I have something on tomorrow night so Podcast will be Wednesday night.

The Demonland Podcast will air LIVE on Wednesday, 11th June @ 8:00pm. Join Binman, George & I as we dissect the Dees heartbreaking 1 point loss to the Magpies on King's Birthday

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/

Dare I mention the umpiring?

Just now, Demonland said:

I have something on tomorrow night so Podcast will be Wednesday night.

Your questions please.

1 point against what is (it hurts to say) the best team in the comp this year. We can argue about stuff ups in the last quarter, last minutes or mistakes all throughout the game but how about we talk about the good things we did? Steven May? Max Gawn, Trac? The young boys? Kolt and Lindsay holding the ball tackles were fantastic. Langdon on Daicos (the fairy) was fantastic for large portions.

So many big efforts today, we lost by the absolute slimmest of margins. This may not be our year but I am so confident that we can upset a few teams along the way. David King mentioned a few weeks ago that he thinks we will be a force in 26, 27. I am loathe to agree with anything that man says but I feel we are building towards that.

We all hate losing to the pies. I am 100% confident that as well as they may do over he next year or 2, the next few after that will be rough for them.

Edited June 9Jun 9 by sam6172
Had a bit more to say.

Proud of the boys and their 4 quarter effort. The story is unfortunately the same though with our lack of cutting edge up forward.

The chances were there to win it late and it's times like this where we're bemoaning our ability to score with entries. On days like this, 10 goals from 54 inside 50s isn't enough return.

Are we getting enough from our forwards?

1 hour ago, layzie said:

Proud of the boys and their 4 quarter effort. The story is unfortunately the same though with our lack of cutting edge up forward.

The chances were there to win it late and it's times like this where we're bemoaning our ability to score with entries. On days like this, 10 goals from 54 inside 50s isn't enough return.

Are we getting enough from our forwards?

Do we even have forwards?

Fritsch was better today but still a shadow of the top 5 forward he was in 2022-2023.

Melksham playing with a busted shoulder.

JVR devoid of any confidence (boggles the mind what happened to him during the off season).

Petty, stop the experiment please.

TMac not used.

Jeffo NQR yet.

Turner, has found his spot in defence so just leave him there.

Here we are again, forward 50 efficiency and accuracy costing us games. Still. For a problem that was clear in 2022, why should the supporters and members (let alone some of the playing group) put up with this? We are also SEVEN POINTS PER GAME behind our expected score, well and truly last in the league. And yet, does anything change?

Sitting here yet again trying to support a club that apparently doesn't seem to actually have the ability to improve whether through lack of skill or lack or gutsy decision-making is mind-numbing.

There are players on this team good enough to be one of the best teams to ever play. The supporters believe that, I believe that. So why does this team continue to achieve mediocrity? Surely there are people out there that can improve this team and want to improve this team. I see nothing from the club's board and staff that makes me believe it has any interest in doing so. Where is our President? Where is our new CEO? Nowhere to be found, accepting the lack of change in fortunes of this team.

As far as umpiring goes, why doesn't the club have the guts to have a dig at the AFL for allowing this standard? Yes there are likely fines involved, but it would show the club that yeah we care enough about this to make noise and spend some money on it. Is there any form of protest or comment that the club can make that would show that a lot of the smaller clubs have had enough of the quality of umpiring and the AFL must make plans to improve? We should make the AFL address it, change the storyline to being about the AFL's mismanagement of its own game.

Edited June 9Jun 9 by RadishDee

Whilst it is devastating to lose to any team by one lousy point, it is far worse when it is to Collingwood. The umpiring was the worst and most biased that I can remember, and the opposition ball movement and forward delivery very slick, yet we lost by only a solitary point. I was very proud of the intense pressure applied all day, and look forward to the pressure stats that you present so well on the podcast

Once again we shot ourselves in the foot by poor conversion, both set shot and snaps, and delivery into F50 was random and poor. An issue that has plagued us for years, yet despite platitudes from the coaching staff has not been addressed.

And one point I have made in another thread that remains a major risk management problem, is the inappropriate rewarding of players who intentionally put themselves at risk by driving headlong into the torso of an opponent. It happened a couple of times that I can remember today with Collingwood being the beneficiary of course.

Some day, sooner or later, this reckless act WILL INEVITABLY result in a life changing injury, a broken neck and spinal cord, and inappropriate shaming and guilt on the receiver of the head butt.

This recklessness needs to be penalized, every time, and not rewarded. The AFL will of course proclaim shock and horror, but will not do anything to stop or deter this until tragedy strikes.

Edited June 9Jun 9 by monoccular

I feel like ever since 2022, Goodwin is still searching for the best forward mix and we waste chunks of seasons doing so. In 2023 it took us to round 19 but then Petty got injured.

In 2024 we couldn't find it at all.

Surely once Goody thinks we're not going to make finals, he just bites the bullet with Jefferson, JvR and Petty.

The two talls we look too short which we often saw when JvR went in the ruck. Howe was marking everything back there.

Adelaide has shown 3 talls up forward can work and I think we just need to stick to a forward set up and get games into them so we're not wasting half of 2026 trying to find the best mix.

Does George still believe tagging is ineffective? If so I have a bridge for sale at a great price, please get in touch.

Edited June 9Jun 9 by Rollo2

Amaizing effort from the boys.

if you look at the goals Collingwood kicked, they came from very silly skill errors on our end. This is something that is part of learning a new game plan and style and will tidy up.

I don't like losing but if we do this is how I want to lose, knowing we are heading in the right way and having a style that is exciting and watchable. Clearly the fwd line is an issue and i think the club may have had high expectations on JVR and he now gets more attention from opposition as they know he is the go-to fwd. Yup gun key fwd would be great, but we don't have one, and switching it around every week doesn't help anyone.

Mostly a great game verse the Black, White and Green. I'm not usually one to jump on the umps as they have just been horrible across the board this year, but frees like the one against Melk in that marking contest can't happen. which they kicked a goal from.

Big Game against Port, they can turn it on in random weeks, so we need to be switched on from the get-go like this week!

This year has a real 2010 vibe about it. Hopefully we don’t do a 2011 next year..

Too many brain fades from “Senior Premiership” players.

He kicked a few goals late, but it’s what Fritsch fails to do without the ball that kills us.

I’ve never seen a goal hungry fwd like him play on from a mark inside 20m to turn into traffic. Just like he did in the 2023 finals against the pies, he [censored] himself again.

We must go after a KF who plays like a man in the off season, who can stand up when needed.

Edited June 9Jun 9 by Doug Reemer

massive effort and so proud of the boys, but also massively disappointed as we lost a game we really should have won.

The troubling aspect of the loss for me was that in key moments it was the composure and kicking skills of our senior players that let us down. Tracs miss on the run from 25. Melks set shot hit the post from 20. Clarry OOF in the last. Fritsch plays on and gets caught. Kozzie gives up a 50 and a goal ( again) and Gawn stuffs up that last ditch possibility with a kick he never should have taken on and one he’d make about 1 in 30 times.

All of the above played really wonderful games. I’m not criticising their effort but I am criticising their composure when it counts. They are our on field leaders!

I don’t think you can teach composure to experienced players . So one of the questions for me is can we actually afford to hang on to both oliver and Trac given they are both so utterly [censored] by foot and, as good as they are, will continue to cost us in close games.

29 minutes ago, Doug Reemer said:

This year has a real 2010 vibe about it. Hopefully we don’t do a 2011 next year..

Too many brain fades from “Senior Premiership” players.

He kicked a few goals late, but it’s what Fritsch fails to do without the ball that kills us.

I’ve never seen a goal hungry fwd like him play on from a mark inside 20m to turn into traffic. Just like he did in the 2023 finals against the pies, he [censored] himself again.

We must go after a KF who plays like a man in the off season, who can stand up when needed.

I agree and I think we have to bite the bullet and cut deeper into the list otherwise we won't see another flag. We can't keep persisting with butchers in the midfield and flakey players up forward. Fritsch and Petty should be on the chopping block at the end of the year, let's see what we could get for them. I don't know how we fix the midfield due to the contracts Oliver, Viney and Petracca are on, we need to get all 3 to focus on handball first and have better disposers feeding off them on the outside.

Something that's been annoying me for a long time is the lack of runners coming past Gawn for the handball after he marks so he can dish it off to Bowey, Salem etc and I'm not talking about that final kick. The one he tried to bite off through the corridor in the 3rd that went straight to 3 Pies players is the type of kick that kills us. The intent is clear but the skill is lacking.

I thought Kolt showed something again yesterday, he offers a point of difference in our forward line with his pressure and I think he'll be dangerous around goals once he finds his feet in the senior side. Whether he makes it long term I don't know but he should be given the rest of the season to try and cement a spot in the side in 2026 and beyond. We also need to do d out what we have with Jefferson, Adams, Sestan and Brown. I think Laurie is a lost cause and Sharp only if he's coming on as sub.

Gawd! The umpiring is unacceptable, but we cost ourselves this one. We have a fleet of young players and we put up a solid performance with as few costly errors. Future looks bright.

We have to win 10 from here to make it - any thoughts on where we will get these from?

8 hours ago, At the break of Gawn said:

I feel like ever since 2022, Goodwin is still searching for the best forward mix and we waste chunks of seasons doing so. In 2023 it took us to round 19 but then Petty got injured.

In 2024 we couldn't find it at all.

Surely once Goody thinks we're not going to make finals, he just bites the bullet with Jefferson, JvR and Petty.

The two talls we look too short which we often saw when JvR went in the ruck. Howe was marking everything back there.

Adelaide has shown 3 talls up forward can work and I think we just need to stick to a forward set up and get games into them so we're not wasting half of 2026 trying to find the best mix.

Howe marked everthing back there largely due to our inability to bring the ball in to our forward's advantage, and because we were pushing a forward up to the contest, leaving our forwards often in an outnumber (compounded by persisting with long bombs into the arc). We continually overlooked changing the angles and using chains into the 50 to disrupt the Pies defence. When we got some mobility and addressed some of those issues in the last quarter, we actually did enough to have won the game - bar the aforementioned brain fades. A lot to like, but not nearly as likeable as beating the Pies on our biggest day of the year and moving within striking distance of the eight.

47 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

I agree and I think we have to bite the bullet and cut deeper into the list otherwise we won't see another flag. We can't keep persisting with butchers in the midfield and flakey players up forward. Fritsch and Petty should be on the chopping block at the end of the year, let's see what we could get for them. I don't know how we fix the midfield due to the contracts Oliver, Viney and Petracca are on, we need to get all 3 to focus on handball first and have better disposers feeding off them on the outside.

Something that's been annoying me for a long time is the lack of runners coming past Gawn for the handball after he marks so he can dish it off to Bowey, Salem etc and I'm not talking about that final kick. The one he tried to bite off through the corridor in the 3rd that went straight to 3 Pies players is the type of kick that kills us. The intent is clear but the skill is lacking.

I thought Kolt showed something again yesterday, he offers a point of difference in our forward line with his pressure and I think he'll be dangerous around goals once he finds his feet in the senior side. Whether he makes it long term I don't know but he should be given the rest of the season to try and cement a spot in the side in 2026 and beyond. We also need to do d out what we have with Jefferson, Adams, Sestan and Brown. I think Laurie is a lost cause and Sharp only if he's coming on as sub.

100%

I have to say I’m sick to death of these losses where we have more shots against our opposition but come up short because our players lack any sort of composure - both in front of goal and when making decisions with ball in hand

The difference today with how Pendlebury, Sidebottom and Howe managed that last five minutes compared to our senior players is damning

It’s cost us home and away wins, finals wins and dare I say a Premiership somewhere between 2022-24

I don’t know what the answer is but it has been a massive failure of the current FD to get our players in the right headspace to finish all of the good work they do

When are we going to play Jefferson. I am not a big fan but in his first game he got 2 goals. In his second he broke his hand in the first quarter. Since then a couple of good games at Casey. Why emergency yesterday so he didnt play a game anywhere. Play him or let him go to somewhere where they will give him a chance.

Hmmmmmm. That hurts. That really hurts. Should’ve won AGAIN(I see why the Poms take moral victories for some solace after a heartbreaking loss like this).

We just lacked composure up forward. Yes you can look at moments in the last quarter, Kozzy giving away a 50, Fritsch playing on without looking but once again this could’ve been put to bed with more accurate kicking for goal.

How much we all would’ve loved beating the filth and walking out of the G without having to see that arrogant smirk on their faces.

I don’t quite know how to take this one - we came within a point of the ladder leaders and maybe if we had beaten the Saints last week I could’ve dealt with it, but we also had many chances to win, we won a lot of key areas but again not the one that matters.

i reckon the young players are keen for a rest, having Windsor as sub( who has been below his best for a month now) and subbing off Lindsay after a quiet game. Also Langford although had some great moments, was down on his usual performance.

Although I feel 2025 can now be put down as a development season, can’t see us making finals. But we’re so close. Yes we lost the first 5, we’ve then beaten 2 top 8 sides, come within a kick of 2 others and then we’re poor against 2 others. It’s more the results against the Saints and Roos which have killed this season. I’m exceptionally buoyant for 2026 and can’t wait to see more games in the younger brigade.

Unfortunately it’s over a month till we play at the G again. Loved it yesterday for the Big Freeze, glad the rain stayed away and how good to see all the blue beanies, although a little surprised at the 77,000 crowd. I thought it looked like 85-90000 at the start of the game

Thanks again boys.

Love the pod.

7 hours ago, buck_nekkid said:

Gawd! The umpiring is unacceptable, but we cost ourselves this one. We have a fleet of young players and we put up a solid performance with as few costly errors. Future looks bright.

We have to win 10 from here to make it - any thoughts on where we will get these from?

I am never one to blame umpires for a loss but cmon. That was horrendous. Would’ve have made it all the sweeter to pip them for the win. But now I just look like a sore loser if I mention the umpires.

7 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

I agree and I think we have to bite the bullet and cut deeper into the list otherwise we won't see another flag. We can't keep persisting with butchers in the midfield and flakey players up forward. Fritsch and Petty should be on the chopping block at the end of the year, let's see what we could get for them. I don't know how we fix the midfield due to the contracts Oliver, Viney and Petracca are on, we need to get all 3 to focus on handball first and have better disposers feeding off them on the outside.

Something that's been annoying me for a long time is the lack of runners coming past Gawn for the handball after he marks so he can dish it off to Bowey, Salem etc and I'm not talking about that final kick. The one he tried to bite off through the corridor in the 3rd that went straight to 3 Pies players is the type of kick that kills us. The intent is clear but the skill is lacking.

I thought Kolt showed something again yesterday, he offers a point of difference in our forward line with his pressure and I think he'll be dangerous around goals once he finds his feet in the senior side. Whether he makes it long term I don't know but he should be given the rest of the season to try and cement a spot in the side in 2026 and beyond. We also need to do d out what we have with Jefferson, Adams, Sestan and Brown. I think Laurie is a lost cause and Sharp only if he's coming on as sub.

I’m a massive fan of Kolt. Really brings energy to the side. Can’t all be superstars you need some guys who bust a gut to apply pressure and do the 1 percenters.

So many moments to haunt us in such a close loss but for me Pickett being trapped on the bench for ten minutes until 3mins to go blunted our momentum late in the final quarter.

Lots of things rankle me about that result, but one that sticks in my craw more than most is that Moore IMHO should be cited for pushing Melksham into that contest with Howe. What do the panel think?

Also, it seems we had the measure of the Pies running game for much of the match, just like the last quarter against Brisbane. If we can keep doing that, we will be in a lot more games this year. If only we could kick even a little bit straighter!

On 09/06/2025 at 18:08, Demonland said:

I have something on tomorrow night so Podcast will be Wednesday night.

was is the hall of fame?

demonland should definitely be straight in upon eligibility requirements being met

Finally watched the replay and while umpiring to me seemed to show pies getting more soft frees, the inconsistent nature of the adjudication is the biggest issue.

WE did seem to respond in this game by using the same tactics as the pies apply. For every free that TRac and Clarrie dont get for holding, Diacos was held by them plus Langdon and others and didnt get free kick

There were some howlers and the fifty against Lindsay seemed particularly harsh. I also reckon Kozzie was stiff as the ball was between his legs and he wasnt really given an opportunity to pick it up while another demon did so no impact on the game wheas the 50 really affected the game. Shouldnt have been paid.

I have stated that it is harder to retain focus and composure when preesure is high. Even a few seasoned pies players missed what seemed easy goalss coz they were under pressure. WE maybe need to practise kicking with that pressure and intensity..

A;; in all play like we did and we can beat any side . ID still give Jeffo some exposure to that level of intensity to see how he handles it. Have suggested he and Fritta rotate off the bench as they both seem to play a similar role.