Although much has been made of Melbourne’s improvement in 2014, Sunday was not one step back, it was three.
A doubled win tally, notable improvements in players such as Nev Jetta, Rohan Bail and Cam Pedersen, while also conceding 20 less points per game, has been cause for much joy among Melbourne supporters.
Yet on the weekend Melbourne suffered one of the most humiliating losses of the season, losing to the Greater Western Sydney Giants at the MCG.
Even though it wasn’t one of the 100-point thrashing the Dees and their long-suffering fans have become accustomed to in recent years, make no mistake it was humiliating.
They were beaten soundly by a young team, who despite having no bench, out-ran, out-worked and completely outplayed the Melbourne Football Club.
Then there’s the cellar-dwelling Saint Kilda. With new coach Alan Richardson, the Saints began the season with three wins out of four to be in the eight.
Then they faded badly to be favourites to take home the wooden spoon, sitting last on the table with two rounds to go.
Saint Kilda currently has ties to Moorabbin and Seaford with the club also being rumoured to be keen on a deal in conjunction with Cricket Victoria and the Victorian Government to redevelop the outdated Junction Oval.
Melbourne currently use the world-class AAMII Park and Gosch’s Paddock.
St Kilda have talented midfielders in Jack Steven and Luke Dunstan, while the Demons feature the up-and-coming Dom Tyson and the ever-reliable Nathan Jones.
Melbourne have been last on the table for 97 of 127 rounds since 2007 and haven’t won a premiership in 50 years. St Kilda have one of the lowest overall winning percentages in the league and have won one premiership in 125 years of football.
The solution for these two clubs’ woes?
Let them come together, to become the Melbourne Saints.
Unlike the attempted merger between Hawthorn and Melbourne in the 1990s, this benefits both sides and the AFL.
Saint Kilda can have world-class facilities, Melbourne get the quality players to help their struggling side. Add a few draft picks they’ll receive this year and the potential cap room to lure a marquee signing, and it’s perfect.
Melbourne get to cut ties with the City of Casey, something which new president Glenn Bartlett is very keen on, and also find their potential successor to Paul Roos in Alan Richardson, a highly regarded coach of young players.
Their line-up would resemble something like this:
B: Luke Delany Lynden Dunn Neville Jetta
HB: Jack Newnes Tom McDonald Shane Savage
C: Bernie Vince Dom Tyson Farren Ray
HF: Jeremy Howe Rhys Stanely Jack Trengove
F: Eli Templeton Nick Riewodlt © Jesse Hogan
Foll: Billy Longer Nathan Jones © Jack Steven (VC)
Int: Cam Pedersen/Tom Hickey, Leigh Montagna, Jimmy Webster, Rohan Bail
Sub: Sam Blease/Jay Kennedy-Harris/David Armitage
That looks like a side which could, with a few adjustments, be in the top eight within two years.
Add to that the likes of Patrick Mccartin and Christan Petrecca from this year’s draft, and things really start looking up for the AFL’s two perennial rebuilders
So let’s all get behind the Melbourne Saints, for the good of everyone involved.
Sam
Guest
Great article mate, loved every word of it. Great suggestions but David Armitage the sub?
rooboy
Guest
Melbourne had a chance to merge with North and knocked it back, they thought it 'beneath them'. Squirm, fold, go away, it's all the same to me.
Daniel
Guest
This blokes a gherkin, he's a turkey!
Nezza
Guest
Sounds a lot more like a takeover than a merger! Lets get all four of the colours onto the jumper so there is some equity for all supporters. And as for "its a grand old flag its a motheaten rag" .... there are three Saints versions to choose from, and a myriad of choices on the internet. Why not go with the Saints are coming pending copyright? And don't forget we will have to find a way for the two cultures to blend together .... the Long Room meets the Animal Enclosure, I would love to see that!
Rob
Guest
As a demons fan I would rather not see my club merge but for the sake of argument let's say the following happened - Melbourne and st kilda merge to become the Melbourne Saints, North and Gold Coast merge to become the Gold Coat Roos and the dogs jump into bed with GWS to create the Western Bulldogs (works dosnt it?') - suddenly you have 2 less teams in Melbourne - and the chance to add another club in North Queensland or Tasmania to make up 16 teams and get rid of the buy. North and the dogs would just absorb GWS and the Gold Coast and becomes but like the lions (same jumpers, song etc) with 2 "home" games in melbourne every year. The Melbourne saints would get add white into melbournes jumper for home games and change the black to navy on the saint jumpers for away games, play home games at the G and use AAMI stadium for training and home base until the Junction Oval is back up to standard - play in Melbourne and train in St kilda. Song would be melbournes because it is just a crap load better than the saints song (just change the every heart beats true for the red and the blue to every heart beats true for the red white and blue) and there you have it. Nothing less than 10 million form the AFL though please!
Jim
Guest
Bob, you need to remember its called the 'AFL' these days, not the 'VFL'....
Jason K
Guest
I think the author is just trying to have some fun, maybe even trolling us a tad bit. In all seriousness, I think Saints should get a priority draft pick because they, unlike Melbourne, have bothered to put a plan into place for the team's future success. Saints have something called the "Road to 2018". They are doing demonstrable things to improve the team. That should be rewarded with a priority draft pick and doing so would set an example for some of the other dysfunctional teams now and in the future.
Nezza
Guest
Correction to the above comment - I will admit that I have not watched many Melbourne games this year, it appears you have done the same with regard to the Saints.
Nezza
Guest
Unashamedly a Saints member and I can't believe some of this drivel. How quickly we forget that it was only four years ago we got as close as you can possibly get to winning a flag without doing so. My major beefs with your team - Jack Billings and Luke Dunstan have both had Rising Star Nominations and cannot make the team? David Armitage only makes a sub/emergency? I will admit that I have not watched many Melbourne games this year, I think you need to do the same with regard to the Saints. And who would you have as coach - Paul Roos? The best mate of the bloke that looks for a quick fix to get a premiership and it seems will leave the Dockers in the same mess recruiting wise as he left the Saints. I want to see the jumper you propose so I can rip it in half like Don Scott did to the Hawks/Demons one - and with the same passion he displayed!
Brian
Guest
By helping the poorer clubs the AFL is basically saying no to any mergers. Eventually we'll see if the next phase is 20 teams or to have a relocation. Tasmanian Kangaroos? I can't see anything on the horizon given how long GC & GWS have to go. They'll need to consolidate even longer then Sydney and Brisbane as they were not formed off the back of existing Victorian clubs.
Gecko
Roar Pro
Amazing the amount of discussion that's been generated by Melbourne losing form for a month. Seems pretty knee-jerk. In mid-season, everybody was berating the Tigers' coach and praising the Demons. Now suddenly the Tigers' early bad form was not Dimma's fault, and there's talk of merging the Demons. Maybe we supporters are more fickle than the Demons players. Our opinions can change dramatically over just a few weekends.
Tony Tea
Guest
Cut ties with Casey and move to Greater Western Seaford. That would make TWO clubs desperate to get out of Seaford.
Don Freo
Guest
That sample side would still finish bottom and makes one realize how bad both clubs are...except, as Winston points out, it wouldn't be close to the best side you could pick.
The Oudsman
Guest
According to the authors bio he's a budding sports journo and a keen watcher of MFC. That's scary on more than one front.
Cat
Roar Guru
Can't happen during the current media deal, the AFL is contracted for 18 teams, 9 matches a week, would have to wait at least until the next media deal.
Troy
Guest
Hypothetically if any two teams wanted to merge, would the AFL stand in the way? The AFL may not be encouraging mergers as they were a couple of decades ago, but would they discourage it? (By the way, I don't support a merger between any of the teams really, just wondering what would happen.)
Olivia Watts
Roar Guru
Welcome to the writing team, Adam. I'm sorry but, as much as I love to support new authors, I don't find much in this article I can agree with. Melbourne certainly needs to give the City of Casey the flick (and I say that even though I live only a good kick or three from Casey Fields) but taking away one isolation from their heartland only to exchange it for another at Seaford makes no sense. The expensive but obvious base would be the Junction Oval, but sharing Punt Road with the Tigers might also work. StKilda is living proof of the mistakes Melbourne needs to avoid. It got all the AFL help, top draft picks etc which Melbourne wants now and had a few years in the sun, but never won a flag and are now in even worse shape than before. A Merger Would, at very best, be a highly temporary patch job and ultimately achieve nothing. For whatever reason, there seems to be some sort of cultural dry rot endemic at the Saints and I don't see even a shorter medium term solution for their woes. They may well end up folding but better that than two teams being taken down by their problems. The Demons now have highly capable administration and solid coaching. Their training facilities are acceptable and arrangements can be made to rebrand and relocate their VFL squad. What they need is to endure a few years of painful list culling and rebuilding, get people like Nick Maxwell and Brett Kirk into the Coaching panel to reinforce an ethos of hard work, dedication, sacrifice and team spirit and plan on being upwards bound in a sustainable and healthy manner. Unlike StKilda, there IS light at the end of their dark tunnel but they will have to work hard, be ruthless and stay united if they are to reach it. I believe they can do it, but merger - with anyone - is not the way.
Duckwho
Roar Rookie
Long Overdue..
dms1972
Guest
A merger between two clubs must be done solely on the basis of off-field considerations. A merger based upon combining on-field resources is only a short term solution. So what if that combined side can compete for finals in a couple years? That won't last. As others have pointed out, it was only recently that St Kilda were playing off in grand finals. Three years ago, Port Adelaide won as many games as Gold Coast to avoid the wooden spoon by just percentage. Where are they now? Yes, St Kilda's history in its entirity is woeful but, since the inception of the National competition and the implementation of the draft, St Kilda have been far from the worst performing club in the competition. Heck, even Sydney have "won" more wooden spoons than St Kilda since 1987 (although they do draw level if St Kilda finish last this year with 3 each). If on-field performances are to be a major consideration than Richmond are a more worthy candidate for merging than St Kilda. Since their last Grand Final appearance in 1982, Richmond have appeared in just 3 finals series and won 4 wooden spoons in that time. Even Melbourne has a better finals record than Richmond in that time. If a merger is to be considered, the only factors that should come into consideration are off-field ones because on-field fortunes can be turned around.
Bob Gooch
Guest
As a long time MFC member the idea of merging with any club doesn't sit well. However the MFC in its present state is an absolute disaster and it faces extinction unless it cuts ties with Cranbourne and returns to its heartland - Melbourne City and the MCG. I wouldn't support a merged team, rather not follow the AFL at all since they've bastardised the game and many VFL clubs anyway