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And a big heads up for some great commentary from Demon star Libby Birch. Channel 7 should sign her up immediately and get rid of some of the boring boofheads they have on their panel!

This would have to rank as the most bizarre major football competition going around. Made up of 22 different teams across the eastern seaboard and you only play 14 matches over 19 rounds before the finals placing are decided. In the case of the Casey Demons this has resulted in a fixture where they play Box Hill twice in the season and miss out completely on playing no less than 9 of the others. So forget about missing out on the big clashes with Apsley and Southport (admittedly we could play them in the finals if we get there) but what about your regular traditional VFA clubs of old like Coburg, Frankston and I simply cannot accept the fact that there’s no visit this year to Port Melbourne. Are the organizers of this farce of a competition aware how long we’ve had to endure without consuming their famous burraburger?

I sat next a port supporter last night who commented after Kozzie kicked his goal from the 50, saying that he was soft and had only 2 kicks all night. I gently replied that he had 10 tackles and that was his 3rd goal but thanks for his analysis ???

I had some similar views having been at today’s game. I actually thought 6-8 could come into the seniors and play a role similar to how Petty has filled the third tall back. Déclase could do a job on the wing if we lost Langers for a bit. Very impressive today. Bowey a lot to like, many have said, great skills, goes when it’s his turn. He’d have played 10 games for the Kangas or Hawks this year. liked Joe Smiths game, marshalled the backline, lots of talk, attacked the contest, couple of hangers, good skills overall. actually thought big Bradkte did well on Buzza as the FB I thought Melky was very good; his skills are elite, hit great dangerous targets; young Ellerson appreciated him a few times. bedford showed some real signs on ball. Just needs a few more touches as his pace and dash really break a game open. Sparrow and AVB solid in the contest; Jetta played his role, wonderful leader on the ground. a lot to like!

It's been a pretty tough time in the Onion household over the last 11 months, a range of external things occurring that impact day to day life. The first 4 months were stressful, a bit of a lull between feb and march and now last 4 months have been particularly stressful... BUT... corresponding to this all has being a filip of something I have never had in my lifetime. I can't recall the author - but "something something ...opium for the masses" and indeed this year The Dees have been my opium. Anyway - there is some now light on a range of fronts that I can start to see... And in a rare bit of - rewatching a replay - this image right here... was the ball game. Jeez we're in some rare form...but jeez it feels sustainable Apologies for vague posting... sometimes you just got to release it to your community even though you're essential anonymous (to most). *A nod to the community outreach centre that is Demonland and its cohort. ** Also, on reflection, this post is really more about the excellence of Melbourne, and how given context, this season is far more like a heart balm, than mere exhilaration and unbridled joy! And that's fine by me.

Sorry to bore everyone but I really enjoyed watching today at the ground. First half was far from a good display and if Werribee could have kicked reasonably they may have been in the game a lot longer. Werribee have a great ground and facilities. Pity we did not have as good ( outside of Casey I mean). However any day your side wins by 9 goals is a good day.

Oh, please. I resisted responding to your previous post on Salem because it was twaddle. At his best he can be damaging? In our top 5 most important players. Absolutely critical to our game plan. Two out of bounds on the full from kick outs, passes that did not hit the mark? Salem Is our best kick by a mile. And his ability to hit target under pressure is phenomenonal. And again a huge part of our game plan, in particular our ability to not lose the ball in our back half and transition to our front half. Lazy? Absolute bollocks. His numbers are of the charts. He gets huge disposal numbers for a half back and covers huge territory. In fact one of the most impressive (and important) parts of his game is his ability to continue to hit targets when he is red lining and fatigued. When the lions played us, pagan tagged two players - Lever and Salem. Because both are so important for us.

With fronds like that, who needs anemones?

Totally agree, went to the game today Declase has serious pace, good footy iq, good kick, good mark Bowey played well, still young but seriously talented Lockhart, great player, the speed he can utilise from taking possession to kicking well over 40metres was impressive Bedford, seriously good player with great pace, side step I was seriously impressed by our players today

Come on, mate. Weideman doesn’t consistently draw three defenders like Brown did repeatedly last night, and if he does, he's outmarked. Weideman isn't a big aerial threat, and so the opposition drop off him. Brown's height and reach, and his ability to draw the ball will almost always make him a threat. I reckon he found himself pushed under the ball. He was annoyed with himself a few times. He just had that 20% rust, but I'd back him to eradicate those moments. I'm not sure it happened a lot either. I've watched the replay twice now and I reckon it happened two, maybe three times. Whilst that is too many for a forward of his experience and ability, I'd put this more down to his lack of game time over the past 18 months.

I gave up at quarter time and put on that soft porn show on Netflix. And I tell you what, I think more balls were touched in one episode than Adelaide did the entire night. Essendon will now get to think they’re amazing which is funny and Adelaide can go back to SA to help navigate traffic in those jumpers.

Disgraceful! Melbourne fans would never do that with Bradshaw, Jordan or Wiedermann.

8 point swingaround ... we lose and Lions win and they'd be ahead of us Instead of that we are now 2 games clear of them (and 4th place) ... we're now staring at an MCG qualifying final (if we're good enough) Better to have the destiny in your own hands *Mozz factor deactivated

PS: to all those who repeatedly say "good sides don't lose to bad sides", take note of tonight's result.

St Kilda’s song needs more lyrics

Spargo is a natural footballer whereas ANB is an athlete who has learned some football skills. Both go much better when the team system is working.

I thought Joel Smith looked the most capable of playing at a higher level Big leap ,strong hands and today was more composed.For most of the side the gap between VFL and AFL gets wider each week..

Bradtke has been playing KPD for the past few weeks & has improved with each outing. Thought he was quite good today.

This is a bad result for us overall, unless we’re getting paid by the AFL or NT to allow it to happen. There’s nothing good about playing in Darwin as the away side, and particularly not the week before a home game against the Dogs that we surely want to be the Friday night. Sure, it could be a Saturday night to give us an extra day, but that’s a loss for us given it’s our home game. It also mucks with planning, for the club and for MFC members who had planned to go to GC, the game only being two weeks away. This game could have been GC’s home game against Essendon in Round 21. Essendon have no other travel this year, we still have Perth and Geelong to come after Darwin. Happy for our NT fans but otherwise hate this news.

The highly rated Joshua Brown already up to 30 disposals early in the 4th quarter for East Freo colts, Taj Woewodin not far behind 26 disposals, 3 tackles, 8 marks and 1 goal

It's a Suns home game. They were scheduled to play Hawks there earlier in the year but were forced to play at the SCG during the Vic 2 week outbreak in Rd 11. This is their replacement, not ours.

Random lowlight from the Channel 7 coverage of the Port game last night THAT DID MY HEAD IN #1: Fritter thinks he has touched a ball, because he did, that Alir is paid a mark for. So assuming it is play on Fritter tackles Alir. Much to fritters dismay, the umpire gives a 50. Which was fair enough as a mark was called. The commentators say as much. Play on. Nothing to see here. Later, Kossie takes a nice mark. It may have been touched. Jonas certainly thought so and tackled Kossie. Much to Jonas' dismay, the umpire gives a 50. Which was fair enough as a mark was called. The commentators express amazement and surprise. Watching THE REPLAY, which provided crystal clear evidence the 50 was there every day of the week, 'Hamish" opines Jonas was hard done by. WTF DOES MY HEAD IN!!!!

I have never gone so far as to actually start a topic before despite spending my 10+ years of membership wasting too much of my workday reading Demonland. I was so happy last night, i thought i would take a chance. I would have to say that they seem a bit upset at Port Adelaide over yesterdays game and if anyone thinks Simon Goodwin receives a pasting on this site, they should take note of the Port vitriol directed at Ken Hinkley. A few comments from Big Footy are repeated below and these are some of the gentler ones. Also, when did Alex Neal Bullen turn into an untackleable beast? fu** me dead, we couldn't stop him. I thought he was a spud. I think people really underestimated Melbourne coming into this. They have a very strong defence and an absolutely monstrous midfield. It is staggering that we are so poor in every area. Poorly skilled. Dumb decisions. Not strong enough. Not tall enough. Not fast enough. Unfit. No discernible game plan. sh*t leadership. What the f**k do we actually do at training? I refuse to believe that our players (well most of them anyway) are at the limit of their potential. So we need a clear out of the leadership at the club - chairman, coach and captain. We're just so poorly led at every level. Another club waltzes in with a SeAsOn-DeFiNiNg win. Now that the siren has gone I can safely say, insipid performance and a disgusting display of football. Forwards invisible, the only time I did see them was when they crashed into each other. Umps were no help, gave Melbourne a couple. Sure am thrilled to have played Melbourne into form. We ******* suck, sack ken, sack Bassett, fu** it sack Voss too. Gang sh*t we out. Melbourne are good, we aren’t. Can’t see Melbourne not winning the flag now tbh Who's going to want a 200cm third tall with no presence, can't kick and floats around the field like a fern frond with no impact. Edit: and yes I realise this also describes Ben brown, but he kicked 10 in an afl match. And to think we were out coached by Goodwin. That game exposed all of our weaknesses at once. Biggest of which is our gameplan which relies on the other team not being very good. Too many passengers and credit too melbourne who played the game I wanted us to play. actually looked like our mids and forwards were rubbish. deep defense kept the gap closer. the rest were sh*t. boak sh*t. drew sh*t. everyone forward of full back was dog sh*t. At least Ben Brown didn’t kick 10 goals. That’s a positive I guess. yeah, so you agree, rozzee is sh*t, has the contested ball awareness of a minature poodle. Players: What's the gameplan this week Ken? Ken: Oh, we'll chip it around giving Melbourne time to get everyone behind the ball. Players: So same as usual against the top teams then? We put the ken in Farken Average. I'm sick of crap teams going past us - if the trend continues, bloody Carlton will play in a grand final before we will LOL. Melb brought in the tallest slowest forward line I’ve seen in the past 20 years of football. It was set up for us to run off of them. Almost all of their good players had a night out too. Gawn, Patracca, Oliver, May, Salem, McDonald, you know the guys a good coach would have plans for. Hinkley is a bum.

I just looked at the ladder. Richmond are 12 th. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha haa

I hate St Kilda, but that'll do us nicely. Brisbane just shed 5.7% and are now 0.9% behind us. We're now two games and 0.9% clear of them with six to play. For all their good football, their wins away from the Gabba have been against North, Adelaide and Collingwood (all bottom 4), as well as Carlton and Gold Coast. They still have to play Hawthorn, Richmond and Fremantle away from the Gabba. Our destiny is in our hands, but this impacts us hugely.

Took 7 marks and kicked 3 goals today.

How much can a man loath Jeelong? Carlscum should be ashamed of this

Imagine how many goals Harry McKay would’ve kicked if he wasn’t the worst set shot in the AFL (next to Clarrie of course).

Love listening to Daisy Pearce commentate is such a breath of fresh air. Acutually understands the contemporary game and is able to offer some intelligent insight, compared to the usual drivel that comes out of some of the other has beens ex players and media announcer types. I imagine listening to Libby is is similar. It's about time some of the sub par comentators are put out to pasture. Seems like some of them get given a job for life based on who they are and the profile they establish for themselves rather than how well they actually perform.

Siren goes and Ellison kicks his 6th after the buzzer! CASEY DEMONS 3.0.18 5.5.35 13.8.86 17.14.116 WERRIBEE TIGERS 1.2.8 2.6.18 5.10.40 7.15.57 GOALS Casey Demons Ellison 6 Weideman 3 Chandler 2 Bedford Declase Grey Melksham Munro Sparrow Werribee Tigers Kemp Thar 2 Buzza Malual Pinnuck BEST Casey Demons vandenBerg Ellison Lockhart Melksham Weideman Declase Werribee Tigers Sodomaco Garoni Thar Pinnuck Gribble Hayes Statistics Oskar Baker 11 kicks 4 handballs 15 disposals 5 marks 4 tackles 71 dream team points Toby Bedford 1 goal 1 behind 7 kicks 7 handballs 14 disposals 5 marks 4 tackles 73 dream team points Jake Bowey 1 behind 15 kicks 4 handballs 19 disposals 7 marks 3 tackles 87 dream team points Aaron Bradtke 7 kicks 4 handballs 11 disposals 6 marks 44 dream team points Kade Chandler 2 goals 2 behinds 9 kicks 1 handballs 10 disposals 3 marks 2 tackles 60 dream team points Majak Daw 10 kicks 3 handballs 13 disposals 5 marks 2 tackles 33 hit outs 90 dream team points Kye Declase 1 goal 1 behind 12 kicks 7 handballs 19 disposals 7 marks 1 tackle 83 dream team points Corey Ellison 6 goals 1 behind 10 kicks 1 handballs 11 disposals 6 marks 4 tackles 2 hit outs 106 dream team points Zac Foot 9 kicks 6 handballs 15 disposals 5 marks 7 tackles 83 dream team points George Grey 1 goal 5 kicks 6 handballs 11 disposals 1 mark 5 tackles 57 dream team points Neville Jetta 11 kicks 6 handballs 17 disposals 4 marks 2 tackles 62 dream team points Jay Lockhart 20 kicks 4 handballs 24 disposals 8 marks 1 tackle 96 dream team points Jake Melksham 1 goal 1 behind 13 kicks 7 handballs 20 disposals 5 marks 4 tackles 86 dream team points James Munro 1 goal 1 behind 9 kicks 10 handballs 19 disposals 1 mark 10 tackles 86 dream team points Fraser Rosman 1 tackle 4 dream team points [injured] Miles Shepherd 7 kicks 2 handballs 9 disposals 3 marks 1 tackle 38 dream team points Joel Smith 14 kicks 4 handballs 18 disposals 6 marks 1 tackle 68 dream team points Tom Sparrow 1 goal 10 kicks 10 handballs 20 disposals 4 marks 7 tackles 96 dream team points Daniel Turner 11 kicks 3 handballs 14 disposals 6 marks 1 tackle 58 dream team points Aaron vandenBerg 3 behinds 14 kicks 7 handballs 21 disposals 10 tackles 101 dream team points Sam Weideman 3 goals 10 kicks 8 handballs 18 disposals 7 marks 3 tackles 4 hit outs 101 dream team points Mitch White 1 behind 10 kicks 5 handballs 15 disposals 4 marks 1 tackle 55 dream team points

Corey Ellison looks like he should be playing for the Quambatook reserves, but goes OK.

Well, they certainly stepped up the required gear but not before almost losing their lead. Tom Sparrow and Jake Melksham are handy reserve depth for the Demons, Bowey is going to be a beauty and I think the selectors will definitely have a look at Declase at some stage, if not this year, then next.

Decent without being lighting. His strengths are elite kicking, decision making and composure. As an established player, he’s most similar to Caleb Daniel and the clubs developing him in a similar half back rebounding role. At underage level he was a half forward/wing/midfielder. He’s definitely versatile and we’ll love his kicking skills in future if he’s paired up with Salem off halfback!

While different physically, I reckon Spargo is keeping Melksham out of the team. Has equivalent or better vision, footy IQ, finds time and space and usually hits targets with low, flat kicks that are difficult to intercept. Can be quite handy at scoring. And he has 10 times the defensives of Melksham.

Has not dropped below 84% disposal efficiency in the last five weeks…..not too shabby for a half back ??

Here I go again, Spargo has turned into a very useful player.

This is information masquerading as insight. He played his role to allow us to function better. TMac does the same even when he isn’t the one ‘involved’ or have ‘any impact’. Imagine all the things that happen on the footy field, or even in life, that can be reduced to ‘not having immediate impact’ that are integral; Viney setting a pick on Wines in the centre, Lever organising the team from behind, rpfc getting up 6 days in a row at 5 to take of a sick rpjfc… Nothing is ever black and white, especially in this game. Coz they’re [censored] colours…

Get [censored]. I'm in Brisbane that weekend and was going to the game. [censored] the AFL. Burgess be earning his $$$ getting everyone right for the Dogs.

A bit disappointed about this. I'm happy enough to be making up a game in the NT but why can't it be in Alice Springs? It's a beautiful ground there, and it's always a great game of footy. Darwin is generally a [censored] spectacle with the high humidity and slippery ball. Also in the past Melbourne teams generally haven't shown up the following week due in part to the fatigue of Darwin games. Can only assume there's a clear reason why the game can't be played in Alice.

Sounds like a TISM gig

BB is only averaging .75 free kicks a game. Career average is 1.39. Totally unacceptable and he needs to sort this out.

I love the old ABC days , just describing the play and not being too opinionated and cheesy with the jokes.

Two things for me: - he was much better when the ball hit the ground then I gave him credit for. He isn’t Luke Jackson but he isn’t hopeless. Much better than anything Weid has showed this year once the ball hits the deck - he was fantastic with palms and touches when he felt he couldn’t mark the ball. I’m going to say at least 5 times when out of position he did either punch or deflect the ball to the crumbers to a dangerous spot. he did get out marked a few times but a number of times our mids simply put it on his head and he was nudged under it. If you’ve ever watched BBB his strength is running and jumping at the ball, not sitting under the high one. I thought he was much much better then his stats and so glad to see he made us a better side

In 2018 we played and beat the Dogs off a 7 day break after Darwin.

The young superstar - anyone under 20 A legend of the game - anyone over 25 Magic - any indigenous player So and so are coming at (name club here) - they're 30 points down

I was sitting right behind this one. I am telling you 100%, Brown had 3 players drawn to him, they were all looking at him. This allowed Jackson to float across the front of the pack unchecked to take the mark. first you say brown was in the pack, then you say your not sure he was even on the ground? There are very subtle things that are hard to measure. How do you measure the fact that Tom McDonald roamed around with the second best defender for much of the night?

Kellie Underwood escapes criticism because she is female. She is an atrocious commentator just above BTs' level.

Anyone who judges Brown purely on goals kicked doesn’t understand modern footy. It’s so much more about presenting opportunities to bring the ball to ground. Is it any wonder Kossi had his best game for a month last night? Or that Tmac actually could take marks on the lead rather than trying to beat 18 opponents? For a team so reliant on structures, the mind boggles that fans can’t see how his presence completely changes our structure for the better.

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