Demons shock Magpies
The oft-maligned Jack Watts equals his career high with four goals as Melbourne extends Collingwoodâs poor start to the season.
PT1M29S 620 349MELBOURNE 6.2 11.2 14.4 16.6 (102) COLLINGWOOD 1.2 6.5 8.10 9.13 (67)
Goals: Melbourne: J Watts 4, C Pedersen 2, D Tyson 2, J Hogan 2, A Brayshaw, B Kennedy, D Kent, J Viney, M Gawn, S Frost. Collingwood: S Sidebottom 2, T Cloke 2, A Fasolo, A Treloar, B Sinclair, D Moore, T Varcoe.
BEST: Melbourne: Viney, N.Jones, Tyson, Wagner, Watts, Gawn, Bugg, Frost. Collingwood: Treloar, Sidebottom, Reid, Adams, Langdon.
Injuries: Collingwood: B Reid (sore knee), B Sinclair (concussion), T Cloke (elbow), T Goldsack (illness) replaced in selected side by J White.
Umpires: Shaun Ryan, Simon Meredith, Robert O'Gorman.
Official Crowd: 47,558 at MCG.
Dom Tyson made succinct observations of his team's 35-point defeat of Collingwood on Sunday night, the Magpies' 12th loss from their past 15 outings that threatens to turn a worrisome hole into a gorge from which football clubs rarely emerge without someone being buried alive.
Man in a hurry: Nathan Jones of the Demons breaks free of a tackle by Taylor Adams of the Magpies Photo: Getty Images
The Demons, Tyson said, knew they would have to weather an early challenge from an opponent whose plight was attracting considerable attention. "We probably did more than that," Tyson said of a six-goals-to-one opening that established a telling buffer.
"We came out pretty hot ourselves and just kept them at bay for the rest of the game."
The 22-year-old said they backed themselves to take risks and play-on from defence, a plan carried out with far more industry and precision than the Magpies. They trusted their forwards to capitalise on swift ball movement, which Jack Watts did with an equal career-best four first-half goals, while Jesse Hogan, Cam Pedersen and Tyson chipped in with two each.
Rising star: Melbourne's James Harmes. Photo: Getty Images
Crucially, they trusted a group that featured 11 players with fewer than 50 games' experience and 16 with less than 90. "We've been on a bit of a journey the past 18 months, blooded some games into guys," Tyson said of a collective that feels more comfortable by the game.
"We've had a few ups and downs. It's exciting. If we can get a bit of momentum you never know what can happen. We've got a lot of contributions. Even (Christian) Salem's unheralded, Nev Jetta, Dean Kent doesn't get spoken about much, he's been terrific."
Almost self-evidently, he left the best reflection until last. "It's an exciting time to be at the Melbourne footy club."
It sure was at the MCG on Sunday, when the as-expected efforts of Jack Viney, captain Nathan Jones and cult big man Max Gawn inspired heroics from the lesser lights Tyson praised — second-gamer Josh Wagner, relative old hand James Harmes (11 games) and debutant Jayden Hunt. The hard-at-it Kent, in his 36th game, presented as a veritable seasoned campaigner who was fussed by nothing the opposition could muster.
The Magpies began defending a sun-drenched Punt Rd goal and were in deep trouble long before it receded into shadow. After an early strike each, the Demons kicked five in 11 minutes to skip away, the last of them an omen-filled alarm bell.
Collingwood was already trailing the opposition to the ball and to open space when in possession, but when Brodie Grundy looped a handball across half-back and Sam Frost pinched it out of Ben Reid's hands having just hared into the fray off the bench, it was clear the Pies were also coming a distant second above the shoulders. Frost put an exclamation mark on Melbourne's superiority by foot with a stirring running goal from beyond the arc.
While the Pies too often missed regulation targets, Melbourne was prepared to take the high-risk ones. See Frost again, heading inboard into congestion and finding his man to set up a Hogan steadier as the Magpies clawed their way back in the second term.
Back-to-back goals for the first time, the latter through Steele Sidebottom after another first — a fluid transfer from defence through the middle — offered hope. Watts snuffed it with a 50-metre set shot from the boundary.
With captain Scott Pendlebury more influential in the middle than his starting post of half-back, and Adam Treloar and Sidebottom rallying, the Magpies got the valuable first of the second half through the hitherto quiet Darcy Moore. Without playing well they were within four goals.
The busy Kent, Pedersen and Viney soon restored the Demons' buffer and the sight of Gawn thumping his heart after kicking the last of the game inside the last minute was a fitting end.
