IT BEGAN with a Melbourne flurry, an opening burst which seemed to suggest here was a side intent on wiping away the memory of last week's opening-round humiliation. The Demons looked fired up. And for about a quarter, they were. Sadly, it was a flame extinguished all too easily.

At quarter-time, it was still a 50-50 contest, but the Western Bulldogs had now clearly found their feet. By the long break, and a seven-goal second term, there was a sense of inevitability hovering over the result, but at least Melbourne still had its self-respect. Another half-hour down the track, that, too, had vanished. And for Demon fans, a horrible finale was pure deja vu.

Yet, perhaps with an even nastier aftertaste. Last week's thrashing at the hands of Hawthorn could at least be dismissed as an aberration, a false start to the new season. Two losses by an aggregate 199 points can't. Any Melbourne supporters able to stomach this shellacking right to the bitter end would have left pondering the seemingly unthinkable — that however dismal was season 2007, at the moment, this season looks like it could conceivably be even worse.

That's to take nothing away from a Western Bulldogs outfit which, after a somewhat wobbly start, found its run, and perhaps more importantly, the skill level which had marked its climb into the finals two seasons ago, vanished in the wreckage of a poor finish to 2007, and almost cost it a deserved victory last week against Adelaide.

But Melbourne, if it didn't completely turn it up, at best lost its will to contest with alarming speed. Not that you would have picked it right at the start, when Aaron Davey had the first goal on the board in under three minutes, and the Demons were dominating the stoppages.

It could have been an even better start. Key forward Paul Johnson hit the post. Lindsay Gilbee slipped while taking a kick-in and duly presented Johnson with another shot on goal. Again, he missed. At that stage, you wondered whether missed opportunities would end up costing the Demons. In hindsight, they were at least opportunities created. By game's end, Melbourne's forward line was like a wasteland.

No wonder, with the talent of Cameron Bruce being sacrificed to mind Bulldogs skipper Brad Johnson. Or at one stage, even that of Melbourne's own skipper and spearhead David Neitz. And with livewire forward Davey off the ground injured by midway through the third quarter.

Nathan Jones, as usual, was a genuine goer for the Demons, Paul Wheatley picked up plenty of touches as a loose man, but once the Bulldogs took control of the engine room, this was a massacre waiting to happen. Which it duly did. Seven goals in the second term. Nine in the third. Another half-dozen in the final term. It was ugly stuff.

The Bulldogs were kick-started by the efforts of impressive young wingman Josh Hill, who booted the first of four unanswered goals in the second term, and finished with three. By the competitiveness of former Adelaide pair Scott Welsh and Ben Hudson, the first of whom flung himself around the forward line, booting two goals and giving away another couple himself in the second quarter alone, the latter winning three-quarters of his side's hitouts and earning some important touches. And as the Bulldogs' dominance increased, so did their confidence, and consequently, the precision of their disposal. Daniel Cross was a serial offender last week in the error stakes, yesterday he not only racked up 31 touches, but used just about all of them to effect, and kicked three goals in junk time.

Gilbee's feet were in particularly good touch, so were Adam Cooney's, and arguably most pleasingly, those of Robert Murphy, who waltzed around the forward line to great effect, kicking four goals himself, and offering a couple more for teammates with deft passes. Murphy would finish as the game's leading goalkicker with four, and significantly, five teammates — Cross, Hill, Johnson, Welsh and Jason Akermanis — with three. All up, 11 Bulldogs shared their 24 goals. The Dogs might still cop the occasional whack for their lack of size and strength up forward, but the most basic fundamental of forward play — actually threading the ball through the big sticks — clearly isn't so much of an issue.

Melbourne's issues? Where do you start? A real lack of run and dash midfield, Davey, the Demons' only truly explosive runner, not able to contribute more than the odd burst in the guts. A defence which needs to be propped up by better players, whose talents should be utilised elsewhere. And a disturbing lack of resilience when the tide starts turning, the Demons simply swept away in the flood.

It's hard to envisage a worse possible start to the season than what Melbourne has served up so far. Until, maybe, next Sunday, when the Demons are drawn to take on Geelong at Skilled Stadium. Can it get any worse? Against the Cats, yes it can.

WESTERN BULLDOGS 2.5 9.9 18.13 24.17 (161)
MELBOURNE 2.4 5.8 7.9 9.12 (66) Murphy 4, Johnson 3, Hill 3, Akermanis 3, Welsh 3, Cross 3, Hahn, Gilbee, Giansiracusa, Griffen, Wight. Melbourne: Neitz 2, Robertson 2, White 2, Jones, Green, Davey.

GOALS Western Bulldogs:

BEST Western Bulldogs: Gilbee, Cross, Boyd, Murphy, Hill, Hudson. Melbourne: Jones, Wheatley, White, Carroll, McDonald, Bartram.

INJURIES Western Bulldogs: Higgins (ankle). Melbourne: Davey (foot).

REPORTS Nil.

UMPIRES L Farmer, C Kamolins, S Ryan

CROWD 27,821 at the MCG

THE UPSHOT The Western Bulldogs appear to be rediscovering their mojo, the Demons couldn't have had a worse imaginable start than two near 100-point beltings to welcome new coach Dean Bailey to senior action.

TALKING POINT? While not wanting to labour the point, it looks like a long winter coming up for Melbourne, which is lacking pace, skill and, most disturbingly, fight, despite reports of some strong, hard training sessions during the week.

HOT AND COLD? Bulldog Jason Akermanis had a barren start to the afternoon with only three disposals to half-time. Cold became hot, however, when he kicked three third-quarter goals and finished with a respectable 17-disposal performance.