Demons Light Up The MCG | Thebigtip

It was fitting to hear the song Uprising by Muse at the MCG today. It's one of my favourite songs from my favourite band. It's a song with a good bass beat, a catchy beat. Listen to the chorus and you'll hear the singer, Matt Bellamy, singing "They will not force us, they will stop degrading us, they will not control us, we will be victorious." It perfectly described what I witnessed.

Melbourne silenced the critics by absolutely belting Adelaide by 96 points in what was truly an uprising from the hellish performance at Patersons Stadium. Adelaide may not have come to play, but they are still an impressive young side that finished above the Demons last year, and it's Melbourne's biggest win since Round 6, 2004 against Carlton.

The intensity put on show was outstanding. Melbourne played a game that reminded me of Collingwood, and it would've matched them too, despite how biased that might sound. Dean Bailey's restructuring paid off and Adelaide were unable to handball without a Demon putting immediate forward pressure on them. A club record 27 tackles were laid in Melbourne's forward 50, a telling statistic.

Adelaide were mobbed whenever they had the ball and made mistakes. Melbourne were able to play uncontested footy along the wings and through the corridor and were as clean as you can get.

Melbourne's game play was actually very contradictory to the weather – I expected a sloppy, low-scoring game with skill errors due to the wet ground, but what I saw was eight Melbourne goals in the third quarter when the rain came down, and another eight in the last to nearly take the margin to triple figures, after it was 14 points at the main break.

They should have won by more, as Melbourne dominated from the first bounce. The ball remained in their forward half for the majority of play but they failed to convert on the scoreboard. Liam Jurrah had 1.3 to quarter time which should have been 3.1.

It was just good to see a four quarter effort from everybody. Brad Green hit his best and fairest form from last year, looking towards the MCC wing to the Melbourne faithful and grabbing his jumper after his first goal, as a captain's message to say that they're playing for the jumper.

Brent Moloney didn't need to symbolise his passion with goal celebrations, only actions – his 19 clearances is an all-time AFL record. He now has 4 best on ground performances this season and would currently be in the top 3 in the Brownlow count.

The only player that could possibly top him today was Colin Sylvia, who played four quarters of his best footy, kicking 4 goals amongst his 26 possessions. He's currently first in the AFL for inside 50s and tied third for goal assists. His form has been nothing short of outstanding. Last year I thought he might be a chance to win a Brownlow, now I believe that he can win one. His best is Melbourne's best.

James Frawley returned to his All-Australian best. Ricky Petterd showed the selectors what a mistake it was to send him back to Casey with four goals, Nathan Jones racked up the disposals and inside 50s again and Addam Maric proved to everyone why he was picked at number 21 in the 2007 AFL draft with a career best 31 disposals and 10 inside 50s playing through the midfield and half-forward.

Aaron Davey relished the freedom of being untagged with 23 disposals, Colin Garland and Matthew Warnock teamed up to play great in defence, Mark Jamar again won the ruck contests more often than not, Jack Trengove was brilliant through the centre again with 28 disposals, Rohan Bail continued his good form with another 24 disposals – the list goes on. The only two players whose games were under par from what I saw were Lynden Dunn and Matthew Bate. They kicked two goals between them, which wasn't enough considering that the Demons had 73 inside 50s.

That and Jack Grimes' injury in the first quarter. It looked as if it would hurt the Demons, but the ball barely got into Adelaide's 50, where Melbourne were usually able to send it back, and Austin Wonaeamirri played well, tying with Jordan Gysberts for second-most Melbourne clearances with 6.

The game was so well and truly dominated by Melbourne that they were able to play cheekily, with Trengove and Davey chipping the ball over and under opponents to move the ball forward.

It was a performance filled with highlights because of the uncontested style of footy. In the first quarter, Petterd contested a mark against a few Crows, about 20 metres out. Jurrah was in the area, making an option, so Petterd gathered the ball, dodged tackles, and got into a position where he was able to kick the goal. He passed it off to Jurrah, who dodged more tackles and snapped what would be the team goal of the week. It was 2 versus 7 and Melbourne were still unable to be tackled.

Sylvia also sparked Melbourne's momentum with a piece of play that showed everyone why he was a top five draft pick and why I think he can win a Brownlow. First, he nailed a set shot from just outside 50 on an angle to kick his first. Then another Moloney clearance and a handball from Dunn to Sylvia let him kick his second in under 10 seconds of play.

Adelaide were insipid, it's easy enough to say that. But you can't take anything away from Melbourne. They were simply brilliant. Playing that brand of footy, they can beat any team in the competition. I don't mind if that's a red and blue opinion, that's how I see Melbourne at the moment.

We play North Melbourne and St Kilda in the next fortnight, both at Etihad. I expect we'll win them both and break the Etihad hoodoo. This will set up huge clashes against Carlton, Essendon and Collingwood. If we play at our best we can beat any of those teams.

I think the next Muse song I listen to will be Feeling Good.