Jump to content

LEFT IN OUR DUST by George on the Outer

Demonland
in Match Reports

Featured Replies

Posted

While the chequered flag was waved to indicate the end of a F1 race at Albert Park, it was the Grand Old Flag of Melbourne that flew high at the MCG to celebrate the Demons win over Sydney.

At the final bell it was an emphatic victory of nearly a nine goal margin, which against a Sydney side who have had “the wood” over the Demons in recent years, was something special for the fans.

Make no mistake, Sydney are a seriously good side.  After all they played in the GF last year and have always been competitive with a never say die attitude.  It was exactly the same in this game as the score bounced between a 3-5 goal margin for the Demons for most of the match until the final quarter. Even during the third quarter the Swans had pegged the margin back to a single goal, but that was as close as they got.

It was then that the Demons put the pedal to the metal, and came home by the length of the straight, kicking seven final quarter goals, and putting through 21 majors for the game.

A team playing without captain Max Gawn meant the rucking roles fell to Brody Grundy and first gamer Jacob van Rooyen.  And what a debut for the 19 year old kicking three goals himself and six contested possessions, while breaking open packs and creating chances for others. 

Assisting him in the forward line was Bayley Fritsch with three goals, and also a return to form with his dangerous crumbing around packs, but Kade Chandler also chipped in with three goals, as a result of serious running to space to take advantage of forward thrusts.

Surprises abounded right from the start as Simon Goodwin placed Harrison Petty in the forward line, thereby stretching the Swans defence right from the start, which probably created more opportunities for the smaller Demon forwards. 

Final clearance statistics including centre square and around the ground stoppage were a dead heat for both sides.  But this wasn’t the case for the majority of the match, as the Swans clearly led.  It was only in that final quarter when the Demon mid-field trio of Christian Petracca, 33 disposals, Clayton Oliver 25 and Jack Viney 19 took control. 

In the absence of Max, Grundy took on the Sydney rucks and chalked up nine score involvements, while the damaging wingers of the Demons in Langdon and Hunter showed a clean pair of heels to their opposition with 23 and 24 possessions respectively.

Melbourne are now playing a very modified type of game, where territory is king.  Six players in Petracca, Oliver, May, Jordon, Hunter and Rivers had over 400 metres gained, while only one Swans player exceed this mark.  This countered the Swans’ tactic of short possession type moves, and was disheartening for them when their efforts saw a single Melbourne disposal destroy all their good work. 

We all know the AFL season is not a sprint race, like a Grand Prix.  It is truly a marathon event and keeping players fit and healthy is paramount.  And like a marathon it is a grinding sport, where the final stages of a game show us the true champions.

The Grand Old Flag was waved strongly at the end and after having played three of last years finalists in their first three games, and beating a Grand Finalist so emphatically in this game, shows that the Grand Prix at season end is well within its grasp.

MELBOURNE 6.1.37 9.3.57 14.4.88 21.8.134

SYDNEY SWANS 1.3.9 6.6.42 9.9.63 12.12.84

GOALS 

MELBOURNE Chandler Fritsch  van Rooyen 3 Hunter Oliver Spargo 2 Brown Jordon Neal-Bullen Melksham Petty Sparrow 

SYDNEY SWANS Papley 3 Franklin Hayward 2 Blakey Gulden McDonald McInerney Rowbottom

BEST 

MELBOURNE Grundy Oliver Hunter Petracca Chandler van Rooyen


SYDNEY SWANS Mills Papley Franklin T McCartin Gulden Blakey

INJURIES

MELBOURNE Nil

SYDNEY SWANS Nil

SUBSTITUTIONS

MELBOURNE Jake Melksham (replaced Ben Brown in the third quarter)

SYDNEY SWANS Matt Roberts (replaced Dylan Stephens in the third quarter)

REPORTS

MELBOURNE Nil

SYDNEY SWANS Nil

UMPIRES Hayden Gavine Alex Whetton Robert Findlay Jacob Mollison

OFFICIAL CROWD 42,423 at The MCG

PLEASE SUPPORT THE REACH FOUNDATION 

https://www.reach.org.au/support-us/

ReportRd032023.png

    • Thanks 2
    • Love 1
     
    Go to topic listing

    Featured Content

    • NON-MFC: Round 15

      As the Demons head into their Bye Round, it's time to turn our attention to the other matches being played. Which teams are you tipping this week? And which results would be most favourable for the Demons if we can manage to turn our season around? Follow all the non-Melbourne games here and join the conversation as the ladder continues to take shape.

        • Haha
      • 276 replies
      Demonland

    • REPORT: Port Adelaide

      Of course, it’s not the backline, you might argue and you would probably be right. It’s the boot studder (do they still have them?), the midfield, the recruiting staff, the forward line, the kicking coach, the Board, the interchange bench, the supporters, the folk at Casey, the head coach and the club psychologist  It’s all of them and all of us for having expectations that were sufficiently high to have believed three weeks ago that a restoration of the Melbourne team to a position where we might still be in contention for a finals berth when the time for the midseason bye arrived. Now let’s look at what happened over the period of time since Melbourne overwhelmed the Sydney Swans at the MCG in late May when it kicked 8.2 to 5.3 in the final quarter (and that was after scoring 3.8 to two straight goals in the second term). 

      • 3 replies
      Demonland

    • CASEY: Essendon

      Casey’s unbeaten run was extended for at least another fortnight after the Demons overran a persistent Essendon line up by 29 points at ETU Stadium in Port Melbourne last night. After conceding the first goal of the evening, Casey went on a scoring spree from about ten minutes in, with five unanswered majors with its fleet of midsized runners headed by the much improved Paddy Cross who kicked two in quick succession and livewire Ricky Mentha who also kicked an early goal. Leading the charge was recruit of the year, Riley Bonner while Bailey Laurie continued his impressive vein of form. With Tom Campbell missing from the lineup, Will Verrall stepped up to the plate demonstrating his improvement under the veteran ruckman’s tutelage. The Demons were looking comfortable for much of the second quarter and held a 25-point lead until the Bombers struck back with two goals in the shadows of half time. On the other side of the main break their revival continued with first three goals of the half. Harry Sharp, who had been quiet scrambled in the Demons’ first score of the third term to bring the margin back to a single point at the 17 minute mark and the game became an arm-wrestle for the remainder of the quarter and into the final moments of the last.

      • 0 replies
      Demonland

    • PREGAME: Gold Coast

      The Demons have the Bye next week but then are on the road once again when they come up against the Gold Coast Suns on the Gold Coast in what could be a last ditch effort to salvage their season. Who comes in and who comes out?

        • Thumb Down
        • Clap
        • Haha
      • 120 replies
      Demonland

    • PODCAST: Port Adelaide

      The Demonland Podcast will air LIVE on Monday, 16th June @ 8:00pm. Join Binman, George & I as we dissect the Dees disappointing loss to the Power.
      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.
      Listen LIVE: https://demonland.com/

        • Clap
        • Like
      • 33 replies
      Demonland

    • POSTGAME: Port Adelaide

      The Demons simply did not take their opportunities when they presented themselves and ultimately when down by 25 points effectively ending their finals chances. Goal kicking practice during the Bye?

        • Clap
        • Like
      • 252 replies
      Demonland
    View All