There were grumbles on Saturday night. The broadcast game in Brisbane, Essendon and Melbourne, wasn’t expected to offer much. The consensus was unanimous. Port Adelaide against Carlton would be a better game to watch.
It was Stevo who offered caution. ‘You never know,’ he said. ‘Essendon and Melbourne might turn out to be a one goal game.’
Stevo is a football expert, but his comment was given little credence. Among a gathering of seven men, someone is bound to suggest the obvious, that a game might be better than forecast. Stevo comment was flippant, possibly optimistic, but he turned out to be the sage despite the evidence.
Essendon was second, with eight wins and one loss. They’re damn good, this season anyway. They expect to contend the finals. The game was already won before it began, the margin the only variable.
Melbourne hadn’t won a game through nine rounds. Under new coach Mark Neeld the Demons didn’t have the potential to win. Still, thousands of Melbourne fans braved a cold, wet night hoping for a fight. To fantasise of winning was pointless.
Their players were no good. There was no leadership. The supporters who endured heavy losses through nine rounds had all but given up. Football, though, was part of their psyche. Those at the MCG on Saturday night weren’t fair-weather fans, but a dogged, spirited hardcore group used to watching football in retreat.
They could not possibly have predicted the sudden, shocking change. The timid, pathetic bunch of footballers representing their club became brave. It was apparent when Michael Hurley kicked out on the full early in the first quarter that Essendon expected to win. That’s a fine fundamental of competitive sport. Unfortunately for the Bombers, Melbourne wanted to win.
Inclement conditions reduced the game to a slog. That’s no excuse for poor skill. Essendon couldn’t kick straight. They had 2.9 at half time and trailed by a goal. At three quarter time, they were 5.13, with eight more scoring shots than Melbourne and led by eight points.
If four of those points were goals, the game was over.
There wasn’t much love for Essendon at the ASB. In fact, there was none. Among such a gathering of seven men, the comments were uncomplimentary. Ladder positions and underdog status had nothing to do with it.
Being hated by those at the ASB made the slog sweeter. Melbourne;s goals were cheered, Essendon’s jeered. As the match went on, the underdog spirit arose and those in the bar embraced it.
Despite trailing at the last change, Melbourne rallied against all odds. They harassed, hurt and embarrassed the Bombers. Still, when Jobe Watson kicked Essendon’s only goal in the last term, there was a universal fear that class and poise would prevail.
When the game grew old the music was paused and the commentary gained voice. Seven men in the bar watched with intent as the seconds slipped by and Melbourne clung on to the lead.
Mark Neeld was on the boundary. When the siren went he became enraptured, hugging his men and howling with delight. In the ASB we cheered and drank beer and watched those poor Essendon players without any shred of sympathy.
The win has erased the hate, and people certainly hated Neeld. He took the worst job in football and the club went backwards, for nine rounds. Neeld now has manifested into coach extraordinaire, at least for the short term. To remind everyone of his greatness, Melbourne needs to keep winning.
The experts who critiqued Neeld’s appointment as coach and his game plan need to find some other football diehard to hate. It won’t take long. The hatred might centre on North Melbourne and their coach, Brad Scott.
North, as everyone knows, got belted by Hawthorn at the weekend. The loss was severe, 115 points. Buddy Franklin kicked 13 goals. On Saturday night, the Pole, a Hawthorn fan, did not offer any jest. He didn’t walk the bar with a cocky swagger.
He was immaculately humble in victory.
Stevo, a Carlton fan, had to listen to score updates from Football Park. Port Adelaide, in another upset, hammered the Blues. Port has now won three consecutive games, and the hate people had for their coach, Matthew Primus, is a distant memory.
Carlton are injured and out of form. Premiership favouritism was premature. Stevo was pragmatic. He didn’t think Carlton was going to win anyway.
Back to Essendon and the horrible loss… Afterwards coach James Hird lamented missed opportunities. In the first quarter they went inside fifty 21 times to nine. They had 65 forward entries for the game and had 22 scoring shots to 18.
‘We let Melbourne who hadn’t won a game get a sniff, and when you get a sniff you lift a cog,’ Hird said. ‘I think tonight it looked like we couldn’t run across the ground as we have been.’
Melbourne beat Essendon at the clearances and won the contested ball. For the first time this season they played like front-runners. Essendon looked tired and, as Hird said, couldn’t buy a goal.
It isn’t cool to follow Melbourne. They never win. The club has been in debt and in turmoil for years. It doesn’t seem fair to rib a Melbourne fan, if anyone actually knows one. Now they’ve won a game, a momentous occasion, the bottom side against the second placed side.
That generally doesn’t happen, except in dreams.
On Sunday, Brisbane came back from 20 points down in the last quarter and defeated West Coast by four points. It was another huge upset, underdog spirit perhaps, but more likely a club expecting to win without expending any effort.
In the second quarter, West Coast went forward. The ball was loose on the fifty. Five Eagles were motionless as the ball moved about. Brisbane gained possession and went forward to kick a goal. Either the Eagles didn’t travel well, or they couldn’t be bothered running.
West Coast has a better side than Brisbane, but the difference was stark. The Eagles, for all their flair and skill, waited for someone else to get the ball. When they led by 20 points in the last term, they were still playing pedestrian football.
Brisbane got a sniff, three goals in five minutes and the finish was climactic.
It cost me twenty bucks. I was furious. West Coast is on top. Brisbane is fourteenth. It should’ve been easy money. Instead, it was aggravation.
Wins against the odds commonly occur, but they’re rare when the difference between the combatants is so vast.
Everyone loves the underdog. If I didn’t have money on West Coast, I would’ve been glad they lost. The underdog got up. It will level the ladder somewhat and it creates interest in football.
There is no such thing as a certainty in football. As Stevo said, it might be a one goal game. That uncertainty is what makes football so great. It makes us love the underdog. We embrace the underdog spirit, because we all want a contest.
Except where our club is involved. When our club is playing, we want to annihilate the opposition. When our club is annihilated, as North was on the weekend, we can take solace in other club’s losses.
When I talked to Russ on Sunday, he was lifted, somewhat, by the events of Saturday night. ‘At least Essendon lost to Melbourne,’ he said.
We laughed and laughed.
Pride Cup results:
|
68 |
Anne (5) |
|
67 |
Russ (5) |
|
66 |
Matt (4), Sandra (5), James F (5), Matt B (6) |
|
65 |
Dave (5), Wayne (4) |
|
64 |
The Pole (7), George (5) |
|
63 |
Stevo (6) |
|
61 |
Andy (5) |
|
60 |
Dallas (5) |
|
59 |
Paul (6), James T (6), Adam L (6) |
|
58 |
Donna (6) |
|
57 |
Eric (4) |
|
53 |
Jim (4) |
|
32 |
Nemo (3) |
