WE STILL don't know what to make of Melbourne.
Not even after running Richmond fairly close for much of the Anzac Day Eve clash and matching the terrier-like reigning premier's famed pressure for some of it.
The Demons remain the competition's most perplexing, infuriating – only if you care enough – and disappointing team.
FULL MATCH DETAILS: All the news and stats from Demons v Tigers
This club hasn't played finals since 2006, the AFL's longest September drought and a period that includes eight different coaches, but this was supposed to be the end of that.
The year Melbourne finally made a stand and stopped being the butt of jokes – you know the ones, where the red-and-blue fans pack the Range Rover headed for the snow come finals time.
But five rounds into the 2018 season, admittedly with time to put things back on track, the only thing you can bank on with Melbourne is a costly lapse at some stage every game.
It happened again on Tuesday night, after a promising-enough start for the second straight week.
In a low-scoring, pressure-filled encounter, the Dees leaked four consecutive goals either side of quarter-time then four more unanswered in the final term.
GAMEBREAKER: Jack bags three snags
The week before, they conceded 16 of the last 17 goals to Hawthorn after leading the Hawks by 21 points in the first quarter.
North Melbourne kicked the first four majors against Melbourne in round three.
Brisbane, still winless, almost chased down a 42-point deficit with seven straight goals either side of three-quarter time in round two.
And Geelong outscored Simon Goodwin's Demons by 31 points in the second quarter in the opening round en route to a three-point victory.
This is not a new problem, either.
Melbourne lost eight quarters last year by at least 30 points – losing seven of those matches – and 14 by 20 points or more.
Yet Goodwin, his coaches and the playing group have not found a remedy to their greatest flaw.
It's not always the same reason they capitulate, but their stubborn fallback option in the past two weeks to kick long to outnumbered contests in attack is a common theme.
When the pressure was at its hottest and the momentum dramatically swung the Tigers’ way, they simply had no answer.
Trent Cotchin's hanger in defence was a highlight, but it came about when Max Gawn bombed the ball from the wing to the Tiger skipper's advantage – leaving James Harmes helpless.
WATCH: Cotchin's classic captain's catch
They even lost 10 of 11 clearances at one stage in the second quarter and had one inside 50 in the first 14 minutes of that term to their opponent’s nine.
Then, when the Demons got within two goals in the third term, Dom Tyson, with a teammate open on the wing, elected to kick backwards into the defensive 50 and fluffed his kick.
It's unfortunately just what Melbourne does.
WATCH: Dom's bomb does the wrong kind of damage
Danny Frawley, one of a number of experts predicting the Demons' uprising, labelled them the 'real deal' as recently as after round three.
That same case can't be made with a straight face a fortnight later.
Richmond, on the other hand, is everything Melbourne isn't: unrelenting, predictable and, of course, the real deal.
