LEARNINGS OR BURNINGS by GOTO

It’s game day and the Demons are chasing a fourth straight win as we take on the high flying Hawks at the G. After decades of being tormented by the Hawks the Dees will be keen to extend their 7 year dominance over Hawthorn.

Round 9 kicks off out west with the Dockers hosting a Collingwood side resting several stars. Fremantle need to make a statement on their home deck after some disappointing form on the road, while the Magpies will be keen to maintain their Top 2 position. Friday night sees a must-win clash between two sides desperate to stay in touch with the eight. St Kilda have shown glimpses while Carlton are clinging to relevance after a flat start to the season. Saturday’s twilight game at Marvel pits the Bombers against a struggling Sydney outfit. Essendon can’t afford another close match against a lower-ranked side, while the Swans risk sliding down the ladder even further. Up in Darwin, the fourth-placed Suns will look to extend their stay in the top four. The Bulldogs have hit their stride with three big wins on the trot and will be very keen to consolidate on their momentum. The always fiery Showdown looms as pivotal for both clubs. Adelaide are eyeing a spot in the Top 4 with a win, while Port Adelaide’s season could slip away if they drop another game and fall further behind the pack. Sunday begins with a yawn fest between Richmond and West Coast. The Tigers need to bank the points to stay clear of the bottom two, while the Eagles are still chasing their first win of the year. The Giants face one of the league’s toughest road trips as they travel to GMHBA Stadium to face the Cats. With GWS at risk of a third straight loss, Geelong will be eager to consolidate their position inside the eight and start their climb up the ladder. The round wraps up with the top-of-the-table Lions heading to Ninja Stadium to take on the second-last Roos. The Lions should easily take care of the struggling Roos who might be powerless against the best in the comp. Who are you tipping and what are the best results for the Demons?

Melbourne and Hawthorn who face off against each other this week have more in common than having once almost merged and about to wear a blue jumper with a red v triangle and an embroidered picture of a bird on the front. They also share the MCG as their main home ground, their supporters are associated with the leafy suburbs of Melbourne and in recent times, James Frawley graced the colours of both teams. Even more recently, both have bounced back from disastrous five game losing streaks to start off a season. Of course, the Hawks turned their bounce into a successful leap from the bottom of the ladder into a finals appearance, making it to the semifinals in 2024 and this year, they’re riding high in third place on the AFL table. The Demons are just three games into their 2025 bounce back, and are yet to climb their way out of the bottom four although they are sitting a game and percentage out of the top eight. However, with the current sportsbet odds of $3.90 to win this week’s encounter, it seems a forlorn hope that their upward progression will continue much longer.

On Wednesday I'll be interviewing the Melbourne Football Club's first pick in the 2024 National Draft and pick number 6 overall Harvey Langford. If you have any questions you want asked let me know. I will release the interview on Wednesday afternoon.

On a night of counting, Melbourne captain Max Gawn made sure that his contribution counted. He was at his best and superb in the the ruck from the very start of the election night game against the West Coast Eagles at Optus Stadium, but after watching his dominance of the first quarter and a half of the clash evaporate into nothing as the Eagles booted four goals in the last ten minutes of the opening half, he turned the game on its head, with a ruckman’s masterclass in the second half.  No superlatives would be sufficient to describe the enormity of the skipper’s performance starting with his 47 hit outs, a career-high 35 possessions (22 of them contested), nine clearances, 12 score involvements and, after messing up an attempt or two, finally capping off one of the greatest rucking performances of all time, with a goal of own in the final quarter not long after he delivered a right angled pass into the arms of Daniel Turner who also goaled from a pocket (will we ever know if the pass is what was intended). That was enough to overturn a 12 point deficit after the Eagles scored the first goal of the second half into a 29 point lead at the last break and a winning final quarter (at last) for the Demons who decided not to rest their champion ruckman at the end this time around. 

The Demons return to the MCG to take on the High Flying Hawks on Saturday Afternoon. Hawthorn will be aiming to consolidate a position in the Top 4 whilst the Dees will be looking to take a scalp and make it four wins in a row. Who comes in and who goes out?