 Tackles 38 - 71
graeme
Guest
Can someone please shut us down to spare me any more heartache. Norm Smith would be writhing in his grave. MFC are as big a joke as our federal government. I simply can't see a way out of this mess. Sadly we are the proof that there are too many clubs in the current competition.
Geoff Lemon
Expert
Ablett was the man as ever for Gold Coast, with 38 possessions. Bennell had 32, Prestia 29, Shaw 27. Jared Brennan and Prestia laid 7 tackles; Ablett, O'Meara and Lonergan 6 apiece. Rory Thompson took 11 marks. Zac Smith and Campbell Brown kicked 3 goals each, Lynch and Hall 2, with singles to Day, Shaw, May, McKenzie, Bennell, Harbrow Sylvia and Matt Jones had 24 possessions for Melbourne, Viney and Terlich 23. Howe took 8 marks, many of them strong ones. Sylvia laid 6 tackles and Viney 5. The goalscoring was Howe with 3, Gawn 2, Sylvia and Strauss 1. A bleak list.
Geoff Lemon
Expert
FULL TIME And there it is - Gold Coast's first win at the MCG, their first win in Victoria, and if I'm not mistaken that's only their second win on the road, after they beat Port Adelaide at AAMI stadium a couple of years back. Melbourne were woeful today, they didn't compete at all. Their only players who stood out as making something of a contest were Jeremy Howe in patches, Colin Sylvia in patches, Max Gawn here and there, while Chris Dawes and Shannon Byrnes bobbed up for a couple of good moments. Gold Coast dominated in the stats, and despite being wasteful in front of goal, still won by 60 points. An emphatic way to open their MCG account. The final score: 7.12.54 - 16.18.114
Geoff Lemon
Expert
Q4 - 0:27 remaining First Ablett racked up his 38th possession with a quick shot from a pack for a behind, then Tom Lynch kicked the last score of the match with a point from a set shot following a mark in the pocket. 54 - 114
Geoff Lemon
Expert
Q4 - 2:49 remaining. A couple of lazy attempts at goal from Gold Coast in the last few minutes, and the Demons eventually get one back at the other end. It was good hard contesting from Max Gawn at half back that won them the ball, then it came to half forward where Byrnes presented strongly, won it, shot a handball through to Howe, and Howe had no-one between him and goal and could sprint in from 40 to dob it from the goalsquare. 7.12.54 - 16.17.113
Geoff Lemon
Expert
Q4 - 6:25 remaining What a passage of play. Davey was waiting for that ball in the centre square as bounced loose, but Swallow just bustled him out of it, cleared to Hall at half forward, who passed beautifully to Lynch at full forward who climbed over Nathan Jones to haul in the mark. Then he hit the post from 15 metres out. Not so good. 48 - 112
Geoff Lemon
Expert
Q4 - 9:12 remaining GOAL Two in a row from Gold Coast here, as Ablett slammed the ball forward from the bounce, Shaw received it and lofted one to full forward, and Jarrod Harbrow edged Viney under the ball to mark 20 out. Kick is true. 48 - 109
Geoff Lemon
Expert
Q4 - 10:57 GOAL Bennell gets one to ice his day, roving Lynch's ball at the top of the goal square after a clever centring kick came in from the boundary, and Bennell put it away. 6.12.48 - 15.13.103 How many times have Gold Coast passed 100 points?
Geoff Lemon
Expert
Q4 Tom Murphy is finally moving his arms. They've taken a good five minutes to get him steady on the stretcher cart, that's pretty worrisome. At least he's moving a little now, as the cart drives ever so slowly off the ground.
Geoff Lemon
Expert
Just realised how empty this ground is. I don't know how many Demons fans would have come down for a no-joy occasion, but they've definitely left by now. A very modest GC cheer squad sits behind the goals, that's it. They could move from end to end each quarter if they wanted, there's that much space at the MCG.