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Game plans, tactics and all that jazz


binman

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11 minutes ago, binman said:

Yeah, we definitely showed the +1 behind the ball will almost always work for us against any team, provided we get that post clearance pressure right.

Good analysis that too.

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Going back a little bit on my earlier post, I must say, McLuggage and his score assists this year have been outrageously elite, so they may well decide that Zorko can go head to head with Petracca or Oliver and that we look to tag McLuggage even if Neale comes in.

I still think the stopping the clearance at the source is the best method to stop Brisbane though. What have they got when we pressure their clearance and can we reduce their scores from stoppage by bringing our interceptors into play?

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3 minutes ago, A F said:

Going back a little bit on my earlier post, I must say, McLuggage and his score assists this year have been outrageously elite, so they may well decide that Zorko can go head to head with Petracca or Oliver and that we look to tag McLuggage even if Neale comes in.

I still think the stopping the clearance at the source is the best method to stop Brisbane though. What have they got when we pressure their clearance and can we reduce their scores from stoppage by bringing our interceptors into play?

Apart from running harmes on a mid,  I reckon they will just go head to head. I'm pretty sure the lions don't bring an extra to the stoppages. Like us they just rely on how good their mids are at winning clearances. We'll miss viney in this game.

I reckon the problem the lions will have  against us is they are pretty methodical in transition, which gives us time to set up our defensive structure.

And they rely very much on winning around the ground stoppage clearances and scoring from them. If we can match them in tbat area they will struggle.

Funnily enough the clearances numbers might end being opposite to the dogs games ie we lose centre square clearnces and break even or win around the ground stoppages

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I know binman is happy to see us lose the clearance numbers so long as we are more effective in terms of both stopping the opposition scores and scoring ourselves. I think this is generally the right approach for stoppage clearances. However, I would be more determined to take territory (and not allow the +1) early in the game when the heat is on.

For centre clearances, I think we need to put a greater emphasis taking territory and be less worried about about maintaining possession for the perfect kick. We were really good at this on the weekend. I also like the tactic of Gawn trying to take the ball out of the ruck in the centre and doing a quick kick.

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  • 3 weeks later...

2 hours ago, Engorged Onion said:

Is style/brand and therefore performance linked to turf management?

From a soccer/football perspective this article suggest it is.

Not sure it’s relevant to AFL though.

a fascinating read.

Collingwood could do with a decent groundsman. I can't help thinking that the amount of injuries they've had over the past 4 or so years are linked to the surface on their training ovals.

With our Casey facility upgrades, as I've mentioned previously, a mate of mine who works at Casey says our training facilities out there now match the likes of Liverpool in England. It's a world class set up.

So not only have world class facilities become important for attracting players and best preparing the players already there, they've very likely become essential to avoiding mounting injury lists. 

With the loads of modern day players higher than ever before, it makes sense that the surface on which they train and play has become just as vital.

Edited by A F
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3 hours ago, Engorged Onion said:

Is style/brand and therefore performance linked to turf management?

From a soccer/football perspective this article suggest it is.

Not sure it’s relevant to AFL though.

a fascinating read.

Fascinating, thanks for sharing. 

I watched a bit of the dogs-cats match last night and noticed the dogs seemed to slip over a lot more than the Geelong players. I also remember us slipping over a lot in Adelaide. I wonder if this is related to transitioning from higher to lower quality turfs, or just different style turfs?

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5 hours ago, Engorged Onion said:

Is style/brand and therefore performance linked to turf management?

From a soccer/football perspective this article suggest it is.

Not sure it’s relevant to AFL though.

a fascinating read.

I'd be curious on what the relevant metrics are between stadiums. Never be published, imagine all the litigation, when it is revealed how bad Marvel used to be.

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10 hours ago, Engorged Onion said:

Is style/brand and therefore performance linked to turf management?

From a soccer/football perspective this article suggest it is.

Not sure it’s relevant to AFL though.

a fascinating read.

What happened to the article?

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9 hours ago, Wrecker46 said:

On the pitch topic in that final Melbourne got belted by West Coast we were slipping over all day and they weren't. We were out played but I'd love to know why only we were slipping over.

That seems to happen often to us. It’s a problem.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I looked at the Clearances across the season:

Opponent Result CentreClearances TotalClearances

Freo W 10-12 27-35
St.K W 14-11 34-34
GWS W 13-15 45-37
Geel W 13-10 45-35
Haw W 12-15 34-35
Rich W 10-9 37-32
NM W 14-15 35-40
Syd W 4-17 37-39
Carl W 12-11 33-48
Adel L 18-13 45-22
Dogs W 13-11 27-36
Lions W 11-17 37-35
Pies L 9-14 24-34
Ess W 9-9 32-36
GWS L 6-11 24-39

The data:

  • when we lose CCL and overall CL by a significant amount we lost the match against Collingwood and GWS.
  • however we smashed Adelaide in both by the biggest margin in the season but lost the match
  • Sydney smashed us 4-17 in CCL but we evened CL 37-39 and won
  • Lions won CCL 11-17 but we evened CL 37-35 and won
  • We broke even with Freo, Carlton and the Dogs  in CCL but clearly lost CL and won

What conclusions:

  • If we lose both by a significant amount we're probably going to lose - Collingwood, GWS
  • but winning both by a significant amount doesn't automatically mean a win - Adelaide
  • lose CCL significantly but break even overall and we won - Syd, Brisbane
  • break even in CCL but significantly lose overall CL and we won - Freo, Dogs, Carlton
  • there's no case where we clearly won CCL but lost or broke even in overall CL.
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Mmmm, some grist for the mill for the anti-goodwin, melbourne will fail brigade.

I have been a little concerned about the 'meaning' (if any) of our 'slow starts'

We're currently sitting at 47% for first quarters won.  8 from 17

For premiers over the last two decades - that would appear to be an anomaly to holding up the cup.

 

But... the game (and rules) have changed immeasurably.

Screen Shot 2021-07-09 at 6.32.43 pm.png

What I love about our team (as stressful as it is a supporter) is that each time they trail (and there is plenty of exposure to that in each game), and grind their way back into the front and then hold the lead, it's the direct experience and emotional exposure to being uncomfortable, and still committing to the game plan, that will hold them in great stead in September.

Rather than (perhaps as we have seen in the last few weeks from our midfielders) moving away from the roles of the game plan (structure, or taking too much on), And what do you typically do when you're under pressure? Default back to things that don't help the game plan....

So when it's finals time - as a team, we've had all this season (and the last quarter of last season), developing the psychological tolerance to being a bit stressed because we are behind, and trusting the players and the system to beat any team.

It's not perfect, but nothing ever is.

Believe it Dee's supporters - this team is truly built for finals grinding football.

Edited by Engorged Onion
psychological waffle...
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  • 2 weeks later...

Useless Lockdown Nerd Stat Time.

Someone on here recently spoke about the floor and ceiling of each team. So, this arvo, I thought I'd type out all the margins for all teams in all matches played so far (aside from the current GWS/Sydney one).

Anyway, make of this what you will. 

Our spread is less then any other team in the top 4.. and by that I mean, the total points lost by divided by losses and the total points won by divided by the wins - then calculate the difference to get the notional spread.

** I counted a draw as a loss

Is it better to have a higher ceiling? Or have a smaller gap between our 'best' and our 'worst'? F.I.I.K

Does this matter? Is it meaningful? Who knows? Who even cares. It took me an hour to do whiling away this arvo with some rain, whilst eating Lindt balls.

 

Screen Shot 2021-07-18 at 7.36.14 pm.png

Edited by Engorged Onion
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2 hours ago, Engorged Onion said:

Is it better to have a higher ceiling? Or have a smaller gap between our 'best' and our 'worst'? F.I.I.K

Does this matter? Is it meaningful? Who knows? Who even cares. It took me an hour to do whiling away this arvo with some rain, whilst eating Lindt balls.

 

Screen Shot 2021-07-18 at 7.36.14 pm.png

Its probably a measure of whether a team has a defensive mindset or an offensive mindset.  If you have an offensive strategy you can smash teams, but also get exposed badly.

I don’t have time to do it, but would be interesting to see the @Pollyanna analysis for the dogs and cats.  I suspect that if they lose clearances they are toast. They both tend to run offensively.  Geelong ridiculously at times.

 

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It will be interesting to see whether we start to layer in some new set ups and set plays in the next few weeks in preparation for finals now that we've officially qualified.

Players of interest for me in the next fortnight are Gus, JJ and Rivers.

Starting with Gus and JJ, what are we doing with the wing position at the moment? Someone mentioned somewhere on Demonland (maybe it was @DeeSpencer?) that we might have been worried about Gus being exposed for pace on a wing against Port, hence JJ to the wing and Gus forward and into the stoppage sweeper role. This seemed to have some merit until last night, when the same plan was hatched again. I'm wondering whether they're giving JJ some rest from the bash and crash of defensive mid and playing him on the wing at the expense of Gus as a way of managing higher loads (JJ played high TOG last night of 82%), but less physicality. Either way, I don't think it's working as well as it could.

I'd prefer Gus taking higher minutes on the wing and JJ having less TOG as an impact defensive mid that racks up tackle numbers and is clean offensively and when pushing back defensively. 

Is Rivers tiring and if so, do we give Bowey a shot at it before the end of the year? Going by selection continuity and what Goodwin has consistently maintained in the media, it's unlikely we make this move, but as a second year player, is it worth jeopardising defensive cohesion for a week and giving Trent a rest? I worry that come finals he may be mentally fatigued by having to get up every week.

I know we've been managing Rivers' TOG too over the last 5 to 6 weeks (as I posted in another thread somewhere), but he seems to lack his run and carry, and dynamism off half back. Is it teams negating that or is it simply him tiring or both?

It will be an interesting watch on these fronts, because I'm not totally convinced Rivers should be rested if there are other ways we can manage him in game (and Burgess and co will know better than me), but I hope Gus back to a wing is a formality in the next few weeks.

Edited by A F
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I think we need to seriously rejig our midfield.

Why are we persisting with JJ at the moment? I’m not sure how many CBAs he had, but I don’t recall him in there. As for around the ground, he didn’t really seem to attend stoppage. He effectively played the Sparrow half forward role, but looked fumbly and tired. JJ is one of my favourites and his tackling in stoppage and around the ground, as well as his cleanness, was IMV a key reason why our midfield defended so well in the first half of the season. 

Give JJ the week or two off and get him fresh for the last few weeks prior to finals. Bring in Sparrow and reward his good form this year. 

I’d keep Gus on the wing with Langdon, but I’d keep Viney as a permanent forward. He can attend stoppage if it’s inside 50, otherwise he should play as a pressure “speed forward”. He’s dangerous around goal with his attack on the ball carrier, it protects his foot for finals (if we want to revert to Viney as a mid, which could well work in finals) and enables JJ to take his place as the defensive mid.

Harmes isn’t playing brilliantly, but I prefer him in our midfield to Viney, providing he remembers he’s not Dustin Martin. Take the right option.

I think we use JJ and Harmes as our defensive mids and rotate them forward and to the bench. They wouldn't be strictly defensive of course, because both can get it on the outside too and attack from stoppage.

Petracca needs to play somewhere between 80% mid, 20% forward IMV. We just don't have the midfield depth to leave it all to Clarry. Speaking of which, Oliver should be in there just about every time. I’d also like to see us use Kozzy more often as an attacking mid from stoppages. And as much as it pains me to say it given how he treated MFC supporters in Sydney last year, and frankly his bruise free form, I think, as you intimate, we need to find a way of getting Melksham’s ball use into the team, so I’d add him very occasionally to centre stoppages as well if we can find a place for him in the team. Who for though???

So centre bounce mids would be Oliver, Petracca, Harmes, JJ, Kozzy and Melksham. Viney should attend forward stoppages as an inside slider or pure defensive mid and Gus should attend defensive stoppages as a width receiver or ground ball get player. 

Anyone feeling any of this?

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39 minutes ago, A F said:

I think we need to seriously rejig our midfield.

Why are we persisting with JJ at the moment? I’m not sure how many CBAs he had, but I don’t recall him in there. As for around the ground, he didn’t really seem to attend stoppage. He effectively played the Sparrow half forward role, but looked fumbly and tired. JJ is one of my favourites and his tackling in stoppage and around the ground, as well as his cleanness, was IMV a key reason why our midfield defended so well in the first half of the season. 

Give JJ the week or two off and get him fresh for the last few weeks prior to finals. Bring in Sparrow and reward his good form this year. 

I’d keep Gus on the wing with Langdon, but I’d keep Viney as a permanent forward. He can attend stoppage if it’s inside 50, otherwise he should play as a pressure “speed forward”. He’s dangerous around goal with his attack on the ball carrier, it protects his foot for finals (if we want to revert to Viney as a mid, which could well work in finals) and enables JJ to take his place as the defensive mid.

Harmes isn’t playing brilliantly, but I prefer him in our midfield to Viney, providing he remembers he’s not Dustin Martin. Take the right option.

I think we use JJ and Harmes as our defensive mids and rotate them forward and to the bench. They wouldn't be strictly defensive of course, because both can get it on the outside too and attack from stoppage.

Petracca needs to play somewhere between 80% mid, 20% forward IMV. We just don't have the midfield depth to leave it all to Clarry. Speaking of which, Oliver should be in there just about every time. I’d also like to see us use Kozzy more often as an attacking mid from stoppages. And as much as it pains me to say it given how he treated MFC supporters in Sydney last year, and frankly his bruise free form, I think, as you intimate, we need to find a way of getting Melksham’s ball use into the team, so I’d add him very occasionally to centre stoppages as well if we can find a place for him in the team. Who for though???

So centre bounce mids would be Oliver, Petracca, Harmes, JJ, Kozzy and Melksham. Viney should attend forward stoppages as an inside slider or pure defensive mid and Gus should attend defensive stoppages as a width receiver or ground ball get player. 

Anyone feeling any of this?

I can't really disagree with any of this. We need to mix some things up, no use in being super predictable and easy to prepare for. I've loved JJ's work in the middle this year but I wouldn't mind seeing a different look. Maybe Sparrow?  I like the idea of Kozzie and giving us an edge to break away from stoppages.

Viney showed he can offer a bit at forward 50 stoppages, I would love to see him spend a bit more time across half forward. 

The sense is that the closer we get to finals the less experiments we'll see but we have to keep opposition guessing for me and have other clubs we can take out of the bag if needed.

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Is our game plan a problem in the wet?

Paraphrasing @binman, we look to pressure the ball out of the centre and hope to use our defensive setup and intercept marking to propel ourselves forward, rather than winning centre clearance (unless we can do so cleanly).

If it’s wet, it appears that the ball is less likely to be cleanly intercepted and control gained, and then we struggle with the lost territory?

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7 hours ago, A F said:

I think we need to seriously rejig our midfield.

Why are we persisting with JJ at the moment? I’m not sure how many CBAs he had, but I don’t recall him in there. As for around the ground, he didn’t really seem to attend stoppage. He effectively played the Sparrow half forward role, but looked fumbly and tired. JJ is one of my favourites and his tackling in stoppage and around the ground, as well as his cleanness, was IMV a key reason why our midfield defended so well in the first half of the season. 

Give JJ the week or two off and get him fresh for the last few weeks prior to finals. Bring in Sparrow and reward his good form this year. 

I’d keep Gus on the wing with Langdon, but I’d keep Viney as a permanent forward. He can attend stoppage if it’s inside 50, otherwise he should play as a pressure “speed forward”. He’s dangerous around goal with his attack on the ball carrier, it protects his foot for finals (if we want to revert to Viney as a mid, which could well work in finals) and enables JJ to take his place as the defensive mid.

Harmes isn’t playing brilliantly, but I prefer him in our midfield to Viney, providing he remembers he’s not Dustin Martin. Take the right option.

I think we use JJ and Harmes as our defensive mids and rotate them forward and to the bench. They wouldn't be strictly defensive of course, because both can get it on the outside too and attack from stoppage.

Petracca needs to play somewhere between 80% mid, 20% forward IMV. We just don't have the midfield depth to leave it all to Clarry. Speaking of which, Oliver should be in there just about every time. I’d also like to see us use Kozzy more often as an attacking mid from stoppages. And as much as it pains me to say it given how he treated MFC supporters in Sydney last year, and frankly his bruise free form, I think, as you intimate, we need to find a way of getting Melksham’s ball use into the team, so I’d add him very occasionally to centre stoppages as well if we can find a place for him in the team. Who for though???

So centre bounce mids would be Oliver, Petracca, Harmes, JJ, Kozzy and Melksham. Viney should attend forward stoppages as an inside slider or pure defensive mid and Gus should attend defensive stoppages as a width receiver or ground ball get player. 

Anyone feeling any of this?

Agree on most of this.

Harmes is not good enough right now to be in the 22 IMO. That's the opening for Melksham, I reckon, if we want to give that a go (I'm no Melksham fan and his 2019-20 form was terrible, but if we can get something like 2018 Melksham into this side it will make a huge difference).

I don't think he's capable of resisting the urge to be Dustin Martin.

Viney's best football yesterday was in the forward half and his worst was at defensive stoppages. I think that's the signal anyone needs as to his best role in the side. 

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3 hours ago, Rossmillan said:

Is our game plan a problem in the wet?

Paraphrasing @binman, we look to pressure the ball out of the centre and hope to use our defensive setup and intercept marking to propel ourselves forward, rather than winning centre clearance (unless we can do so cleanly).

If it’s wet, it appears that the ball is less likely to be cleanly intercepted and control gained, and then we struggle with the lost territory?

I think it's clear our game stands up in the wet. We accounted for at least Richmond and Sydney in the wet.

IMV, we were off 10% defensively the other night and clearly tired at ground level, which impacted on our cleanness and ability to get the ball moving back our way.

Hibberd for example would have shut Bontempelli down earlier in the year, whereas he let him kick two of the easiest goals you'll see unattended. 

If there's a weak link in the defensive chain (and there were a few the other night- Salem was poor again, JJ was fumbly, where was Jackson, Hibberd fumbled, as did Rivers), most systems won't stand up. I think it's a testament to ours that we managed to get within 4 points midway through the last.

IMV, our single biggest problem is goal accuracy and conversion. Even when we got so little out of so many, we were well in the game. Get that right and I think we'll be very hard to beat come finals. 

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Agree with the discussion @A F, but it needs to click soon for us to keep 2021 alive.

The thing that could be our undoing is that even if we are in games and the system is holding up, the losses are creating pressure on our mental resilience. We have a long, long history of being fragile between the ears and you can see that in the way a few guys are playing. They have retreated into their shells and any confidence that we established between rounds 1-13 has been completely erased.

Goal kicking accuracy is a big problem, it's always been a problem. I can't see this changing as we are attacking in the most defensive way possible, through the pockets. It may be possible to have 1 or 2 really good goal kicking days, but because we create a lot of low percentage shots we are more likely to falter.

The midfield group is not even close to being in sync and I strongly oppose the idea of deliberately giving up centre clearances and relying on Lever, May and Petty controlling the air to stem the tide. I think it's a high risk tactic when the team most likely to be waiting in the GF has Hawkins, Cameron and Rohan. Those 3 will comfortably halve contests, at the very minimum, in a final.

 

Edited by BW511
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11 hours ago, Rossmillan said:

Is our game plan a problem in the wet?

Paraphrasing @binman, we look to pressure the ball out of the centre and hope to use our defensive setup and intercept marking to propel ourselves forward, rather than winning centre clearance (unless we can do so cleanly).

If it’s wet, it appears that the ball is less likely to be cleanly intercepted and control gained, and then we struggle with the lost territory?

Its funny you should say that.

A few minutes before reading this post I was thinking about the fact I tipped the dees, but in hindsight made a mistake in terms of the conditions.

Before the game, my thinking was they would disadvantaged by wet conditions because it would make it hard for them to flick it around and possess the ball. And make it hard for Naughton and their other tall forwards. 

But I forgot to factor in how badly the rain would impact our poor kicking and how much the gap between their superior kicking skills and ours would widen.

I also thought about the issue you noted about marks from hb.

I'm not sure it had a major difference. Sort of. The issue was they were winning so many of the ground balls. And of course inside 50 stoppages.

So I guess if we marked more balls coming in that would have stopped them winning those balls. And we we would have more opportunities to rebound. But we have been good at wiining those contests up till the last few weeks.

I actually think the main problem we are having with scoring is fatigue related.

At our best that we generate a lot of our scoring from overlap run from half back. Those goals where we run in waves and swarm it forward, often leading to us having an outnumber inside 50 with mids etc streaming towards an unguarded goal - like two of tracc's goals against Port.

But atm only hunt and nibbler seems to be able to run and carry and offer overlap options. 

Rivers looks out in his feet. Jackson too. Same goes for Langdon. Kozzie is not getting up and down the ground nearly as much and nor is Spargo. Hibberd looks a plodder again. And Gus, never quick in the best of times is going back and staying there and offering very little in terms of run and carry.

This lack of overlap run by multiple players was the reason we couldn't take advantage of periods where were on top.

It also makes our forward line look more one dimensional, more crowded and our entries more difficult.

The swarm overlap creates faster transitions, opposition teams are less able to get back to defend and it pulls opposition zones out of shape.

Whatever the cause of the fatigue, I have little doubt it is the key factor in our performance atm.

After 9 rounds most posters were quite rightly lauding the genius of burgess. We were clearly fitter than most teams. And we were running on top of the ground. We have lost that edge.

But burgess hasn't become any less a leader in his field. And I have complete faith in his ability to make sure the team is at optimal fitness and freshness come the first final.

Edited by binman
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1 hour ago, BW511 said:

Agree with the discussion @A F, but it needs to click soon for us to keep 2021 alive.

The thing that could be our undoing is that even if we are in games and the system is holding up, the losses are creating pressure on our mental resilience. We have a long, long history of being fragile between the ears and you can see that in the way a few guys are playing. They have retreated into their shells and any confidence that we established between rounds 1-13 has been completely erased.

I'd be interested to hear who you're referring to here? If it's McDonald, I thought he showed some good leadership at the start of the third. Took a great contested mark and then converted, unlike most of his team mates. It sparked a comeback. 

I agree he's not having the same influence and it's probably a confidence thing, but I'm not sure mental fragility has been our undoing. I think clearly tiredness has. It obviously impacts on adherence to structures, concentration across 4 quarters and goal kicking accuracy.

If we're a fresher team, we're the best team in the comp IMV. I'm just hoping that the intense loading that Burgess has been putting the players through pays off and at the very end and push for finals, we get a second wind.

1 hour ago, BW511 said:

Goal kicking accuracy is a big problem, it's always been a problem. I can't see this changing as we are attacking in the most defensive way possible, through the pockets. It may be possible to have 1 or 2 really good goal kicking days, but because we create a lot of low percentage shots we are more likely to falter.

The midfield group is not even close to being in sync and I strongly oppose the idea of deliberately giving up centre clearances and relying on Lever, May and Petty controlling the air to stem the tide. I think it's a high risk tactic when the team most likely to be waiting in the GF has Hawkins, Cameron and Rohan. Those 3 will comfortably halve contests, at the very minimum, in a final.

I don't think we ever 'deliberately' concede clearances, it's just that emphasis is not all down to winning the clearance. Winning a rushed clearance is good for territory but risks interception. Pressing the opposition post clearance heightens the chance we can intercept and get the ball on our terms.

It's the Geelong model for almost the entirety of Scott's coaching career. If you look at Richmond, a similar thing. Clarkson's teams didn't always rely on them either. The most important thing is getting the game on our terms and then kicking straight.

I've felt in at least the last two weeks in the wet, it's been about taking territory and bombing long to contests. This is a good back up strategy, but we were better when we switched the ball to uncontested players or had Max taking contested marks.

As Max's dominance has diminished, we've reverted to 2019 territory, thump it forward, a bit haphazardly. It can work, but if we're just a little bit off defensively like we have been the last fortnight, then it gives the other side a chance.

That said, IMV we lost both games due to goal kicking accuracy. Obviously can't know for sure if we'd have kicked on against the Bulldogs, but given they still struggled to score against us for large periods, had we taken our chances, I'd say we run over them.

Edited by A F
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  • Demonland Forums  

  • Match Previews, Reports & Articles  

    DEPTH CHARGE by Whispering Jack

    The jubilation on the coach’s face as he danced a celebratory jig by the playing bench after the final siren sounded to record his team’s four-point victory over the Demons when the teams last met, said it all.    On that rainy Friday night at the Adelaide Oval, Ken Hinkley’s young midfield secured much more than four points on offer. The victory over one of the big dogs of the competition after a succession of wins over some of its lesser lights gave his team respect and validation fo

    Demonland
    Demonland |
    Melbourne Demons 5

    TRAINING: Monday 25th March 2024

    Demonland Trackwatchers Demon Dynasty & Kev Martin were trackside at Gosch's Paddock today to bring you their observations from training. DEMON DYNASTY'S TRAINING OBSERVATIONS Kade Chandler's left knee heavily strapped. BBB, Spargs & Jake Lever also in rehab group. Jake Bowey solo running separate kicking/sprint/agility drills. Super fine morning / early arvo at Gosch's for the boys to blow out some cobwebs. Choco initially had the light duties / rehab group

    Demonland
    Demonland |
    Training Reports

    HIBERNATING by KC from Casey

    When they locked up the rooms for summer at the end of last year’s football season, the rooms gathered cobwebs, the atmosphere became dense and the place developed a sleepy feel. They opened up the rooms to let Casey out to play on Sunday but the team was still hibernating and they missed the bulk of the opening quarter. By the time they worked out it was game on, their opponents from Box Hill had accumulated five goals and, if the game wasn’t over, it might as well have been. For a se

    Demonland
    Demonland |
    Casey Articles

    A FORK IN THE HAWK by George on the Outer

    For too long in the past, Demon fans became habitually sick and tired of watching the Hawks hand out thrashings to their side. But Melbourne’s empahtic 55-point win at the MCG on Saturday has truly put a fork in the Hawk and turned that history well and truly on its head. The Demons have now won nine of their last ten encounters with the other result, a draw.     And like a fork, it was the multi-pronged options that Melbourne had all across the ground.  It certainly helped that Hawthorn

    Demonland
    Demonland |
    Match Reports 8

    PREGAME: Rd 03 vs Port Adelaide

    The Demons head on the road for the next 2 weeks as they travel to Adelaide to play Port on Saturday and then have a 5 Day break before facing the Crows in the Gather Round. With injuries to May and Lever who comes in and who goes out?

    Demonland
    Demonland |
    Melbourne Demons 264

    PODCAST: Rd 02 vs Hawthorn

    The Demonland Podcast will air LIVE on Monday, 25th March @ 8:30pm. Join George, Binman & I as we analyse the Demons victory at the MCG against the Hawks in the Round 02. You questions and comments are a huge part of our podcast so please post anything you want to ask or say below and we'll give you a shout out on the show. If you would like to leave us a voicemail please call 03 9016 3666 and don't worry no body answers so you don't have to talk to a human. Listen & Chat

    Demonland
    Demonland |
    Melbourne Demons 46

    VOTES: Rd 02 vs Hawthorn

    Last week Steven May took the lead in the Demonland Player of the Year Award from Jack Viney. Clayton Oliver & Max Gawn round out the Top 4. Your votes for the win/loss against/to the Hawks. 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

    Demonland
    Demonland |
    Melbourne Demons 50

    POSTGAME: Rd 02 vs Hawthorn

    The Demons cruised to an easy 55 point win over the Hawks at the MCG but but paid a heavy toll on the injury front with Steven May & Jake Lever possibly sidelined for a number of weeks.

    Demonland
    Demonland |
    Melbourne Demons 357

    GAMEDAY: Rd 02 vs Hawthorn

    It's Game Day and after mixed results in the first two weeks of the season the Demons have the opportunity to capitalise on their good form last week when they take on the Hawks at the MCG today.

    Demonland
    Demonland |
    Melbourne Demons 437
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  • Non MFC Games  

    NON-MFC: Round 03

    Discussion of all the other games that don't involve the Demons in Round 03 ... READ MORE

    Demonland | Round 03

  • Match Preview      

    DEPTH CHARGE by Whispering Jack

    The jubilation on the coach’s face as he danced a celebratory jig by the playing bench after the final siren sounded to record his team’s four-point victory over the Demons when the teams last met, said it all ... READ MORE

    Demonland | March 27

  • Latest Podcast      

    PODCAST: Rd 02 vs Hawthorn

    The boys dissected the clinical thrashing of Hawks praising the immense performance of Christian Petracca whilst lamenting the injury toll to our defensive unit ... LISTEN

    Demonland | March 26

  • Training  

    Monday, 25th March 2024

    Demonland Trackwatchers Demon Dynasty & Kev Martin were trackside at Gosch's Paddock today to bring you their observations from training ... READ MORE

    Demonland | March 25

  • Casey Report      

    HIBERNATING by KC from Casey

    When they locked up the rooms for summer at the end of last year’s football season, the rooms gathered cobwebs, the atmosphere became dense and the place developed a sleepy feel. They opened up the rooms to let Casey out to play on Sunday but the team was still hibernating and they missed the bulk of the opening quarter ... READ MORE

    Demonland | March 25

  • PreGame      

    PREGAME: Rd 03 vs Port Adelaide

    The Demons head out on the road for the next 2 weeks as they travel to Adelaide to play Port on Saturday and then have a 5 Day break before facing the Crows in Gather Round. With injuries to May and Lever who comes in and who goes out? ...READ MORE

    Demonland | March 28

  • Match Report      

    A FORK IN THE HAWK by George on the Outer

    For too long in the past, Demon fans became habitually sick and tired of watching the Hawks hand out thrashings to their side. But Melbourne’s empahtic 55-point win at the MCG on Saturday has truly put a fork in the Hawk and turned that history well and truly on its head ... READ MORE

    Demonland | March 23

  • Post Game      

    POSTGAME: Rd 02 vs Hawthorn

    The Demons cruised to an easy 55 point win over the Hawks at the MCG but but paid a heavy toll on the injury front with Steven May & Jake Lever possibly sidelined for a number of weeks ...READ MORE

    Demonland | March 23

  • Votes      

    VOTES: Rd 02 vs Hawthorn

    Last week Steven May took the lead in the Demonland Player of the Year Award from Jack Viney. Clayton Oliver & Max Gawn round out the Top 4. Your votes for the win/loss against/to the Hawks. 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 ...READ MORE

    Demonland | March 23

  • Game Day      

    GAMEDAY: Round 02 vs Hawthorn

    It's Game Day and after mixed results in the first two weeks of the season the Demons have the opportunity to capitalise on their good form last week when they take on the Hawks at the MCG today ... READ MORE

    Demonland | March 23

  • Training  

    Friday, 22nd March 2024

    Demonland Trackwatcher Kev Martin and I attended the Captain's Run at Gosch's Paddock on this lovely sunny morning to bring you the following observations from the training session ... READ MORE

    Demonland | March 22

  • Training  

    Tuesday, 19th March 2024

    Demonland Trackwatchers Kev Martin & Walking Civil War attended Tuesday morning's training session at Gosch's Paddock to bring you the following observations ... READ MORE

    Demonland | March 19

  • Training  

    Saturday, 16th March 2024

    Demonland Trackwatchers Kev Martin and Dee Zephyr wandered down to Gosch's Paddock on Saturday morning to bring you their observations from the Captain's Run in the lead up to Sunday's Round One match against the Bulldogs ... READ MORE

    Demonland | March 16

  • Farewell  

    Angus Brayshaw Retires

    After 167 games including the drought breaking Premiership Angus Brayshaw has made the heart breaking decision to medically retire from football as a result of a series of serious head knocks over his nearly decade of footy. We wish Gus all the best and he'll always be a hero at Demonland ... READ MORE

    Demonland | February 22

  • Latest Podcast  

    PODCAST: Koltyn Tholstrup Interview

    I interview the Melbourne Football Club’s newest recruit Koltyn Tholstrup to have a chat about his journey from the farm to the Demons, his first few weeks of preseason training, which Dees have impressed him on the track and his aspirations of playing Round 1 ... LISTEN

    Demonland | December 14

  • Latest Podcast  

    PODCAST: Jason Taylor Interview

    I interview the Melbourne Football Club's National Recruitment Manager Jason Taylor to have a chat about our Trade and Draft period, our newest recruits, our recent recruits who have yet to debut as well as those father son prospects on the horizon ... LISTEN

    Demonland | November 27

  • Next Match 

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    Round 03

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    Saturday 30th March 2024
    @ 07:30pm (AO)

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  • Injury List  


      PLAYER INJURY LENGTH
    Jake Lever Knee Test
    Clayton Oliver Hand Test
    Oliver Sestan Concussion Test
    Steven May Ribs 1 Week
    Lachie Hunter Calf 1 Week
    Daniel Turner Hip 2-3 Weeks
    Charlie Spargo Achilles 2-4 Weeks
    Shane McAdam Hamstring 3-5 Weeks
    Jake Bowey Shoulder 7 Weeks
    Jake Melksham ACL 12-14 Weeks
    Joel Smith Suspension TBA

  • Player of the Year  


        PLAYER VOTES
    1 Christian Petracca 27
    2 Steven May 25
    3 Max Gawn 21
    4 Jack Viney 20
    5 Bayley Fritsch 19
    6 Clayton Oliver 18
    7 Christian Salem 12
    8 Blake Howes 11
    9 Jack Billings 10
    9 Alex Neal-Bullen 10

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