ONCE again, the weekend showed that any AFL team can overcome any side on any given day in 2016.
And after winning just one match for the season, Richmond proved that on Saturday night at the MCG, when Sam Lloyd fulfilled the dream of every kid who plays footy, with a brilliant goal after the siren to sink the Sydney Swans by the narrowest of margins.
The Tigers not only achieved their second win of the season, but inflicted the Swans’ second loss for the year.
It’s been a tipster’s nightmare this year, but that’s the beauty of the AFL today.
On Sunday, the Western Bulldogs defeated Melbourne by 32 points at the MCG.
It loomed as a fascinating contest. The much-improved Melbourne was a genuine chance to knock over the exciting Bulldogs, but the red and blue needed to be at its best – and a bit more – to overcome the favourites.
At the conclusion of the match, Melbourne was naturally disappointed with the result, but it needed everything to go right to gain the four points. Plain and simple, the Bulldogs are ahead of Melbourne in their journey at the moment.
“History would say that – they’ve been the stronger team over the last couple of years, but we were able to beat them in the same game last year in the same time of year,” key defender Tom McDonald said.
“We knew what we needed to do to actually beat them, but we weren’t able to do that [on this occasion].
“They are ahead of us and they’re a stronger team at the moment, but with that it doesn’t excuse the fact that we didn’t play well enough.”
Still, the Dogs have bucked the trend with its performances in the past two years, if you consider their age and games experience – but they are still ahead of Melbourne in both areas.
For the record, Melbourne’s average age per player in round eight was 23 years, 258 days and its total matches came to 1410. The Dogs’ average age was 24 years, 224 days and it had a total of 1717 games.
In many respects, that was the difference between the Dogs and Demons. The former just had a bit more development behind them and that can be traced back a few years ago.
In 2012, when Melbourne manager of development Brendan McCartney was coach of the Bulldogs, they recruited the likes of Jake Stringer, Jack McRae and Lachie Hunter – three of their best players against Melbourne. Tom Campbell, who also played this round, was elevated from the rookie list.
Jason Johannisen was also promoted from the rookie to senior list and Koby Stevens was acquired from West Coast. Although those two players didn’t play on the weekend, due to injury, they remain important members of the Bulldogs.
And since 2013, the Bulldogs have added the likes of Marcus Bontempelli, Toby McLean, Caleb Daniel, Bailey Dale and Jack Redpath to become one of the most exciting teams in the competition.
Melbourne game analyst and education coordinator Craig Jennings, who spent last season with the Bulldogs after 10 years at Essendon, said in the lead-up to round eight that the Dogs were capable of going all the way this year. And it wouldn’t surprise.
The encouraging sign is that Melbourne has the ability to emulate the Dogs’ efforts.
As coach Paul Roos said after the loss, the reemergence of the Bulldogs’ list can be traced back to 2012 – effectively, they are now in season five.
On the flipside, he said Melbourne was now into its third season, after taking over the red and blue when it had come off its fifth worst season since 1897.
“They’re still pretty young. Macca [Brendan McCartney] was there for three years and Luke [Beveridge] has been there for one and a bit. We’re two years [and a bit] in, so we needed to see where we’re at [against the Bulldogs],” Roos said.
“We’ve improved on last year, when they were [almost] 80 points up at half-time [in round 20 at Etihad Stadium]. We’re certainly improving, but we understand we’ve got a way to go.
“We were just beaten by a better team at the end of the day. Their work rate was really good. But the good thing from our point of view – and being a young team – is that we kept on playing and kept on fighting it out. We didn’t think we played great, but at least we made them play some good footy to win.”
And it was this character of his group that most pleased Roos.
“I like the way the team is persevering now. There is a lot more resilience about what we do as a footy club and what we do as a team,” he said.
“Once again, we had some players that didn’t play well and we need 16 to 18 good players to win. Even guys who had an off day, at least they kept trying, which is something that we’re trying to instill in a young group.”
With Melbourne recruiting 28 players since Roos has been at the club, Melbourne’s latest era can easily be traced back to September 2013, when the 2005 Sydney Swans premiership coach was appointed.
But given the Bulldogs started slightly earlier, it’s only natural that the Dogs are ahead of Melbourne at this stage of the game.
Still, plenty of kudos must be handed to the Dogs. They are still young, yet they are bucking the trend and climbing the ladder. They have become a great role model for the competition and one Melbourne is looking to emulate.
And it’s no coincidence that the likes of McCartney and Jennings have had an insight into both clubs.
Tracking Melbourne and the Bulldogs will be fascinating in the coming years, but you can be assured that both are on the right path.
And when they meet at a point where they have both matured in the next few seasons – it could be at a stage where the match is more anticipated than round eight.