Jump to content

Posting Unsubstantiated Rumours on this Website is Strictly Forbidden
  • IMPORTANT: PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING

    Demonland has made the difficult decision to not permit this platform to be used to discuss & debate the off-field issues relating to the Melbourne Football Club including matters currently being litigated between the Club & former Board members, board elections, the culture at the club & the personal issues & allegations against some of our players & officials ...

    We do not take these issues & this decision lightly & of course we believe that these serious matters affecting the club we love & are so passionate about are worthy of discussion & debate & I wish we could provide a place where these matters can be discussed in a civil & respectful manner.

    However these discussions unfortunately invariably devolve into areas that may be defamatory, libelous, spread unsubstantiated rumours & can effect the mental health of those involved. Even discussion & debate of known facts or media reports can lead to finger pointing, blame & personal attacks.

    The repercussion is that these discussions can open this website, it’s owners & it’s users to legal action & may result in this website being forced to shutdown.

    Our moderating team are all volunteers & cannot moderate the forum 24/7 & as a consequence problematic content that contravenes our rules & standards may go unnoticed for some time before it can be removed.

    We reserve the right to delete posts that offend against our above policy & indeed, to ban posters who are repeat offenders or who breach our code of conduct.

    WE HAVE BUILT A FANTASTIC ONLINE COMMUNITY AT DEMONLAND OVER THE PAST 23 YEARS & WE WOULD LIKE TO CONTINUE TO BE ABLE TO DISCUSS THE CLUB WE LOVE & ARE SO PASSIONATE ABOUT.

    Thank you for your continued support & understanding. Go Dees.


BLUNDSTONE BOOTED by George on the Outer


Demonland

Recommended Posts

The tough Aussie Blundstone boot is made for true blue collar workers, and so it was at this aptly named stadium in Hobart, that the Demons were made to work their hardest for their seventh consecutive win of the season.

From the outset, North Melbourne put scoreboard pressure on Melbourne with two majors at an early stage in the first quarter. The Demons fought back and temporarily had the lead but the Kangaroos responded to lead by five points at quarter time. This was not what the public was expecting from a potential top-of-the-ladder side pitted against an opponent on the very bottom rung without a win in 2021 and in the midst of a 13 game losing streak. And things were only going to get worse in the second quarter.

The Demon woes began before the game. Jack Viney (toe) was replaced prior to the start by Oscar Baker with Nathan Jones brought in as medical sub.  He wasn’t to spend too much time on the bench when his services were required after Adam Tomlinson went down with a suspected ACL injury barely five minutes into the game. This completely upset the structure not only of the defence but the entire side. Baker is primarily a winger, and Brayshaw was moved into the middle. When Tomlinson went down, Tom McDonald had to be swung into defence, thereby depriving the forward line. Jones became the interchange in the middle.

The  Demons just couldn’t get their act together without the structure that had served the side so well in previous games. They weren’t helped by the fact that North were playing the old “rope a dope” style of game, chipping the ball around, and amassing huge numbers of uncontested possessions. At one stage before half time, they had 90 more than Melbourne.  North also took advantage with turnover goals as the pressure that Melbourne had brought to the game previously, simply went missing.

In the ruck Goldstein was beating Max Gawn, not just with hit-outs, but clearances as well.  He was ably backed up by the umpires who made numerous incomprehensible calls in the ruck contests, which favoured the Kangaroos.

Melbourne went into half time with a three goal deficit, and things were looking ominous as far as maintaining its unbeaten record for 2021. Indeed, when interviewed at half-time, Simon Goodwin confessed that his team was being beaten in “all phases of the game”.

The coach made a few telling changes made at the break. 

Firstly, Luke Jackson was moved into the ruck for much longer than usual. With  Goldstein following Gawn on and off the field, suddenly Melbourne had superiority in the ruck contests to which North had no answer. Jackson finished with 22 possessions, seven hitouts and two clearances.  But it was his mobility and contribution to team second efforts which helped to bring the other mids more into the game. 

The defenders suddenly got their act together, with the usual May, Lever and now McDonald intercepts that meant the ball was now regularly finding the hands of Christian Salem and Ed Langdon and consequently finishing in the forward 50 more and the scores started to come.

Clayton Oliver lifted his work-rate to finish with 25 touches, including seven clearances but still, the Demons looked flat.  In stepped Kosiaiah Pickett, with a couple of breathtaking efforts and goals that simply shouldn’t have happened.  Bayley Fritsch couldn’t miss and had 5 majors to his name by the time the ¾ time siren sounded.  The Demons had hit the front, having kicked six goals to one for the quarter.

The final term saw a workmanlike effort again. By now, North had spent all their petrol tickets, and were simply unable to make any scoreboard efforts work.  Still, early on they managed to be only a single kick behind, and once again, up stepped the youngsters for the side. 

James Jordon nailed a difficult crumbing goal to open up the margin, and Fritsch brought up goal number six.  Further goals came with the final margin finally blowing out to five goals and a 49 point turnaround from half time.

While the Demons have now cemented themselves at the top of the ladder the injuries suffered will cause a dramatic reshuffle for next week’s game against Sydney. 

Viney is out for at least a couple of weeks, Tomlinson now looks like missing the rest of the season. Angus Brayshaw suffered a shoulder injury, but played on. Ben Brown suffered a heavy head knock but hopefully won’t be a candidate for a concussion spell. 

Fortunately, Melbourne have plenty of available soldiers to replace them. Harry Petty will surely come in if fit and available, and Tom Sparrow will be putting up his hand for selection, after a 32 possession effort with Casey. 

But the Demons cannot afford to play the same way as they did in the first half of this game against the Swans.  Multitudes of players were well below their best.  Christian Petracca got 23 touches, but wasn’t his usual damaging self.  Gawn was probably beaten on the day.  Oliver was our best in the middle, but North certainly won the clearance battle on the day. 

Neither of Alex Neal-Bullen and Jake Melksham did anything for their respective causes and would only stay in the side because of other replacements needed.

What Melbourne need to do is come out with the workmanlike efforts of the second half of this game. The Blundstone boots are tough, and the Demons need to be likewise to keep on kicking winning scores.

MELBOURNE 3.2.20 6.4.40 12.7.79 16.7.103

NORTH MELBOURNE 4.1.25 9.5.59 10.6.66 11.7.73

GOALS

Melbourne Fritsch 6 Pickett 3 Brown 2 Jackson Jordan Langdon Oliver Spargo

North Melbourne Campbell Cunnington Larkey 2 Atley Mahony Powell Simpkin Zurhaar

BEST

Melbourne Fritsch Jackson Salem May Pickett Petracca

North Melbourne Cunnington Hall Powell McKay Turner Simpkin 

INJURIES

Melbourne Tomlinson (knee)

North Melbourne Bonar (corked thigh)

REPORTS

Melbourne Nil

North Melbourne Nil

SUBSTITUTES

Melbourne Jones (replaced Tomlinson)

North Melbourne Menadue (replaced Bonar)

Umpires Chris Donlon Justin Power Simon Meredith

Crowd TBA at Blundstone Arena

ReportRd072021.png

  • Like 5
  • Thanks 1
  • Love 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Demonland Forums  

  • Match Previews, Reports & Articles  

    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. KEV MARTIN'S TRAINING OBSERVATIONS Windy, even the Yarra has waves, warm and humid. They are doing plenty of warm ups, then a game of soccer, now run throughs. I think keeping it simple. May, ANB, Hore, Max. TMac, Billings, Sestan, on modified programs.  BBB, Spargs, Turner, McAdam (own program, talking to Whe

    Demonland
    Demonland |
    Training Reports

    DEE-RUBBING by George on the Outer

    For the second week in a row, the Demons had to endure some particularly oppressive match conditions — this time, playing in 30 degree temperatures at the MCG, following the humid sticky Sydney atmosphere of last week.   The warmer conditions didn’t seem to worry the Dee’s since the ball was so much easier to handle, and handle it with surety they did in handing out a 45 point drubbing to the much fancied Western Bulldogs.   After a slow start that saw the Dogs out to

    Demonland
    Demonland |
    Match Reports

    PREGAME: Rd 02 vs Hawthorn

    The Demons will return to the MCG next week to face the Hawks before 2 weeks on the road in Adelaide in the lead up to Gather Round. Who comes in and who goes out?

    Demonland
    Demonland |
    Melbourne Demons 151

    PODCAST: Rd 01 vs Western Bulldogs

    The Demonland Podcast will air LIVE on Monday, 18th March @ 8:30pm. Join George, Binman & I as we analyse the Demons victory at the MCG over the Bulldogs in the Round 01. 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 65

    POSTGAME: Rd 01 vs Western Bulldogs

    The Demons finally open their account in the 2024 Premiership Season with a 45 point win over the Western Bulldogs at the Home of Football the MCG.   

    Demonland
    Demonland |
    Melbourne Demons 444

    VOTES: Rd 01 vs Western Bulldogs

    Last week Jack Viney polled the maximum number of votes to lead the Demonland Player of the Year Award. Steven May and rookie Blake Howes are equal second. Your votes for the win over the Bulldogs. 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

    Demonland
    Demonland |
    Melbourne Demons 75

    GAMEDAY: Rd 01 vs Western Bulldogs

    On the back of a disappointing Opening Round loss to the Swans in Sydney the Demons return to the MCG today to take on the the Western Bulldogs in a bid to even the ledger early in the 2024 season.

    Demonland
    Demonland |
    Melbourne Demons 467

    TRAINING: Saturday 16th March 2023

    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. KEV MARTIN'S CAPTAIN'S RUN OBSERVATIONS Rehab  is out early. A beautiful Saturday morning, though plenty of dew on the paddock  Verrall doing hard sprints along the boundary.  McAdam individual program and has started, ball work, change of direction drills,

    Demonland
    Demonland |
    Training Reports

    CROSSING THE PICKETT LINE by The Oracle

    Melbourne’s performance in losing its Round Zero contest in Sydney has certainly caused the club, the coach and the players to come firmly under the watchful eye of the football world and exposed all of its aspects to a microscopic lens.   Much of the commentary surrounding them has been less than complimentary and, while some might argue that this is unfair after only one round, leaving aside some of the scuttlebutt that surrounds a lot of the discussion around the game, a fair amoun

    Demonland
    Demonland |
    Match Previews
  • Tell a friend

    Love Demonland? Tell a friend!
  • Podcast 

  • Podcast 

  • Podcast Stream 


    Open Stream in
    New Window
        TuneIn    Opens in New Tab
  • Support Demonland  



  • 2021 Premiership  

  • Social Media 

  • Non MFC Games  

    NON-MFC: Round 02

    Discussion of all the other games that don't involve the Demons in Round 02 ... READ MORE

    Demonland | Round 02

  • 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

  • Latest Podcast      

    PODCAST: Rd 01 vs Western Bulldogs

    The boys analysed the dismantling of the Western Bulldogs praising the masterful performance of Clayton Oliver, the dominance of Max Gawn and the defence and rebound of Steven May ... LISTEN

    Demonland | March 19

  • Match Report      

    DEE-RUBBING by George on the Outer

    For the second week in a row, the Demons had to endure some particularly oppressive match conditions — this time, playing in 30 degree temperatures at the MCG, following the humid sticky Sydney atmosphere of last week ... READ MORE

    Demonland | March 17

  • Post Game      

    POSTGAME: Round 01 vs Western Bulldogs

    TThe Demons finally open their account in the 2024 Premiership Season with a 45 point win over the Western Bulldogs at the Home of Football the MCG ...READ MORE

    Demonland | March 17

  • Votes      

    VOTES: Round 01 vs Western Bulldogs

    Last week Jack Viney polled the maximum number of votes to lead the Demonland Player of the Year Award. Steven May and rookie Blake Howes are equal second. Your votes for the win over the Bulldogs. 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 ...READ MORE

    Demonland | March 17

  • PreGame      

    PREGAME: Rd 02 vs Hawthorn

    The Demons will return to the MCG next week to face the Hawks before 2 weeks on the road in Adelaide in the lead up to Gather Round. Who comes in and who goes out? ...READ MORE

    Demonland | March 19

  • Game Day      

    GAMEDAY: Round 01 vs Western Bulldogs

    On the back of a disappointing Opening Round loss to the Swans in Sydney the Demons return to the MCG today to take on the the Western Bulldogs in a bid to even the ledger early in the 2024 season ... READ MORE

    Demonland | March 17

  • 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

  • Match Preview      

    CROSSING THE PICKETT LINE by The Oracle

    Melbourne’s performance in losing its Round Zero contest in Sydney has certainly caused the club, the coach and the players to come firmly under the watchful eye of the football world and exposed all of its aspects to a microscopic lens ... READ MORE

    Demonland | March 14

  • Training  

    Monday, 11th March 2024

    Demonland Trackwatcher Kev Martin braved the scorching heat on a public holiday to bring you the following observations from Training ...READ MORE

    Demonland | March 11

  • Preseason Training  

    Saturday, 2nd March 2024

    On the eve of the 2024 Season I ventured down to Gosch's Paddock for one of the final preseason training session before we head up to Sydney to take on the Swans. Here are my observations from the training session ... READ MORE

    Demonland | March 02

  • Special Feature  

    SCRUTINY & RESILIENCE by Whispering Jack

    If the week when preseason training melds into scratch matches with other clubs, is the first marker for the beginning of a new season, then this has certainly been a torrid opener for the Melbourne Football Club in its campaign to remain a leading AFL premiership contender in 2024 ... READ MORE

    Demonland | February 24

  • 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 

    .

    Round 02

       vs   

    Saturday 23rd March 2024
    @ 04:35pm (MCG)

  • MFC Forum  

  • Match Previews & Reports  

  • Training Forum  

  • AFLW Forum  

  • 2024 Player Sponsorship

  • Topics

  • Injury List  


      PLAYER INJURY LENGTH
    Oliver Sestan Concussion 1 Week
    Lachie Hunter Calf 2 Weeks
    Daniel Turner Hip 5-6 Weeks
    Jake Bowey Shoulder 8 Weeks
    Shane McAdam Hamstring TBC
    Jake Melksham ACL TBC
    Charlie Spargo Achilles TBC
    Joel Smith Suspension TBA

  • Player of the Year  


        PLAYER VOTES
    1 Steven May 25
    2 Jack Viney 20
    3 Clayton Oliver 18
    4 Max Gawn 11
    5 Jack Billings 10
    5 Blake Howes 10
    7 Christian Petracca 9
    7 Christian Salem 9
    9 Bayley Fritsch 4
    9 Judd McVee 4

        FULL TABLE
  • Demonland Interviews 



  • Upcoming Events 

×
×
  • Create New...