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Demonland is proud to announce that we are now sponsoring Jayden Hunt and Josh Wagner. We look forward to many years following these two young players. Thank you to all of you have have contributed to this website through Subscriptions, Donations and Merchandise as I've always promised that any excess funds will go back into the club.

BANG! Just reported on 360 by Robbo.

This huge.

The club is very confident that: Hogan will re-sign to a long term contract this calendar year. Despite reports to the contrary discussions with his manager are on-going and positive. We got close last summer. Dion Prestia will request a transfer to the Dees at season end. This means we will probably have to give up player and next years first round but in my mind this is utter gold. Dion is massively underrated on this site. Do not judge Dion by last weeks performance...... he played injured.

It was a hard game to watch and times as the game lacked any kind of flow, repeat stoppages with little breaks were the theme of the day. Both teams pushed the half forwards up the ground trying to isolate a small forward 1 on 1 in the wet conditions. For Casey it was Briggs while for the Blues it was Clem Smith who struggled with limited opportunities, those who frequent Casey Fields are aware it's a poor viewing ground and in a stop start game it's hard to see a lot of the in and under especially when the play was on the far side. No one's done a full player review so here's mine. Jack Trengrove - Was tough and clean in the clinches, more pleasing that when the play opened up showed his class and was able to hit targets when most were booting down the line. He is very close to an AFL game and seemed to get better as the game wore on, moved freely and he seems to be really enjoying his footy out there. Ben Newton - Was easily BOG, normally plays on a wing but played all day in the guts and was clean, tough and first to the ball all day. His first goal was outstanding, won the contested the ball near the forward pocket put on a burst to beat an opponent and snapped from a tight angle which ended up being the highlight of the day. His 4th game back from injury and is building some very strong form, really positive performance. Alex Neal Bullen - Was tough, in every scrap and niggling opponents all day which won him a couple of free kicks. Doesn't surprise me that he won our tackle count, he was a contested warrior in the clearances. Didn't get really an opportunity to show any outside run or skill which was more circumstance of the game but was very influential in the win. Jack Grimes - Sneakily building some steady form as a midfielder in the VFL, I don't think he has been the best player in any VFL game this year but always in the top 4 or 5 players. Played in the middle and was clean with his disposal and made a few crunching tackles, can't remember any bad turnovers by foot. Mitch White - Was solid and the conditions suited his style of game, he has great strength over the ball and always keeps his feet which gives him the advantage in the wet conditions. Wasn't really tested as a defender due to the dominance of Casey and won a lot of his disposals in the forward half which resulted in repeat i50's for Casey. Max King - Took a great contested mark in the first minute which he converted for a goal, was one of his better games but continues to struggle to have a impact as a forward consistently over 4 qtrs. Chris Dawes - Moved as freely as I can remember, conditions didn't suit but competed well and was rewarded with a couple of goals. It was a good return for him. He is also the easily the biggest guy at the club, I forgot how much of a barrel chest he's got. Dean Terlich - Was solid defensively but...Copy Paste from every other VFL game review. Lynden Dunn - Got a lot of the ball and ran well to support but was just OK defensively, I get the feeling that Dunny isn't that comfortable with our new zone defense and is better off in the old system. Was doing his usual of trying to start a fight and annoying the Blues forwards in the second half which is normal for him as chief instigator. Oscar Mcdonald - Another really solid defensive game from him, seems to have good positioning and was clean with disposal. Like most of the defenders wasn't put under much pressure due to the midfield dominance. Sam Weiderman - Loves the contest, really aggressive in the air and initiates body contact when he can. As good a performance as can be expected from a key forward in the conditions, building on his fitness and don't see him as ready just yet for AFL level. One thing he has to watch is he gave 3 free kicks away for sliding in the first half, 2 for below the knee contact and 1 where he unfortunately slid in and got Kieran Mcguiness high which ended his day and sent him to hospital, he could be in bit of trouble for the last one and may miss a week. Jake Spencer - Was solid all day and chucked his weight around, still working his way into form and fitness. Joel Smith - Was on managed game time, really impressive when on the field. Tough, athletic and super clean hands, looks like he could be a player.

I just don't understand this attitude. Hogan is incredibly important if you want to develop a premiership team. The last thing we can afford is to lose Hogan. Nothing would come close to compensating us. The ambivalence of some to Hogan and his importance astonishes me. With the midfield we're developing I've never been more confident of seeing my first flag in the next decade. Hogan is a pivotal cog in that ambition.

Feeling like:

Hard to get the grin off my face!

I find it hard to believe that people hate Melbourne, other than those who have supported them their whole lives.

I suspect we might be a destination club simply because a lot of midfielders don't want to be on the opposite team to Jack Viney

Port Adelaide must be in shock.

I don't GAF how much they paid him. Loyalty or family connections have nothing to do with it. Jack Viney is now elite property and will be paid as such.

Love this nice little wack from Viney.. Looking at you Jeremy Howe.. “I wanted to know what it felt like to struggle because I knew that when the good times did come around – which I knew they would because I knew where the club wanted to go – that [they] would be all that much sweeter.”

What's there to mention? We're only 4-3, havent beaten anyone of genuine quality yet, still inconsistent at best, hell even Carlton have put together longer winning streaks. we will get the praise when there is something to praise. We're improving but still a bloody long way to go.

Smart work by our footy department to get him to sign the week he's concussed too. Left off some 0's no doubt. #ruthless

That rumour was surely just proof they just take the [censored] out of us with this stuff. As if the man born in a Melbourne jumper was ever going to go. Viney has gone up a level this year, seems to have developed the physical capability to match his manic brain. Been simply awesome this year.

Welcome back GNF. Not sure why but you seem to really upset some posters. Don't mind them. Haters gonna hate. Just one thing though it's not true that 100% of demonlanders dismissed your Roos prediction. I didn't - so much so i cracked him to be our coach and had a nice collect on it. I think Hogan will re-sign. But just a vibe. Sure the go home factor is big but as i've said before Freo are on the way down and i'm not convined about WC being a real threat for a flag in the next few years. Add the travel and living in a fish bowl to that and WA doesn't look too appealing i would have thought. However what gives me most confidence is Goodwin's comments earlier this year about how brilliant it is is to be involved in a young group all developing together and getting a collective reward, how the clubs focus should be on creating such an environment and that if we do Hogan will likely want to stay (my interpretation of the last bit admittedly). Well i can sense exactly that vibe growing and Hogan will want to be a part of it, And i can imagine so would Prestia.

They weren't difficult ones but he kicked 3 goals from hard running to get forward, I think that counts for something. Laid 5 tackles. And I think too many seemed to blame him for a couple of bad disposals in the first quarter when both teams were contributing to the scrappy nature and plenty of Harmes' team mates made blues kicking it inside 50. Petracca made plenty of mistakes in the first half as well, it wasn't until the 2nd half when he found more space and did more with it. Oliver can't win it twice. Really I thought Hunt played the best of the 3 eligible, with some really good intercept marks and fantastic line breaking. But it was Hunt's 4th game and Petracca's 2nd. I know Harmes has had a mixture of good and bad games but he's put together a decent amount of good performances (North and Coll games in particular) over the 7 rounds that even if his game didn't stand out from the others he's worthy of the recognition.

How good would it be to see him holding up the premiership cup one day...?

I've made a slight adjustment to the banner.

We'll win IF ... ... IF we can match them or even beat them in clearances. ... IF we can stop their chains of uncontested possessions out of defence. They WILL nullify Gawn. Bevo tried it last year when they smashed us, and also in the NAB pre-season when we just beat their reserves. Their aim is to get the ball to land at Gawn's feet where they swarm on it, and their ruckman won't be trying to win taps, he'll just be trying to stop Gawn winning them, and Gawn will get no help from the umpires, Pannell or not. We have to at least match them in clearances when Gawn is nullified and can't give our mids an armchair ride. And Bevo WILL play a loose man in defence, knowing that Roos is the one coach in the AFL who will let it cut us to shreds the whole game and not man them up. The Dogs have good stats defensively because they rarely turn over the ball in their defence, let alone allow pressure to build by repeat entries - once they win the ball in defence, they're great at moving the ball a long way from their defensive zone by chains of uncontested possessions. When we've played well, we've been good at getting forward-line turnovers and repeat forward entries (why does that sound so wrong???), but if they have an extra man, it will be much harder (wrong too??). If they have a spare man in defence and we man them up (7-on-7), it congests our forward line and makes turnovers more likely than if it was 6-on-6. and makes it harder for them to initiate chains of possession from the half back line. So, we'll win IF we just don't play into their hands. Otherwise, we'll get smashed.

Couldn't agree more. We've been waiting for a guy like Hogan since the day Neitz retired, and when we have him, some will barely kick up a fuss if he leaves. Madness.

Wow. Extraordinary post.

As the post win optimism flows through our lives we turn our heads to next Sunday at the G. I will label a few small points as to why I feel we will win this game well. Their injuries...Murphy, Johannison, Adams, Suckling, Tom Boyd all not playing with reports of a Jake Stringer corky. This will be the first time this year they haven't played at Etihad (How the hell they get 7 straight home games essentially is beyond me), they haven't played on the wide deck which we are used to. Fatigue...Their game last week was a lot more physical than ours testing thier players for the whole 4 quarters. Granted they are a very good team and will go in favourites in recent times we have been pretty even when it comes to wins and losses against this mob. I feel that if we can bring our second half performance to the G this sunday we will be in the box seat for a 2-4 goal win.

A critical signing and a great reflection on the club

I don't know why people get so freaking worked up over these things. he offers up some info, whether it turns out true or not, he never states that this is 100%. If you don't believe him, fine, block him, you don't see his posts. But calling him a peanut is a bit petty, you are better than that Dazzle.

There are 3 levels of Sponsorship. Gold, Silver and Bronze. They vary in price and rewards for the sponsors. Most players have Gold, Silver and Bronze sponsors and some only have one or two levels. Hunt and Wagner both had the Silver level available so I took it. When I went to the Season Launch dinner I sat on the sponsors table with Maxy as my family are Silver Sponsors for him. Wagner was placed on our table and at the time he did not have a sponsor. I don't believe the players get any financial benefits from the sponsorship. I might be mistaken but I believe it is just another fundraising activity for the club. The donations and Demonland Memberships are a way for the users of Demonland to help contribute to the costs incurred in running the site. I recently had to double our server capacity and hence the monthly expenses wnet up and I hope users have noticed that the site hasn't crashed on match day for the past few weeks. I have always said that if there is anything left over in the kitty I would donate it back to the club. Part of that helped to pay for the sponsorship of these players. The rest was out of my own pocket but I'm happy to share that with the Demonland community so that we can support these guys through their careers at the Demons.

I'm a fan - I recall the Roos information vividly - you shared something that seemed most unlikely at time. I would prefer you say more but that's just me.

Ignored by the MRP. The GC player that collected Viney's head with his hip got looked at but got off. He will be going in for surgery to repair his hip this week.

Is Pannell not umpiring his Bulldogs this weekend?

agree 100% also. It's scary how a couple of wins turns to immediate arrogance for some. Hogan is the most valuable player in the comp bar none. FFS he just kicked 7 like it was nothing in his 26th game of footy, and I wouldn't even say he is in great form at the moment. He will be absolutely pivotal in a flag tilt for the team that has him and it bloody well better be us

Who gives a flying toss if we dont get a mentioned. Id rather just continue to fly under the radar and go in as underdogs every week.

Keep an eye out for Caleb Marchbank. Know the family and see the old lady walk past work on her daily morning walks and chat to her every now and then. He is homesick atm and he is no rush at all to re sign with the Giants.

For those that can't get past the paywall: The article just said that Hogan's decision will come down more to prospects than money. Clark then mentioned Hogan is very happy in Melbourne, he gets along really well with Goodwin and we have plenty of top end talent coming through that suggests we will not only have some sustained success, but that Hogan won't feel as though it will all rest on him. It's nothing we haven't really heard before, but it had a more positive spin than other articles have had since he put off contract talks.

nothing is ever certain but this signing was as close to certain as you could ever get.

yessss. Jesse and T.Mac next

Hey GNF, Don't listen to all the haters, you cleary have some connections within the club because there is no way you can guess what you have shared with us all. When I first started reading demonland (around the season when we landed Mitch Clark) It was because of you I kept coming back because I just wanted to get more info. I for one really appreciate what you share and can't wait for your next scoop! Cheers!!

And we rolled them by 40 a few weeks earlier at the G. We might win.

Saty, with the greatest respect, my post is not in the slightest bit disparaging and was prompted by the fact that l have watched the mighty Dees for five decades from the MCC reserve and have got to know most of the regular supporters on Level 2. Whilst most are MFC member, there are a number that aren't and for casual/occasional supporters the percentage drops rapidly. My comments still stand! (And if it is not your place to divulge numbers, why boast about your inside knowledge in the first instance)?

Boo Ethan boo, not in a Scully boo way but a boo nonetheless. GNF has had great info in the past and I'm very happy he chooses to share it with us even if not everything eventuates. Particularly happy with his current info as it would be wonderful news for this club if Hogan re-signs and Prestia decides to wear red and blue.

Hardly a meeting of MENSA

Started playing the age of 6 for Sunshine heights then went to Albanvale football club at the age of 9 We won the Under 12's Grand Final (was the only girl so was rapt!) then played for Altona womens football club then Deer park womens team then started working with Werribee's vfl then moved over to Coburgs vfl team. Miss playing though

I used to think the media has short memories but i cant get over how many people are jumping for joy about a win against a team that lost by 120 the week before! we essentially beat melbourne of 2012/13. Yeah it was a fantastic game to watch after so much pain and I hope we start to bully lower quality teams like that. However this sudden overwhelming confidence in us beating a potential top 4 side is a but unwarrented. We have a chance no doubt, but its a brave man who tips us to win. Have to say though, in writing this I have never wanted more to be wrong.

One other element to consider. Insider Intel Peter Jennings was at the Bulldogs last year and his role is Game Analyst. Brendan McCartney was there the year before. They should know how to exploit any weaknesses.

I beg to differ on quality ball coming in - in the first half we were too static, bombed the ball too much and had Hogan, Pedersen and Watts ( and a resting Gawn) all working into each others space.Lots of inside 50's for not enough result. In the second half the goals came from our midfield running and spreading. Watts did some ok things in the second half and you could see him leading and creating space for others and many of his leads not being rewarded. I am not so sure the coaching staff would be unhappy with either Watts or Hogans game.

We could try playing Frost in defence.

What a complete and utter load of rubbish. Everyone knows we should be bring back Mark Neeld. In addition, replacing Jason Taylor with Barry Prendergast wouldn't go astray either and what's Tom Gilles doing these days?

Exactly and its looking like that trade was a stroke of genius, early days but the Weed doing very well down at Casey and the Suns would have done that deal banking on us finish bottom 4-6.

Yeah he's my boy he's 11 years old.