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The Roar

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Oh footy, it's great to have you back again!

5th April, 2015
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Paul Roos had Melbourne on the cusp of a fairytale finals appearance in his last season at the club. (Photo: Justine Walker/AFL Media)
Expert
5th April, 2015
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Welcome back footy, and maybe it’s because you’ve been away so long, but Round 1 certainly seemed to throw up a hatful of highlights.

And we’ve still got a game which could – if history is any indication – top all of what we have already seen in Round 1.

I don’t have enough space to individually list all the magical moments, but there were a few specific things which have already stood out.

It started with Richmond, who are showing significant positive signs which were missing in 2014.

There was the magnificent, gutsy effort from the Bombers, who despite a lack of pre-season workouts, did everything but get the four competition points against last season’s grand finalists. And we can’t forget the merit of the Swans to fight back from a seemingly unwinnable position.

Then there was the Magpies firstly blitzing the Lions, then having to withstanding a barnstorming finish.

Luke Beveridge got the perfect coaching start as the Bulldogs beat the Eagles, the Giants got their season off to a winning start for a second successive season, and of course the Round 1-ladder leaders Adelaide were awesome against North Melbourne.

And how about last night’s cracker in Perth? Finals’ footy in April from the Dockers and Port.

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But for me the highlight was at the MGC on Saturday afternoon, when the Dees ended their 10-year drought and won for the first time in Round 1 since 2005.

Let’s be honest, the Suns were poor. But credit where it’s due, the Dees were great.

New recruits Heritier Lumumba and Jeff Garlett slotted seamlessly into the team and added some oomph.

Nathan Jones toiled as usual and finally got some reward for all his efforts, Tom McDonald was tough in defence, Jack Viney’s job on Gary Ablett Jr was exceptional and debutantes Jesse Hogan, Aaron Vandenberg and Angus Brayshaw all impressed. Jack Watts even looked like a top-10 draft pick for the first time since he was at the draft camp.

Let’s be honest, the Dees aren’t going to be playing in late September – they won’t be playing in early September – but what they showed on Saturday afternoon is evidence that what Paul Roos is trying to instil in his young group is finally getting through.

When he finished coaching at the Swans at the end of the 2010 season, Roos said he wasn’t a career coach and couldn’t see himself ever coaching again. He changed that at the end of 2013 when he signed with the Dees, but throughout 2014 he must have wished several times he had stood by his original decision to not coach again.

But the premiership-winning coach could not hide his joy on Saturday, declaring: “It was certainly a good day for the club …” and no doubt for the coach too.

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The Demons will get a handful of wins, will probably still suffer some substantial losses against the competition’s elite, but purely judging on what I saw on Saturday, they are going to be far more competitive, and far less embarrassing.

And look, again only going on what the weekend produced, they would have to give themselves a realistic hope of matching it with the GWS Giants next Saturday in Canberra.

But maybe more importantly, come September, their long suffering fans will be feeling a whole lot better about the following season than they have for a long time.

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