If numbers don’t lie, as the saying goes, then Melbourne should’ve lost Saturday night’s thriller against the Power at Adelaide Oval.
Ken Hinkley’s side came out on top in a bunch of key statistics, but the never-say-die Demons prevailed by seven points thanks to the sheer grit and determination that drew high praise from coach Simon Goodwin.
“If you look at the numbers, Port probably should’ve won the game,” Goodwin said.
Watch every game of every round this Toyota AFL Premiership Season LIVE with no ad-breaks during play on Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial today >
“But we won the critical moments.
“That’s why I’m so proud of this footy team … they’re starting to really galvanise together, win critical moments, and when the game was there to be won we put on a performance that we’re really proud of.
“Full credit to Port, they played an enormous game, but our boys … they were special.”
“An absolute beauty of a game” | 06:46
Demons skipper Max Gawn, who starred against the Power, cheekily admitted he ‘hates’ how much Goodwin has previously pointed to the expected score including in finals losses to Collingwood and Carlton last year.
Alas, Melbourne was on the right end of the most important stat – the scoreboard.
“He loves the expected score Goody,” Gawn told Fox Footy post-match.
“To be honest I hate it. I hate it when he says it. When we’re sitting in the finals against Collingwood and Carlton and we’ve lost and Goody’s got expected score us winning by 30 points – I almost want to get up and punch him in the face!,” the star ruckman quipped.
“The fact that it’s roles reversed tonight has actually brought a smile to my face.”
The Power went inside their attacking 50 a whopping 66 times to Melbourne’s 45, had 36 more possessions, 11 more tackles and three more scoring shots, but suffered its first loss of the season.
“To absorb (66) entries is a big number, but quite often our footy club is spoken about with a lack of efficiency and tonight was the reverse,” Goodwin said.
“We took our chances, we executed in front of goal, and that was the big difference in the game, our ability to be a bit more efficient, take our chances and kick accurately at goal.
“You’ve got to love both phases of the game, but tonight we probably won on the efficiency side.”
Demons down Port in see-sawing thriller | 02:53
The win came after a difficult week for Melbourne after it was named in federal parliament as the club at the centre of the AFL’s ‘off the books’ illicit drug tests saga, and with an injured Steven May looking on from the stands.
“That’s been going on for three or four years,” the coach said of the off-field distractions.
“One thing I know about this group is they are determined to play great footy.
“We just galvanise, we get to work, we work hard, and we put on a really high performance.
“I’m proud of the group and the way they’re going about their business.
“Steven May is a big pillar in our side and for those guys to really stand up, with that amount of entries, is full credit to them.”
Gawn also acknowledged the off-field distractions, but said the current Demons players were firmly focused on the task at hand, ultimately wanting to let their footy do the talking.
Fritsch fires winner, sprays Port fans | 00:34
“Obviously get what’s going on externally. It doesn’t faze me. That’s five, six years ago. I’m working with this group of players,” he told Fox Footy.
“We’ve got a core group of 23 tonight, 45 on that list, that we have one goal – to make our supporters proud and I feel like performances like tonight, away from home, against a team that probably won every key stat, I think that’s making our supporters proud.
“I can talk all I want, I can get in press conferences, I can do my regular radio spot and talk about culture but it’s wins like this that show everyone we are united, we are ready to go this year. I’m just bloody proud of our effort tonight and we’ve got to keep going.”
Melbourne will remain in Adelaide to prepare for Thursday night’s Gather Round opener against the Crows, and train at Richmond Oval, the home of SANFL club West Adelaide, with May expected to return from a rib injury.
“The boys are very used to this type of week, so we’ll just recover,” Goodwin said.
“It’s five days, it’s a short turnaround, so we’ll train the way we’d normally train and pretty much pick up our program from Melbourne and place it in Adelaide.
“It’s another exciting challenge.
“Two games in Adelaide in five days is a big challenge and we’re looking forward to it.
“(May) is trending in the right direction, he’s moving really well.
“There’s still a bit to work through over the next five days, but we’re confident that he’ll be available.”
-With NCA NewsWire
Discussion about this post