Jump to content

TROUBLE by The Oracle

Demonland
in Match Previews

Featured Replies

Posted

Situated roughly in Australia's geographic centre, Alice Springs has for many years been a troubled town suffering from intermittent crime waves, particularly among its younger residents. There was a time a little while ago when things were so bad that some even doubted the annual AFL game in the town would proceed. 

Now, the hope is that this Sunday’s Melbourne vs Fremantle encounter will bring joy to the residents of the town and that through the sport and the example of the participants, better times will perhaps come to the people of Australia’s red heart, so bring it on!

This week’s round involves the first of the second group of byes in 2024 and added attention to the two teams fighting for ascendancy in the logjam of clubs in the race for one of the competition’s vital top four spots. 

While the Demons will be keen to win this one to create a buffer against the other contenders, the Dockers have had the edge on them since they won their premiership in the West in 2021. Those defeats in 2022 and 2023 were particularly galling as not only were they unexpected, but because they were also played on Melbourne’s home ground at the MCG. This time, the match up is on neutral territory.

The Demons are not yet to be entitled to call TIO Traeger Park their home away from home. Last year, the weather played its tricks when unseasonal rain turned the ground into a sodden mess so that despite their dominance everywhere around the ground, they lost to the Giants by two points thanks to an ugly score line of 5.15.45 to 7.5.47. Melbourne’s score was the lowest ever in AFL history at the venue. 

But if history means anything then this could be a turning point for the Dees against the Dockers. Their midfield, which came back well against the Saints last week, usually fares well at the ground. Jack Viney is due to register his  tenth game at the ground on Sunday to become the first AFL player to make double figures in this category and last year, he became the first player to record 40 possessions at the ground. His midfield partners in crime, Clayton Oliver and Christian Petracca are regular high disposal winners at the ground. Kozzie Pickett has the record number of goals in a match there - six (scored against Port Adelaide in 2022). 

Of course, records mean very little when the team plays there more often than others, especially when their Freo counterparts have never played there at all, but there’s no doubt about the Demons’ capacity to play good footy in the Red Centre. I wouldn’t underestimate the opposition’s midfielders either with Brayshaw, Serong and Young all racking up good numbers in the middle recently and Jackson backing them up as a mobile ruckman. Whoever gets on top in this department, will go a long way to winning this game.

I also put the Demons ahead marginally in measuring the strength of the respective defences even in the absence of Jake Lever. The Melbourne forwards looked better and more balanced last week with the return of Jacob van Rooyen. 

Essentially, Melbourne will win the battle of the nation’s red heart if it can bring its usual intensity to this troubled area. The Demons have put a lot of effort into working with the local community. They won’t let them down. 

Melbourne to win by 13 points.

THE GAME

Melbourne v Fremantle at TIO Traeger Park, Alice Springs on Sunday 2 June, 2024 at 1.00pm

HEAD TO HEAD

Overall Melbourne 18 wins Fremantle 25 wins

At TIO Traeger Park Melbourne 0 wins Fremantle 0 wins 

Last five meetings Melbourne 2 wins Fremantle 3 wins

The Coaches Goodwin 2 wins Longmuir 3 wins

LAST TIME THEY MET

Fremantle 12.7.79 defeated Melbourne 10.12.72 at The MCG, Round 20, 2023

The Demons were on top of the Dockers early with Gawn and Grundy dominating the rucks and Petracca and Brayshaw controlling ground level. Freo ground its way back into the game with their superior kicking for goal and held Melbourne out to record a 7 point victory away from home.

TEAMS  

MELBOURNE

B J. Bowey, S. May, T. Rivers
HB C  Salem, A. Tomlinson, T. McDonald
C E. Langdon C. Oliver, C. Windsor
HF S. McAdam, B. Fritsch, K. Chandler 
F K. Pickett, H. Petty A. Neal-Bullen
FOLL M. Gawn, J. Viney, C. Petracca
I/C L. Hunter, J. McVee, T. Sparrow, D. Turner SUB T. Woewodin
EMG J. Billings, B.Brown, B. Laurie

IN D. Turner

OUT J. van Rooyen (adductor)

FREMANTLE

B H. Chapman, A. Pearce, J. Draper
HB J. Aish, L. Ryan, J. Clark
C J. Sharp, A. Brayshaw, H. Young 
HF J. O'Meara, S. Switkowski, M. Frederick
F J. Treacy, J. Amiss, L. Jackson
FOLL S. Darcy, C. Serong, N. Fyfe
I/C B. Banfield, S. Sturt, B. Walker, M.  Walters SUB C. Wagner
EMG T. Emmett, N. Erasmus, M. Johnson 

IN M. Frederick, S. Sturt

OUT T. Emmett (omitted), M. Johnson (managed)

Injury List: Round 12  

Tom Fullarton — hamstring / Test

Harrison Petty — ankle / Test

Daniel Turner — calf / Test 

Marty Hore  — calf / 2 - 3 weeks

Josh Schache — Achilles / 2 - 3 weeks 

Jake Lever — knee / 3 - 4 weeks 

Jake Melksham  — knee / 3 - 5 weeks 

Charlie Spargo — Achilles/ TBC

PreviewRd122024.png

    • Like 2
    • Thanks 5
    • Clap 1
     
    Go to topic listing

    Featured Content

    • 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). 

        • Clap
        • Thanks
        • Like
      • 1 reply
      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.

        • Clap
      • 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?

        • Thanks
      • 40 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/

        • Thanks
      • 28 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?

        • Haha
        • Thanks
      • 247 replies
      Demonland

    • VOTES: Port Adelaide

      Max Gawn has an insurmountable lead in the Demonland Player of the Year ahead of Jake Bowey, Christian Petracca, Clayton Oliver and Kozzy Pickett. Your votes please; 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 & 1.

        • Thanks
      • 30 replies
      Demonland
    View All