Jump to content

  • Podcast: Trade Week   

  • Podcast: Trade Week   

SOUTH OF THE BORDER by the Oracle

Demonland

By Demonland,
in Match Previews

 Share Followers 0

Recommended Posts

Demonland

Demonland 23,303

Posted
Posted

Thankfully they moved this week’s game from Sydney where the sun shines and the virus breeds ever so slowly and almost nobody returns a positive test. The change of fixture comes at precisely the right time to allow everyone in town to head to the MCG on Sunday at around 3:30pm, not to catch up with what’s going on inside the ground but rather, to do what’s fashionable for woke folk in 2020 — pulling down statues. It’s time for Kevin Bartlett and Leigh Matthews to go but you can’t touch Norm Smith, Ron Barassi or Jimmy Stynes.

Of course, the same people showing interest in scrapping old statues are also looking at the name of the State which they reckon has to be changed because our old queen was somehow associated with colonialist types somewhere back in history. After this week, a possible name for the state is New Mexico because the people ruling the roost want to keep us all south of the border.

So they shunted an out of form Tigers away from a northern sojourn on the Gold Coast where they had an assignment with the equally ailing Eagles to the home of football for a match up with the Demons.

Richmond is playing like a club in trouble, without the intensity that marked its recent successful premiership campaigns. Their skipper is even suggesting that some of his teammates might opt against moving to an interstate hub if required to relocate. How very, very soft is that?

St Kilda had them figured right out last week. The Saints applied persistent pressure on the Tigers and blunted their usually relentlessly quick movement by hand and by foot. There’s no reason why the Demons can’t do likewise against a Richmond defence that no longer contains the retired Alex Rance and with key defender David Astbury out with a knee injury. It’s about time that Melbourne’s forward line started firing and, this week, it’s their time.

The Demons had a tough gig last week coming off their enforced bye which saw them struggling to score in the opening term. I anticipate some more changes to the line up especially given that the team is free from injury. Rotating players is what will get clubs through the season and Melbourne is well placed to do all of this. The team has Max Gawn building up after a slowish start and plenty of midfield talent to challenge the reigning premiers.

I’m tipping the Demons by 25 points.

THE GAME 

Melbourne v Richmond on Sunday 5 July, 2020 at 3.35pm at the MCG 

HEAD TO HEAD 

Overall Melbourne 75 wins Richmond 106 wins Drawn 2 At MCG Melbourne 63 wins Richmond 71 wins Drawn 1 Past five meetings Melbourne 1 win Richmond 4 wins The Coaches Hardwick 3 wins Goodwin 0 wins 

MEDIA 

TV - Channel 7, Fox Footy Channel Live at 3.30pm

Radio -  TBA

THE LAST TIME THEY MET 

Richmond 12.13.85 defeated Melbourne 6.6.42 in Round 6, 2019 at the MCG 

Melbourne put in a competitive first half and even led at quarter time but after the main break the team looked incapable of scoring as it slumped to a 1-5 record on Anzac Eve. The writing was on the wall when Sydney Stack took out co-captain Jack Viney.

THE TEAMS 

MELBOURNE

FB Joel Smith Steven May Michael Hibberd
HB James Harmes Jake Lever Christian Salem
C Ed Langdon Clayton Oliver Adam Tomlinson
HF Mitch Hannan Tom McDonald Angus Brayshaw
FF Kysaiah Pickett Christian Petracca Bayley Fritsch
FOL Max Gawn Jake Melksham Jack Viney
I/C Jayden Hunt Jay Lockhart Trent Rivers Aaron vandenBerg
EM Mitch Brown Luke Jackson Oscar McDonald Charlie Spargo 

NO CHANGE

RICHMOND 

FB Nick Vlastuin Dylan Grimes Noah Balta
HB Bachar Houli Nathan Broad Jayden Short
C Kamdyn McIntosh Dion Prestia Josh Caddy
HF Jack Higgins Shane Edwards Jason Castagna
FF Dustin Martin Tom J Lynch Jack Riewoldt
FOL Toby Nankervis Trent Cotchin Kane Lambert
IC (from) Jake Aarts Liam Baker Mabior Chol Ryan Garthwaite Jack Graham Marlion Pickett Daniel Rioli

IN Jake Aarts Noah Balta Mabior Chol Daniel Rioli

OUT David Astbury (injured) Shai Bolton (omitted) Jack Ross (omitted) Sydney Stack (omitted) 

Injury List: Round 5

Marty Hore (toe and quad) – indefinite
Harry Petty (groin) – indefinite
Kade Kolodjashnij (head) – indefinite
Aaron Nietschke (knee) – season

PreviewRd052020.png

Link to post
Share on other sites
 Share
Followers 0
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    No registered users viewing this page.

  • Match Previews, Reports & Articles

    THE TASMANIAN TIGER by Whispering Jack

    I first saw Ben Brown on a cold Tuesday night in May, 2013 playing for the Werribee Tigers against Queanbeyan in a televised Foxtel Cup game before a sparse crowd at Etihad Stadium. His teammate and former Demon Jordan Gysberts was the star of the side’s 85-point belting of the hapless ACT club but the then 20 year old, 200cm Brown was also a stand out.  Earlier that year, the athletic big man had left his native Tasmania in an effort to make the grade after being overlooked in three drafts

    Demonland
    Demonland |
    Special Features

    THE TRADING CHRONICLES 2020 by The Oracle

    Part One: The Cure It could be coincidental but since the AFL Free Agency and Trade Period began, the State of Victoria has recorded eight consecutive days of no new active cases and no deaths from Covid19. It might be a little early to announce that a cure for this dreaded virus has been discovered but one thing can be said with some certainty after following the ins and outs of the free agency and trading process — mankind is still a long way off finding a cure for boredom. That stat

    Demonland
    Demonland |
    Special Features 1

    CHANGES 2020 by The Oracle

    Part One: A very strange year Things might have been somewhat hairy when the 1919 football season opened up in the wake of the ending of a world war and in the middle of a pandemic that took millions of lives but it’s difficult to imagine a more unusual football season than the one that ended a week or so ago. For starters, the footy is supposed to finish on that one day in September on the MCG in mild spring weather; not deep into October at the Gabba amid warnings of tropical storms and h

    Demonland
    Demonland |
    Special Features

    DEMONLAND 2020 A TO Z by George on the Outer

    A- Alice Springs. Happy hunting ground.     B- Backline. Finally found the non-leaking version.   C- Cairns & Covid. How a season was ruined.    D- Demonland. Mental Health facility run by the inmates.   E- The grade you get when you don’t make F- F- Finals. What are they? G- Goals. Lack of them. Need a forward who can kick them….lots! H- Hub. Where players got to live with people you can’t stand. I- Injuries. Miracle cure provided by Dr. Burgess.  

    Demonland
    Demonland |
    Special Features

    WASH, RINSE, SPIN, REPEAT! by George On The Outer

    Although the Demons got over the line in their must win final round game against the hapless Bombers, they ensured it was Groundhog Day for their supporters who well remember what happened three years ago (although, this time they at least enjoyed the success of victory). Melbourne had its customary start dominating play and having plenty of chances in front of goal, only to find itself down on the scoreboard at the first change. Inaccurate kicking, particularly from set shots would have pu

    Demonland
    Demonland |
    Match Reports

    THE LUCK OF THE DRAW by Whispering Jack

    The long awaited clash between Melbourne and Essendon is almost upon us. Thirty-seven rounds of AFL football have passed by since the two clubs met on a balmy early April night last year in a game that produced a high scoring shootout at the MCG with the Bombers prevailing by 18 points. It was their only meeting for 2019 and happened at a time when the pandemic was something on the far distant horizon. Several months later when the 2019 season ended, the AFL issued the first of its fixtures

    Demonland
    Demonland |
    Match Previews

    THERE’S STILL A HEARTBEAT by George on the Outer

    When bottom side Adelaide scrapped together a win over the Giants last week, a tiny glimmer of hope opened up for the Demons’ finals chances. The patient was in intensive care but not quite finished — there was a faint pulse, a heart beating ever so slightly but was it enough when two more wins and other results were needed to fall their way? The first step was the resuscitation of a team that had lost its last two matches against sides then sitting fifteenth and sixteenth on the ladder. On

    Demonland
    Demonland |
    Match Reports 1

    THE FINAL HUMILIATION by The Oracle

    On Sunday, the Melbourne Football Club that won three consecutive games by in excess of 50 points last month returns to the Gabba, the scene of the last of those victories which was a 56 point drubbing of Collingwood. The Demons got off to a good start and won every quarter with a ruthless and powerful brand of football. They kicked 16 goals that day, their accuracy in front of goal a tribute to the skills the put on display throughout the afternoon and evening. In the four matches playe

    Demonland
    Demonland |
    Match Previews

    GIVEN THE OLD HEAVE HO’ by George on the Outer

    Fremantle gave Melbourne the old heave ho’ from playing finals in 2020, in conditions that the Demons yet again failed to handle.   With the whole season on the line and the need to win to stay in contention for finals, what the fans saw was much the same as they have been witnessing so many times before — a complete debacle and capitulation against a side that sat 15th on the ladder before the game.     Promises made after the loss to the 16th placed Sydney Swans were rendered h

    Demonland
    Demonland |
    Match Reports

    GETTING THE HEAVE HO by Bananabender

    The ute barely made it up to Cairns in time for us to check into the motel, fling a cane toad out the bathroom. and head over to Cazaly’s Stadium where we took up our position on the wing. There, we saw a completely different Melbourne to the one we watched on the screen only a few nights earlier from Alice Springs. This lot wore similar colours and Maxy dominated the ruck but the similarities ended there - the Demons were simply dreadful against the Swans. They started sluggishly, were spe

    Demonland
    Demonland |
    Match Previews

    A CLANGER IN CAIRNS by George on the Outer

    Having fought back into finals contention, the Demons had it all before them when facing a lowly Sydney in Cairns.  But in typical Melbourne fashion, they threw away the opportunity to cement their spot in the eight with a clanger of a game.  Right from the start, there was little to enthuse from the Melbourne players, who appeared to think that they only had to turn up, enjoy the North Queensland sun, and take away the four points.  Compared with the furious ground wide pressure of the

    Demonland
    Demonland |
    Match Reports

    TEN MINUTES LATE by Whispering Jack

    The late Norm Smith, who played in four Melbourne premierships and coached another six, was a strong disciplinarian. Known as the Red Fox for his auburn hair and his cunning, Smith was a man of a different age to the here and now. Born during the Great War, he survived the Spanish Flu Pandemic, grew up in depression times, played mostly through the Second World War and its aftermath and coached in a period of rebuilding and recovery to a time of prosperity. Smith’s success was built on team

    Demonland
    Demonland |
    Match Previews

×
×
  • Create New...