Deep dive: Melbourne believes it is the real deal after win against Geelong
Melbourne will be without Steven May for a number of weeks, with the Demons confirming the star defender has suffered a concussion and structural damage to his eye.
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Melbourne will be without one of its most important players for up to one month after gun defender Steve May was diagnosed with a fractured eye socket.
The Dees on Monday confirmed the star backman had suffered concussion and structural damage around his right eye when he copped an accidental elbow from Geelong spearhead Tom Hawkins on Sunday.
May was discharged from hospital on Sunday night with significant swelling down the right side of his face. He will continue to be monitored for concussion symptoms over the course of the week.
It is his second concussion in five weeks after a heavy head knock in the lead-in to Round 1.
Melbourne will look to key defender Harry Petty to replace May for the clash against Hawthorn on Sunday.
In a statement on Monday the Demons said May faced a stint on the sidelines.
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“May was discharged from hospital on Sunday night and will now undergo the return to play concussion protocols, while also beginning his rehab,” the statement said.
“The club will continue to monitor the 29-year-old’s progress in the coming weeks, with his return date to be dependent on how the swelling settles.”
The Demons will look to post their fifth-straight win of the season against the Hawks before a huge test against reigning premier Richmond on Anzac Day eve at the MCG.
After missing the finals for the past two years, the Demons are looking to cement a top-four spot this year led by superstar onballer Christian Petracca who had one of the best games of his career against the Cats.
Key forwards Ben Brown and Sam Weideman are also only a couple of weeks away after making their returns from injury through the VFL at the weekend.
Jake lever and Adam Tomlinson shone against the Cats helping keep an injury-hit Geelong outfit to only nine goals.
Goodwin confirmed Petty would be strongly considered for the Hawthorn game at the MCG.
“Harry is someone we have earmarked as a key position player for down back and he is in good form, so he will certainly come into calculations this week,” he said.
Goodwin was thrilled with the Demons’ start to the season and the way they were up to the task against one of the premiership fancies.
“Today against a high quality side what we are trying to establish in our game was on show and that was really pleasing,” he said.
“As a group, I thought our ability to pressure the ball especially inside 50m went to a new level and I thought our leaders right across the ground were outstanding.”
VINEY: ‘WE WANT TO GO ALL THE WAY’
Melbourne is on a mission to win back respect and break the longest premiership drought in the game.
When senior players got together at the end of last season they knew they were on borrowed time to mature as a team otherwise Simon Goodwin was going to be gone.
The writing was on the wall in a sense when outgoing chairman Glen Bartlett dropped his ‘Wheaties packet’ jibe last year and labelled their Round 9 51-point loss to Port Adelaide “soft as butter”, intensifying the spotlight on Goodwin and the rest of the football department at the time.
But on the same day the chairman announced he was stepping down on Sunday, Melbourne made a powerful statement about its capabilities this season, chalking up its fourth-straight win over grand finalist Geelong.
It was a physical, high-pressure, stare-them-in-the-eye sort of win that snuffed out the inevitable Geelong comeback in the second half.
Clayton Oliver kept putting his head in dangerous spaces and shouldered the Mark O’Connor tag, allowing Christian Petracca to have one of the best games if his career with a personal best 36 touches.
Jake Lever somehow won a crucial three-on-one in the tense final term after Steve May went down and Kysaiah Pickett chased down Joel Selwood to continue his electric season.
Jack Viney, who turned down an offer from Geelong at the end of last season, knows the Demons have lost respect over the past two years, going from preliminary finalist in 2018 to flat-out disappointments missing the eight in 2019-20.
In a sense, those wasted years still burn.
But over the past month the Demons have knocked off Fremantle, St Kilda, GWS Giants and Geelong to show they can be a genuine contender.
Hawthorn and Richmond are next in line, albeit without star defender May.
Now, Melbourne fans are starting to dream about whether this could be their year.
Viney said while the Demons haven’t achieved anything yet, they wanted to play with a style and a substance that could not just make the eight but win the flag this year.
“We want to go all the way,” Viney told the Herald Sun.
“We have got high ambitions to be a really successful football team, and not just make finals but be a (premiership) contender.
“So, we are taking it week by week and we understand we haven’t proven anything yet.
“But there is a bit of a chip on the shoulder there and while we are four (wins) up, we still feel like we are underdogs.
“We have been trying to build respect for this football club for a long time, and we have let our fans down in the past.
“So we feel like we have got a long way to go to build that trust and win that respect back from the AFL community.”
Viney said “it was a big week” preparing to “come up against one of the best teams in the competition” in Geelong.
“We did build it up,” he said. “They are a top quality team so we set ourselves for it and really put our previous performances behind us.”
Now, the belief is building week by week, as the Demons become more mature, and selfless, especially in that blue-chip engine room.
“Everyone is buying into the team at the moment and it is coming out in the way we are playing and I’m sure the fans are really enjoying the brand of football we are playing,” he said.
“It is physical and there are big tackles, big blocks, big smothers and they are happening more consistently which is what everyone loves to watch.
“We feel like we are in a good position and we want to keep trying to focus on bringing that (cohesion and selflessness) every week.”
Now the team which had the worst forward conversion rate in the league over the past two seasons is dominating the territory battle and kicking winning scores without their first choice key forward targets Ben Brown and Sam Weideman.
On Sunday, the Demons won the clearances (46-35), contested possessions (167-148) and tackles (82-74) against a Geelong team, to be fair, missing Patrick Dangerfield, Shaun Higgins and Brandon Parfitt.
Viney himself stepped up in a significant way late in the game moving onto inspirational Geelong captain Selwood, while courageously leaping into the air at one point to make a spoil on Mitch Duncan.
Viney’s mother, the hard nut said, struggles to watch.
“It’s not until I’m in the air that I start to think about the consequences but by then it’s normally too late anyway,” he said.
“I know I scare the sh** out of my mum every week, but it is just what I do.”
Unsurprisingly, Viney had a game-high 12 tackles and 16 contested possessions.
It was a bruising, bull-at-a-gate performance from the former co-captain.
But it is Petracca who continues to occupy the spotlight as one of the game’s most dominant midfielders. He carved up the Cats with 36 disposals, two goals and 15 contested possessions.
Viney said his midfield mate was in spectacular form.
“He is in a good spot, and it is a pleasure to be playing alongside him,” Viney said.
“Obviously he has some pretty special physical gifts and he works incredibly hard on his game so I suppose when you have those physical gifts and put in the hard work and dedication to make the most of it, special things are going to happen.
“He is proving that at the moment, and it is not just one or two weeks, it has been a heap of work for him.
“He thoroughly deserves it and the work Clayton Oliver does as well, Max Gawn too in that midfield (is important).
“Clarry has taken the tag for the past two weeks which gets Trac off the chain a bit. We are a rooting for Trac and we know he is a special player.”
DEMONS PRESIDENT PUSHED OUT
Melbourne vice-president Kate Roffey is expected to become the Demons’ new president replacing Glen Bartlett at season’s end.
The Herald Sun has confirmed Bartlett will on Sunday announce he is stepping down from the job after eight years in the helm.
Bartlett will make the announcement at the chairman’s function before the Melbourne Geelong game.
It remains unclear whether Bartlett had the support of the board to continue beyond this year.
Roffey is highly respected within the club and is seen as an excellent replacement.
The Wyndham City director has been a board member at Melbourne since 2013 and has vast experience in major projects.
Roffey will be a key player in the Demons’ bid to find a new training base after struggling in recent years to secure a new headquarters.
SCOREBOARD
DEMONS 2.4 6.8 9.9 12.13 (85)
CATS 1.1 3.3 8.3 9.6 (60)
LERNER’S BEST
Demons: Petracca, Fritsch, Gawn, Oliver, Viney, Langdon, Salem.
Cats: Selwood, C.Guthrie, Smith, Menegola, Stewart.
GOALS
Demons: Fritsch 4, Petracca 2, Jones, Pickett, Neal-Bullen, Gawn, Langdon, Melksham.
Cats: Henry 2, Smith 2, Hawkins 2, Miers, Clark, Stanley.
INJURIES
Demons: May (concussion/cut eyebrow).
Cats: Blicavs (corked knee).
Late change: Parfitt (hip) replaced in Geelong’s selected side by Narkle.
Venue: MCG
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
LERNER’S VOTES
3 C.Petracca (Melb)
2 B.Fritsch (Melb)
1 M.Gawn (Melb)
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