That’s what we’ve been looking for. A commitment, a desire, a hunger, whatever you want to call it, to go for the ball and it returned on the weekend. Van Berlo’s lunging mark in front of traffic, Goodwin’s grab running back with the flight of the ball and Rutten’s last ditch spoil in defence were all features of a tougher looking outfit.
The break appears to have done us wonders with a host of players improving on their first half of the season form. In particular Matthew Jaensch and Bernie Vince had great first games back from their club-imposed suspensions.
Jaensch made up for a lack of firepower shown from both Porplyzia and Petrenko in front of goals in recent weeks and nailed the first three goals of his career. He did it all from working well at Tippett’s feet, converting a tough set shot from the pocket, setting up a Griffin goal with a clever chip kick and booting one on the run.
Without the attention of a close tag that troubled him early in the year Vince was a welcome addition to our midfield that let us down greatly against Hawthorn. His experience and sharp skills complimented the rawness of a few newcomers. He took four clearances, had 30 disposals and also got his name on the goal kickers list in that blistering first term.
While our midfield got their act together and dominated the clearance count and our forwards converted goals, in-between a pile of behinds, our defenders in particular pieced together a terrific game.
Captain Simon Goodwin used his penetrating left kick to our advantage and Graham Johncock took charge in our movement forward, in the absence of Bock, and even contributed to the scoreboard with his own long-range goal. Michael Doughty’s game had shades of his 2009 form as he took on more of an offensive role and Brent Reilly’s tagging job on Melbourne’s Brett Moloney was his best for the year.
With a lead of 41 points at half time the game was all but over. A slight lapse in concentration in the third term saw the Demons creep within four goals at the final change of ends but we bounced back with a six goal last quarter to seal just our fourth win of the year.
The improvement across the board was pleasing to see but I’m not going to get swept away in a win, as I have before, just yet.
Melbourne was woeful. Their poor record at AAMI Stadium is well documented and they struggled to play as a competitive opponent for the majority of the game. Pit us against a more seasoned outfit and those turnovers and leaks out the back of the zone will be a lot more costly.
This coming Saturday night we face a great test against the similarly ranked Bombers. Can we maintain some consistency and string two wins together in a row? Or will we stumble yet again after victory and return to the field as the frustrating and disinterested Crows?
If we can roll with the pressure we put on the Dee’s, such as Sloane’s hard fought effort on the wing, we’ll give ourselves every chance to have a good half of the season a second time around.
