Andrew Demetriou may lose Kevin Bartlett in tank warMike Sheahan | August 03, 2009
ANDREW Demetriou now stands alone on tanking, abandoned by a previously immovable minister for propaganda, Kevin Bartlett.
The AFL legend, who covered the Richmond-Melbourne game for SEN radio, said later he had witnessed certain events that alarmed him.
Expect more from Bartlett when he returns to the microphone this morning.
The man who changes his mind as often as he visits a hairdresser gave every indication he will turn his back on Demetriou, leaving him alone and exposed as the front for the anti-tanking movement.
Like so many others at the MCG, Bartlett was perplexed by many of the moves from the Melbourne coach's box - backmen playing forward, forwards back, talls on smalls, and odd combinations in the midfield.
Demetriou may point to the fact Melbourne regained the lead deep in time-on in the last quarter with two goals after Richmond built a 10-point lead.
The cynics will counter by saying Melbourne found itself in front because Richmond simply was incapable of claiming a victory staring it in the face.
As it happened, the Tigers got home with a split-second to spare, Jordan McMahon marking on the siren and then converting from just inside 50.
McMahon has copped a heap of criticism since joining Richmond, yet he delivered in the most testing of all circumstances - a set shot after the siren to decide the game.
The AFL Commission simply has to reassure the public on this issue, as the Herald Sun has urged for several weeks.
The game is being damaged. Either by the reality of tanking, which CEO Demetriou bluntly rejects, or the widespread perception.
It is nonsensical for the AFL to push for a recasting of Round 22 in the interests of the integrity of the finals series while the home-and-away series is so obviously compromised.
Not for the first time, we say the priority picks must go.
The reward simply is too great for clubs that finish down the bottom two years running, winning no more than 16 points in both years. Which is Melbourne's situation.
The Demons may win one more without diminishing their entitlements. With Fremantle at home in Round 20, one more would seem a matter of course.
Which made yesterday's result so critical.
If Melbourne wins no more than one of its last four games and remains 16th and last on the ladder, it will be rewarded with the first two picks in the national draft, access to the best two juniors in the country.
There are those who say it would be irresponsible of those in charge to jeopardise such a handsome package.
Demetriou simply cannot continue to say: "Nothing's going to change."
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/afl/story/0,26576,25872783-19742,00.html
