It’s time to acknowledge that it’s not an embarrassment to lose to Melbourne any more.
While Richmond certainly deserve any heat that comes their way at the moment, this is due to a confounding and appalling fall from grace since last year and shouldn’t be based on Saturday’s loss to the Demons.
It’s not enough for the Tigers to just regress three or four spots on the ladder after a season of promise. No, the Richmond way is to completely fall off the map, and drop 10, 11 or 12 positions, really twisting the knife into an inordinately patient, passionate and loyal supporter base.
But this piece is not about my Tigers, whom I roasted a month ago when it was clear their season was shot when only in its infancy. It’s time to laud and celebrate the turnaround of the Melbourne Football Club.
The Demons aren’t going to play finals this year, but 2014 was never going to be about that for them. This was never going to be a rags-to-riches story, but more of a rags-to-solvency type of thing.
This year’s goals were based on more attainable achievements: competitiveness, system, and an infusion of hope that there may be brightness in the not-too-distant future.
So bereft of hope for so long have the Demons been that it was going to be almost impossible for Paul Roos to live up to the messiah tag that accompanied him in his return to senior coaching. Nine rounds into the season, and he has already surpassed expectations.
What a joy for Dees fans to see their team playing with such organisation and system after so many years of seemingly wandering around with all the conviction of cows in a paddock.
Where previously an opposition side would ride a wave of momentum by piling on goal after goal, Melbourne are now so defensively sound they are now able to absorb much more punishment without it impacting the scoreboard unduly. Teams are still going to kick goals, but they’re working a lot harder for them.
People will look at the scoring shots from Saturday, when Richmond had 29 to 21 while losing by 17 points, and say that if the Tigers had kicked straight they would have won.
This is doing a disservice to Melbourne’s defensive set-up. The Tigers were forced to take shots from far and wide at some times, and also had to kick under immense pressure at others. The upshot is that when easier shots at goal presented themselves, the pressure to convert such chances created its own insurmountable obstacle.
There was one passage of play on Saturday that spoke volumes for how far Melbourne have come.
Setting up with a standard full-team zone for a Richmond kick-out, the Tigers were still able to move the ball with reasonable fluency and preciseness for a lower ladder side.
But by the time the ball arrived at half-forward for the final kick into the forward 50, most Melbourne players had already run a hard 100 metres to fill up the space. This left the Tigers with no option but to bomb it long, where the Dees had more players at the contest and the likes of Jeremy Howe, Colin Garland and Lynden Dunn to mark.
This was a clear example of hard, defensive running that all coaches try to instill across the entire team. Eighteen players working as one for the common goal, even though almost all of them won’t be getting the ball in that piece of play.
Richmond may even have found a target in the crowded forward 50 and kicked a goal in that instance (they didn’t), meaning it was all for nothing that specific time. But the greater good is served by doing it every time.
What a far cry this was from just over a year ago, when Melbourne lost to Essendon by 148 points. The Dons routinely took the ball the length of the ground with ease, and one time had three men 20 metres free in the goal-square to raffle who would kick the goal.
It’s amazing what confidence and belief can do for a player group too.
Most VFL sides wouldn’t have gone near Cameron Pederson last year, yet here he is an important cog in the machine and in the top handful of players on the ground on the weekend. Lynden Dunn has finally found a niche after a decade in the wilderness. Chris Dawes has filled the void of inspirational and dominant forward presence that was missing with Mitch Clark out of the side.
Jack Watts has been the poster boy for a lot of Melbourne’s desperately poor run since his arrival at the club. He’s been on the end of much criticism, some of it deserved if at times a little harsh, but it looks like he’s going to emerge as a fine player.
Melbourne had to be rebuilt from the foundations, but Paul Roos believes in the here-and-now, and recruited accordingly once taking over.
Daniel Cross has been the ultimate professional and calming influence that he was recruited to be. Bernie Vince has quality AFL attributes and has delivered them most weeks. Dom Tyson was taken with pick No. 3 by GWS, and we’re seeing why on a weekly basis.
Nathan Jones has been the spiritual leader during the doldrum years. He was handed the titles officially this year and has lifted his game again, often cutting out the opposition’s best player while still being a prime mover.
Few supporter bases have seen the deep, dark, prolonged lows that Melbourne fans have experienced in recent times – ironically, only Richmond people can really give them a shake. They certainly deserve the good news stories that come their way.
Almost halfway through the season, Melbourne wins shouldn’t be discussed in terms of the list of things the opposition has done wrong, but by everything the Demons are doing right.
Justin Curran
Roar Rookie
Thanks for writing this article Cameron. As a Melbourne supporter, I am in agreement that we can no longer be pencilled in as an easy 4 points by the rest of the competition. I also concede that we have not beaten any top teams this year. But any team in the competition would now know that they need to turn up to play against us. The midfield is starting to look good, with Viney, Dyson and Salem looking excellent. Not sold on Toumpas yet, and Trengove needs to come back and realise his potential. I think we will look for further key position forwards and backs this year at the draft to increase our depth there particularly with the likely departure of Frawley. All in all some positive signs and looking forward to the next few years.
Darren
Guest
Exactly, I recall the match against GWS last year, talking about how good it was that we managed to keep them to less than 100 points for the only time last year.
Peter March
Roar Rookie
2013 saw the Demons concede on average 122.3 points per game, this year so far the average sits at 78.6. These stats point to massive improvement and as long as they can keep it up, will remain competitive for the rest of 2014.
Jack Smith
Roar Guru
*talent. I'd sure I wrote talent for that comment...
Strummer Jones
Roar Rookie
It seemed to me that not many commentators had actually watched the Melb v Adel game. I was shocked that the odds for the Tigers were so tight, but assumed at the time everyone figured they would win on the wave of emotion following the death of Tom Hafey. Melb actually looked good against Adelaide so I figured at least a 30-40% chance of winning the game. The other team that I think is a little (just a little) underrated are The Western. I'm predicting The Western could cause a couple of upsets in the next few rounds. If I'm right you'll hear about it from me, and if wrong I'll never raise it again ;-)
Jack Smith
Roar Guru
Melbourne head honchos wake up of a morning and think "Gees it was a good idea to get Roosey. We had all this Talbot but look at what he has done with it..." Great improvement and I hope they sign Rpos on for longer...
asdz
Guest
Clubs have bad patches but they dont stay down forever. you need the right people to steer them out of the hole.
Axle an the guru
Guest
Melbournes problems go back to when they sacked Daniher, that was the wrong decision. Bailey and Neeld were both bad decisions and Melbourne have payed a big price for those choices. Its good to see things looking a bit positive for them now. Roos has the respect of the players,something Bailey and Neeld didnt have. Mark Neeld did a lot of damage to that list,letting experience walk out the door is the wrong move when you have a young list. This club will feed off what Paul Roos has to offer,and it will grow,into something great. Can Paul Roos break another premiership drought given time? I think he can.
Cameron Rose
Expert
It's a lovely spot to be in when you can rise without playing a game!
Cameron Rose
Expert
It's not the worst point Tom, but their base was so, so low that we almost have to call it the norm. Let's just say Mark Neeld won't be getting any phone calls to coach at AFL level again.
TomC
Roar Guru
I think I'm just a begrudging kind of guy. The point I'm making in a roundabout kind of way is that you have to be careful when judging teams coming from a low base. Sometimes what looks like a huge improvement might just be reversion to the mean.
Griffo
Guest
If Carlton and the Dogs managed to cop hidings next weekend then Melbourne could move out of the bottom 6 to 12th spot. Carn the Dees!
Cameron Rose
Expert
Yeah, the Dees could have won that game, and it's another pointer of how far they've come that fans would have been genuinely filthy they didn't. But the Dogs are a better side, which was enough.
Cameron Rose
Expert
Hmm, very, very begrudging Tom. Perhaps with Lions going to badly, you don't want to think too kindly of other bottom teams. :) I've been there! I think your point about a low standard is a good one, we do have to remember how far back they were coming from. We're not judging them against a Hawthorn or Geelong at their best, we're judging them against the Neeld version of themselves. I guess the point is that perhaps their wins should no longer spark crisis meetings and blowtorches for the losing team, as if they are still a rabble.
Rich_daddy
Roar Guru
I suppose they are an improvement on last season (not hard to do), but been a bit hot and cold. Watching the last quarter against the dogs last week I couldn't believe they lost. The dogs were the walking wounded and no forward line structure. But they have beaten 3 sides, including the crows interstate so I suppose things are looking up for them.
TomC
Roar Guru
Cam Pedersen had a great game on Saturday, and he's had a few good performances, but I don't think his output this season is particularly impressive for a 27 year old who's been in the system four years. Ditto Jack Watts, now in his sixth season, who looks like he might be a solid contributor. Great, but boy we hold him to a low standard now. And I think that pretty much sums up Melbourne, really. Achieving mediocre competence has become an unexpected triumph. I suppose I agree with Cam that that's okay, because getting that rabble of a team to play cohesive footy is as much as could be expected. It's clear that in Cross, Vince and Tyson they've made intelligent recruiting decisions and that in turn has made it easier for Dawes, Viney and Kennedy-Harris to perform as well as possible. I'm not sure though that they really do deserve more credit. I missed the Carlton game, but I just didn't think the Adelaide and Richmond wins were all that impressive. I'd like to think their best footy this season is still ahead of them.
Cameron Rose
Expert
I've always found Frawley to be overrated as a key defender, he seems to prefer to be in space rather than in one-on-one situations. I like to see key backmen on big money be able to consistently out-mark their forward. That said, he's been really impressive in most of his games as a forward this year, providing a real presence and target. If the club looks like it's going in the right direction, and he senses Roos will stay on for a bit longer, I think he'll stay. But it would be hard to knock back Hawthorn, knowing you can walk into a side that can contend for a flag immediately.
handles
Guest
Grimes, Toumpas, Trengrove - all first round draft picks, and none of them are good enough with the ball in hand. Hopefully they can improve. Hopefully some of the money available can keep Frawley out of Hawthorn's clutches, but the strong rumour is that he is gone. But it might be a master stroke to play him up forward this year - I doubt that is what the Hawks have in mind.
Cameron Rose
Expert
Grimes disposal is a concern, he was almost one of the Tigers best players with his turnovers. McDonald is getter better in this regard. There are still going to be some bad games, but even then the Sydney loss was only five goals instead of ten or twelve like it would have been last year.
clayts
Guest
I think we still need another decent midfielder to really contend with the better sides. Then we also need another key forward as depth as well in case one of Dawes or Hogan (when he eventually plays a game) get injured/suspended. The backs are pretty much ok but almost all of them need to learn how to dispose of the ball properly. Against decent sides we cannot continue to hand the opposition goals from kick outs or clangers out of defensive fifty. We gave away 3 goals (out of 7 the tigers had at the time) directly from incompetent kicking. I actually think we should have beaten Richmond by more, even with their shonky kicking. Let's not forget they got a goal from a ridiculous holding the ball decision right in front of goal in the last quarter too. I make that almost half the goals richmond did actually score were a result of our gifting them goals or the umps pulling out silly free kicks. That being said we did punish richmond from turnovers too but i don't recall any quite as bad or easy as ours though. Also, even though we look infinitely better than last year, we still got absolutely belted by the eagles at home and soundly beaten by an under strength and out of form Sydney. Other than those teams we haven't really played anyone who is decent yet. This is why it sucks so much that we didn't beat Saints or the Bulldogs. We'd be just about in the 8! Agree with the article though. Was thinking the same thing with all the headlines in the papers today being about how bad richmond were. I thought we tackled brutally for the whole game. That's what won it. that and Jack Watts :)