IT COULD be a blessing that Melbourne celebrates its 150th year this season, for at least it will have something to sing about.
It appears likely to be a year best spent indulging the past and little considering the present, for it seems unlikely there will be much post-match cork-popping this year.
Melbourne was not popularly regarded as a side to do well this year and, upon yesterday's evidence, it was a well-founded assumption. Going into this game, however, there was good reason to believe that, despite pessimism of its chances in the war, there was cause for optimism about the first battle.
Its opponent, Hawthorn, was a depleted outfit with four of its top eight players from last year's best and fairest missing — Luke Hodge, Campbell Brown, Shane Crawford and Jordan Lewis. Full-forward Mark Williams was a late withdrawal and Trent Croad an early departure with a serious injury. If wins are to be rare for Melbourne this year then this, at least, appeared one it might pinch.
That the Dees could not win does not, of itself, condemn them. That they could only manage two goals for three quarters does. That they could be humbled by 104 points is damnable.
That they were outscored by one player from the opposition until the opposing coach concerned himself with next week and put him to the bench is laughable.
New Melbourne coach Dean Bailey might be troubled to consider what he has inherited, for his was also not a side of kids beaten up by bigger, stronger bodies. Hawthorn remains a young side, if a maturing and more composed one. Melbourne retains familiar faces of many years among its fold, and far too few of them presented anything in the way of poise, control or leadership yesterday.
Melbourne was always likely to stutter and stall adapting to a new game plan, but yesterday it played as if it was adjusting to a new sport.
At times too much can be read into thrashings, and perhaps this is one of those occasions, but it seemed clear the deficiencies at Melbourne are not insignificant nor confined to one line of the field.
In defence, Nathan Carroll was first and second choice on Lance "Buddy" Franklin but he was beaten in the air, on the ground, one-out and on the lead.
Admittedly, in Carroll's defence, at times the ball was coming in with a speed and accuracy he could do little about. But not always.
At the other end of the ground, Melbourne should have been in a position to exploit Croad's departure from the field with what appeared a serious wrist or forearm injury in the opening four minutes. He landed heavily on the arm in a David Neitz tackle and knew immediately the pain was neither fleeting nor insignificant. He was quickly transferred to hospital for a scan.
In the normal scheme of things, his should be a considerable loss and indeed still might be for Hawthorn in the coming weeks, but yesterday they were not made to pay. Blame will be shared by the forwards for not exploiting this loss and the midfield for the fact the ball was rarely taken forward with direction. The numbers will also show the Demons had only eight fewer inside-50's than Hawthorn. But numbers can lie.
The Croad loss was a rude blight on Hawthorn's day. In the sober post-game light this could be a season-defining moment. Hawthorn filled the breach yesterday with Robert Campbell dropping back onto Neitz, forcing Taylor to ruck virtually unchanged, but other quicker forwards will not allow this as a longer-term strategy. Jarryd Roughead has played in defence regularly in the past — never as well as he does forward — but should Croad be out for a time, this might need to be the option. If Mark Williams is to return it would ease any loss up forward by switching Roughead back. Zac Dawson is also eternally said to be improving, so his moment could be now.
Brown and Hodge will return next week, assisting a side that blankets its defence with numbers. Yesterday they again rounded players behind the ball, emptying to a dynamic four-man forward line, and ran the ball by foot and hand sharply on the rebound.
Franklin's goal in the opening term — Hawthorn's fourth — illustrated the point. Chance Bateman, who for the first half seemed to run without an opponent, ran through the middle of the ground and weighted a pass to Cyril Rioli who, displaying the skill and flair to match his pedigree, gathered the mark with an opponent on his shoulder. He ran away to spear a low, flat pass at the leading Roughead.
The ball was too hot for him and slipped straight through to Tim Boyle behind, who handpassed off to Buddy to goal.
It was a stanza that spoke of much of the day. Hawthorn was imperious in taking on its opponents and leaving them flat in its wake. It ran the ball with drilled precision and had numbers to make the play work, forward and in the middle.
Another neat moment that said much of Hawthorn's endeavour came in the fading gloom of the game when at the 24-minute mark of the last quarter, with his side leading by 110 points, Tom Murphy chased, made ground and ran down Russell Robertson as he ran into an open goal. Others might have conceded the goal. Murphy has earned more games.
As unloved as Melbourne was pre-season, Hawthorn was loved. Yesterday they had a lot of love to give. Buddy-love.
