Jump to content
View in the app

A better way to browse. Learn more.
Demonland

A full-screen app on your home screen with push notifications, badges and more.

To install this app on iOS and iPadOS
  1. Tap the Share icon in Safari
  2. Scroll the menu and tap Add to Home Screen.
  3. Tap Add in the top-right corner.
To install this app on Android
  1. Tap the 3-dot menu (⋮) in the top-right corner of the browser.
  2. Tap Add to Home screen or Install app.
  3. Confirm by tapping Install.

THE FINAL HUMILIATION by The Oracle

Demonland
in Match Previews

Featured Replies

Posted

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 played since then, their average goals scored collapsed to a little over six per game and they have fallen from a strong finals contender to a rank outsider with kicking skills so poor that they have consistently failed to hit the proverbial barn door. The humiliation will continue when their season will effectively end on Saturday evening against the Greater Western Sydney Giants.

Indeed, the humiliation began with the words uttered by coach Simon Goodwin this week:

"As a club, I think we need to become a much more ruthless club and really grow up and start to perform in these types of games.

"We need to start becoming more mature as a club and more unconditional about the way we go about our business."

These words are not only starkly obvious in light of two pathetic performances against lowly teams in Sydney and Fremantle that they were expected to beat even in the oppressive conditions in Cairns, but they ring hollow to any Demon fan who can recall the same dictum from former coach Neale Daniher in the mid-2000s when the same ruthlessness call flopped badly time and again and culminated in his mid season dismissal a few years later.

In their past two games, the Demons have taken the field as if the games were meaningless dead rubbers instead of the potential season deciders that they were in actuality. Against the Swans but with the aid of the breeze, they conceded the first two goals and were virtually down and out by half time before butchering their comeback opportunity with several misses for goal from close in. Against the Dockers, they recorded a shameful 53% disposal efficiency (c.f 77% v the Magpies) — a figure that reflects a lack of intensity and a sign that the players were switched off, fatigued, couldn’t give a damn or all of the above.

There’s no need to go any further. The 2020 agony for Demon fans will end on Saturday night ... in humiliation.

GWS Giants by 50 points.

THE GAME 

GWS Giants v Melbourne at the Gabba, Saturday 12 September, 2020 at 7.40pm 

HEAD TO HEAD 

Overall – Melbourne 6 wins GWS Giants 6 wins
At The Gabba – GWS Giants 0 wins Melbourne 0 wins
Past five meetings – Melbourne 2 wins GWS Giants 3 wins 
The Coaches – Goodwin 1 win Cameron 2 wins

THE MEDIA 

TV - Fox  Channel 7, Footy Channel, Live at 7.30pm 
RADIO - Triple M 3AW SEN ABC AFL Nation at 7.30pm

THE LAST TIME THEY MET 

GWS Giants 14.10.94 defeated Melbourne 10.8.68 at the MCG, Round 10, 2019

The Giants came out of the blocks and completely dominated the Demons for the first three quarters before easing off and conceding seven goals to two in the last. Max Gawn, Jack Viney and James Harmes were the best for the Dees.

THE TEAMS

GWS GIANTS

FB Sam J Reid Lachlan Keeffe Heath Shaw
HB Adam Kennedy Nick Haynes Zac Williams
C Lachie Whitfield Jacob Hopper Harry Perryman
HF Jeremy Cameron Harry Himmelberg Matt de Boer
FF Toby Greene Jeremy Finlayson Brent Daniels
FOL Shane Mumford Josh Kelly Tim Taranto
I/C Jack Buckley Tom Green Connor Idun Daniel Lloyd
EMG Matt Buntine Isaac Cumming Bobby Hill Sam Jacobs,

IN Jack Buckley Brent Daniels Tom Green Connor Idun Josh Kelly Shane Mumford Harry Perryman Zac Williams

OUT Lachie Ash (omitted) Sam Jacobs (omitted) Jye Caldwell (omitted) Stephen Coniglio (omitted) Aidan Corr (ankle) Jackson Hately (omitted) Bobby Hill (managed) Jake Riccardi (managed)

MELBOURNE

FB Joel Smith Steven May Jake Lever
HB Jayden Hunt Trent Rivers Christian Salem
C Ed Langdon Christian Petracca Adam Tomlinson
HF Aaron vandenBerg Sam Weideman Bayley Fritsch
FF Mitch Brown Jake Melksham Charlie Spargo
FOL Max Gawn Jack Viney Clayton Oliver
I/C Oskar Baker Neville Jetta Alex Neal-Bullen Kysaiah Pickett,
EMG Mitch Hannan Jay Lockhart Tom McDonald Josh Wagner

IN Mitch Brown Neville Jetta Charlie Spargo

OUT Toby Bedford (omitted) Michael Hibberd (ankle) Braydon Preuss (omitted)

Round 17: Injury List

Tom Sparrow (collarbone) — available 
James Harmes (hamstring) — 1 week
Luke Jackson (hamstring) —  1-2 weeks
Nathan Jones (quad)  —  1-2 weeks
Angus Brayshaw (foot) — season
James Jordon (finger) — season
Aaron Nietschke (knee) — season 
Harry Petty (groin) — season
Kade Kolodjashnij (head) — indefinite 

 
PreviewRd172020.png
    • Shocked 1
     
    Go to topic listing

    Featured Content

    • Welcome to Demonland: Steven King

      The Melbourne Football Club has selected a new coach for the 2026 season appointing Geelong Football Club assistant coach Steven King to the head role.

        • Shocked
        • Thumb Down
        • Clap
        • Haha
        • Love
        • Thanks
        • Like
      • 661 replies
      Demonland

    • AFLW PREVIEW: Port Adelaide

      The undefeated Demons venture across the continent to the spiritual home of the Port Adelaide Football Club on Saturday afternoon for the inaugural match for premiership points between these long-historied clubs. Alberton Oval will however, be a ground familiar to our players following a practice match there last year. We lost both the game and Liv Purcell, who missed 7 home and away matches after suffering facial fractures in the dying moments of the game.

        • Love
        • Thanks
      • 1 reply
      Demonland

    • AFLW REPORT: Richmond

      A glorious sunny afternoon with a typically strong Casey Fields breeze favouring the city end greeted this round four clash of the undefeated Narrm against the winless Tigers. Pre-match, the teams entered the ground through the Deearmy’s inclusive banner—"Narrm Football Weaving Communities Together and then Warumungu/Yawuru woman and Fox Boundary Rider, Megan Waters, gave the official acknowledgement of country. Any concerns that Collingwood’s strategy of last week to discombobulate the Dees would be replicated by Ryan Ferguson and his Tigers evaporated in the second quarter when Richmond failed to use the wind advantage and Narrm scored three unanswered goals. 

        • Clap
        • Love
        • Thanks
        • Like
      • 4 replies
      Demonland

    • CASEY: Frankston

      The late-season run of Casey wins was broken in their first semifinal against Frankston in a heartbreaking end at Kinetic Stadium on Saturday night that in many respects reflected their entire season. When they were bad, they committed all of the football transgressions, including poor disposal, indiscipline, an inability to exert pressure, and some terrible decision-making, as exemplified by the period in the game when they conceded nine unanswered goals from early in the second quarter until halfway through the third term. You rarely win when you do this.

        • Thanks
        • Like
      • 0 replies
      Demonland

    • AFLW PREVIEW: Richmond

      Round four kicks off early Saturday afternoon at Casey Fields, as the mighty Narrm host the winless Richmond Tigers in the second week of Indigenous Round celebrations. With ideal footy conditions forecast—20 degrees, overcast skies, and a gentle breeze — expect a fast-paced contest. Narrm enters with momentum and a dangerous forward line, while Richmond is still searching for its first win. With key injuries on both sides and pride on the line, this clash promises plenty.

        • Thanks
        • Like
      • 3 replies
      Demonland

    • AFLW REPORT: Collingwood

      Expectations of a comfortable win for Narrm at Victoria Park quickly evaporated as the match turned into a tense nail-biter. After a confident start by the Demons, the Pies piled on pressure and forced red and blue supporters to hold their collective breath until after the final siren. In a frenetic, physical contest, it was Captain Kate’s clutch last quarter goal and a missed shot from Collingwood’s Grace Campbell after the siren which sealed a thrilling 4-point win. Finally, Narrm supporters could breathe easy.

        • Thanks
        • Like
      • 2 replies
      Demonland
    View All

    Configure browser push notifications
    Chrome (Android)
    1. Tap the lock icon next to the address bar.
    2. Tap Permissions → Notifications.
    3. Adjust your preference.
    Chrome (Desktop)
    1. Click the padlock icon in the address bar.
    2. Select Site settings.
    3. Find Notifications and adjust your preference.