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I was at the game sitting at height. What I saw which did not come out on tv was Ports defensive tactic. Many here are complaining about continuous long bombs into our forward 50, however the case is that Port defended excellently and quickly ran in numbers into our forward 50 once we had possession. Our f50 was always super crowded with Port players. Sometimes all 18 of them. They made it almost impossible to short pass. A long bomb to the top of the square was the best percentage play. Regardless we played better and deserved to win. Our biggest disappointment was not putting the game to bed in the 3rd when we had them on toast. The crowd got very involved and the umpires were certainly influenced by the crowd. It is rare that umpires influence the outcome of a game, but on this day we were murdered by the maggots. Port were continuously awarded soft free kicks in front of goal, where at the other end our players were blocked, pushed in the back, and illegally held without one free kick (from memory). The 50 meter penalty awarded to win the game for Port was disgraceful.

Can't believe I did it, but I emailed Robbo at the Hun and told him to write what we all saw with the umpiring. It was disgraceful. The Melksham decision was a disgrace and Ling was laughing at the call, blocking in a one on one contest. One goal taken off us. Then the 100 metre penalty and a goal to them. Umpire 11 is either a Port supporter or just totally incompetent. I think he paid about 15 frees to Port and maybe 1 to us. They had about 12 frees in front of goal for soft incidents and kicked about 6-7 from frees or 50's. We couldn't buy one. The West Coast game was also a disgrace. The AFL should worry less about changing the game and more about the poor standard of umpiring.

The best part about last nights game was the effort. Keep that effort up and the rest will follow (provided they practice how to kick in the f50).

Neville Jetta is one of the toughest players to ever don the jumper.

He said he’s not.

The umpiring was criminal, I'm usually fairly level headed about the umps but tonight they were pathetic. The Melksham one was a momentum shifter, 2 goal turnaround. Not just the ones Port got either but the ones we didn't get were horrible bordering on biased. How many times would they take on a tackler and drop the footy only for play on to be called? How many times were our players scragged before taking possession but nothing, Oliver does it once to Wines and Wines gets a free. Wingard paid a non mark. 50m penalty against Oscar when he was in the air to contest the footy inllat the same moment the Port player is marking it. Utterly disgraceful, they want to know what's wrong the game, it's the abhorrent standard of officiating with no consistency or accountability

If Port Adelaide can carry that pea heart Lindsay Thomas, then we can play Jeffy. Thomas wouldn't be worthy of carrying Jeffy's bags. Don't wait for a break out performance at Casey. He's a Rolls Royce driving around a Warrigul Road car yard there.

Just watched Goodies presser. Top notch. Asked about the free kicks - turned it back with ‘what did you guys think?’ Perfect for the journos to say one sided and avoid a fine. Strong, positive messaging and you can see where we are headed. Yes, we lost. But Goody says it is a game built on behaviours and the behaviours we displayed will bring plenty of wins.

Weideman had his breakout game. He has a 6 goal game last year against better opposition but for me this was better because the conditions were not key forward conditions, he took some unbelievable marks, he was not beaten in a contest, he was good around the ground, and played well in the ruck as well. Billy - Trac and ANB aren’t making way for him. He was fantastic around the contest and if Viney, Oliver, Jones were injured tomorrow he’d be first in. Maybe he might come in for someone like a Harmes but he is there ready to go when he is needed. The old cliche just be in good form when an opportunity is knocking and he was. Good he hit the score board, would have had a heap of metres gained as well. Both things that aren’t trademarks of his AFL career thus far. The backs - Frost was better this week because he played unaccountable football. And we know how good he is when he can run, kick and do what he wants. The issue is that this is not what we are asking of him at AFL level so it’s a bit hard to see him making it back in next week. Wouldn’t be surprised though. Pedo was good and locked down well. Petty played quite well but it wasn’t a day where the backman could star as it was an easy day at the office for them. Baker - sorry - not for mine just yet. Ran well, smart taps, good football sense. You can see he can make it, but not yet. JKH - really great inside outside game. Played some nice minutes as a high half forward. Will play great AFL football next year for a team that picks him up. Balic - time and space. Didn’t have a great game but you just can see AFL qualities and class in him. And a will to make it happen. This year is a Building year and looking forward to what he does JLT next year. Bugg is a tough one. Was not near it in the first half and then was great when he went into the centre. I’m interested to see what happens as the year progresses. Wouldn’t have had many metres gained, but was good in tight.

Game over and the Demons win by 77 points. Peter Jackson VFL 2018 Casey Demons 4.2.26 9.4.58 13.6.84 16.12.108 Coburg 1.3.9 2.3.15 3.5.23 4.7.31 Goals Casey Demons Weideman 7 Hutchins 3 Stretch 2 Baker Garlett Kennedy Harris Stockdale Coburg Belo Binion Conn Weightman Best Casey Demons Frost Weideman Stretch Kennedy-Harris Bugg Hutchins Coburg Podhajski Guthrie Exon Allan Gregory Lentini Statistics Oskar Baker 1 goal 6 kicks 7 handballs 13 disposals 1 marks 3 tackles 49 dream team points Harley Balic 7 kicks 10 handballs 17 disposals 8 tackles 69 dream team points Tomas Bugg 15 kicks 12 handballs 27 disposals 3 marks 12 tackles 125 dream team points Sam Frost 11 kicks 4 handballs 15 disposals 8 marks 1 tackle 69 dream team points Jeff Garlett 1 goal 7 kicks 5 handballs 12 disposals 1 marks 4 tackles 56 dream team points Mitch Gent 6 kicks 3 handballs 9 disposals 2 marks 1 tackle 34 dream team points Jack Hutchins 3 goals 2 behinds 9 kicks 3 handballs 12 disposals 3 marks 5 tackles 82 dream team points Dion Johnstone 8 kicks 11 handballs 19 disposals 1 mark 4 tackles 66 dream team points Jay Kennedy Harris 1 goal 17 kicks 10 handballs 27 disposals 6 marks 5 tackles 116 dream team points Mitchell King 2 kicks 6 handballs 8 disposals 1 tackle 32 hit outs 53 dream team point Mykleti Lefau 1 behind 5 kicks 3 handballs 8 disposals 2 marks 8 tackles 11 hit outs 71 dream team points Jay Lockhart 4 kicks 6 handballs 10 disposals 2 marks 3 tackles 42 dream team points Goy Lok 1 behind 12 kicks 11 handballs 23 disposals 1 mark 9 tackles 97 dream team points Corey Machaya 6 kicks 11 handballs 17 disposals 1 mark 6 tackles 67 dream team points James Munro 7 handballs 9 disposals 1 mark 5 tackles 61 dream team points Cameron Pedersen 5 kicks 10 handballs 15 disposals 1 mark 1 tackle 39 dream team points Harrison Petty 4 kicks 4 handballs 8 disposals 3 marks 1 tackle 31 dream team points Charlie Spargo 9 kicks 10 handballs 19 disposals 1 mark 9 tackles 88 dream team points Corey Stockdale 1 goals 2 behind 6 kicks 5 handballs 11 disposals 2 marks 5 tackles 59 dream team points Billy Stretch 2 goals 13 kicks 11 handballs 24 disposals 3 marks 5 tackles 103 dream team points Corey Wagner 1 behind 14 kicks 9 handballs 23 disposals 2 marks 10 tackles 95 dream team points Josh Wagner 12 kicks 9 handballs 21 disposals 1 marks 6 tackles 78 dream team points Sam Weideman 7 goals 14 kicks 5 handballs 19 disposals 9 marks 3 tackles 5 hit outs 139 dream team points

Aside from still being angry about the umpires changing the result of the game a few less cranky thoughts below. 1. Would happily play Port in a final, particularly in Melbourne. 2. Demons need to learn how to handle a flooded forward line. Bombing it to the same spot isn’t the answer. Agree with many posters on lowering eyes etc. 3. When I saw Tyson, Vince and Lewis in the team, posted it makes us too slow and unfortunately was proved right. 4. One of Garlett, Spargo or even Bugg should have been in forward line for sharking at the fall of the ball. 5. We certainly had a crack, even if a few players didn’t have great nights. Which is normal for nearly every team every week, if you studied every game. Only issue is when it’s the same 3-4 appearing in the bottom 6. 6. Our best players are still young and will get better at dealing with big games. In comparison Ports better players bar Wines will be finished in 3-4 years. 7. Did I mention the umpires, Port had 26 players, hard to beat!

That is complete bull$ittt. That would be the same Goody who was part of the team that decided Dunn wasn't up to AFL & consistently played Oscar McD when he was barely VFL level let alone AFL standard. Frost makes errors but he will learn & he has all the attributes to make it at AFL level but has been starved of opportunity.

One of our "secrets" this year has been our focus on shots from within 30m which has resulted in high accuracy. As supporters we often get nervous when we "give off" to someone in a better position due to the risk of fumble but the increase conversion % has been worthwhile. I think Port targeted this. They knew that from any possession from 45-70 m out we would look to pass off instead of take a shot, so they defended deeper instead of pressuring the ball carrier. We didn't adjust: with a crowded deep forward line we needed to look for long range scoring opportunities. That isn't a strength of ours from set shots but on the run Trac, Hannan, Oliver, Jones, Melksham are all more than capable to hit from 50. This is a really good lesson. When we talk about having a plan B, we can't have a complete different structure, but we can have tactic variations. Shots from longer when they defend deep, or sharking the opposition ruck when Gawn is nullified, are two tactic shifts we could have used in the last two weeks. Hopefully we've recognised this and add to our repetoir.

Both 50's awarded against O Mac were a joke. Just your typical interstate home ground umpiring.

So you want him to be a petulant sook and get himself fined just so you can feel good that he complained about the umpiring publicly? I am not happy with the umpiring standard but public winging doesn't help and I don't like the Scott brothers.

Upon immediate reflection, take heart in this...it was an extremely physical finals type game against a finals contender on their patch. Last years premiers lost to this team, at this ground only 3 weeks ago. We fought hard, “should” have won and played a brand of football that puts us in good stead to win these types of contests. Unfortunately we lacked poise and structure inside our forward 50 to get the job done. Something for our coaching staff to work on. Im as disappointed as anyone but not all is lost. Make the finals and get on a roll, with some tweaking and an improved forward entry game plan, we will win these types of games in future..

You must have not watched the game to closely if you think melksham was rarely sighted. He was one of our best

We had 'em. We fair dinkum had 'em in that third term. When Salem kicked that goal to put us 20 points up I really thought we could keep it going. Even when they kicked a couple and we got one back, I thought we could keep them at bay. And we just couldn't do it. For all of our dominance, and I believe we were the better side on the night (yes, I know, smash me for it, I don't give a stuff), our conversion inside 50 sucked and it lost us the game. We moved it too slowly, or missed a target, or just bombed away and it hurt us. I thought we had rectified it in the third term but then we kicked only 1 of the next 7 goals and we lose the game. Heartbreaking stuff. Full credit to our backline who many believed would be undersized and outmatched - that really wasn't the case at all and shows we made the right decision in terms of selection and the players we used through there. Our midfield rectified the clearance problem against the best clearance side in the comp, yet we couldn't capitalise often enough to take advantage of it. We have a huge 3 weeks to get things right - we simply cannot lose any of the next 3 games against sides we should most certainly be defeating. No excuses there. I'm pretty deflated and disappointed with the outcome but, at the same time, happy to see us respond in a positive fashion after the debacle of Queen's Birthday. Keep your chin up everyone, if you can.

32 players inside a 50m arc is not a sport I enjoy watching. That isn't what footy should be. Im even struggling to enjoy Melbourne games now. 36 seagulls fighting over a bag of hot chips - a lucky flick out the back to a seagull on the outside who then flies off with it. exciting until that seagull drops the chip and the other 35 catch up to him and started squabbling over it again. Is anyone even noticing how the quanitity of reasonable highlights in any given game of footy has fallen off a cliff. Nothing happens anymore. fumble, fumble, fumble, handpass(throw), fumble, fumble, fumble, fumble, quick handpass(throw) fumble fumble, fumble, fumble, fumble, arm pinned, free kick. kick, fumble, fumble , fumble, fumble, fumble, quick handpass(throw) , snap shot , goal. …….. return to centre, rinse and repeat.

We need to stretch the opposition. Bringing in Weed and Frost would give players like Hogan and Hibberd more freedom. We would score more. If Stretch comes in, would stretch em even more, pardon the pun

On current form he should be a certainty next week.

Compared to Queens birthday we were not disgraced yesterday. It took the first 3 games to get a cohesive style going. It just so happened to that we lost Lever just as we came up against top 8 teams. Once Lever went down so did our top 4 chances. He is a massive out. That’s why we gave so much away to get him. We don’t have the player to cover for him. Hence I doubt we can kick those big scores now because we will leek goals out back. That is the reality. Look at West Coast without their 2 key forwards. As supporters we need to deal with it. As the coaches have opportunities to learn other ways to win. Keep learning more opportunities. The positive is that we can adapt & practise new setups that we can use mid game later on The TMac revelation occurred through adversity. Go Dees! PS IMHGHFO - (In My Humble Glass Half Full Opinion)

Goodwin just admits on SEN that we were a bit short on the back line last night. WELL HELLO. Who would have thought?

Bottom line for me is that, if we play that sort of football for the rest of the season, then we play finals. The overall style of play is set up perfectly for finals football and the pressure that comes with it. If we can work on our composure and our use of the ball forward of the centre then we'll be alright. We took it up to a side on their home turf who only a few weeks ago brushed aside the reigning premiers. I'd much rather have won, that goes without saying, but overall it was the right response to a sub par performance on our home deck against the Pies.

If we had lost by a lot I’d understand some of the comments on here but I really thought we were desperately unlucky to lose. A lot went against us. The boys gave blood for the team tonight. I for one are sticking with them.

"Frost doesn't have the fitness". He maybe a loose cannon at times but that is a ridiculous comment.

Thanks KC

Agree - I don't think umpires often influence the overall result but in a very close game where it's extremely one-sided umpiring, clearly it does. Basically according to the umpires we infringed 1 in every 7 times the ball went inside Port's attacking 50m. On the other hand, Port's defenders did not infringe once during 68 inside 50m entries. How is that possible? Either that's the most extraordinary defending in any form of sport that I have ever seen or the umpires are too afraid to pay frees to visiting sides close to goal in Adelaide and Perth. I wonder which one is right...

If we bring the same effort as last nights game to the rest of the year we can win any game anywhere. we need more science with our forward entries, but last nights game was finals intensity - around 100 tackles to 90, so it was never going to be clean entries. port primed themselves for this game, bought their maximum intensity for the full game, and still needed the rub of the (men in) green and crowd to win it. would love another crack at them in a final anytime anywhere. I think we have heaps more upside than they do.

Very proud Melbourne supporter. Love Simon Goodwin: http://www.melbournefc.com.au/video/2018-06-23/rd-14-simon-goodwin-postmatch We were super hard at it and just weren't able to convert our opportunities. We were terrific in a hostile environment and the players committed to the contest incredibly bravely. We can correct the problems connecting with the forward line and we learn more from the losses in the long run. We do need an extra bit of class and experience. Marc Murphy would be a very good pick up for us.

We controlled the game for the first three quarters and got over run in the last. Our work in the stoppages was good. Most of the play was in our forward line. Port managed to get some one on one football in the last quarter. Did we run out of steam with the crowd keeping the home team pumped as did some umpiring decisions. Our endeavour and self belief was there. Plenty to learn from this loss. We need to get more communication happening between the players. No competition for the same ball, aware of who is in best position to take the mark, calls to each other. Staying switched on for the one percenters and helping each other be better footballers. Seemed it was quick, straight down the guts football. Where was our switches, changing the angle of movement, kicks to advantage and varying the tempo. Schimmies and baulks, making overlaps and freeing up players. Very little creativity out there making it easy for Ports backline to respond. We couldn’t find a loose player and the ball constantly ended up in the pack. The forward line was too congested. No where to lead, couldn’t get a uncontested or contested mark. Need to be able to perform when under the pump or a least do the basics well. We are close to being a top four side, just not yet. It is a long season and we have some areas we can improve on. Keep building Dees.

On a Friday night stage, the AFL should aim to have two high performing teams play, officiated by the best umpires they have to offer. This delivers the highest quality product to the broadcasters/audience to grow the game. If they are the best umpires the AFL has to offer, I might just stick to the World Cup from hereon in. 9 free kicks to 1 in the last quarter was ridiculous.

We have all noticed this trend in the past 3 years, getting worse each game. Unaccountability and bias from the umpires struck once again and although not part of the game last night against Port, the Razor effect of celebrity umpiring just to be seen to be a key factor and centre of attention in a game of football - whatever the cost in terms of the millions of dollars so involved from clubs - is now endemic across the fraternity of white. The allegiances of umpires to clubs and selected clubs winning games by any means is not all - this trend has to be encouraged by the AFL via the umpires for its 'entertainment value' and the massing of crowds with large supporter base interests for dollars through the turnstiles. No respectable sporting umpire would participate in this fraud, otherwise. This rubbery and conditioned corruption is also prevaricated (following a set plan for the fixture itself, for the weekly and finals series attendances, and in the pursuit of AFL-led allegiances to specific clubs and the horribly incorrect interpretations undertaken with regards to rules, regulations and the miasma of vested interest). Anything is possible in football today for the incremental massing of the 4 points per game for flavour-teams-of-monetary-interest. In essence, the game has reached an irreversible level of corruption with the total consent of the AFL in partnership with influential clubs. We see wilful and incorrect decision-making at the singular club level continuously in a season - with umpires and players powerless to right the wrongs of its effects. The public are treated as fools lost in their own dignity of expectation to assume that all's fair and well with our national game. Port Adelaide has a reasonably large captive supporter base that is just manic enough to attend finals series in droves where that Club is involved. Great for the economic justification of cheating and taking advantage of such casual 'official' assistance. That club lost the game last night, despite the scoreboard. Just as the fortunes of the Crows have been so assisted in recent times for the same, core, influential, complicity. Annointed players and teams look good as if they were competitively playing well when an insurance policy payout is quietly known to be affected in their favour from '...those who absolutely control the outcomes of any specific game - the umpires...' and once again, the dirt is swept under the carpet to be hidden from the eyes of the egalitarian fans of the game. Brown paper bagging on a grander scale than one or two dubious decisions in any one game. It is increasingly difficult for one to accept such a corrupt outcome year after year, match after match, finals entitlements after finals entitlements within our game and not conclude that it is all a 'set-up' unworthy of our future involvement and support.

Sometimes I hate being a Demons tragic and last night was like that because we should have won the game by half time. We smashed them in the clearances and in the forward 50s but couldn’t convert. And then there were the pathetic umpires who let the crowd pay the free kicks. I am sick of interstate clubs getting such an advantage and the afl refusing to do anything about it.

Im calling for ANB's head. Does absolutely nothing in tightly contested matches, aside from running around creating packs. Has great effort and tries hard and clearly loves playing for Melbourne which is great, but an incredibly limited and over-rated footballer, who the opposition would be putting no time into.

Powell pepper was good though, 17 tackles and 29 kidney punches is a club record apparently.

Anything less than finals is an abject failure. Stop accepting mediocrity.

Umpires should wear over ear noise cancelling ear muffs at Adelaide and Perth. Or pick Melb supporting umps to balance it out. Run of 9 in a row in last quarter

Rubbish. Murdered Dixon all night and was paid two of the softest 50 metre penalties in history against him tonight.

Umpiring a disgrace. Harmes killed all our momentum in the third quarter when he decided to go and hit a number of Port Adelaide players on the [censored]. Lewis cooked. Tyson cooked. Fumbles. Umpiring a disgrace. Oscar is nothing with Lever. Melksham and Tom McDonald couldn't buy a free kick. Hogan went missing. Jetta is a star.

This. https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/power-beat-demons-in-epic-arm-wrestle-20180622-p4zn82.html

We lost momentum when Tim Smith, TMc, and another, went off injured together for a time, in the 2nd half. The Power took the initiative at that point, and eventually hit the front. We had been controlling the game up till the injuries. And we also had the rough end of the umpires stik on a number of occasions during the game, at either end. Port got some soft frees within their scoring range,,, and we were denied an number of times, in our 50. All in all I'm not that disappointed, considering the crowd and the umpires efforts, and we only really went down, because of being frustrated inside our 50. I thought we fought the game really toughly, and manfully. We need more of these big games, full of pressure and expectation, as they only make us stronger. The more of these big games we play, the harder edged we become. I see on the ladder we are only 2 games behind top spot, so at the half-way mark, I think we have little to complain about, on-field. A few tweaks here or there, and a few little wake-up nudges are needed, just to remind some of what stakes they are playing for. September, were coming to meet you.

Our inability to be clean inside 50 and connect regularly with each other / have any forward half synergy, meant that we didn't capitalise early on our ridiculous midfield dominance. I have so much love for Neville Jetta though. Feel like adding him on Facebook. What a star. I wish all our leaders played like him. Tom McDonald looked really good early on. Viney, Oliver and Brayshaw had good games. Gawn battled manfully but still continues to tap to ridiculously dangerous spots at times. Melksham is now a gun for us. It feels as if when he gets it across half forward, we score 90% of the time. His kicking is beautiful. However, tonight he was absolutely murdered by the umpires. Should have had at least two goals and instead had about 3 free kicks against. Just on this, it was the first time this year I felt the umpiring was incredibly one-sided throughout (the QB performance was only lopsided the first half). ANB continues to make stupid mistakes with ball in hand. Harmes was better, but fumbled when it mattered. Oscar wasn't immune from mistakes either - why didn't he handball to his team mate in space, rather than try kicking it 5 metres and turning it over. Fortunately, Joel Smith's spearing tackle knocked the ball free to Jetts. How did Oscar get caught on the mark too? That cost us another goal. Poor communication back there. Petracca was impotent again for 3 and a bit quarters. He drifts in and out of games far too much for my liking. He's played 50 games now and struts around as if he's an A grader. It'd be really good if we didn't have to wait another season for him to play consistent footy, but I fear that's on the cards. And then there's Hogan. WTF was he doing tonight? He spent the first three quarters inexplicably trying to crumb the packs when it clearly wasn't working and then his night was summed up in the last two minutes, when he failed to take a relatively gettable contested mark in our forward line, only for it to ping outside 50 and see Westhoff take the contested mark that he couldn't. Hogan's inability to compete in the air meant our system consistently broke down. How does one player lose so much confidence across one game? He was flying heading into the Collingwood match and against Port, he looked like he was afraid of body contact. He's lost his creativity far too easily. Then there were our leaders. Jetta was brilliant. Lewis was passable. But Vince was ordinary. Hibberd was uncharacteristically fumbly and continually beaten one out. And Jones. He was terrible. Is there a worse captain in the league? Maybe Jarryd Geary or Marc Murphy. His leadership was found wanting yet again in a crucial game for the club. He's really on the cusp of B and C grade these days. His leg speed is becoming a real issue and were Viney 2 years older, I'd say give Viney the sole captaincy. I bang on about his leadership whenever we lose, but so often when the game is there to be won, Jones is fumbly, or tries to take on too many players, or simply kicks it long in hope. You could tell we were cooked when Smith, McDonald and Jetta all went down within 2-3 minutes. The umpires killed us, but to not kick a goal in over 40 minutes of football, it's no wonder these media muppets keep saying we need to earn respect. I didn't think we'd win tonight, but I thought we should have. We just don't seem to have the leadership yet and until we do, we won't win these important games or earn respect.

absolute [censored] disgrace that decision.

The umpiring was a [censored] disgrace that bald [censored] is the worst umpire in the country. Brayshaw's was an obvious mark.

Yes he got some poor delivery but he didn’t jump at the ball he turned his back and tried to rove to the pack. If his name was Joe Blow he would be dropped on his last two games. Let’s be fair about this he was terrible. I keep banging on about ANB being useless under pressure. When will the selectors see it. I don’t care less about his running he is hopeless against good sides who apply pressure. Garlett or Spargo for him tonight and we might have won.

10 free kicks in a row is not a deflection, 50-50 decisions all went Ports way in the last quarter. The Melksham decision was a disgrace and paying a 50 for it was an even bigger disgrace. He didn't realise for about 30 seconds it was a free against him.

fantastic tonight dixon is a colossus and o mac played him well

Lewis was good

Lost that in the first half with so much wasted opportunity. We had them complete on toast but persisted with the long bomb inside 50 to a pack of 10 players system which NEVER works for us. Just dumb footy. umpiring sucked bad but we lost that ourselves