‘Are you joking me?’: How Dees, Tigers salvaged something from pre-season weather chaos

On a bizarre Ballarat day, lightning was striking and thunder was booming as a golden oldie from ABBA blared from the speakers in Melbourne’s rooms as the Demons readied themselves to train … after already playing half-a-match.

If Melbourne and Richmond arrived in Ballarat hoping to strike gold in the old mining town, it instead proved a bust in terms of their preparation for Rd 1 matches against St Kilda and Carlton respectively in a fortnight.

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Such was the determination to ensure their players workloads were at an appropriate level, both the Tigers and Demons returned to the field for further training after Mars Stadium had been cleared of fans due to safety concerns.

By that stage the persistent lightning was even closer to the ground, but still far enough away for both clubs to get further work into their players as they began considering whether to tweak their preparations ahead of the regular season.

Melbourne assistant coach Nathan Jones was pleased with the effectiveness of the Demons’ new-look midfield as they continued to look potent under first-year coach Steven King in just over half a game of footy.

The Demons opened with a bang when Harvey Langford kicked a goal in the first two minutes before an initial disruption of 35 minutes, and then kept piling on the pressure when kicking seven first quarter goals.

Melbourne was leading 12.6 (78) to 6.7 (43) when play was halted for the second time due to lightning early in the third term, with the scoreboard a true gauge of their dominance ahead of a clash with the Saints at the MCG in just over a fortnight.

Jones said it was a challenging situation for the players and noted they must have thought their coaches were kidding when they were told they would be returning to the field to train after already playing a couple of quarters.

“I think that you have just got to tackle it with a positive mindset,” he said.

“You know, if I’m putting myself in their shoes, I’d be like, ‘Bloody hell. Are you joking me?’. But I think if you’re looking bigger picture, this is an important day in particular for preparation for our Round 1 game.

“So it’s important, from a high performance perspective, that we get the miles in and the work in, because there’s a pretty strategic plan in terms of being prepared for that game.”

Jones said the Demons, which lost young forward Luker Kentfield to a knee injury in the brief period before the first break in play, were frustrated by the abandonment but pleased with the form they were in leading into the season.

“They’re frustrated, as you’d expect. It’s not the perfect preparation,” he said.

“But with our group in particular, it’s around that mindset a bit of what’s next. Once time permits, we’ll make sure we get the miles into the boys so they’re prepared.

“Ultimately, the AFL has made the call. Look, we got half a game in. There’ll be a few things to review out of it, but probably the main thing is that most guys, bar one, got through unscathed.”

Kentfield was in a hospital in Ballarat when the game was called off at 6.15pm and exciting Tiger Sam Cumming will undergo scans on a shoulder this weekend after he was forced from the game midway through the first quarter.

Richmond assistant coach Chris Newman said he got a shock when he stepped into the coaches box shortly before the match began and realised how ominous the conditions looked.

“It was a little bit different. Obviously, we haven’t been in this situation too many times before, but the players, to their credit, were really good,” he said.

“They knew that they had to stay flexible with what the AFL thought was appropriate at this time. And obviously the players safety and patron safety is paramount.

“They were really good. They tried to keep the energy up. And to their credit, I thought after the first break, we actually come out and played some pretty good footy.”

Newman, who was pleased with the intent the Tigers showed in the second term after they were jumped when play resumed after the initial break, said Richmond will assess whether to tweak the training program leading into the Carlton clash.

“We’ll just have to assess what we need in terms of kilometres and run into the players’ legs. There might be some players (where) that might have been enough for them, and it’s business as usual,” he said.

“But I think we’ll get together as a match committee, and we’ll work with the strength and conditioning staff to find out what the best way is going forward.

“Whether or not we change the program or not, I’m not too sure, but we’ll have that meeting early in the week and see if there’s any minor adjustments we need to make.”