Jump to content

OOZEE by The Oracle

Demonland
Demonland
in Match Previews

Featured Replies

Posted

There’s a touch of irony in the fact that Adem Yze played his first game for Melbourne in Round 13, 1995 against the club he now coaches. For that game, he wore the number 44 guernsey and got six touches in a game the team won by 11 points. 

The man whose first name was often misspelled, soon changed to the number 13 and it turned out lucky for him. He became a highly revered Demon with a record of 271 games during which his presence was acknowledged by the fans with the chant of “Oozee” whenever he had his hands on the football. 

Oozee notched up many achievements in his day but fell short of a premiership in the club’s grand final year of 2000. Some years after he retired as a player and with success as Alastair Clarkson’s back up at the Hawks, he came back home as an assistant coach in 2021 and, as such, he was a key architect in the club’s historic premiership win. He coached them to a win in the following season when Simon Goodwin had to sit out the game with Covid19.

We all wished him well when he was appointed coach of the Tigers and look forward to greeting son Noah as a father/son pick at the draft later this year but that’s where the friendship ends. On Wednesday night, it will be all out war on Oozee.

That’s not good news for the man whose first season at Punt Road has been severely impacted by player unavailability with the Tigers dealing with the longest injury list in the AFL. This should be nothing new for the man as the Demons were often plagued by injuries during his tenure as a player and believe me, those injuries hurt badly. 

I think the Tigers would have struggled anyway against the Demons who should be well refreshed from the bye while still smarting from their last up tired and insipid display against Brisbane. The Tigers also had a bye, but they will lose the dangerous Jayden Short and could regain former captain Dylan Grimes and midfielder Jacob Hopper (knee), with the pair needing to pass fitness tests. The issue is that they are both desperately short of match fitness which will be problematic against the Dees.

Melbourne may well have had an excuse of their own after an exacting schedule saw them play with so very little in their tank. At least they are seeing some respite with players coming back from their early season injuries. There will be absolutely no excuses against the Oozee-led Richmond which is so badly hurt that it doesn’t even have a tank. 

Hence, I expect that our battle-hardened soldier will leave his beloved MCG on Anzac Day Eve with the same number of victories as a Richmond coach that he had with Melbourne - just the one.

Demons by 49 points.

THE GAME

Richmond v Melbourne on Wednesday 24 April 2024 at 7.25pm at the MCG 

HEAD TO HEAD

Overall Richmond 107 wins Melbourne 79 wins Drawn 2

At the MCG Richmond 72 wins Melbourne 67 wins Drawn 1 

Past five meetings Richmond 1 win Melbourne 4 wins 

The Coaches Yze 0 wins Goodwin 0 wins 

THE LAST TIME THEY MET

Melbourne 20.10.130 defeated Richmond 15.8.98 at the MCG, Round 20, 2023

The Tigers gave it their best shot pushing the Demons throughout the game and remained threatening until a fare more accurate than usual Melbourne prevailed at the end through the agency of Harry Petty (6 goals), Jake Melksham and Jacob van Rooyen (4 each) who didn’t miss a shot for goal all day. Their six-goal final quarter blew Richmond out of the game and dampened their finals hopes.

THE TEAMS

RICHMOND

B T. Young, N. Broad, D. Grimes
HB N. Vlastuin, T. Brown, D. Rioli
C H. Ralphsmith, J. Graham, M. Pickett
HF S. Campbell, R. Mansell, M. Rioli
F M. Lefau, S. Bolton, D. Martin
FOLL T. Nankervis, L. Baker, T. Dow
I/C S. Banks, J. Hopper, B. Miller, S. Naismith SUB K. McIntosh
EMG J. Koschitzke, K. McAuliffe, T. Sonsie

IN D. Grimes, S. Naismith, J. Hopper, S. Banks

OUT J. Koschitzke (omitted), K. McAuliffe (omitted), J. Short (calf), T. Sonsie (omitted)

MELBOURNE

B T. Rivers, S. May, T. McDonald
HB B. Howes, J. Lever, J. McVee
C E. Langdon, C. Petracca, J. Billings
HF K. Chandler, J. Van Rooyen, K. Pickett
F A. Neal-Bullen, B. Fritsch, H. Petty
FOLL M. Gawn, J. Viney, C. Oliver
I/C T. Sparrow, D. Turner, C. Windsor, T. Woewodin SUB B. Laurie 
EMG B. Brown M. Hore, K. Tholstrup

IN B. Laurie, K. Pickett, S. Turner

OUT B. Brown (omitted), C. Salem (hamstring) K. Tholstrop (omitted) 

Injury List: Round 7

Marty Hore — thumb / available 
Shane McAdam — hamstring / available  
Clayton Oliver —  finger / available
Jake Bowey — shoulder / 3 - 4 weeks
Charlie Spargo — Achilles / 3 - 4 weeks  
Christian Salem — hamstring / 3 - 5 weeks 
Jake Melksham  — knee / 7 - 9 weeks 

PreviewRd072024.png

    • Like 1
    • Thanks 4
    • Love 1
     
     

    One of my all time favourites was Adem, so much so that I installed 13 as the first two numbers for my PIN in my bank card. (That card has since expired, y'all.)

    • Like 2
    Go to topic listing

    Featured Content

    • NON-MFC: Round 06

      The Easter Round kicks off in style with a Thursday night showdown between Brisbane and Collingwood, as both sides look to solidify their spots inside the Top 4 early in the season. Good Friday brings a double-header, with Carlton out to claim consecutive wins when they face the struggling Kangaroos, while later that night the Eagles host the Bombers in Perth, still chasing their first victory of the year. Saturday features another marquee clash as the resurgent Crows look to rebound from back-to-back losses against a formidable GWS outfit. That evening, all eyes will be on Marvel Stadium where Damien Hardwick returns to face his old side—the Tigers—coaching the Suns at a ground he's never hidden his disdain for. Sunday offers two crucial contests where the prize is keeping touch with the Top 8. First, Sydney and Port Adelaide go head-to-head, followed by a fierce battle between the Bulldogs and the Saints. Then, Easter Monday delivers the traditional clash between two bitter rivals, both desperate for a win to stay in touch with the top end of the ladder. Who are you tipping this week and what are the best results for the Demons?

      • 2 replies
      Demonland
      Demonland

    • REPORT: Essendon

      What were they thinking? I mean by “they” the coaching panel and team selectors who chose the team to play against an opponent who, like Melbourne, had made a poor start to the season and who they appeared perfectly capable of beating in what was possibly the last chance to turn the season around.It’s no secret that the Demons’ forward line is totally dysfunctional, having opened the season barely able to average sixty points per game which means there has been no semblance of any system from the team going forward into attack. Nevertheless, on Saturday night at the Adelaide Oval in one of the Gather Round showcase games, Melbourne, with Max Gawn dominating the hit outs against a depleted Essendon ruck resulting from Nick Bryan’s early exit, finished just ahead in clearances won and found itself inside the 50 metre arc 51 times to 43. The end result was a final score that had the Bombers winning 15.6 (96) to 8.9 (57). On balance, one could expect this to result in a two or three goal win, but in this case, it translated into a six and a half goal defeat because they only managed to convert eight times or 11.68% of their entries. The Bombers more than doubled that. On Thursday night at the same ground, the losing team Adelaide managed to score 100 points from almost the same number of times inside 50.

      • 0 replies
      Demonland
      Demonland

    • PODCAST: Essendon

      The Demonland Podcast will air LIVE on Monday, 14th April @ the all new time of 8:00pm. Join Binman, George & I as we dissect another Demons loss at Kardinia Park to the Cats in the Round 04. 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.

        • Like
      • 52 replies
      Demonland
      Demonland

    • PREGAME: Fremantle

      The Demons return home to the MCG in search of their first win for the 2025 Premiership season when they take on the Fremantle Dockers on Saturday afternoon. Who comes in and who goes out?

        • Clap
        • Love
        • Like
      • 156 replies
      Demonland
      Demonland

    • VOTES: Essendon

      Max Gawn leads the Demonland Player of the Year ahead of Clayton Oliver, Christian Petracca, Kade Chandler and Jake Bowey. Your votes please. 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 & 1.

        • Like
      • 24 replies
      Demonland
      Demonland

    • POSTGAME: Essendon

      Despite a spirited third quarter surge, the Demons have slumped to their worst start to a season since 2012, remaining winless and second last on the ladder after a 39-point defeat to Essendon at Adelaide Oval in Gather Round.

        • Haha
        • Like
      • 271 replies
      Demonland
      Demonland
    View All