Demons tackle pressure issues

JUST a few weeks ago, Dean Bailey and Melbourne were criticised for playing an old-fashioned game style that ignored the trendsetting forward press.

Bailey insisted his players were instructed to apply pressure forward of the centre in numbers. Their failure to do so was an indication they were not winning enough contested ball, rather than any resistance to new tactical ideas, Bailey said.

The statistics from last Saturday's win against Richmond suggest Bailey was right. In perhaps the most telling measure of a team's forward press, tackles inside forward 50, Melbourne set a competition record.

The Herald Sun's Mark Stevens revealed the Demons had 35 tackles inside their attacking arc against the Tigers - although the table accompanying Stevens' column mistakenly listed it as 36 - one more than the previous record set by Geelong against the Brisbane Lions in round 12, 2007.

Forward Ricky Petterd set the tone for Melbourne, laying an incredible 13 inside-50 tackles, smashing the previous individual record of seven that had been shared by Robin Nahas, Jeff Garlett, Tom Hawkins, Robert Copeland and Andrew Krakouer.

Petterd's total was just one less than Richmond's entire haul for the match.

Amazingly, less than two weeks earlier, Melbourne had just one forward-50 tackle against Collingwood.

Stevens also noted the Demons had forced 36 turnovers forward of the centre against the Tigers, the second-highest tally in a game this year.

Clearly, just like the top sides, the Demons are intent on harassing opposition sides as far up the ground as they possibly can.

As their youngsters continue to develop, expect the Demons' forward pressure to grow along with them.      

NRL feeling the heat

Last Saturday, the Gold Coast got its first taste of a Suns-Titans double-header.

The Gold Coast Suns hosted the Western Bulldogs at Metricon Stadium at 2.10pm, attracting a crowd of 16,149, while at 5.30pm the NRL's Gold Coast Titans hosted the Cronulla Sharks before 12,997 at Skilled Park.

The Daily Telegraph's executive sports editor Phil Rothfield attended both games. His assessment? "Rugby league is in trouble on the Gold Coast."

Rothfield, whose column we found on the Gold Coast Bulletin's website, said the Suns' game "had the better atmosphere and provided better value-for-money entertainment".

Rothfield said attending the Suns' game was cheaper - tickets were available from $5 for children, $20 for adults and $45 for families, with the respective prices at the Titans' game $18, $30 and $82.

Rothfield also suggested the crowd figure at the Titans' game "looked hugely inflated judging by the number of empty seats".

Rothfield was concerned by the uncertain financial state of the Titans and their dwindling crowds - they're averaging 16,154 people a game this season compared to 21,618 in 2008.

But, above all, he said, the Suns were going to be "awfully hard to be beat in a long-term war" because of the AFL's $100 commitment to the Gold Coast region over the next five years. In comparison, the NRL has said the Titans "don't need propping up", he wrote.

Rothfield disagrees.

"Saturday proved the Titans need help. The AFL has arrived in town and they're playing a strong game," he said.

Rothfield's concerns about the Titans seem to pre-date the Suns' entry onto the Gold Coast sporting landscape, and we think it's too early to rush to judgment.

Although the AFL has shied away from talk of the Gold Coast being a key front in an AFL-NRL war, competition between the two sides for the affections of the local community is sure to be intense.

The Suns may have fired the first shot in this 'battle' but the 'war' is only just beginning.

Sun allegedly racially abused

A more serious issue arose from the Gold Coast-Western Bulldogs game last Saturday - the alleged racial abuse of a Suns player by a Bulldogs opponent.

This season has already been blighted by spectators racially abusing players. The highest-profile cases involved Hawthorn's Lance Franklin at Aurora Stadium and North Melbourne rookie Majak Daw while playing for Werribee in a VFL match.

There has not been a case involving opposition AFL players for some years. However, The Courier-Mail reports the Suns' leadership group has initiated an AFL vilification inquiry following Saturday's incident.

The paper said neither the AFL nor the clubs would confirm whether a player or spectator had been the source of the alleged racial abuse, but said it understood the aggrieved player believed it had come from an opponent.

The paper also deduced from the "iron-fisted way the AFL shut down any comment on the issue" that it was "highly likely" a player had made the alleged offensive remarks.

AFL spokesman Patrick Keane told The Courier-Mail AFL rules prevented the League from commenting on the matter. Only a designated League official, who was subject to strict confidentiality provisions, would know if the matter required mediation, Keane said.   

In short

Fremantle defender Alex Silvagni told The West Australian he was confident he could shut down Brisbane Lions captain Jonathan Brown despite lacking match fitness on his return to AFL football last Saturday night. Silvagni, who was playing his first game of the season after recovering from an abdomen infection, was sent to Brown after Luke McPharlin went off injured in the second term, keeping him scoreless for the rest of the game. "I was given the opportunity and I took it," Silvagni said. "I wasn't going to get into my head that I didn't have the fitness."

West Coast captain Darren Glass won't consider whether he continues in the role until the end of this season, saying his main focus is on ensuring the Eagles continue to improve, The West Australian reports. "I've always wanted to lead the group … (but) it's more about what's best for the footy club," Glass said.

GWS coach Kevin Sheedy says rugby league convert Israel Folau has the makings of a 'deadeye dick' in front of goal, The Courier-Mail reports. Folau kicked 5.1 in the Giants' 130-point win over Belconnen in the NEAFL last Saturday. "Some people are natural at doing things, I think he's a natural kick to be honest," Sheedy said of Folau. 

Brisbane Lions ruckman Matthew Leuenberger is expected to sign a new three-year contract worth $1.2 million within two weeks, The Courier-Mail reports. "I've never been at the club thinking I would be playing elsewhere, so I've just gone about what I am doing and my manager just kick-started (the negotiations) and now the ball is rolling," Leuenberger said.

The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.