I like to see a football side more as a character than a staid team and meaningless mascot. What is a Power in any case?
Geelong in the eighties and nineties was Robin Hood (played by Erol Flynn of course). Swashbuckling and daring.
Richmond, for the last five years have been the Darth Vader of the AFL. And Melbourne and Western Bulldogs are the New Avengers. Not the Marvel sort but the sixties television series.
Melbourne are John Steed and the Westerns are Mrs Emma Peel. And although these two were meant to be on the same side, they often fought with pithy remarks, martial arts and various weapons.
Steed
As the name reeks of conservatism, strength and stability, so does Melbourne.
The Demons had a brief appearance in the finals in 2018 (just the one victory pushing the Cats out of the series) and were then banished to the bottom eight.
The Demons’ emergence this year corresponds with the emergence of Christian Petracca. He used to be one of those players who occasionally did a good thing. Looked like he could play like “The Package”, Jake Stringer if he gets it together. Now he is a champion player others can aspire to.
Max Gawn, man mountain, lion hearted and all Australian ruckman. He has proven Wayne Carey wrong. You can grow silly beards and play good football. He not only wins the ball in the ruck contest but gets it to his midfielders. And the midfielders can kick. They pick out the tall forwards to ensure a set shot at goal. That is efficiency.
Christian Petracca (Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
Emma Peel
Smooth, stylish and with lightening reflexes, the bulldogs emulate Mrs Peel.
The Bulldogs came from seventh place to grab a fabulous premiership in 2016. They promptly fell to tenth then thirteenth but have rebounded to seventh again for the next two years. Now they are delicately poised at number two.
The Bont, Marcus Bontempelli, big engine, elite disposal and ball magnet. But he is not just a receiver, he actually gets the ball and does something with it.
And he likes to kick a goal in his spare time. He matches the teams style of fast movement pinpoint passes. The forwards Josh Bruce and Aaron Naughton often receive the ball lace out. English helps out when he goes forward.
Previous episode
The Demons and the Scraggers, met first this year in round 12. The lead singer for Simply Red, Clayton Oliver starred in the midfield for Melbourne. Jackson Macrae and the Bont were good for the Bulldogs. The Dogs had more disposals, more inside fifties, more marks and more tackles but still went down by 28 points.
Gawn had a dominant ruck performance. The Demons outdid the Doggies in their contested ball, both marks, particularly inside fifty and on the ground. Garcia recorded one kick, one handball and one concussion for his first game for the Doggies.
To sum the match up, Melbourne were stronger and more clinical in their forward thrusts. It was a statement win.
Round 19 episode
Like all New Avengers shows, the storyline will be tight, stylish and very predictable. It is very fortunate that there has been seven rounds between clashes, because this episode will be very predictable.
Gawn will win the ruck and many marks around the ground (just don’t let him mark 10 metres out). Petracca and Oliver will star. Melbourne’s talls will stand tall. The Bont and Macrae will give 110 percent but it will not be enough.
Adam Treloar and Easton Wood will be sorely missed. The Emma Peel of the league will be defeated, by 22 points. But it will be with panache and style.
CloudRunner
Roar Rookie
Yeah I see what you mean about immersion breaking. Kind of what Space Odyssey did for Science Fiction given that was a B-Movie genre beforehand.
JamesH
Roar Guru
In that case, it might be as simple as being an escape from reality. I guess the more mundane real life feels, the more appealing a superhuman/fantasy/sci-fi romp becomes. My comment about "dramatic improvements in CGI" wasn't about the effects looking real. It was about the effects being high-quality enough to not break immersion. That's why I mentioned costumes as well. Last century, the options were to have a rigid outfit or to use stretchy fabric that creased at the joints. It's a bit jarring to watch Michael Keaton's batman move like his neck and torso are fixed in place (because they literally are).
nics
Roar Rookie
I am throwing up the Eagles as Vision - looks awesome in practice, but goes to water once a real opponent rocks up . :crying:
Robert Cartledge
Guest
Thr dogs can't beat other contenders, as proven by losses against the Demons, Cats, and Swans in their past three attempts.
Robert Cartledge
Guest
Melbourne had two wins in the 2018 finals series - we also beat Hawthorn the following week to end their campaign.
Chanon
Roar Rookie
It’s ok Yatt your next :laughing:
Chanon
Roar Rookie
Berrlins he will be fresh with a week off!
Bangkokpussey
Roar Rookie
I would've thought more like Mr Darcy and Miss Bennett.
George Apps
Roar Rookie
Just age!
Joseph Goodman
Guest
Great article, but the Dees actually won two finals in 2018. They beat the Hawks in the semifinal after they beat Geelong….but hey, let’s not let the truth get in the way of a good story.
Pope Paul VII
Roar Rookie
Good god a push in the back is still free kick.
berrlins
Roar Pro
Since watching them torch the Dogs last time I can't underestimate them, they are really well drilled, solid game plan and answers across the ground. the Dogs going in tall is going to be interesting. This'll be Schaches second game this season and its against the same opponent as last time so I don't know what Bev expects from him, the only thing is JUH can mark high and also play low so he'll be hard to match up against.
Yattuzzi
Roar Rookie
Thanks Berlinns, just tried to do something a bit different. Maybe it was a bit in the past for most. I just think the whole season people have underestimated the Demons. If the Doggies get up it will be a good effort. I can’t help think if Bevo wanted to play the extra talls, he should have practiced it before he played the top side.
Cloak
Roar Rookie
The Libba situation is really interesting. I don't know whether we go with the exact same plan as last time (Harmes to tag) because it worked so well, or whether that's so predictable as to be stupid.
berrlins
Roar Pro
nice write up yattuzzi, dunno if Melbourne will win, right now both teams are out of form a little, the Dogs have banked an extra win but havn't looked convincing since their flogging of the Weagles in the west and thte Demons are all over the place. If Libba has more of a say this time than last time the Dogs will win. He is so underrated and important to the Dogs setup. If they blanket libba, and swarm the ball carrier not allowing any space the Demons will have it in the bag.
Yattuzzi
Roar Rookie
Well that could be two tips that you go down this week. Demons and Cats.
berrlins
Roar Pro
I think they're going to throw all of their talls at Gawn and see which one sticks
DingoGray
Roar Guru
really disappointed have to wait for Saturday night for this game. Should be the Friday night game. Going to be a cracker! I think the Dogs can / will beat you but I don't think it will be flogging. I reckon this is a couple of kick job. Really looking forward to this game.
CloudRunner
Roar Rookie
Thanks for that reply James. That's not how I meant it, but that's my fault for not articulating my question better. I meant more on a thematic and subconscious level as to why people are drawn to it. I assume it's to do with seeing people with great power use that power to benefit humanity as that doesn't correlate with how history has panned out: real people on average abuse it to some degree. I only assume that as it came to prominence in the 30's and 40's, a mixture of the residue of the Great Depression and the onset of WWII. Musicals in Cinema came into vogue during that time as it gave those with little hope a moment of levity in their dreary existence, so I wonder if that's the same for why Superheroes became popular, which is why I wonder why it's still so popular now. Iron Man and The Dark Knight came out just around the GFC of 2009 for example. Anywho, I'm glad nerdiness is now acceptable as I'm one myself. I personally feel The Lord of the Rings were responsible for that. Barely any studio thought that was a surefire hit at the time as Medieval Fantasy is Peak Nerdom, despite the legacy of the books and all but after cleaning up the Oscars it somehow gave it validation (plus they're truly great films). I don't agree on "dramatic improvements on CGI" though. It was initially used to make the intangible tangible, such as Jurassic Park, but now films barely try to conceal it: it's clear most of what I'm watching is not real and that's a shame, hence why I enjoyed The Force Awakens use of practical effects at times and why The Thing holds up so well. Anyways, if anyone's still reading, it's clear I need a Roar equivalent for film talk, lol.
Cloak
Roar Rookie
Aside from Dogs supporters, why would anyone think the Dogs are going to belt us? The only sides they've beaten by more than 20 points all year are: North Melbourne, Gold Coast, GWS, Fremantle and West Coast. Sure, the West Coast win was good, but the Eagles aren't exactly setting the world on fire right now. For all the talk about Melbourne being unable to score, we have 20+ point wins over Geelong, Richmond, the Dogs, Brisbane and Port (as well as Fremantle, GWS, Hawthorn, North and Carlton). And over the last 7 weeks (up to and including the last time we played), the Dogs have outscored us by a combined total of 8 goals (barely one goal more than us per week) and 8 scoring shots. We may well lose but on 2021 form there isn't much to support a theory that the Dogs are going to blow us out of the water.