Leaderboard

Despite dominating for large parts of the match and not making the most of their forward opportunities the Demons ground out a hard fought win and claimed a massive scalp in defeating the Cats by 8 points at the MCG.

Take a bow tmac, I had you in a retirement home and you just destroyed the "best" player in the comp.

AFL.com.au - Clayton Oliver records 30 disposals for the first time since Round 2. His match tonight included 31 disposals at 81 efficiency, four clearances, 17 contested possessions, eight score involvements, 32 pressure acts and four inside 50's.

Happy to get the 4 points but if we play like that against Geelong they’ll beat us by 5+ goals!

Caleb Windsor is unreal. Must be a shoe in for a rising Star nomination this week.

Caleb Windsor tackle and finish in the last quarter. such composure in a pressure situation. magnificent.

Brererton is a plonker.

Hawkins & Cameron combined for 0.4

This might just be the sweetest rail replacement bus journey home yet.

Best win against this filth since:

T Mac showing a lot of us what a professional he is. A very good footballer.

Go you good things.

Goody made a wonderful backhander to the AFL in his presser when he stated we don’t get to play the cats very often at the MCG. So, for all those who whinge about how we’ve always got this as an away game, pleas get along tonight to try and push this honour on to someone else.

Simon Goodwin best on ground. He absolutely smashed Chris Scott. We clearly did our homework and put together an appropriate plan of attack. Tight game, but start to finish it was on our terms.

I died 12 times during this game. The real winner is my heart for holding up.

Wow Petty is back. Fritta with his magic tricks. Max big last quarter. Caleb cool. Lever bog. We are contenders again. Shades of Kardinia 21.

Absolutely agree. Not enough credit to Goody & co for that win. Although Geelong got heaps of flow on play through half back and wing, most of it hit our stone wall and rebounded back out. The use of Langdon & Windsor out wide made Geelong spread uncomfortably in defending, along with our repeated 15-20 metre kicks. Great method and coaching. I think they subbed Laurie in too late, but apart from that, all good.

Thought it not possible, but my love for our backline grew even more tonight.

I don't often delight in other people's misery but beating a Scott brother always feels good.

Well this is a big one. I'm not sure how good the Scats are but ... neither am I certain how good we are. Consequently, your good old Uncle Bitter is sallying forth from The Manor tonight to find an answer. I believe we will win this game on the strength of our superb defenders. Dawkins has been quiet of late and , you would think due to fire, but if he escapes any flailing elbows, May will be too good. There's been speculation about who takes care of Cameron but I reckon it has to be Tmac. He has the tank to run with him and the body work and nous to counter Cameron's expected advantage in agility. Our mids will win ( Danger out helps ) and surely Viney is due for a big bone crunching impact game. Forwards ??? Hopefully Petty finally finds some form and some goals. I'm not sure about Disco yet but if he can snag a couple in this setting we will know a lot more. Hopefully one, or ideally both of the above get into the game early as it will take some heat off Fritta and allow him to do what he does best. He is our key forward. Kozzie, as always, will have the defenders on edge and a couple of goals from the mids will also be welcome. PS. Rohan is a prime goose. Dees by 19 !!! ( A red and blue leather party follows at Romsey )

Great call. I have heard 3 media people call Scott the best tactician in the game this week. And many people, including some dees fans, think goody wouldnt know a tactical innovation if it knocked on his door and introduced itself. And what is even more surreal tonight wont change those people's mind. Strange looking game structurally.

Repeat after me Jaded. Don't go on the game day thread once the game starts. Don't go on the game day thread once the game starts.

It's not always pretty but when Max gets onto it you won't see anything more beautiful.

If Windsor doesn’t get a nomination this week I’m watching a different game. 2 absolute clutch goals this year in tight last quarters.

Time to step up or shut up. Time to deliver. Cats are a top team. Strengths across the park. Genuine superstar in Cameron. We need to show that we are still a serious contender. All the recent news is about the Cats, Blues, Giants, Swans, Power, ‘Pies are back’, ‘Bombers are rising’ and we are forgotten. We are not to be forgotten. Lift. Trac. Clarry. JV7. This will be a pressure cooker. Finals like atmosphere. A big game. Let’s show that we’re not a falling star and have plenty of talent and determination left. Go Dees. Fire up 🔥

What happens in the match thread, stays in the match thread.

Wow. Gut wrenching last quarter. Thank you Jeremy. Max - you led us to victory. Lever - the rock. Petty - welcome back Langdon - you can have a rest now. Fritsch - how the hell you were never drafted at 18yo, I will never know. You are simply brilliant.

Bayley Fritsch is the best finisher in the competition

Hands up if you had Caleb Windsor to kick more goals tonight than Hawkins, Cameron, Miers, and Rohan COMBINED (!) on your bingo card. Be honest, now.

F&@$k i hate Jeeelong. Absolutely everything about them stinks i will enjoy the Replay immensely

How good is Fritter’s body work. Very few in the league with his smarts as to where to be, but also how to use his body which is particularly significant given he’s not a big guy. Amazing forward. Given credit for sure, but largely unheralded.

Goal of the year - the FRIBBLER

Best defence in the comp

Suck on that Cats. I love beating that team. Goal of the season to Fritsch. Magic effort to win it. Defensively brilliant all night. Lever superb. Great to see Petty clunking them and back in form. Goal kicking not good. Far out we nearly kicked it away. We’re up to our necks in it this year. Make no mistake. Go Dees

21 marks and 49 disposals (at an average of 90% efficiency) between May and Lever tonight. Also, along with TMac, kept Cameron and Hawkins to 0.4

Fritsch must be AA this season after being robbed in 21. Initially sceptical about Petty holding his spot but what a cracking game. Disco just keeps getting better. So much love for Windsor.

Can't stand Geelong, their ridiculous jumper and dunghole stadium. A repeat of 2021 would make my month. Go Dees.

I'm excited. The next two games will give us a huge sense of the rest of the season.

May kicked the ball like the real Steve May for the first time in 3 years. Petty with a proper chf game, he can absolutely do it. Great games out of Langdon and Windsor Plenty to like and a proper tough win

That was an epic win two very very good football sides

How bloody good!!! That Fritsch goal was insane. One of the best I’ve seen to seal a match in years!

These wins galvanise teams. We stepped up and despite seemingly trying to kick ourselves out of it, did what we had to do, when we needed to do it. Highlights for me, Caleb clutch tackle and goal, and the FRIBBLER! A great outcome to nab this one. I still think the Blues are more dangerous. Win that, and we are on our way. If we play with the same pressure and kick better we will cover them. Proud of the grit shown by the boys. Go Dees 🔥

Gee, that Petty guy goes alright.

The post below I have posted in a thread specific to the issue, thanks @binman who started it off (hope you don't mind). I have also been encouraged to post in the main threads and not hide this issue away in the back threads. "I think what Andy has noted above is really important, with the second para of critical importance and raises an issue that i was just thinking of highlighting - the safety of victim survivors, women and children who read DL. As long time posters could attest, for many years i derailed many football related threads with discussions about non football related societal issues (and yes i know everything is related) that i am passionate about - family violence included. For a range of reasons i try not to do so now. One reason is this is a footy forum. For example this thread is nominally about training and how fair is it for people who want to discuss training to wade through unrelated posts? And how fair for say a victim survivor to want to read training reports and instead get caught up in an unmoderated debate about men's use of violence? Which of course is not to say it is not an important discussion, or that i am saying there should not be the opportunity to discuss challenging issues on DL. But there is a place Andy and the people who designed this brilliant site specifically for non football related discussions: https://demonland.com/forums/forum/10-general-discussion/ On the topic of family violence, i wholeheartedly agree there needs to be discussion in society, particularly amongst men. But i don't believe a football focused thread is the appropriate space for such discussions (and even in the general forum i would have my concerns because of the risks of misinformation and traumatizing victim survivors if not expertly moderated - which is an incredibly difficult thing to do if the topic is family violence). I feel very strongly about this issue. I have a qualification in men's use of family violence, a prerequisite to become telephone counselor with the Men's Referral Service (MRS), which i did weekly for many years. MRS is a service for men who want to take responsibility for their choice to use violence. And in addition to working with victim survivors (which by the by will 100% include men on this site who experienced FV as children) and perpetrators across multiple community service sectors, I have done work in the men's behaviour change space. That work includes projects looking at the the law's response to perpetrators, including an analysis of the research into the efficacy of prevention strategies that focus on men's use of violence. I say all of that to establish I have a level of expertise and knowledge in the family violence space, and specifically men's use of violence. Thankfully i am not a moderator, but as someone with a level of expertise about family violence i was disturbed by many of the posts. And not just those that expressed views i vehemently disagreed with. Also some posts that whilst well meaning, if I am being completely honest, leant into the sort of dangerous myths, and even flat out misinformation, that are a huge part of the problem. And even with a level of expertise, and a significant amount of relevant training, experience and education about family violence, i don't know that I would have the specialist skills to moderate an online discussion between anonymous posters. And i would actively discourage any attempts to do so by anyone that does not have those high level skills. Almost impossible to keep such a space safe - even for specialist family violence organisations. It makes me fell ill that any woman reading this thread felt the need to reach out to Andy express discomfort and was made to feel unsafe. I can understand why. If anyone doubts the wisdom shutting down the conversation on this thread because they believe it is important to talk about family violence please consider the risks to the safety victim survivors, women and children who are part of our shared community here on DL. I 1000% support the decision to not have a discussion about family violence on a football thread. I think discussion is important. But i believe that the most important discussions are those by men with their family, particularly their sons, and friends, particularly their male friends. Unlike here, those conversations are not anonymous and are with people you love and trust. But I believe even more important than discussion is education. Well education first then discussion. Critical is understanding what family violence is, how many different types of family violence there are (eg financial control, psychological, electronic surveillance, control, emotional abuse, use of technology etc) and what drives it. A great place to start is arguably the most significant government led action in this space by any government, ever, Victoria's Royal Commission into Family Violence. For more general information Victoria's peak body for family and gender-based violence Safe Steps is a great. For information about men's use of violence, Victoria's peak for ending male violence, No to Violence is a terrific resource. And if you are man who is concerned about your use of violence, the Men's Referral Service is the national counselling, information and referral service for men who use violence and abuse who want to change their behaviour. It is a confidential, anonymous service available 24/7 that you can call on 1300 766 491.

We gave the Cats the old UNO reality check reverse card.

I want all the "Geelong will give us a reality check" to go hide in the closet for a week...woooohoooooooo

Who was that [censored] using my name who said we would lose. I hope doesn't come back.

I actually am thinking towards seasons end in terms of just show me something (I think we’re actually we’re actually working towards to be in place by seasons end) to make go yep I can see it. The result whilst I want to win is secondary