Nathan Jones, Bernie Vince, Dom Tyson and Jack Viney provide the drive for the Demons out of the centre of the ground. Not only are they the sides’ four leading possession winners for the season, three of them are also in the top 10 for most goals.
Jones, the captain, has delivered another standout season. He ranks third in the AFL for disposals and has been impressively consistent. Only twice in his 21 games has he registered under 20 touches in a match, while hitting the 30+ mark on nine occasions.
The midfielder does his best work inside, averaging more than 6 clearances a game for 129 on the season. In addition to his work winning the ball, Jones also leads his team in total tackles with 109.
Bernie Vince is a name familiar to Kangaroos’ fans after he had the ball on a string in Round 14. At the MCG he had a career high 41 disposals; an incredible 11 more than anyone else on the ground.
Where Jones does most of his work in close and with handballs, Vince is the opposite, preferring to use the ball by foot. He has had 348 kicks, the as only Demon to break the 300 mark. The former Crow is likely to end the year having the most kicks of any Melbourne player since Travis Johnstone in 2005.
Along with Vince, Dom Tyson was another player who arrived at the Demons in 2013’s trade period; Melbourne giving up Picks 2, 20 and 72 in return for the emerging on-baller, Pick 9 and Pick 53 from the GWS Giants.
The skilful left-footer has quickly shown why Melbourne was so keen to lure him home to Victoria, playing every game in 2014. Tyson also saved two of his best performances for the Demons’ wins, collecting 29 disposals and a goal against Adelaide, and 23 disposals and 2 goals against Richmond.
To round out the four important midfielders, Jack Viney has made huge steps forward in his second season of AFL football.
Now fully adjusted to the physicality and rigours of the game, Viney is averaging almost 20 disposals a game in 2014.
His contentious suspension against Adelaide in Round 7 drew empathy from none other than Jack Ziebell, who was presumably pleased when Viney was later freed to play on appeal. Showing the mental strength of the Demons’ youngster, he went out that weekend and collected 21 disposals and 9 tackles against the Western Bulldogs.
Melbourne has a poor recent record against this week’s opponents. The Kangaroos have won the last 12 meetings between the sides and have never lost to the Demons at Etihad Stadium, boasting a perfect 7-0 record.
However the Demons can take solace in the fact that the record doesn’t come close to touching its own one-time winning streak against North. From 1953 to 1965, Melbourne won a staggering 20 consecutive games against Saturday night's opponent.
