It’s time to put the Melbourne premiership talk on hold, writes Jay Clark

MELBOURNE’S bubble burst at the MCG on Friday night, with the Demons smashed by Sydney. They have excuses for the performance but should we buy them?

Zak Jones tackles Tom Bugg in the third term. Picture: Michael Klein

MELBOURNE’S bubble burst at the MCG on Friday night.

Coming off four-straight wins, the young Dees have rightly earned plaudits as a finals threat and even genuine premiership contender in recent days.

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But at the end of a tumultuous week centred on whether Clayton Oliver staged or not against West Coast, the Dees’ red-hot run came to an abrupt end with a 35-point loss to the rejuvenated Sydney Swans that will cool talk about a drought-breaking flag.

They got punished around the ball and subsequently the large part of this game was played out in the Sydney forward line.

Melbourne has been aggressive with the footy in recent weeks and we all admire the dash and run of Michael Hibberd but they turned the Sherrin over a lot.

The second-half was a lesson, more than anything else.

Perhaps Simon Goodwin won’t mind the midseason reality check.

While John Longmire’s men have breathed fresh life into a season that looked gone when they fell to six straight losses to start the season, the fall-out will be significant for the Demons from a personnel perspective.

Dejected Melbourne players leave the field. Picture: Getty Images

After pulling rabbits out of hats to cover star talls Max Gawn and Jesse Hogan, the Dees might now lose Jack Viney to a foot injury after coming off in the third term, adding to an injury toll already including Nathan Jones, Jeff Garlett and Jack Watts.

Hard-nut Tomas Bugg will also have to throw himself at the mercy of the tribunal after clobbering Callum Mills in the opening few minutes of the match with a quick-left jab straight out of the boxing ring.

Mills was concussed and done for the night, while the aggressor spent the rest of the night feeling guilty, judging by his five-possession first half.

The Swans certainly reminded him about the incident after the match even though the Demon personally apologised to Mills after the final siren.

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He is looking at a four-match holiday, and in a way, was worse than Bachar Houli’s hit last week because in this case, Bugg was looking directly at Mills when he launched.

Oliver was also a non-factor, and maybe that was due to the distraction of the week.

The man who has averaged 30 possessions a game this season was kept to only 11 touches at the final change as part of a midfield that was soundly outplayed.

Yes, it was their third-straight six-day break in a row, and the club was always wary coming off a plane trip from Perth as well.

Tomas Bugg after the incident with Callum Mills. Picture: APP Images

But this would have been a much bigger hiding had the Swans not kicked six-straight points to start the match as Gary Rohan ran hot early, but failed to capitalise on the scoreboard.

This was the old Swans we saw last night. The outfit that has been one of the most admired sides of the past decade for their hardness and organisation.

The experienced heads in the Sydney midfield really owned this contest from the outset led by stars Luke Parker, Josh Kennedy, Zak Jones and Isaac Heeney.

The Demons have a tendency to over-handpass and the Swans brought their pressure game and at times mopped up with ease through Dane Rampe and Jake Lloyd in the back half.

Now at 7-7, Sydney look deadly again, with Lance Franklin landing goals from 60m and celebrating with pumped fists.

They were on top of the contested ball and looked ferocious in the engine room.

They will certainly worry rivals in the run home, with Kurt Tippett to come back in.