The Demonland Podcast will air LIVE on Monday, 14th July @ 8:00pm. Join Binman & I as we dissect the Dees glorious win over the Kangaroos at the MCG.

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/

More a statement than a question but Jeffo presented well, leading up and lots of second efforts. Once he bulks up and gains confidence he still might prove a good player. Roo still continues to run under the ball….if he could adjust somehow it would make a huge difference.

Can anyone shed some light on why Tom McDonald has been out of the side? I thought he was having a very solid season before being dropped all the way back in Round 12, and he hasn’t been able to break back in until this week. He wasn’t even recalled when Lever missed a game, which I found surprising.

Once again, I thought he played well. He defended strongly, used the ball efficiently, and made smart decisions. I know he’s getting on in age and this might be his final season (or maybe one more), but based on form, he’s been one of our most consistent defenders this year. I’m struggling to understand why he seems out of favour.

I get that it’s tough to fit four key defenders into three spots, but on performance alone, I’d have him in our top three. What do others think?

Jake Melksham is having an incredible purple patch. He has kicked 14 goals 8 in the past 3 weeks. I read that the last time a Demon kicked 4 goals or more in 3 consecutive games was David Neitz in 2006. He's our most inform consistent forward at the moment. Give Jake another season!!!

2 hours ago, Deeminion said:

Can anyone shed some light on why Tom McDonald has been out of the side? I thought he was having a very solid season before being dropped all the way back in Round 12, and he hasn’t been able to break back in until this week. He wasn’t even recalled when Lever missed a game, which I found surprising.

Once again, I thought he played well. He defended strongly, used the ball efficiently, and made smart decisions. I know he’s getting on in age and this might be his final season (or maybe one more), but based on form, he’s been one of our most consistent defenders this year. I’m struggling to understand why he seems out of favour.

I get that it’s tough to fit four key defenders into three spots, but on performance alone, I’d have him in our top three. What do others think?

I think you will find T-Mac got an extra year contract as a back up. And was told he won't be in unless there are injuries. He went out when we were full strength, and only came in for injuries.

We are looking to the future now, and he isn't part of that so I don't mind it. I actually think we should do the same with Melksham, but with his form and our forward line woes, I can't see it happening.

More a statement than a question. I arrived in Melbourne on July 2nd and will be here until early August. It was so enjoyable to attend the game in person. A game I would have had to wake at 5:00am to watch live from Brussels. At the risk of being a stereo-type Dees supporter, my sister hosted me at the Jim Stynes room and we watched the game in the warmth of the front row, behind the glass, with scones and jam and cream served at half-time. It was terrific to see Matt Jefferson play well and although JVR kicked one out on the full he played a good game. What I saw live was the treatment that Max received finding himself on the ground more than once, thanks to the thugs that were getting into him. I simply do not understand how at least one of four umpires cannot see that behaviour off the ball - disgraceful. Off to the Carlton game on Saturday with my brother-in-law to watch from the Longroom. Life doesn't get better than this...

Welcome home Terrance!

The thing that struck me at the game was how much better we look with Kozzy playing solely in the middle. Not only for his speed out of the contest, but his field kicking is laser sharp, which sticks out a mile in this team. Honourable mentions to Melksham, JVR and Langford also kicked well in the field.

It was more of a VFL hit out than an AFL game. (At least it wasn’t an under 14s fixture like the tigers and the bombers!). Whilst it was great to see many of those who have struggled before look good, I wonder if this will be a ‘false dawn’ or will this give them confidence to take the next steps?

Cases in point: Trac was going 0% by foot in the first half.

Jeffo started to show some things

Frittata picked up his game

We were more polished than the seconds level midfield of the Roos, but what’s can we really take away from that ??

Edited July 13Jul 13 by buck_nekkid

Loved Bayley Fritsch's game, the effort to help teammates and find space was evident. Yet with 0 tackles and 4 pressure acts are there still concerns?

Bayley looks excellent when he has the space he was allowed by the North defence but the games I worry about are the ones where he doesn't have that space and needs to find other ways to work his way into the game/help us lock the ball in 50 and get some repeat chances at goal.

To look at it another way, is this not going to be much of an issue once we have our transition gameplan going and we're getting it into 50 quicker to players like Fritsch on a lead? Your thoughts?

Edited July 13Jul 13 by layzie

I thought Howes had an excellent game for Casey, and to me, he looks a class above for the VFL. I’d like to see him return to the seniors, but played on the wing, as a replacement for Lindsay / Windsor, who are looking like they have run out of energy in their young legs. I’d value your thoughts, thanks guys.

I have been super impressed with Harvey Langford all year and I thought that his foot skills yesterday were just superb. More drafting of kids with elite skills by foot please.

Winners are grinners. Good to get a win 💙❤️

Key points.

1. GOALKICKING 🤩 18.11 wow…That’s a difference. Goalkicking accuracy wins games !!!

2.Max is the premier, All Australian ruckman for 2025. Saw off the challenger !! Loved his goal from his special spot outside50 and loved him flying the flag against the sniper Xerri

3.Melksham was incredible again. So smart. Old Age? What’s that?? He’s the only player still that I have confidence in when kicking for goal.

4.Chin was good. Added Pressure. Tackling. Hit the scoreboard. That’s what he needs to bring every week on his role.

5. Harvey Langford. Love the kid . His composure is beyond his years. Battles in the contest . He will eventually be an inside mid star once he gets a few pre seasons.

6. Jack Viney. 9 tackles again. Maximum effort. Had a good first half. He actually hit 2 or 3 targets today

7.Effort from JVR and Jeffo was okay. That’s the competitive standard. They are still needing lots of development but we need to give them a go. Jeffo’s kicking let him down again and that needs work

8.Trac getting back to near his best. Good at the contest. He can get back to his beast mode in my view …BUT his delivery inside50 is still horrible and his handballs to put others under pressure and missed tackles are costly

Room for improvement…

1.Lever. Looked slow again and caught twice when he was so slow to get rid of the footy. Not sure he stays in when May returns

2.Mcvee lost most of his contests and struggled against Curtis (until Curtis got injured). Again his injury set him back and he’s still a key player going forward

3.Kolt looked lost or disinterested at times. Failing to chase on 2 or 3 occasions was a bad sign. Not sure he stays in for next week I had hoped we would get an intense aggressive goalkicking youngster

4.Goodwin. Allowed Mckercher to run loose as a quarterback half back. 20 possessions to half time. Had a lot of kick run and receive without pressure. Others like NWM and Sidebottom etc would destroy us if allowed such freedom.

5.We lost the centre clearances. 11-17. Roos minus Wardlaw and LDU so had a 2nd strength midfield in Phillips, Powell, Simpkin and beat us

Xerri 🤬🤬🤬

Hope Tom Sparrow is okay. It was a nasty hit by Xerri. The ball was below Sparrows knees when he gets hit. It was Reckless (at least Careless) High & Severe impact so 3 weeks minimum at least !!! Should get 5 weeks !!

It’s remarkable how much of a difference accurate goal kicking can make to your chances of winning. We kicked straight this week and surprise, surprise, we won.

Beyond the scoreboard, missing gettable shots, which we still did for a brief patch, is just so deflating. It undoes all the hard work that leads up to those opportunities and can completely shift the momentum of a game.

This has happened to us multiple times this season.

In games where we have had a positive goal kicking to point differential we have won 5 and lost 1. In games where we have had a negative differential we are 1 and 9.

We lost the game against Collingwood by 1 point where we had an even number of goals and behinds. Any one of those points converted to a goal would have won us the game.

There is not going to be a LIVE show tonight. George is unavailable and Binman is on holidays. Binman and I will record the podcast and it will be released as normal on your favourite podcast app.

A good afternoon at the footy! The attack continues to improve, starting to hit goals, hit up teammates, things starting to click. It's nice to see this come together.

Strangely, the concern for me at the moment is the defence. We're still giving up a lot of goals per inside 50 and giving up lots of points on turnover. What does the panel think needs to change to improve? Do we bring in a proper mid-size defender? Does AMW fill that gap? Howes? Rivers?

What I noticed at the game was Trac taking a short lateral pass to Salem in the first quarter when he was just outside 50, rather than blazing away long.

Salem then hit a beautiful hit up pass to a leading player (maybe Sparrow?).

It felt like a set play and Trac received plenty of high fives and encouragement for giving it off.

In the third quarter Viney was in a similar spot and Mcvee was available for the lateral pass, but Viney chose to bomb long (and it ended up going a huge contest).

Either way, I’m hoping we see more of this - getting the ball into the hands of the guys who can hit targets. I imagine if you are one of the stars and leaders of the team, it is not always easy to hand off the ball, but if we are going to succeed, sharing the ball and prioritising kicking roles is crucial with our current cohort.

Edited July 14Jul 14 by Wylie D

22 hours ago, Deeminion said:

Can anyone shed some light on why Tom McDonald has been out of the side? I thought he was having a very solid season before being dropped all the way back in Round 12, and he hasn’t been able to break back in until this week. He wasn’t even recalled when Lever missed a game, which I found surprising.

Once again, I thought he played well. He defended strongly, used the ball efficiently, and made smart decisions. I know he’s getting on in age and this might be his final season (or maybe one more), but based on form, he’s been one of our most consistent defenders this year. I’m struggling to understand why he seems out of favour.

I get that it’s tough to fit four key defenders into three spots, but on performance alone, I’d have him in our top three. What do others think?

Amen to that D.

Agreed about Tmac. The only vague justification I can summon is that there is more future in Lever than in Tmac. But on form, it is Tmac by the length of the straight...

If you drop Lever, That slugworth Morris will have him signed to another team by Saturday morning!

To me Jake doesn't look right physically, when the ball hits the deck he looks slow and lost at sea. If he is carrying an issue that could be resolved by surgery I'll be livid if the club opt to do it at the end of the season rather than just getting it out of the way now. TMac can cover Jake, if May is not right we can put Petty in his rightful position in defence. Management of players has been as issue for a long time, I'd hate for Lever to be another victim of it.

Is the podcast live tonight or tomorrow?

Yes, I'm keen to know. Perhaps Binman was not able to join from Cambodia. Andy said he would not the the podcast alone...

I gather binman can’t connect or Andy I can’t tune in on any platform

Any links for the live stream. They are not appearing in the landing page for the podcast chat on the forum. Thanks

39 minutes ago, Dodos Demons said:

Any links for the live stream. They are not appearing in the landing page for the podcast chat on the forum. Thanks

No LIVE show this week. The Podcast will be released shortly.