Jump to content

2021 Player Reviews: #3 Christian Salem

Demonland
Demonland
in Melbourne Demons

Featured Replies

Posted

03ChristianSalem2021.png

The rebounding half back had his best season yet and capped it all off with an outstanding grand final in which he picked up 27 disposals at an exceptional accuracy rate of 96% including a goal when he drifted forward late in the rampage that destroyed the Bulldogs.

Date of Birth: 15 July, 1995

Height: 183cm

Weight: 84kg

Games MFC 2021: 24

Career Total: 130

Goals MFC 2021: 3

Career Total: 24

Brownlow Medal Votes 2021: 1

Premiership Player

  • Quote
    • Like 2
    • Thanks 1
    • Love 3
     

    Sensational year.  First half especially was very good. 
    Composure  Skill  Toughness  Hits targets 

    ALL AUSTRALIAN SQUAD 

    His finals campaign was excellent. 

    His Grand Final was awesome.   In the first half, he was our best player.  Clearly a key part of the team. 

    Simply his best year and so hope it’s recognized in B&F.  I think Demonlanders had him 3rd behind Trac and Clarry.
     

    PS. Tyson + Salem. V. Josh Kelly 

    I’d say it’s evens or we are now slightly ahead !!! 

  • Quote
    • Like 7
    • Love 3

    Simply a brilliant season and he is just in the prime of his football career, this is a great reward for hard work and dedication.

    How he missed being a AA player is beyond me but am I biased or just a better judge.

    Edited by durango

  • Quote
    • Like 5
     

    Composure and skills are just fantastic. 

    At quarter time he looked like a Norm Smith medalist, and the rest of his game was really good though not quite as much as Q1 - but that set up the win.

  • Quote
    • Like 3
    • Love 1

    Christian Salem has looked a player from day one and what a “A” grade game he played in the Granny, just superb.!!

  • Quote
    • Like 5

    1 Brownlow vote is the clearest indication I have seen that the award is BS.

  • Quote
    • Like 13
    • Love 1
    • Angry 1

    I have a gut feeling that later on in his career he will swing forward and become a weapon, similar to Yze. 

    Absolute gun.

  • Quote
    • Like 3

    Everything seems to move in 'slow motion' when Salo is around the ball.  His composure is as good as it gets, his disposal efficiency is elite, and unlike the other HB flankers whose disposal the media drool over, he's also a great defender one on one.  He had an outstanding 2021, and was a key plank in our Premiership.

  • Quote
    • Like 3
    • Love 1
     

    Salem missed one game for the season and it was against Adelaide in Adelaide maybe we would have won if he had been able to play?

  • Quote
    • Like 4
    • Love 1
    3 hours ago, spirit of norm smith said:

    Sensational year.  First half especially was very good. 
    Composure  Skill  Toughness  Hits targets 

    ALL AUSTRALIAN SQUAD 

    His finals campaign was excellent. 

    His Grand Final was awesome.   In the first half, he was our best player.  Clearly a key part of the team. 

    Simply his best year and so hope it’s recognized in B&F.  I think Demonlanders had him 3rd behind Trac and Clarry.
     

    PS. Tyson + Salem. V. Josh Kelly 

    I’d say it’s evens or we are now slightly ahead !!! 

    In my mind it is Ben Brown and Salem v Josh Kelly. And we win that hands down.

    We got pruess for Tyson in a straight swap. We then got pick 31 for pruess.

    We gave kangaroo's pick 26 and the pruess pick and got pick 28 and b.brown back.

  • Quote
    • Like 4

    Played with injury concern a lot of the year otherwise would have been AA...still better than Rich but who cares.

    Salem a brilliant contributor.

    Forget the pick swaps and other players, head to head I would pick Salem ahead of Kelly.

    A proven finals, big game player against a one that has so far faltered.

  • Quote
    • Like 5
    • Thanks 1
    • Love 2
    5 hours ago, durango said:

    Simply a brilliant season and he is just in the prime of his football career, this is a great reward for hard work and dedication.

    How he missed being a AA player is beyond me but am I biased or just a better judge.

    Should have been AA ahead of Bailey Dale. Had a better season, got more disposals, marks & had twice as many tackles per game. Selectors probably worried there were too many Demons in the AA team.

  • Quote
    • Like 5

    Superb Season. Nothing more to be said

    What a magnificent 1st Quarter he had in the GF when the Game was red hot, Salem was Mr Cool

  • Quote
    • Like 4

    Best halfback in the game in my eyes, best kick in the team and hard as a rock.

    Was great to see his mum singing the song - just a lovely totem to new Australia.

  • Quote
    • Like 4
    • Love 1

    I’m just watching the ANZAC eve match vs Richmond, holy cow he is just such a ridiculously cool customer. I know he was the same (if not better) in the Grand Final but he was so damn good, could’ve been as good a choice for the BOG medal as Petracca. 

    The thing that makes him stand out above just about everybody is that he sums things up so quickly, he does these deft little taps and handballs that he knows he’s likely to cop a hit at the same time. His footy intelligence is just about the highest I’ve ever seen at the club. 

  • Quote
    • Like 2
    • Thanks 1
    • Love 2

    Petrracca owes this guy a beer.

    Salem should’ve won the Anzac eve medal given he kept us afloat in the first qtr and could not have played a better game in the GF, but his mate took both medals.

    He’s in the peak years now and has come a long way from suiting up with Casey in 2017.

  • Quote
    • Like 6
    3 hours ago, Bring-Back-Powell said:

    Petrracca owes this guy a beer.

    Salem should’ve won the Anzac eve medal given he kept us afloat in the first qtr and could not have played a better game in the GF, but his mate took both medals.

    He’s in the peak years now and has come a long way from suiting up with Casey in 2017.

    Conspiracy theory: maybe Salem did win the Anzac eve medal? Remember how there was a delay because the presenter hadn't been given the winner's name? Maybe someone yelled out "It's Christian" and the presenter just went with the better-known one...

    Also, just cause it's worth repeating, 96% disposal efficiency for 27 disposals in a Grand Final is unbelievable.

  • Quote
    • Like 3
    • Love 1
    • Haha 1

    Love this highlights package from the MFC.

    Video editor did a great job, but probably had it pretty easy, with the man Salem providing heaps of quality material.  Just look at the first play in the reel.  Tackles, strips the player of the ball and then delivers perfectly to a teammate. Of course the package is finished off by his goal in the GF, which was a suburb and fitting way to punctuate his season.

    A man of near endless tallent, he doubles as the team hairdresser if I recall correctly from an interview with Steven May at some point.

  • Quote
    • Love 1
    On 10/11/2021 at 2:37 PM, rjay said:

    Played with injury concern a lot of the year otherwise would have been AA...still better than Rich but who cares.

    Salem a brilliant contributor.

    Forget the pick swaps and other players, head to head I would pick Salem ahead of Kelly.

    A proven finals, big game player against a one that has so far faltered.

    Yeah, who cares? Vastly better player than Rich - and now a premiership player. Same goes for Kelly. For us, I much prefer Salem.. Tough too - touch of mongrel to go with the skills.

  • Quote
    • Like 1
    On 10/16/2021 at 9:10 PM, rpfc said:

    Best halfback in the game in my eyes, best kick in the team and hard as a rock.

    Was great to see his mum singing the song - just a lovely totem to new Australia.

    Think I missed the mum. Where was that? (And yes, the outstanding halfback in the game, bar none.)

  • Quote
    •  

    Was fitting and deserving he kicked a goal in the Granny.

  • Quote
    2 hours ago, Dees_In_October said:

    Conspiracy theory: maybe Salem did win the Anzac eve medal? Remember how there was a delay because the presenter hadn't been given the winner's name? Maybe someone yelled out "It's Christian" and the presenter just went with the better-known one...

    Also, just cause it's worth repeating, 96% disposal efficiency for 27 disposals in a Grand Final is unbelievable.

    In the same year and two presentations we had the first MOC not be told the ANZAC Eve medal before she went up to present it, and the second (far more important) have the MOC forget to let our coach have his extremely deserved time in the sun to have his speech. 

    Bring back Craig Willis!

  • Quote
    • Haha 1

    Join the conversation

    You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

    Guest
    Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
    Reply to this topic...
    Go to topic listing

    Featured Content

    • PODCAST: West Coast

      The Demonland Podcast will air LIVE on Monday, 5th May @ 8:00pm. Join Binman, George & I as we analyse the Demons 3rd win row for the season against the Eagles.
      Your 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.

      • 0 replies
      Demonland
      Demonland

    • POSTGAME: West Coast

      Following a disastrous 0–5 start to the season, the Demons have now made it three wins in a row, cruising past a lacklustre West Coast side on their own turf. Skipper Max Gawn was once again at his dominant best, delivering another ruck masterclass to lead the way.

        • Like
      • 45 replies
      Demonland
      Demonland

    • VOTES: West Coast

      Max Gawn leads the Demonland Player of the Year from Jake Bowey in 2nd place. Christian Petracca, Ed Langdon and Clayton Oliver round out the Top 5. Your votes for the win over the West Coast Eagles in Perth. 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 & 1.

      • 12 replies
      Demonland
      Demonland

    • GAMEDAY: West Coast

      It's Game Day and the Demons have a chance to notch up their third consecutive win — something they haven’t done since Round 5, 2024. But to do it, they’ll need to exorcise the Demons of last year’s disastrous trip out West. Can the Dees continue their momentum, right the wrongs of that fateful clash, and take another step up the ladder on the road to redemption?

        • Thanks
        • Like
      • 669 replies
      Demonland
      Demonland

    • FEATURE: 1925

      A hundred years ago today, on 2 May 1925, Melbourne kicked off the new season with a 47 point victory over St Kilda to take top place on the VFL ladder after the opening round of the new season.  Top place was a relatively unknown position for the team then known as the “Fuchsias.” They had finished last in 1923 and rose by only one place in the following year although the final home and away round heralded a promise of things to come when they surprised the eventual premiers Essendon. That victory set the stage for more improvement and it came rapidly. In this series, I will tell the story of how the 1925 season unfolded for the Melbourne Football Club and how it made the VFL finals for the first time in a decade on the way to the ultimate triumph a year later.

        • Love
        • Thanks
        • Like
      • 0 replies
      Demonland
      Demonland

    • PREVIEW: West Coast

      Saturday’s election night game in Perth between the West Coast Eagles and Melbourne represents 18th vs 15th which makes it a tough decision as to which party to favour. The Eagles have yet to break the ice under their new coach in Andrew McQualter who is the second understudy in a row to confront Demon Coach Simon Goodwin who was also winless until a fortnight ago. On that basis, many punters might be considering to go with the donkey vote but I’ve been assigned with the task of helping readers to come to a considered opinion on this matter of vital importance across the nation. It was almost a year ago that I wrote a preview here of the Demons’ away game against the Eagles (under the name William from Waalitj because it was Indigenous Round).  I issued a warning that it was a danger game, based on my local knowledge that the home team were no longer easybeats and that they possessed a wunderkind generational player in Harley Reid who was capable of producing stellar performances playing among men a decade and more older than he.  At the time, the Eagles already had two wins off the back of a couple of the young man’s masterclasses and they had recently given the Bombers a scare straight after their Anzac Day blockbuster draw against the then reigning premiers.

        • Thanks
        • Like
      • 1 reply
      Demonland
      Demonland
    View All