It would be easy to be misled by the final margin. It doesn't mean a thing. The Demons are a disgraceful excuse for an AFL side. They may have 'tried' in the first half, but quickly went to pieces when we turned up the heat. It must have been so terrible for all those Demons fans there- most of them in the commentary box. From the moment the telecast started- Eddie "Today is all about the Demons", to the ridiculous level of excitement generated when Melbourne hit the front a few times. So not only is Eddie a football commentator, President of Boganwood, host of that terrible Hot-Seat rubbish, but he is also Melbourne's No. 1 cheerleader. Oh, plus he really doesn't like Hams does he? The guy has so many hats but he can't wear any of them because his head is so big.
Anyway, us. Because yes, contrary to Eddie's assertions it wasn't all about Melbourne on Saturday. We played in fits and starts for the first half. They had more hunger, drive and initiative. We continued our sloppy disposal from last week and looked a little surprised by the fact that they actually showed up. But then after half-time we reset and completely obliterated them. Which is nice and all but to me it's just another example of a team that goes through patches where we are soundly beaten. We lack consistency and against any other team than Melbourne we would have been in dire trouble in that first half.
Yet, we won. JJK and Darling played like the tandem we all hope they will be into the future. The midfield gained some confidence and racked up big numbers. Cox was superb, whilst Sinclair locked down the backup ruck spot for another few games with a solid second game. Kerr and Lecras made it out of Melbourne unscathed.
But after 3 games, do we seem like a premiership contender? It's probably too early to really ascertain that. And with news that Naitanui will be out another 2 months and trampoline-extraordinaire Wellingham still a while out, that probably won't become clear until mid-season. That's especially true when you look at the fixture and see that we have an unbelievably soft run until the round 13 clash with the Hawks. That game signifies a run into the finals which is very tough. We probably need to go near undefeated over the next couple of months to set up a top 4 berth.
In other news, Masten has signed on with the club until 2016. He's a solid player now. I'm not buying in to the view that he has somehow now fulfilled his potential. He was a number 3 draft pick so unless he becomes an elite player, he hasn't reached the heights he should have. Still, he's a handy player.
We play an actuall football team next week, well Carlton, but close enough. We'll need a better performance to win.
UPDATE: Apparently Embley and Waters are out for a few weeks....unbelievable.
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