IT SEEMS there's always at least one club feeling the heat of concentrated media scrutiny.
Already this season, St Kilda and North Melbourne have had turns under the media blowtorch, now it seems it's Melbourne's turn.
The Demons' pitiful 54-point loss to West Coast last Thursday night has deservedly put the heat on Dean Bailey and his side.
The pressure gauge was turned up a few notches in Tuesday's newspapers.
The back page of the Herald Sun's sports section featured a photo of Melbourne skipper Brad Green, head down, worry written all over his face.
In the story beneath it, Melbourne president Jim Stynes said the club was "absolutely" behind Bailey.
Speaking after a scheduled board meeting on Monday night, Stynes said Bailey's performance had not been discussed. Most tellingly, he said the club had to stick together as supporters and the media become increasingly "impatient" for Melbourne's highly touted youngsters to start delivering.
Turn a couple of pages inside the tabloid, and you had Green shifting the blame for the Demons' poor form from Bailey to the players.
On the opposite page, Mike Sheahan took a trip down memory lane, revisiting Melbourne's clash with Carlton in round 22, 2007, for the "Kreuzer Cup".
Comparing the progression of both sides since their respective finishes of 14th and 15th that year, Sheahan noted Carlton was headed for its third consecutive finals appearance while the Demons were, at best, treading water after their promising 2010 season.
Sheahan particularly targeted the Demons' "lack of enthusiasm, intensity and resistance".
The Age didn't miss the Demons either. Like Sheahan, Michael Gleeson gave us a history lesson, looking back on Melbourne's after-the-siren loss to Richmond in round 18, 2009. The result meant the Demons finished last that year and earned a compensation pick that gave them the first two picks in the NAB AFL Draft and pushed the Tigers down to the No. 3 pick.
In comparing the development of the Demons and Tigers post 2009, Gleeson concluded "Richmond looks more even and unified".
All the Demons can do for now is follow Stynes' advice and stick together. If they can do that and, better yet, string a few wins together, the blowtorch will inevitably pass to its next victim.
Magpies copied on and off field
Collingwood is the competition's indisputable trendsetter at the moment.
That's not unusual for a reigning premier but the Magpies' influence on the rest of the competition has been extraordinary on and off the field.
On field, its forward press and safety-first around-the-boundary ball movement has been ripped off, in various forms, by most sides, most noticeably Essendon and West Coast.
Along with Geelong, the Magpies have been the only Victorian-based side to field their own VFL side in recent years. This has given them the freedom to play their players where, when and for how long they want, while other sides have had to fit in with their VFL affiliates.
This year, Richmond has foreshadowed it intends to field its own VFL side in the future, while West Coast and Fremantle are currently seeking to field their own sides in the WAFL from next year.
Now The Age reports 2011's new side Gold Coast is preparing to follow the Magpies' lead and embark on a high-altitude training trip to Arizona at the end of this season.
It's not surprising. Suns coach Guy McKenna was an assistant coach to Magpies coach Mick Malthouse before joining the Suns, while another former Malthouse assistant, North Melbourne coach Brad Scott, took his club on a high-altitude training camp, in Utah last November.
As long as Collingwood continues to set the pace on and off the field, expect it to play Pied Piper to the rest of the competition.
In short
James Hird said he would not reinstate the jacket-waving tradition former Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy established in Essendon-West Coast clashes at the sides' clash this Sunday, the Herald Sun reports.
While North Melbourne coach Brad Scott will match coaching wits against his twin brother, Geelong coach Chris, for the first time this Saturday, he told The Age he had already had one win over his brother - he has converted their mother into a North Melbourne supporter.
Port Adelaide ruckman Dean Brogan says achilles tendonitis may force him to sit out a couple of games at some stage soon so he can finish the 2011 season strongly, The Advertiser reports.
Gold Coast Sun Jared Brennan expects his former Brisbane Lions teammates will try to get under his skin when the sides clash in Queensland's first intra-state AFL clash this Saturday night.
The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
