Melbourne players trudge from the ground. Picture: Ludbey Wayne
THE reality of this match was that nothing less than a win would do for Essendon, while nothing less than having a real crack would do for Melbourne.
Essendon's mission was never in doubt, Melbourne's barely gave a yelp.
Led by a dominant midfield of Dyson Heppell, Jobe Watson, David Zaharakis and Heath Hocking, the Bombers were able to dictate terms throughout.
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When they pumped the ball forward, Tom Bellchambers, Stewart Crameri and Michael Hurley were too big, strong and talented for their direct opponents, while Alwyn Davey created chances with his pace, tackling and creativity.
Demons v Bombers, MCG, Picture: Ludbey Wayne Source:
The Dons backline - built around young gun Jake Carlisle and old gun Dustin Fletcher - was superb.
Melbourne's quest to earn a semblance of respect for its intensity was dreadfully disappointing and woefully short-lived.
Last week nobody at the club had any answers to the many questions about the insipid efforts and lack of urgency in the season-opening 79-point loss to Port Adelaide.
In the minutes before the match, coach Mark Neeld publicly outlined his response when he allowed a television camera into the Demons rooms to record his pre-match address to the players.
On his whiteboard he scrawled three bullet points: Trust Yourself; Attack & Hunt With Speed; and Mistakes Do Not Matter.
Demons v Bombers, MCG, Picture: Ludbey Wayne Source:
For the first six minutes of the match the Dees played with a fierceness that would have pleased its supporters. Neither team scored and there was a palpable sense of hope that whatever the Demons lacked in polish, they would make up for in endeavour.
Yet once the Bombers opened the scoring with a Stewart Crameri goal, the inevitable march towards a demoralising thrashing began.
Throughout the first half, not only were the Demons led to the ball at centre bounces and around the ground, they were smashed in the tackle count.
Not only were failing to get first hands on the ball, they were barely doing anything to get it back.
The Demons were not forcing Essendon to play accountable football.
Rather than playing man on man or at least putting an arm across an opponent's chest, they continued to defend areas and block space.
Worst still, as the game wore on the desperation drained out of the Demons players.
They scored just one goal in the second half - at the three-minute mark of the third term - and just one point thereafter.
The 148-point loss was Melbourne's worst to Essendon (beating the 122-point thrashing in 1986), and two points higher than Essendon's previous highest score against Melbourne (in the same match).
Demons v Bombers, MCG, Picture: Ludbey Wayne Source:
The Bombers also set a record for inside-50 entries.
Only Nathan Jones, Matt Jones, James Frawley, Aaron Davey and Jeremy Howe could say they had a crack throughout, while Mitch Clark, Jack Viney and Colin Garland had their moments.
One of the most soul-destroying aspects of the game was to watch Jack Watts running around totally devoid of confidence.
On the eve of the match Neeld had put the acid on several of his players, notably Watts, who had seven disposals in the opening round against Port Adelaide.
"He's got to get going, Jack. We know that, he knows that," Neeld said.
But Watts looked lost.
His first touch came at the 18-minute mark - by which stage his opponent David Zaharakis had eight disposals - and it was the result of a backwards pass to him, unmarked at full back.
He was eventually subbed off 17 minutes into the third quarter, replaced by late call-up David Rodan.
When it was flashed across the MCG scoreboard that Watts had been banished to the bench, a loud cheer went up through the crowd of 51,153.
The intensity vanished to such a degree that the last quarter was little more than a training drill for the Bombers.
In the end, mistakes didn't matter for Melbourne, neither did trust, and hunting and attacking with speed was irrelevant.
Demons v Bombers, MCG, Picture: Ludbey Wayne Source:
What did matter was having a crack. And sadly, the longer the game progressed, the less that seemed to matter to its players, too.
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