Thomas shines in the VFL

Dale Thomas tries to get around Chris Giampaolo during the VFL match between Collingwood and North Ballarat at Victoria Park Picture: Harman Stephen Source: Herald Sun

COLLINGWOOD AFL 2010 premiership star midfielder Dale Thomas shook off the remaining legacy of a pre-season ankle surgery to be best afield for the Magpies VFL side in the match against the North Ballarat Roosters.

With coach Nathan Buckley and five of his coaching panel watching from the grandstand, the 25-year-old finished with 22 disposals, six marks and a final-quarter goal to help seal the Pies' 52-point win.

Thomas, the 152 AFL game veteran, put his name forward for inclusion for next Sunday's clash against Hawthorn at the MCG.

The only downside was a hamstring injury to Hawthorn recruit Clinton Young.

The 2008 AFL premiership player, recruited on a three-year deal under the free agency rule, was sidelined from the end of the first quarter. He is likely to miss the next two or three weeks.

Collingwood boasted an array of AFL talent, including Jackson Paine, who booted four goals, Alex Fasolo, who had 25 touches, Alan Didak, after returning from a hamstring strain, and former Brisbane and Western Bulldogs big man Ben Hudson.

The surprise packet was Frankston VFL 2012 best-and-fairest Kyle Martin, who created a big impression with 33 touches and three goals. He was complimented by improved tall Jarrod Witts, who worked strongly at centre bounces and around the ground and also kicked three goals.

Collingwood first-year coach Dale Tapping said Thomas was an inspiration to his team-mates.

"He played pretty well and provided a lot of run," he said. "Dale showed leadership and I imagine him playing in the AFL pretty soon."

Thomas, who covered more than 10 kilometres in territory yesterday, said he was happy to contribute to the team's success.

"The message from Dale Tapping was that we have to work really hard on developing our culture at the club," he said.

"We worked well as a team yesterday, although we let them into the game a bit in the third quarter."

Fasolo said it was great to play again after battling a hamstring injury in the pre-season.

"I played a high percentage of the game and it was all positive," he said. "I didn't have high expectation leading into the match."

Fasolo admitted he would have liked to spend more time close to goal and hoped he would be in consideration for the game against Hawthorn.

Hudson, 34, and Witts dominated the big-man department. Hudson had 20 disposals and 26 effective hitouts. He was also the general at centre bounces and at the stoppages.

North Ballarat's bad kicking in front of goal contributed to a disappointing day for coach Gerard FitzGerald and his players.

The Roosters' best included Aaron Black, Cameron Richardson, Liston Trophy winner Steve Clifton and Billy Driscoll.

Carlton's reigning best and fairest Heath Scotland had 23 touches to play a major role in the Northern Bullants upsetting Werribee in last night's match at Chirnside Park.

The Blues won the match by 15 points, 20.10 (130) to 17.13 (115) Scotland has now completed his club imposed two match suspension.

Ed Curnow was best on the ground with 30 touches for the Blues and Tyson Thomas kicked five goals. Werribee lost North Melbourne recruit ruckman Dan Currie with a hand injury in the second half.

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Power triumphs in tribute match

Port players honour John McCarthy ahead of tribute match.

Remembered - the late John McCarthy. Picture: Sarah Reed. Source: The Advertiser

Port Adelaide CEO Keith Thomas, left, with members of John McCarthy's family watch the tribute to J-Mac before the match. Picture: Dylan Coker. Source: Sunday Mail (SA)

Power's Justin Westhoff takes a spectacular mark in the second quarter against the Giants. Picture: Reed Sarah Source: adelaidenow

With Justin Westhoff and Chad Wingard playing the games of their lives, the John McCarthy tribute match last night turned into a celebration for Port Adelaide.

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The rebuilt Power overcame a resilient Greater Western Sydney - the team which dramatically ended Matthew Primus's Port coaching career last year - to win its first two games of a season for the first time in three years.

In an emotion-charged game which followed a stirring tribute to McCarthy - the former Power player who died on an end-of-season trip to Las Vegas with teammates last year - Port set up its win with a devastating, unanswered six-goal second-quarter burst.

In a sign of a good side and vastly-improved fitness levels, it then kicked clear in the final term to win easily by 56 points.

The Power's triumph followed the 79-point MCG thumping of Melbourne in round one and was further evidence the club is on the right track under new coach Ken Hinkley.

Port became the last team to beat GWS - the AFL's 18th club - after losing their previous clash at Skoda Stadium in round 19 last year.

The much-maligned Westhoff led from the front.

He displayed raw emotion in his pre-match tribute to McCarthy - shown on the AAMI Stadium screens - and played magnificently.

The tall utility kicked five goals, hauled in 14 marks and had 25 disposals in his role as a floating forward.

His standout game included a towering mark in the second quarter.

Wingard - Port's 2011 first-round draft pick - showed why he was rated so highly with a career-best performance.

The former SA under-18 captain kicked an AFL career-high three goals as well as having three score assists.

The rapidly-improving Jasper Pittard, Campbell Heath and Lewis Stevenson were solid across half-back, Brad Ebert, Kane Cornes and Travis Boak won plenty of the ball in the middle of the ground and Alipate Carlile was strong at full back in his first game of the season.

Only poor kicking for goal cost the Power a much bigger victory.

While playmaker Hamish Hartlett was well held by former Docker Rhys Palmer, Port played quick, long and direct footy through the corridor to have an impressive 39 scoring shots.

The only downside for the Power was injuries to key forward Jay Schulz (ankle) and Hartlett (sore back).

The emotion of the occasion and its extraordinary build-up, which included a magnificent tribute to McCarthy from his former teammates, clearly affected Port early.

It did not look like it had come to play with the Giants dominating contested possessions and clearances.

With captain Callan Ward leading from the front, GWS won 15 of the first 20 contested possessions and continually bombarded the ball inside its 50-metre zone.

Ward had 11 disposals in the opening term and his strong ballwinning ability was capitalised on by key forward Jeremy Cameron, who kicked two goals, as the Giants quickly broke to a 19-point lead.

They booted four of the first five goals before Wingard pegged one back for the Power on the stroke of quarter-time.

Port could thank Westhoff for being so close. He had 10 disposals and took six marks for the term in his role as a high forward.

The Power's woes were highlighted in the damning 3-13 clearance statistics. Eight Giants, led by Dylan Shiel's three, had managed a clearance compared to only three Port players.

Whatever Hinkley said to his players at quarter-time worked.

In a complete turnaround from the opening term, they started diving into packs, hunting in numbers and running hard from the back half.

Boak ignited the comeback with a brilliant snap from the main scoreboard pocket three minutes into the second quarter.

Fourteen minutes later the match was effectively over.

In a blistering nine-minute burst from the eighth to 17th-minute marks, the Power kicked five goals to turn an earlier 19-point deficit into a 27-point lead.

Westhoff was again at the centre of the action with two goals, including one from a towering mark, while Hartlett produced another of his customary goal of the week contenders with a bouncing gem from the scoreboard pocket.

Two late goals to GWS reduced the deficit to 16 points at the long break but the damage had been done and the floodgates opened in the final term.

SEE THE JOHN MCCARTHY TRIBUTE VIDEO HERE

PORT  2.5  8.9  12.17  19.20 (134)

GWS   4.4  6.5   8.9     11.12 (78)

BEST - Port: Westhoff, Wingard, Pittard, Cornes, Brad Ebert, Heath, Carlile, Boak. GWS: Ward, Cameron, Palmer, Coniglio, Shiel.

GOALS - Port: Westhoff 5, Wingard 3, Broadbent, Neade 2, Boak, Hartlett, O'Shea, P. Stewart, Schulz, Mitchell, Ebert. GWS: Cameron 3, Coniglio, Shiel, Whitfield, Patton, Giles, Treloar, Brogan, Smith.

INJURIES - Port: Schulz (ankle), Hartlett (back).

UMPIRES - G. Fila, S. Hay, T. Pannell.

CROWD - 25,122 at AAMI Stadium.

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Early flight for fit-again Hodge

PRIMED: Hawthorn captain Luke Hodge looks set to take on West Coast. Picture: Wayne Ludbey Source: Herald Sun

COURAGEOUS Hawthorn skipper Luke Hodge flew into Perth a day before his teammates in the expectation he could be called on for a full game against West Coast.

Hawthorn said the practise was a usual occurrence for Hodge, who had his first competitive hitout since off-season knee surgery with VFL outfit Box Hill last week.

Hawks must ban Kennett

He was joined on the Friday night flight by defender Brent Guerra.

Hawks assistant coach Adam Simpson was coy when asked if Hodge would don the subs vest today, but insisted the side would not play its captain if he was unable to see out a full game.

"I can't tell you that (if Hodge will wear the sub's vest), but we haven't made a decision yet to be honest," Simpson said.

"We'll talk tonight, we'll have a look at what the weather's going to be like tomorrow and how we pull up from training, the flight, all those sorts of things.

"We can't afford to take anyone into a game in that sense (managing their workload), even as a sub, because if you have an injury in the first few minutes, they've got to play a full game.

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"I don't think any club has that philosophy anymore, it's, 'Is he right to play a full game?'

"Then the sub is more based on the dynamics of the side."

Hodge yesterday appeared unrestricted throughout a brief training session at Patersons Stadium, with his knees unstrapped as he bounced through full-ground transition and kicking drills.

The addition of Hodge to the Hawks is a contrast to the situation at the Eagles, with the side lining up today minus key defender Eric Mackenzie (hamstring) and goalsneak Mark LeCras (arm), the latest in a line of injuries ravaging West Coast's key players.

Hawthorn has faced its own tumultuous start to the season, enduring the ongoing Lance Franklin contract saga, while having former president Jeff Kennett call for the sacking of coach Alastair Clarkson after a Round 1 loss to perennial foe Geelong.

Fans yesterday turned out in force to Patersons Stadium to show their support and Simpson said the distractions had not affected the players in any way.

"I honestly haven't seen any difference in the players, with both the Kennett thing and Buddy's contract," he said.

"They're a pretty mature group and accepted it a long time ago, about what Buddy's going through, and they've just moved on.

"I can't see anyone who's acted any differently towards Clarko or Lance, it's just been business as usual."
 

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Veteran Fletcher shows how it's done

Dustin Fletcher unloads a torpedo. Picture: Salpigtidis George

IF Melbourne wanted a lesson in intensity, it had a perfect teacher in Essendon veteran Dustin Fletcher.

Fletcher could have been forgiven for just kicking back and taking an easy night at the office - for a number of reasons.

Live HQ: Essendon v Melbourne

For a start, the ball wasn't in his vicinity a great deal as the scoreboard alone will tell you.

There was the fact that Fletcher will be 38 in 30 days' time. Add to that, the fact that this match comes 20 years to the corresponding round of his debut, way back in Round 2, 1993. And he is now three games into his 21st AFL season.

Essendon V Melbourne at the MCG, Colin Sylvia tackled by Dustin Fletcher Picture: Salpigtidis George Source: HWT Image Library

But none of those variables meant anything to the Bombers' defender as he knows no other way than to compete.

Sadly, Melbourne never had the same completion last night. Fletcher gave the Demons a lesson in how to do that for free.

He wasn't best afield; but he was one of his team's best players.

Fletcher threw himself into every contest within his jurisdiction. Very few Melbourne players could say the same.

One of those who had a first-hand view was out-of-sorts Demon Jack Watts. Watts started in defence, couldn't make an impression, and was then shifted forward where, for a time, he was opposed to Fletcher.

Essendon V Melbourne at the MCG, Colin Sylvia tackled by Dustin Fletcher Picture: Salpigtidis George Source: HWT Image Library

By the 20-minute-mark of the third term, Watts had to watch from the sidelines - with the red vest covering his jumper. It was symbolic of the Dees' night.

Through it all, Fletcher continued on as he started out, giving run from defence and helping to set up more than a few of the seemingly endless supply of Bomber moves forward.

There was the early tackle on Colin Sylvia; the first-term intercept; the big defensive grab that earned him a rare spot on the bench and a massive cheer from the Dons' faithful; the second-term spoil on James Sellar that ended up with a goal; and the willing of the crowd for Fletcher to unload one of his torpedo barrels.

He finally succumbed to the temptation late in the last quarter and it was the only time he was made to look vulnerable.

Fletcher's torp went off at right angles, and he instantly clutched at his groin and trudged off the field.

The Bombers' faithful were worried for a few minutes, before he came back on and took a great mark late in the game.

He still has a future left in him. The same certainty cannot be said for a number of Demons out there last night.
 

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Dees plummet to hellish depths

Melbourne players trudge from the ground. Picture: Ludbey Wayne

THE reality of this match was that nothing less than a win would do for Essendon, while nothing less than having a real crack would do for Melbourne.

Essendon's mission was never in doubt, Melbourne's barely gave a yelp.

Led by a dominant midfield of Dyson Heppell, Jobe Watson, David Zaharakis and Heath Hocking, the Bombers were able to dictate terms throughout.

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When they pumped the ball forward, Tom Bellchambers, Stewart Crameri and Michael Hurley were too big, strong and talented for their direct opponents, while Alwyn Davey created chances with his pace, tackling and creativity.

Demons v Bombers, MCG, Picture: Ludbey Wayne Source:

The Dons backline - built around young gun Jake Carlisle and old gun Dustin Fletcher - was superb.

Melbourne's quest to earn a semblance of respect for its intensity was dreadfully disappointing and woefully short-lived.

Last week nobody at the club had any answers to the many questions about the insipid efforts and lack of urgency in the season-opening 79-point loss to Port Adelaide.

In the minutes before the match, coach Mark Neeld publicly outlined his response when he allowed a television camera into the Demons rooms to record his pre-match address to the players.

On his whiteboard he scrawled three bullet points: Trust Yourself; Attack & Hunt With Speed; and Mistakes Do Not Matter.

Demons v Bombers, MCG, Picture: Ludbey Wayne Source:

For the first six minutes of the match the Dees played with a fierceness that would have pleased its supporters. Neither team scored and there was a palpable sense of hope that whatever the Demons lacked in polish, they would make up for in endeavour.

Yet once the Bombers opened the scoring with a Stewart Crameri goal, the inevitable march towards a demoralising thrashing began.

Throughout the first half, not only were the Demons led to the ball at centre bounces and around the ground, they were smashed in the tackle count.

Not only were failing to get first hands on the ball, they were barely doing anything to get it back.

The Demons were not forcing Essendon to play accountable football.

Rather than playing man on man or at least putting an arm across an opponent's chest, they continued to defend areas and block space.

Worst still, as the game wore on the desperation drained out of the Demons players.

They scored just one goal in the second half - at the three-minute mark of the third term - and just one point thereafter.

The 148-point loss was Melbourne's worst to Essendon (beating the 122-point thrashing in 1986), and two points higher than Essendon's previous highest score against Melbourne (in the same match).

Demons v Bombers, MCG, Picture: Ludbey Wayne Source:

The Bombers also set a record for inside-50 entries.

Only Nathan Jones, Matt Jones, James Frawley, Aaron Davey and Jeremy Howe could say they had a crack throughout, while Mitch Clark, Jack Viney and Colin Garland had their moments.

One of the most soul-destroying aspects of the game was to watch Jack Watts running around totally devoid of confidence.

On the eve of the match Neeld had put the acid on several of his players, notably Watts, who had seven disposals in the opening round against Port Adelaide.

"He's got to get going, Jack. We know that, he knows that," Neeld said.

But Watts looked lost.

His first touch came at the 18-minute mark - by which stage his opponent David Zaharakis had eight disposals - and it was the result of a backwards pass to him, unmarked at full back.

He was eventually subbed off 17 minutes into the third quarter, replaced by late call-up David Rodan.

When it was flashed across the MCG scoreboard that Watts had been banished to the bench, a loud cheer went up through the crowd of 51,153.

The intensity vanished to such a degree that the last quarter was little more than a training drill for the Bombers.

In the end, mistakes didn't matter for Melbourne, neither did trust, and hunting and attacking with speed was irrelevant.

Demons v Bombers, MCG, Picture: Ludbey Wayne Source:

What did matter was having a crack. And sadly, the longer the game progressed, the less that seemed to matter to its players, too.

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Demons hit rock bottom

Mark Neeld is under pressure. Picture: Ludbey Wayne Source: HWT Image Library

MELBOURNE'S misery deepened and the blowtorch will be further turned up on embattled coach Mark Neeld after it crashed to its greatest losing margin against a remorseless Essendon.

The Demons were smashed by 148 points at the MCG - their worst result against the Bombers and the 20th greatest margin in AFL-VFL history.

It was also Essendon's highest score against Melbourne as the Bombers slammed home 28 goals to five, including an embarrassing 15 to one in the second half.

Live HQ: Essendon v Melbourne

Melbourne now faces premiership contenders West Coast at the MCG on Saturday, with some suggesting a crunch game against Greater Western Sydney at the same venue in a fortnight could determine Neeld's future at the club.

Triple M commentator Nathan Brown suggested that Neeld would be replaced if the Demons lose to the Giants.

"If Melbourne lose that game, I don't think Mark Neeld will be there," Brown said. "They (Melbourne) have had some dark days ... but this is the darkest.

Demons v Bombers, MCG, Picture: Ludbey Wayne Source:

"It was (all about) effort, laziness, intent, or whether you give a stuff about your footy club." Already under pressure after last week's massive first round loss to Port Adelaide, the Demons could offer no resistance to the Bombers, and have now lost by a collective 227 points in the first two weeks of the season.

Neeld said after the loss: "there is only one way out of this ... and that's to stick together and to work hard.

"There is only one way out of this and it is together.

"The whole club is hurting."

"We can't pretend the last two hours didn't exist. We've all got to man up - or person up, whatever the term is and accept that."

Neeld had used his pre-game speech to his players last night - screened on Channel Seven's Saturday Night Footy telecast - to implore his players to trust one another as much as the coaching staff trusted them.

He urged his players to back themselves and take the game up to the Bombers - a team that the Demons managed to beat last year. But there was little sign of that trust - or belief in one another - at any stage of last night's whitewash.

Neeld is only two games into the second year of a three-year deal, but the club has only won four games from the 24 contest, with the last coming against GWS in Round 21 last year.

Coach Co-captain Jack Grimes said the players were "absolutely gutted".

"The feelings late in the game, I admit, were not great," he told Channel 7.

"(In the rooms after the match) there wasn't much said about the game.

"It was about sticking together because the worst thing that can happen at a time like this is for the group to fracture but that definitely won't happen.

Essendon coach James Hird admitted that he felt for Neeld last night following the massive loss.

"Mark is a good coach, and he will get his team back on track," Hird said.

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Rowe debut motivation for Blues

Carlton Intraclub practice match at VISY Park. Sam Rowe in action. Picture: Mark Stewart Source: Herald Sun

CARLTON will feed off the mix of emotion and ability from cancer survivor Sam Rowe's debut today.

The Blues hope Rowe can offset the loss of fellow tall forward Shaun Hampson to illness for the sellout clash with Collingwood at the MCG.

Blues coach Mick Malthouse described the 25-year-old's AFL start after winning his battle with testicular cancer last year as a positive focus.

Focus on Mick to help Blues

"We've been very fortunate to have a young bloke like Sam Rowe come into the side. He was very stiff not to play last week, so one door closes and another door opens," he said.

"It's the start of a new career and he has been through a heck of a lot in life, so what a great bonus.

"You replace the position and, if you do things right, it's not a matter of who wears the jumper as long as the player in it acknowledges the game role.

"I could be flippant to say every day is a bonus day, he doesn't treat it that way.

"He treats it that he's desperate to play league football. It's just a fantastic story for football.

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"I've got to say in October last year when he first started training, he was so far behind I really had my doubts that he would reach the level of fitness that's required. But he threw himself right into it and by January he was almost saying 'I've caught the rest of them'."

Malthouse said the attention on him coaching against so many Magpie players he led to premiership glory allowed his current group to work unhindered in their own preparations.

"The great thing about that is that it can be about me. And my playing group can be totally protected," he said before the Blues' final training session at Visy Park yesterday.

"If that's the net outcome -- that the pressure comes here (on me) and not on my team -- I'll live with that every day."

Malthouse said no one at Carlton had been caught up in any "must win" talk becauseof his link to Collingwood.

"I've seen it a lot this year in Australian soccer, I've seen it in Australian rugby, I see it internationally where the focus is 'we've got to beat that side'. It becomes an overburden, like when Man City plays Man United. There's a season of football and I won't allow us to get caught up in one game," he said.

"And because Collingwood went in favourites (last year) and got beaten both times, where did they finish? And where did Carlton finish?

"Both sides are substantially different, it's more about getting everything right for the year."

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Hard to split Selwood and Judd

Joel Selwood boots a goal as Chris Judd watches on. Picture: Michael Klein. Source: News Limited

UNTIL the 2007 AFL arrival of Joel Selwood, it was hard to envisage any player producing a more extraordinary first six seasons than Chris Judd with the West Coast Eagles.

Between 2002 and 2007, Judd rewrote the record books in terms of on-field achievement, producing a first half of his career to match the deeds of players such as Royce Hart and Dick Reynolds.

Nothing was out of reach for Judd in years where he captured a premiership, Norm Smith Medal, two All-Australian selections, Brownlow Medal, AFL MVP and two best and fairests.

He combined a rare mix of explosive outside run with an extreme will to win contested ball, the latter feature now being matched by Geelong captain Selwood.

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So who is the better player at age 24? To get a clearer understanding we consulted James McDonald, a man who played on both Judd and Selwood during his 264-game career between 1997-2011.

McDonald attributes some pre-game headaches to the days leading up to a Judd match-up.

"In the early days he had that blend of speed and agility," said McDonald.

"Most onballers have one or the other but he had both. I couldn't find any weaknesses in his game when he was at the Eagles in those days you are asking about. You just couldn't let him get goalside of you.

"I don't think it was possible to actually beat him one-on-one so you had to rely on teammates to help."

And Selwood? "I didn't play on him as often but like Judd he is a player who seemed to be able to find a way to change a game.

"You can't underestimate his mental strength or his relentless attack on the ball.

"I think of him as a very smart player, obviously very courageous but also capable of finding uncontested ball.

"Simon Black was another with an amazing ability to accumulate possession and someone blessed with great footy nous. I would rank him right alongside Judd and Selwood."

So if forced to choose who was the better 24-year-old out of Judd and Selwood, which way would McDonald go?

"Because of their extreme consistency and ability to individually lift their teams, as they both did in the third quarters of Round 1, who is the better would come down to the flip of a coin and I wouldn't care which way it landed."

Geelong's 2011 premiership captain Cameron Ling admits to being "completely biased", given the five years he spent playing alongside Selwood.

"I think some might lean towards Judd because he appears to be better because of the explosive nature of his game," Ling said.

"But Joel is just incredible . . . Geelong would have been 10 goals down but for him against Hawthorn and then he played even better in the third quarter.

"I would like to have them both in my garage. But deep down I will always say Joel."

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Pendles a Pie with the lot

At Collingwood training Scott Pendlebury shakes a tackle and dishes off the ball. Picture: Wayne Ludbey. Source: News Limited

COLLINGWOOD coach Nathan Buckley says Scott Pendlebury is "the ultimate professional" and one of the most driven competitors he has come across.

Speaking ahead of Pendlebury's 150th match against Carlton today, Buckley said Pendlebury would continue to be driven by his sheer will to succeed as a player and as a leader.

"He is a ripper, 'Pendles'," Buckley said.

"When he succeeds or performs at a level, he just carries no satisfaction around it.

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"He is always driven to be better than he was yesterday, and that attitude has got him to where he is now.

"He is just finding even those half percenters now to sharpen himself up and that attitude is what is going to be the foundation for whatever he achieves from this point on."

Buckley was similarly driven as a footballer, and admires the way in which Pendlebury has developed as a footballer.

Biggest footy grudge matches

"Look, (Pendlebury) has gone about it in the right way," he said.

"He has been well rewarded.

"He is 150 games in."

"How long can he play for? He is probably just past halfway, but there is a lot of great footy to come."

The Magpies coach said Pendlebury's next challenge would be to continue to assert his impact off the field, having been a member of the Pies leadership group since 2008 and long considered the heir apparent to captain Nick Maxwell.

"He is in the process of developing his leadership and his influence on the playing group," he said.

"That is going to be the next evolution for him, to become even more influential to his teammates, and to drive this club to greater success in the future."

Pendlebury will become the 86th Collingwood player to represent the club in 150 games, and will do so at 25 -- two years younger than Buckley reached the same milestone in 2000 (complete with 20 games for Brisbane).

Buckley said Pendlebury was primed for a big year after coming off a flawless pre-season -- as well as a best on ground performance against North Melbourne in Round 1.

"Most of our boys are up and about," he said. "Pendles, in particular, has had another very strong pre-season and, when you put them together back-to-back, then you start heading towards your pinnacle as an athlete.

"He has found that earlier than most because of his professionalism and diligence."

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Neeld can't explain poor display

Mark Neeld looks on during three-quarter-time with no hope. Picture: Wayne Ludbey. Source: News Limited

A SHATTERED Melbourne coach Mark Neeld described the team's record-breaking 148-point loss to Essendon as "unacceptable" and "clearly not good enough", but said "we can't pretend the last two hours didn't exist".

Asked what his message was to his charges after the loss, Melbourne's worst from 1134 appearances on the MCG turf, Neeld replied: "Two-fold. Clearly, not good enough. Secondly was (there's) only one way out of this and it's together. Whole club hurting - in every component - that's what we talked about. Head down, work hard, there you go."

Asked which specific aspects were not up to scratch, he replied: "How long have you got?"

Essendon hands Melbourne a hiding

The loss was Melbourne's worst to Essendon, surpassing the 122-point loss to the Bombers in Round 15, 1986. It was also Essendon's highest score against the Demons.

"We have to allow some time for a huge disappointment to the players ... We've all got to man up and accept that.
It wasn't good enough," Neeld said. "I went through and articulated that these aspects of the game were not good enough. We've just got to work at them during the week."

Neeld said after the match he asked the players and assistant coaches whether they had any answers about ways to improve ahead of Saturday's home match against West Coast, but their only response was "nobody there came up with any other way than .... to work our backsides off. It's a long road. Second crack at a rebuild in five years. And we're not out of the basement yet."

Dees hit rock bottom

He said he was terribly disappointed by the drop in intensity in the second half, in which Melbourne managed just one goal, because the early signs were that the Demons would be competitive against Essendon.

Neeld said it was too early to lose patience with individuals: "I want to show them a lot of care, but also a lot of tough love at the same time."

The coach was asked about the third-quarter substitution of the player who bears the brunt of many Melbourne supporters' frustrations, Jack Watts. The former No.1 draft pick struggled to 11 low-impact possessions before he was replaced by David Rodan 17 minutes into the second half.

"Jack Watts was ill and (also) subbed out for form," Neeld said. "He didn't feel great, he was sick, and his performance was also one that we thought 'that was enough'. (But) when you take the field you're 100 per cent fit. That's how it works."

Live HQ: Essendon v Melbourne

Melbourne was smashed in all statistic counts: tackles (61-35), inside 50s (a record 78-28) and disposals (453-262). It had few players who put in for four quarters. Nathan Jones, Jeremy Howe, James Frawley and Matt Jones had a crack, while Jack Viney put in despite rolling his ankle at the opening bounce of the second quarter.

Melbourne's average losing margin under Neeld's coaching is now close to 10 goals.

The Demons now face one of the teams regarded as a premiership fancy, West Coast, before a potentially make-or-break game against Greater Western Sydney, also at the MCG.

Asked how he would get his charges up for next week's match, Neeld replied: "I'm not going to forfeit next week. We'll have as big a crack as we can. The beauty of competitive sport in particular is that you get another go. In this case in seven days' time."

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